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Showing posts from 2012

Ancient Lands

Reading Oxford History of Biblical Lands but I have supplemented it with a fine volume (strange to call it thus when it is an ebook) on ancient Sumeria. Such scholarly texts are a relief from more ephemeral fare. They require concentration and thought. I am less pleased with the Biblical characters and society and more inclined to see the larger picture. What defines the bible cast is a book of carefully crafted propaganda, beautifully written about folk more legendary than real.

Looking backward

I have 3 eReader devices,, 2 Kindles and an Kobo, plus 4 desktop applications which also allow me to peruse the world's literature. My shelves are crowded with books made of paper and I wish there was some way to bequeath them all since my reading lately is electronic through my devices and on my computer desktop Perversely, I seem to prefer reading material from 1912. I am now reading H.G. Wells' "Lost World", an interesting series on common life in Victorian London and have just purchased a Neal Stephenson book "Quicksilver" set in Colonial times.

Bookworm

Still reading a lot. The 'touch' Kindle is slightly heavier but I'm getting used to it. I tried the text to speech but found it unsuitable because it did not have the actor's voice that makes listening a pleasure. Must be a great boon to the blind though. Fellow I knew in my salad days used to go regularly the the Canadian National Institute for the Blind to read out books and texts. Now, any book at all can be heard at will. I see from the CNIB website that " Classic Serbian Literature is coming soon to CNIB Library", so I guess the need is still there for foreign language readers.

Books, Books, Books

Reading so much now that I have become accustomed to my Kindle. Daily life in Victorian London The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco The Oxford History of the Biblical World I'm taking an NYU free course on Biblical archaeology Writing Steampunk by Beth Daniels And on it goes. After years of reading mainly from my HTML browser I have rediscovered books through my eReader