A thorough treatment of an interesting subject. Found it on the new books shelf in my public library. I got through most of it and returned it on the due date rather than renewing the loan.

We had Indian take-out recently; I arrived a little early and the 2nd-hand book shop was open: Three gems: this one and two others. Emerson et al !!

A good book by one of my favorite authors. A decade ago, a colleage brought back a wonderful reading list from a children’s lit conference in Dublin. DWJ was one of the best finds on the list. I’ve read just about all of it, but own almost none. — We had Indian take-out recently; I arrived a little early and the 2nd-hand book shop was open: Three gems: this one and two others.

It’s a hugely broad summary and Crone carries it off very well. I like it so much that I ordered a copy on half.com. Recommended by my friend Jane.

I read the conclusion and stopped reading. Too much detail in history that isn’t in my main area of interest… It’s tough to keep the Arabic names straight, but Crone writes well and the topic is a good one. Reminds me of Gibbon’s fascination with the contrast between Islam and Christianity.

Durkheim’s ideas are interesting. His books are tedious; I prefer lectures, such as these. Will be starting this when I’ve gotten some other reading out of the way.

Am reading this at work.Recent reads in this category: British Navy and the State in the 18th century (Wilkinson) ; The Wooden Walls (Rodger); The Insatiable Earl; A Life of John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich (Rodger)

Novella – not very long. Aimed at kids 13 and up. Not her best, but still left me wishing for more.
I’ve tried to read everything by Le Guin—started with Earthsea which I read to my son and daughter when they were too young to read.

I’ve put in a request to borrow this. Lorcan Dempsey quotes from this book: “Technologists understand that they must build more stable and unobtrusive media. They must establish more coherent contexts into which the technology may disappear.” And he says, ” Incidentally, the Malcolm McCullough book is one of the most suggestive I have read in a long time.”

Re-read, actually. Short, concise, nicely written; blunt and witty both.