Interesting Reading in the Interweb Tubes
- How Thomas Jefferson Created His Own Bible (“…he eschewed anything that he perceived as ‘contrary to reason.'”) (via)
Christmassy (?) Linkage
- Maybe it’s going to be a Christmas present for the Pope. “The Vatican said on Wednesday an unknown buyer had snapped up the internet address vatican.xxx, a domain combining its name with an extension reserved for pornographic content.” (via)
- Perhaps you could get your favorite religionist The Jesus Toaster.
- The Origins of Christmas in December
- When Americans banned Christmas (much longer ago than Fox News would lead you to believe)
- The Problem of the Magi
- Frankincense is on its way to extinction
Bookish Linkage
- Will wonders never cease? An indie bookstore — Prairie Pages in Pierre — has been named Retailer of the Year by the South Dakota Retailers Association.
- Thousands of rare books burned in Egypt
- A major UK bookseller apologizes after a store promotes Mein Kampf as a “perfect present.”
- A Siberian city is trying to ban a Russian translation of the Bhagavad Gita, saying it is too “extremist” and promotes “social discord.”
- Bookriot reviews book recommendation websites.
- EarlyWord has created spreadsheets for all the titles in the national best books lists, including not only the ISBNs but the formats in which each book is available.
- Nielsen BookScan has identified the top selling books of 2011, most of which were not published in 2011. Unlike prior years, I’ve actually read four of the top 10 in both fiction and nonfiction.
Nonbookish Linkage
- A great way to make everything OK. (via)
- Top Science Scandals of 2011 (via)
- The year in secrecy
People can’t concentrate properly on blowing other people to pieces if their minds are poisoned by thoughts suitable to the twenty-fifth of December.
Ogden Nash
