From the sublime, to the …

Maybe another time …

This was a lot to listen to, even if it was only 4 CDs. Some of it was seriously negative, and on the verge of being depressing.

Hedges’ point is that any belief can be taken to extremes, with potentially adverse consequences. I haven’t read Hedges’ other writings, but I would be interested in knowing, in concise terms, what he does believe in …

This is fun, edgy stuff. Brings out the rebel in me! ;-)

To boldly go … ;-)

First of all, I want to say I was never all that big on Captain Kirk. I found Jean-Luc Picard much more interesting.

That said, this was worth reading. Shatner talks about the folks creating Boston Legal struggling initially to find the right blend of humor and drama, and I think he has done well with that balance in this autobiography. This is not “deep” literature, though Shatner began as a Shakespearean actor. He also expresses his grief over the loss of his 3rd wife, but the story doesn’t get mired there.

This is a decent summer read, from the outset where Shatner has a, uh, personal moment with Koko the gorilla, to the end, where he calls in to argue with radio hosts who have called him an a**hole. Rapid-fire, never a dull moment.

And the book ends with a question that now has me curious—does he really wear a toupee?

This was read by the author, and it was good. But it would have been so nice if the author’d been able to pronounce “New Orleans”. Aaarrgghh!

THIS is why we do what we do.

Scott Douglas started as a literature-student page (shelvers, in our neck of the woods) in a library in California, and ended up a librarian. He is also a writer, aside from this book, most notably for the McSweeney’s Web site.

Douglas’s experiences typify the public library experience, but are told with a terse, wry humor. Footnotes often appear, either clarifying the text, or providing the author’s personal take on matters. Everything is covered here—MySpace, the homeless, reading programs, office politics.

The difference is the overall conclusion he reaches. Information, computers, and resources are important. But the library is most of all about community, both the people we serve and the people we work with. One of Douglas’s co-workers notes that they are public servants, regardless of who that public might be. Time after time, even after dealing with some really unsavory characters, Douglas finds the humanity in the situation.

And that’s why we’re here.

The first Eloisa James book I read was the third in this series. Unlike most romance novels I’ve read, the author saved the, umm, “romance” to the very end of the book.

Now I understand why. In James’s “Essex Sisters” series, the story’s the thing. There are witty & intelligent conversations, developing relationships between the characters, and a story line that will progress with the series. The books are well-written, light and fun, and I look forward to picking them up again this summer.

I read Mary Doria Russell’s first novel, “Children of God”, and found it a well-written book. So I was pleased to see she had a new title out.

It’s hard to know what to make of this one. True, I was listening to an abridged audiobook. I still found it disjointed, and I’m not really sure what its purpose was.

“Dreamers of the Day” takes place at the end of the 19th century, and follows into about the first 3 decades of the 20th century. The main character, Agnes, is a spinster school teacher held fast under the thumb of her domineering mother. When her mother and siblings die in the 1918 influenza epidemic, Agnes finds herself something of a well-to-do heiress.

The most interesting portion of the book takes place when she travels to Egypt in 1921, where she encounters Winston Churchill, Gertrude Bell, and T.E. Lawrence, who have gathered to help re-define the lands and countries of the Middle East. Agnes also has her first serious relationship with a married German man who is also a spy. Much is said or implied here about the decisions made regarding the Middle East and its peoples, for good or for ill.

The final section of the book was actually the most confusing for me. Following her Egyptian trip Agnes returns to the U.S.; becomes a middle-aged flapper; loses all her money in the stock market crash; ends her years as a school librarian, and finally dies. The story, we discover, has been told by Agnes from the afterlife, which she is sharing with the likes of Francis of Assisi, George McClellan, and Napoleon Bonaparte. They converse variously on the hope for and depravity of mankind.

Russell had such a good narrative in the Egyptian sequence. It was just, well, interesting. The book ends rather ambivalently. Is this a good piece of fiction, or a morality tale? I picked up a lot of history I’d never encountered before, which I like. I’m just not sure why she ended it this way.

Jimmy Carter does his best writing when his subjects are home and family. This is a great tribute to a fascinating lady, and I was left wanting to know a lot more about her. It would have been great to read her autobiography.

This was a nice, diverting book. It covered a lot of musical and theater history I knew little about.

Miss Andrews writes with the easy graciousness that matches her public persona. Though her early years were difficult, she exhibits no malice or bitterness. She seems as simply awed with her life’s experiences as I was.