I just got a box from Amazon. Three new books, and each one recommended by a blogger. While I will still continue to read books on craft and other memoirs and poetry, these will be my fun summer reading.
Bough Down, by Karen Green, was recommended by Lynne at Free Penny Press. She encouraged me to purchase this hard cover book because of its beauty and because it is a book that “sinks into our heart, bone’s marrow and lodges back in our minds.” Lynne is right that it’s beautiful with its very special illustrations and prose poems.
The Poet’s Wife told me about Bound Feet and Western Dress, by Pang-Mei Chang, when we were discussing bound feet and literature. She found it fascinating, but said that it had mixed reviews. After checking out those mixed reviews myself, I was intrigued enough to add it to my shopping cart.
During the discussion about science after my post How and Why I Don’t Know Science, a lot of bloggers recommended various books and websites to teach me about science. I ended up purchasing Carl Sagan’s Broca’s Brain, which was recommended by one of my readers. I feel terrible that I can’t remember who recommended it. If you are the one and you read this, please let me know so I can give you the credit! UPDATE: As I’ve mentioned before, I only revise a post when I have new info to add. Now I do. The blogger who recommended the Carl Sagan books was Bay Ridge Writer. I hope you’ll hope on over to his blog and the blogs of the two mentioned above and say hi.
All of the smart bloggers I read contribute to what swirls around inside my brain, much to its betterment. I feel so enriched from reading and discussing in the blogosphere. And that’s a fact. So thank you, all!
I get so excited when I get a box from Amazon! 🙂 Unfortunately, they’ve been coming too often and my book cases are exploding. Happy reading!
I know what you mean! I’ve spent so much this year on memoirs and writing craft books! And my book shelves are looking unhappy. Thanks, Jill!
Enjoy your new books and let us know what you think of them. I’m particularly interested in the one on bound feet. I read Lisa See’s novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan a few years ago. Her descriptions of how women used to bind their feet made my own hurt in sympathy.
Thank you so much :)!. I will let you know when I’m done. I’m thinking I might do a review of all 3 at once . . . or separately. Foot binding is something every woman should know about, I think.
‘Twas I who recommended Sagan’s books after reading your posts. I’m a 7th grade drop out who ran away from home at 13, finding that while education is necessary, learning in the classroom isn’t. Any post on education will catch my attention, but yours struck a chord with me because your science class episode with dissection led you away from science, thus failing you. The very opposite of what a school is supposed to do.
My self-directed education has come primarily from reading and asking questions – lots of questions. One result has been the ability to appreciate the scientific wonders in nearly everything I cast my eyes upon. The seashell I pick up on the beach follows the same mathematical Golden Ratio as the galaxy I see with my telescope that night. The soft golden bioluminescence of the firefly in my garden this evening is producing light more efficiently than the sun which has just disappeared over the horizon in a golden blaze. I could go on, but I hope you go on instead – on to learn by reading these books and sharing your knowledge with the rest of us here.
Thank you so much for your recommendations, Bay Ridge! Out of curiosity, did you ever make up your formal education or are you completely self-taught? I will update my post with your information–so glad you saw this post and let me know it was you. My brain can only keep up with so much hah.
I love your comment “My brain can only keep up with so much” for I feel the same way. (And the amount I can retain seems to diminish with each passing year!)
As to your curiosity: if you look at some of my posts you might read between the lines and determine that the answer is both yes and no. However your question is direct and deserves a direct answer. The answer IS yes and no, not because I’m being obtuse, it’s because of the decisions I made.
At 17 I enlisted in the US Navy. Boot Camp is a very formal education and it’s delivered in a stunningly efficient manor. The motivation to master what is taught is not to get a good grade, it’s to learn how to survive in hostile and dangerous environments. After that I was trained in a variety of arcane skills that don’t have much application in the civilian world, but again the training was very well structured.
Many of the skills I mastered on the taxpayers’ dime were in high demand by corrections and law enforcement agencies. So I went from serving my country to serving my community and received additional training along the way.
Since retiring 15 years ago I’ve run my own consulting firm. We specialize in project management and business processes for IT projects, developing and implementing new technology. This is primarily for government clients in Agencies and Commissions of the Department of Defense, Civilian Homeland Security and the Department of Energy, along with a few commercial clients. To stay competitive, I’ve taken training and become certified by Microsoft, Cisco and other companies, as well as becoming a certified Project Management Professional.
However, outside of this type of job-specific training, my general formal schooling effectively ended in the seventh grade. Thus science, history, english, social studies, algebra (and more advanced mathematical subjects) and so on; things that one would normally learn in high school or college, are things I’ve taught myself by reading and asking questions. Many, many questions.
In this day and age your story is even more unique than it would have been in the 19th century. Truly amazing. Good for you!
By the way, I know all about questions. I get accused of asking way too many!
New books are such a delightful package to open! I am sure that all will be great reading but not familiar with any of them. Glad you have some recommendations, though! I tend to read mysteries and crime novels written by Janet Evanovich or James Patterson, for examples. In the summer these are light reading, but in the winter I like to read deeper historical fiction or books based on historical events. Thanks for your recent comments on my posts!
I love mysteries and crime novels! I’ve been involved in reading genres that fit with my writing in the past two years that I have neglected my mystery reading (boo). I love “cozies,” but then like a good crime novel every now and then. I’m still scarred (and scared) from reading what’s her name’s book about Jack the Ripper a few years ago .. .