"Fritz Haber- a Nobel laureate in chemistry, a friend of Albert Einstein, a German Jew and World War I hero- may be the most important scientist you have never heard of. The Haber-Bosch process, which he invented at the turn of the twentieth century, revolutionized agriculture by converting nitrogen to fertilizer in quantities massive enough to feed the whole world. The invention has become an essential pillar for life on earth; some two billion people on our planet could not survive without it. Yet this same process supplied the German military with explosives during World War I, and Haber orchestrated Germany's use of an entirely new weapon- poison gas. Eventually, Haber's efforts led to Zyklon B, the gas later used to kill millions- including Haber's own relatives- in Nazi concentration camps."
Talk about truth being stranger than fiction....
Master Mind: The Rise and Fall of Fritz Haber,The Nobel Laureate Who Launched the Age of Chemical Warfare, by Daniel Charles (HC, 2005, $3.50)
Look for this in the biog. section, avail. 2/3.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman ***SOLD***
A Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman, by Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Dryden USAF (Retired) (HC with DJ, fine condition both, autographed, 1997, $20, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
This one is from my own collection. I remember going downtown one summer to meet the pilot. It took a bit of walking around till I found the place where he was signing books, but, oh, it was worth it.
I had first learned of the 99th from a HBO movie. Of course Dad knew all about the 99th. He never failed to amaze me. Whenever I would find out something new about WW II, I would call him, and he would always know more about it than I did, even though I had just read up on it. I don't know why I was surprised. He was, after all, a historian.
I hear there is a new movie out about the 99th. It is supposed to be based on truth, but this book IS the truth. Come and celebrate an amazing group of men, who served under the amazing General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr..
I am not in awe of many people, but I am in awe of these.
Look for this book in the biog. section, avail. 2/3.
This one is from my own collection. I remember going downtown one summer to meet the pilot. It took a bit of walking around till I found the place where he was signing books, but, oh, it was worth it.
I had first learned of the 99th from a HBO movie. Of course Dad knew all about the 99th. He never failed to amaze me. Whenever I would find out something new about WW II, I would call him, and he would always know more about it than I did, even though I had just read up on it. I don't know why I was surprised. He was, after all, a historian.
I hear there is a new movie out about the 99th. It is supposed to be based on truth, but this book IS the truth. Come and celebrate an amazing group of men, who served under the amazing General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr..
I am not in awe of many people, but I am in awe of these.
Look for this book in the biog. section, avail. 2/3.
Historical Atlas (1956) ***SOLD***
Historical Atlas, by William R. Shepherd (HC, ex-lib., $5)
"Eighth Edition, 1956- This edition contains all maps of the Seventh Revised and Enlarged Edition and a special supplement of historical maps for the period since 1929 prepared by C. S. Hammond and Company."
Beautiful colored maps, some of them double fold-outs.
Look for this book in the reference section. (Note the "Sole Distributors" of this atlas were a tiny little company called Barnes and Noble, Inc.) Avail. 2/3.
"Eighth Edition, 1956- This edition contains all maps of the Seventh Revised and Enlarged Edition and a special supplement of historical maps for the period since 1929 prepared by C. S. Hammond and Company."
Beautiful colored maps, some of them double fold-outs.
Look for this book in the reference section. (Note the "Sole Distributors" of this atlas were a tiny little company called Barnes and Noble, Inc.) Avail. 2/3.
Francis Dahl's Boston (1946)
Francis W. Dahl was a cartoonist for the Boston Herold, starting in 1930.
Dahl's Boston (HC, 1946, $4, which is 1/3 the internet price)
What! More Dahl? (HC, 1944, $2.50)
Dahl's Boston (HC, 1946, $4, which is 1/3 the internet price)
What! More Dahl? (HC, 1944, $2.50)
Ogden Nash Poems
Many Long Years Ago (HC, 1945, $1, as is)
Good Intentions (HC, 1942, $2)
The Private Dining Room (HC with DJ, 1953, $4.50, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
To My Valentine (From Good Intentions)
More than a catbird hates a cat,
Or a criminal hates a clue,
Or the Axis hates the United States,
That 's how much I love you.
I love you more than a duck can swim,
And more than a grapefruit squirts,
I love you more than gin rummy is a bore,
And more than a toothache hurts.
As a shipwrecked sailor hates the sea,
Or a juggler hates a shove,
As a hostess detests unexpected guests,
That's how much you I love...
Good Intentions (HC, 1942, $2)
The Private Dining Room (HC with DJ, 1953, $4.50, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
To My Valentine (From Good Intentions)
More than a catbird hates a cat,
Or a criminal hates a clue,
Or the Axis hates the United States,
That 's how much I love you.
I love you more than a duck can swim,
And more than a grapefruit squirts,
I love you more than gin rummy is a bore,
And more than a toothache hurts.
As a shipwrecked sailor hates the sea,
Or a juggler hates a shove,
As a hostess detests unexpected guests,
That's how much you I love...
Not Ben Hur!
The Prince of India, or Why Constantine Fell, by Lew Wallace (two HC volumes, 1893, weak spines, $4 for the set of two)
How many of you know the story of Ben Hur? Long Before Charles Heston played him, the novel was a smash,
but this book is not Ben Hur, just by the same author.
Wallace was a lawyer, a Union General, and the Governor of the New Mexico Territory. Ben Hur, published in 1873, was his second novel. I was amazed to find out that it was Wallace, while governor, that supposedly offered Billy the Kid a pardon in exchange for his services as an informant against leaders of the Lincoln County War. Wallace's superiors, it is rumoured, nixed the plan, and Billy went back to his outlaw ways.
Ben Hur has always fascinated me. The 1950s movie was directed by William Wyler. Amazingly he had been one of 30 assistant directors of the 1925 film, and the one to direct its chariot race. The story goes that he only wanted to direct the new chariot scene, but was told he could only do that if he would direct the whole film. This might be true, but I am sure the $350,000 (the highest salary for a director at that time) and 8% of the film's gross had something to do with his acceptance.
What does ANY of this have to do with The Prince of India? Not a thing. I have actually read the first volume and it stinks. But feel free to check it out for yourself. Look for these volumes in the fiction section. (I refuse to shelve it with the classics, even if Ben Hur probably should be.)
How many of you know the story of Ben Hur? Long Before Charles Heston played him, the novel was a smash,
but this book is not Ben Hur, just by the same author.
Wallace was a lawyer, a Union General, and the Governor of the New Mexico Territory. Ben Hur, published in 1873, was his second novel. I was amazed to find out that it was Wallace, while governor, that supposedly offered Billy the Kid a pardon in exchange for his services as an informant against leaders of the Lincoln County War. Wallace's superiors, it is rumoured, nixed the plan, and Billy went back to his outlaw ways.
Ben Hur has always fascinated me. The 1950s movie was directed by William Wyler. Amazingly he had been one of 30 assistant directors of the 1925 film, and the one to direct its chariot race. The story goes that he only wanted to direct the new chariot scene, but was told he could only do that if he would direct the whole film. This might be true, but I am sure the $350,000 (the highest salary for a director at that time) and 8% of the film's gross had something to do with his acceptance.
What does ANY of this have to do with The Prince of India? Not a thing. I have actually read the first volume and it stinks. But feel free to check it out for yourself. Look for these volumes in the fiction section. (I refuse to shelve it with the classics, even if Ben Hur probably should be.)
Fairy Tale Illustrations by Arthur Szyk
Actually this book is not about Arthur Szyk's color illustrations, but it should be. I am sure the translation is great, but it is the illustrations that amaze me. There are ten color ones, and many more black and white ones. I would NEVER suggest buying a book to remove the prints for framing, but IF I did, this would be the book. How did the colors stay so vibrant?
Andersen's Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen (HC, 1945, $3.50, which is 1/3 the internet price)
These prints were so beautiful I had to check out this artist. As I thought, he was special. His works had been exhibited all over Europe, the US, and Israel. He was most well know for his caricatures of Axis leaders. Per Wikipedia, his work "is characterized in its formal aspect by its rejection of modernism and drawing on the traditions of medieval and renaissance painting, especially illuminated manuscripts from those periods. Unlike most caricaturists, Szyk always showed great attention to the colouristic effects and details of his works." His art was rediscovered in the 1990s.
If you like these prints, you should see his full page illuminated manuscript ones!
Look for this wondrous book in the children's section. And enjoy!
Andersen's Fairy Tales, by Hans Christian Andersen (HC, 1945, $3.50, which is 1/3 the internet price)
These prints were so beautiful I had to check out this artist. As I thought, he was special. His works had been exhibited all over Europe, the US, and Israel. He was most well know for his caricatures of Axis leaders. Per Wikipedia, his work "is characterized in its formal aspect by its rejection of modernism and drawing on the traditions of medieval and renaissance painting, especially illuminated manuscripts from those periods. Unlike most caricaturists, Szyk always showed great attention to the colouristic effects and details of his works." His art was rediscovered in the 1990s.
If you like these prints, you should see his full page illuminated manuscript ones!
Look for this wondrous book in the children's section. And enjoy!
Philippino Rice Peasant Movement
Struggle: A Life in the Peasant Movement, by Felicisimo "Ka Memong" G. Patayan (TPB, 1998, $2)
In 1998 Ka Memong was 85, and still fighting to help the small farmers of the Philippines gain control over their lives, and their farming. He headed the organization MASIPAG, a partnership between scientists and rice farmers. These peasants needed, not just new technology, but better education and scientific information on food systems. MASIPAG also worked to break the powers of both international and local rice cartels.
Look for this book in the Philippine section, avail. 2/1.
In 1998 Ka Memong was 85, and still fighting to help the small farmers of the Philippines gain control over their lives, and their farming. He headed the organization MASIPAG, a partnership between scientists and rice farmers. These peasants needed, not just new technology, but better education and scientific information on food systems. MASIPAG also worked to break the powers of both international and local rice cartels.
Look for this book in the Philippine section, avail. 2/1.
Slesinger, Marxism and Education (1937)
Education and the Class Struggle: A Critical Examination of the Liberal Educator's Program for Social Reconstruction, by Zalman Slesinger (HC, spine is loose, $4, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Slesinger did not lack courage. This doctoral dissertation needed approval from the very people his dissertation attacked. Slesinger even asked one of them, William Kilpatrick, to write the introduction. Amazingly he agreed, and asked the reader to make an honest study of the book's points, because, "This path of obedience to intelligent study is the only reliable road all know. May all have the wisdom to search out and follow this way. Nothing else is safe." (Am I crazy to think no one would now be this generous?)
Slesinger's theories are pure Marxism- The way out of the depression is through "collectivism, economic, political and cultural." Democracy, and legal measures will not solve anything. ("Democratic liberty is the result of the repudiation of democratic methods.") Force, perhaps even violence, will be necessary. Key will be the organization and radicalization of labor, of the unemployed, of farmers, of the middle class, of the intellectuals, and of students and youth. A revolutionary ideology must be developed for them to have faith in, and to follow.
In particular, "the school system must be itself revolutionized... We are now at the crossroads, sharply turning to the right or to the left. We must choose the direction which we are to take. Fascism is to the right and collectivism is to the left... The interests of civilization and of the masses are on the left."
Well, as I said earlier, he was of the Marxist faith. Look for this book in the philosophy section, avail. 2/1.
PS: I sure can't wait to tell my Ohio farming cousins that Marxism is the solution to all their problems!
Slesinger did not lack courage. This doctoral dissertation needed approval from the very people his dissertation attacked. Slesinger even asked one of them, William Kilpatrick, to write the introduction. Amazingly he agreed, and asked the reader to make an honest study of the book's points, because, "This path of obedience to intelligent study is the only reliable road all know. May all have the wisdom to search out and follow this way. Nothing else is safe." (Am I crazy to think no one would now be this generous?)
Slesinger's theories are pure Marxism- The way out of the depression is through "collectivism, economic, political and cultural." Democracy, and legal measures will not solve anything. ("Democratic liberty is the result of the repudiation of democratic methods.") Force, perhaps even violence, will be necessary. Key will be the organization and radicalization of labor, of the unemployed, of farmers, of the middle class, of the intellectuals, and of students and youth. A revolutionary ideology must be developed for them to have faith in, and to follow.
In particular, "the school system must be itself revolutionized... We are now at the crossroads, sharply turning to the right or to the left. We must choose the direction which we are to take. Fascism is to the right and collectivism is to the left... The interests of civilization and of the masses are on the left."
Well, as I said earlier, he was of the Marxist faith. Look for this book in the philosophy section, avail. 2/1.
PS: I sure can't wait to tell my Ohio farming cousins that Marxism is the solution to all their problems!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Reasons to Abolish the IMF
10 Reasons to Abolish the IMF and World Bank, by Kevin Danaher (PB, 2001, $1.50)
What a difference 10 years makes. Now no one is asking that the IMF be abolished. Indeed, many in the world want to enlarge the IMF as a way to deal with the European mess. There are other ironies here. Many third world countries are doing better economically than the developed ones.Their economies have become more diversified, and their balance sheets look better. Some of them are even having their credit ratings increased, while many countries in Europe, as well as the USA, have been downgraded.
This doesn't mean that the points of this book are inaccurate, just that the world's needs are more pressing. But when will it be a good time to look at the problems with the IMF? Ah.... Isn't that the question.
The IMF ,though, had listened to its critics. The IMF requirement for assistance had loosened somewhat, and it had taken a more consulting role, or at least it did until Greece "happened". As always, time will tell. Look for this book in the economics section, avail. 2/1.
What a difference 10 years makes. Now no one is asking that the IMF be abolished. Indeed, many in the world want to enlarge the IMF as a way to deal with the European mess. There are other ironies here. Many third world countries are doing better economically than the developed ones.Their economies have become more diversified, and their balance sheets look better. Some of them are even having their credit ratings increased, while many countries in Europe, as well as the USA, have been downgraded.
This doesn't mean that the points of this book are inaccurate, just that the world's needs are more pressing. But when will it be a good time to look at the problems with the IMF? Ah.... Isn't that the question.
The IMF ,though, had listened to its critics. The IMF requirement for assistance had loosened somewhat, and it had taken a more consulting role, or at least it did until Greece "happened". As always, time will tell. Look for this book in the economics section, avail. 2/1.
The Craig Mound, Oklahoma (2011)
Artifacts from the Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma, by April K. Sievert (oversized TPB, published by the Smithsonian Institute, 228 pages, $7, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
The Mississippian prehistoric culture built earthen mound burials from AD 900 till 1450. Mound construction ceased when the Miss. chiefdom culture declined due to either environmental change, or with the ceasing of trade with cultures to the east.
Whites discovered the mounds in 1916, and an Oklahoma Historical Society historian did the first excavations. The owners of the land allowed no one else onto the site until 1933, when they leased it to six men. Anthropologists found out what the "miners" were up to, and got the state legislature to stop them. The miners decided to go ahead anyway, using tunnels as a way to reach the artifacts more quickly. Relic dealers arrived in droves to buy anything from the "King Tut Tomb in the Arkansas Valley". To add to their sins, the miners dynamited the tunnels after they were done.
The next people to dig at Craig Mound were members of the WPA. Then the site was again ignored until the 1960s when it was slated to be used as a dump site for dam construction rubble. Anthropologists protested, and the state leased the land.
Many of the artifacts, though, were already gone, or destroyed earlier by the looting. Dealers had sold the loot to collectors, who later turned around and started either selling or gifting their collections to the Smithsonian. Hmmm... This presented an ethical problem. Should the Smithsonian accept the artifacts, or not? To accept them meant accepting stolen property. To not accept them meant the public would never see them. Being practical, the Smithsonian said yes. Then the problem was what to do with the objects that came without information on where they had been found, or what else had been located with them. Luckily the looters had left behind many less intact items, so it was possible to put together some information.
This is not just a problem of the past. Where ever relics are found, looters are never far behind, and few sites can be continuously protected. We can only be grateful for the honesty of the British farmer who notified officials that he had found amazing stuff in his field.
This is an amazing book, with detailed photos, drawings and descriptions, along with a catalog summary, of the items in the Smithsonian collection. (I was truly surprised by the number of engraved conch shells! I was disappointed that there were very few figures, but there were a lot of ear spools. So much for the young's assumption that the newest fad is really the newest thing.)
You can find this book in the new NF section, avail. 2/1. (Eventually: archaeol.)
The Mississippian prehistoric culture built earthen mound burials from AD 900 till 1450. Mound construction ceased when the Miss. chiefdom culture declined due to either environmental change, or with the ceasing of trade with cultures to the east.
Whites discovered the mounds in 1916, and an Oklahoma Historical Society historian did the first excavations. The owners of the land allowed no one else onto the site until 1933, when they leased it to six men. Anthropologists found out what the "miners" were up to, and got the state legislature to stop them. The miners decided to go ahead anyway, using tunnels as a way to reach the artifacts more quickly. Relic dealers arrived in droves to buy anything from the "King Tut Tomb in the Arkansas Valley". To add to their sins, the miners dynamited the tunnels after they were done.
The next people to dig at Craig Mound were members of the WPA. Then the site was again ignored until the 1960s when it was slated to be used as a dump site for dam construction rubble. Anthropologists protested, and the state leased the land.
Many of the artifacts, though, were already gone, or destroyed earlier by the looting. Dealers had sold the loot to collectors, who later turned around and started either selling or gifting their collections to the Smithsonian. Hmmm... This presented an ethical problem. Should the Smithsonian accept the artifacts, or not? To accept them meant accepting stolen property. To not accept them meant the public would never see them. Being practical, the Smithsonian said yes. Then the problem was what to do with the objects that came without information on where they had been found, or what else had been located with them. Luckily the looters had left behind many less intact items, so it was possible to put together some information.
This is not just a problem of the past. Where ever relics are found, looters are never far behind, and few sites can be continuously protected. We can only be grateful for the honesty of the British farmer who notified officials that he had found amazing stuff in his field.
This is an amazing book, with detailed photos, drawings and descriptions, along with a catalog summary, of the items in the Smithsonian collection. (I was truly surprised by the number of engraved conch shells! I was disappointed that there were very few figures, but there were a lot of ear spools. So much for the young's assumption that the newest fad is really the newest thing.)
You can find this book in the new NF section, avail. 2/1. (Eventually: archaeol.)
Noah's Ark, Pitched and Parked
Noah's Ark: Pitched and Parked (Noah pitched it, God parked it to preserve it for posterity.), by Nathan M. Meyer (TPB, autographed, 1977, $2)
Don't you just love this title! According to Meyer, God had Noah cover the Ark's wood with pitch, both on the outside and on the inside, so that it would stay preserved through the ages. God then parked the Ark on Mt. Ararat where it will be discovered when God decides it is the proper time.
Two of the pieces of evidence for the Ark being on Ararat are the rock salt crystals found at 13,500 feet, and the 50 tons of timber that were found at just about the same site. Plus there are those 29 recorded sitings the Ark.
Coming from my liberal background this is all hard for me to believe, but that may be just because of my liberal bias. Meyer does present a well thought out case. Read it and decide what you think. Look for this book in the religious section, avail. 2/1.
Don't you just love this title! According to Meyer, God had Noah cover the Ark's wood with pitch, both on the outside and on the inside, so that it would stay preserved through the ages. God then parked the Ark on Mt. Ararat where it will be discovered when God decides it is the proper time.
Two of the pieces of evidence for the Ark being on Ararat are the rock salt crystals found at 13,500 feet, and the 50 tons of timber that were found at just about the same site. Plus there are those 29 recorded sitings the Ark.
Coming from my liberal background this is all hard for me to believe, but that may be just because of my liberal bias. Meyer does present a well thought out case. Read it and decide what you think. Look for this book in the religious section, avail. 2/1.
Bible Puppet Plays
Bible Puppet Plays, by Ewart A. Autry (TPB, 1972, $1.75)
Puppet shows to tell Bible stories! I would have loved that when I was younger... and maybe still would. There is even a script for telling the story of Ruth, one of my favorite books. Look for this in the religion section, avail. 2/1.
Puppet shows to tell Bible stories! I would have loved that when I was younger... and maybe still would. There is even a script for telling the story of Ruth, one of my favorite books. Look for this in the religion section, avail. 2/1.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Modern Chinese Literature
The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, by Joseph S. M. Lau (HC, 726 pages, 1995, $3.50)
At the beginning of the twentieth century China had seen better days. It had lost the Opium Wars of 1842. The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 had failed. Thus, most Chinese also saw their culture as having failed. Lau considers modern Chinese literature to have started in the 1920s. Writers then could write their own interpretation of their situation, and they didn't spare the self-criticism.
When Mao came to power, literature was suddenly only allowed for propaganda purposes. Alternative writing could only take place in Taiwan. But in the post-Mao era, Chinese writers "have entered a brave new world of narrative possibilities that enables them to circumvent political taboos and illuminate the realities of China through forms and techniques as diverse as parable, farce, modernism, avant-gardism, and, more recently, magical realism."
Included here are examples of fiction, poetry and essays. Drama has been excluded due to lack of the space to do it justice. Look for this book in the literature section.
At the beginning of the twentieth century China had seen better days. It had lost the Opium Wars of 1842. The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 had failed. Thus, most Chinese also saw their culture as having failed. Lau considers modern Chinese literature to have started in the 1920s. Writers then could write their own interpretation of their situation, and they didn't spare the self-criticism.
When Mao came to power, literature was suddenly only allowed for propaganda purposes. Alternative writing could only take place in Taiwan. But in the post-Mao era, Chinese writers "have entered a brave new world of narrative possibilities that enables them to circumvent political taboos and illuminate the realities of China through forms and techniques as diverse as parable, farce, modernism, avant-gardism, and, more recently, magical realism."
Included here are examples of fiction, poetry and essays. Drama has been excluded due to lack of the space to do it justice. Look for this book in the literature section.
History of the Caribbean
From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean, 1492-1969, by Eric Williams (HC, 1970, 576 pages, $3)
This is an ex-lib. book, but you would hardly know it. Writing in 1969. Williams wishes to promote economic integration and political independence in the Caribbean. (He mostly excludes Puerto Rico because he feels it will soon gain statehood.)
"Once all the vestiges of political, economic, cultural and psychological dependence and of racism have been removed from the Caribbean, then and only then can the Caribbean take its true place in Latin America and the New World and put an end to the international wars and inter-regional squabbles which, from Columbus to Castro, have marked the disposition of Adam's will."
(Oh, do I wish it was that easy.)
This is an ex-lib. book, but you would hardly know it. Writing in 1969. Williams wishes to promote economic integration and political independence in the Caribbean. (He mostly excludes Puerto Rico because he feels it will soon gain statehood.)
"Once all the vestiges of political, economic, cultural and psychological dependence and of racism have been removed from the Caribbean, then and only then can the Caribbean take its true place in Latin America and the New World and put an end to the international wars and inter-regional squabbles which, from Columbus to Castro, have marked the disposition of Adam's will."
(Oh, do I wish it was that easy.)
Understanding American Judaism
Understanding American Judaism: Toward the Description of a Modern Religion (Two Volumes), edited by Jacob Neusner (TPB, 1975, two volumes for $4)
Volume One: The Rabbi and the Synagogue
Volume Two: Sectors of American Judaism-
Reform, Orthodoxy, Conservatism, and Reconstuctionism
Reconstructionism? I had never heard of that one before, probably because it is new, very small, elitist and American. As it is described here, "Among themselves, Reconstructionists are not in complete agreement on matters of ideology and belief. All do agree that Modecai Kaplan is the founder of Reconstructionism and that his writings provide the major outline of the Reconstructionist ideology and progress." (So if I don't get it, I am not the only one.)
Look for this two book set in the religion section.
Volume One: The Rabbi and the Synagogue
Volume Two: Sectors of American Judaism-
Reform, Orthodoxy, Conservatism, and Reconstuctionism
Reconstructionism? I had never heard of that one before, probably because it is new, very small, elitist and American. As it is described here, "Among themselves, Reconstructionists are not in complete agreement on matters of ideology and belief. All do agree that Modecai Kaplan is the founder of Reconstructionism and that his writings provide the major outline of the Reconstructionist ideology and progress." (So if I don't get it, I am not the only one.)
Look for this two book set in the religion section.
Martial Arts
The Ultimate Book of Martial Arts: A Step-by-step Practical Guide- Tae Kwondo, Karate, Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, Judo, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Kendo, Iaido, Shinto Ryu, by Fay Goodman (oversized TPB, 2005, 256 pages, $3)
Nice book, with step by step instructions and large photos to describe the various techniques. Also described are each martial arts' history and philosophy, clothing and equipment, and etiquette.
OK, I must admit I was drawn to the section on Kung Fu, as memories of David Carridine and grasshoppers flashed through my brain. According to this book the TV show hero may have been using the type of kung fu called mok-gar. Legend has it that it was originaly developed by a midget in a Chinese monastery.
Wing chun kung fu was developed later, about 1700. According to legend, the Manchurian Emperor feared the power of a Honan province monastery, and sent his army to destroy it. The monastery was burned, but some of the monastery leaders escaped. An abbess, Ng Mei, was a master of kung fu, and developed the wing chun system. It was a matter of survival. The traditional kung fu needed years to master, was practiced in large open spaces, and relied on flexibility, and muscular and bone strength. Ng Mei had little time to train her students, and their fighting would be done in confined spaces. She started to develop " a system based on the principle of winning at all costs, by using speed and subtlety to overcome an opponent's natural advantages... The emphasis lay in sudden contraction and relaxation... causing the practitioner to explode into action, using natural weapons such as finger jabs to the eyes, elbow strikes to the face and the powerful use of knees and feet to an opponent's lower body."
Way to go, girl! Look for this book in the martial arts section of sports.
Nice book, with step by step instructions and large photos to describe the various techniques. Also described are each martial arts' history and philosophy, clothing and equipment, and etiquette.
OK, I must admit I was drawn to the section on Kung Fu, as memories of David Carridine and grasshoppers flashed through my brain. According to this book the TV show hero may have been using the type of kung fu called mok-gar. Legend has it that it was originaly developed by a midget in a Chinese monastery.
Wing chun kung fu was developed later, about 1700. According to legend, the Manchurian Emperor feared the power of a Honan province monastery, and sent his army to destroy it. The monastery was burned, but some of the monastery leaders escaped. An abbess, Ng Mei, was a master of kung fu, and developed the wing chun system. It was a matter of survival. The traditional kung fu needed years to master, was practiced in large open spaces, and relied on flexibility, and muscular and bone strength. Ng Mei had little time to train her students, and their fighting would be done in confined spaces. She started to develop " a system based on the principle of winning at all costs, by using speed and subtlety to overcome an opponent's natural advantages... The emphasis lay in sudden contraction and relaxation... causing the practitioner to explode into action, using natural weapons such as finger jabs to the eyes, elbow strikes to the face and the powerful use of knees and feet to an opponent's lower body."
Way to go, girl! Look for this book in the martial arts section of sports.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Harvey O'Connor, American radical journalist
Revolution in Seattle: A Memoir, by Harvey O'Connor (HB, 1964, $3)
O'Connor was an American radical journalist, newspaper editor and political activist. In 1914 he went to work in the logging camps, and became active in the Industrial Workers of the World, a union that believed in the overthrow of capitalism, to be replaced with a government led by industrial workers. He wrote,"The experience I gained in the logging camps and on the skid roads burned into my mind the abysmal cruelties and inanities of capitalism. Not all the subsequent public relations hog-wash and security sops have altered my opposition to a system based on exploiting man and profiting from his massacre in war."
He helped organize the 1919 General Strike in Seattle, for which he was arrested for criminal anarchy, but never tried. Needless to say in 1954 Senator McCarthy considered him a threat. O'Connor was indicted and convicted of contempt by the House Un-American Activities Committee, but the US Court of Appeals would overturn his conviction. (He would later become the chairman of the Committee to Abolish the HUAC!) In 1964 he wrote this memoir. He would die in 1987.
Look for this book in the bio. section, avail. 2/1.
O'Connor was an American radical journalist, newspaper editor and political activist. In 1914 he went to work in the logging camps, and became active in the Industrial Workers of the World, a union that believed in the overthrow of capitalism, to be replaced with a government led by industrial workers. He wrote,"The experience I gained in the logging camps and on the skid roads burned into my mind the abysmal cruelties and inanities of capitalism. Not all the subsequent public relations hog-wash and security sops have altered my opposition to a system based on exploiting man and profiting from his massacre in war."
He helped organize the 1919 General Strike in Seattle, for which he was arrested for criminal anarchy, but never tried. Needless to say in 1954 Senator McCarthy considered him a threat. O'Connor was indicted and convicted of contempt by the House Un-American Activities Committee, but the US Court of Appeals would overturn his conviction. (He would later become the chairman of the Committee to Abolish the HUAC!) In 1964 he wrote this memoir. He would die in 1987.
Look for this book in the bio. section, avail. 2/1.
Leisure Time in America (1880-1920)
Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-century New York, by Kathy Peiss (TPB, 1986, $2)
Eight Hours For What We Will: Workers and Leisure in an Industrial City, 1870-1920, by Roy Rosenzweig (TPB, 1991, $2)
(The industrial city studied is Worcester, Mass.)
Dance halls, amusement parks, movie theaters, concert halls and saloons... all became popular places to spend leisure time. After 8 hour days came into being, people had the time to ponder how they wanted to spend those extra hours, and businesses had the time to figure out how to make money off all those people with extra time on their hands. But were these leisure activities moral? If so, for whom were they moral- for men only, for married women only? Who decided what was right, and what the consequences were for people who stepped outside society's norms?
Women began to vote, and felt more powerful, while many men working in factories felt less powerful. And what of the immigrants? Black Americans? Mothers with large families? What were the differences between middle and working class leisure? Learn the answers here. Look for these books in the sociology section, avail. 2/1.
Eight Hours For What We Will: Workers and Leisure in an Industrial City, 1870-1920, by Roy Rosenzweig (TPB, 1991, $2)
(The industrial city studied is Worcester, Mass.)
Dance halls, amusement parks, movie theaters, concert halls and saloons... all became popular places to spend leisure time. After 8 hour days came into being, people had the time to ponder how they wanted to spend those extra hours, and businesses had the time to figure out how to make money off all those people with extra time on their hands. But were these leisure activities moral? If so, for whom were they moral- for men only, for married women only? Who decided what was right, and what the consequences were for people who stepped outside society's norms?
Women began to vote, and felt more powerful, while many men working in factories felt less powerful. And what of the immigrants? Black Americans? Mothers with large families? What were the differences between middle and working class leisure? Learn the answers here. Look for these books in the sociology section, avail. 2/1.
Robert W. Service's WWI Verse
Rhymes of a Red Cross Man, by Robert W. Service (soft cover, leather?, 1916, $5)
(Written on the first page in pencil is the following: "Heavenly Rest, 46th Street and 5th Ave, 11 AM, Father Huntington to preach.) (Wow, if that doesn't make your hair stand up!)
Has anyone ever heard of Robert Service? Certainly not me. I picked this book because of the "Red Cross Man" in the title. It turns out that Service was actually famous. His Songs of a Sourdough alone sold over 3 million copies.
Service was hired by a bank to go to the Yukon territory ten years after the gold rush. He lived there, listening to the stories of the miners, and writing verse. His poetry earned him the name "Bard of the Yukon". His sod home still exists as a tourist stop.
He was 41 when WWI started, so he tried to enlist, but was refused due to varicose veins, but also maybe because he was 41? Instead he became an ambulance driver and stretcher bearer with the Ambulance Corps of the Red Cross. Rhymes are his poems from that awful time. After the war, he traveled around Europe, till the beginning of WWII, when he fled to Canada. The Nazis were searching for him, as they didn't appreciate his humorous verses about Hitler. (Neither did Stalin like the verses Service wrote about him!) He would continue to write until his death in 1958. Look for this book in the poetry section, avail. 2/1.
(Written on the first page in pencil is the following: "Heavenly Rest, 46th Street and 5th Ave, 11 AM, Father Huntington to preach.) (Wow, if that doesn't make your hair stand up!)
Has anyone ever heard of Robert Service? Certainly not me. I picked this book because of the "Red Cross Man" in the title. It turns out that Service was actually famous. His Songs of a Sourdough alone sold over 3 million copies.
Service was hired by a bank to go to the Yukon territory ten years after the gold rush. He lived there, listening to the stories of the miners, and writing verse. His poetry earned him the name "Bard of the Yukon". His sod home still exists as a tourist stop.
He was 41 when WWI started, so he tried to enlist, but was refused due to varicose veins, but also maybe because he was 41? Instead he became an ambulance driver and stretcher bearer with the Ambulance Corps of the Red Cross. Rhymes are his poems from that awful time. After the war, he traveled around Europe, till the beginning of WWII, when he fled to Canada. The Nazis were searching for him, as they didn't appreciate his humorous verses about Hitler. (Neither did Stalin like the verses Service wrote about him!) He would continue to write until his death in 1958. Look for this book in the poetry section, avail. 2/1.
Sermons in LA After the 1992 Riots
Almost 20 years ago a jury acquitted four white police officers of the brutal beating of Rodney King. Angry crowds turned violent, and for two days LA burned. Frightened citizens went to places of worship to hear words of "hope and healing". Included here are the messages they heard. The speakers are "black, white, Hispanic, Asian, male, female, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Buddhist. Their backgrounds and their witnesses are different, but all spoke with one intent: to find embers of hope in the ashes of LA."
Dreams on Fire, Embers of Hope: From the Pulpits of Los Angeles After the Riots, edited by Ignacio Castuera (TPB, 1992, $1.75)
Dreams on Fire, Embers of Hope: From the Pulpits of Los Angeles After the Riots, edited by Ignacio Castuera (TPB, 1992, $1.75)
Radical Reform in Kerala, India
Kerala: Radical Reform as Development in an Indian State, by Richard W. Franke (TPB, 1994, $1.75)
In 1957 the citizens of Kerala democratically elected a reformist Communist government. As I skimmed this book, written in 1994, I wondered if things had worked out the way they hoped, and actually they had! They now have a literacy rate of 94%, a life expectancy of 74 years, and a poverty rate of only 10%! (Poverty rates in 1957 had been a wopping 69%!) Strangely unemployment and per capita income have not improved much.
The most radical of reforms had to do with land reform. The size of rice land-holdings was capped. Excess land was redistributed to the landless, with the prior owners receiving some compensation. Taxes on the large land holders were collected and redistributed to the poor. Rented land became the property of its former tenants. Or at least that was what was supposed to happen. In actuality most change came about from the transfer of rented land to former tenants.
Franke discusses the stereotype of third world Communists as being "outside agents of the Soviet Union or some other antagonistic power", or as "corrupt puppets engaging in an international conspiracy against more 'democratic" regimes." It would sure seem that even if they were communist, this government got things done. Taking the poverty rate from 69% to 10%! It is interesting that the current government is not communist, but that the reforms are still in place.
Of course there are unique aspects of the Kerala area, including its natural beauty, which means much of its economy is now related to tourism. Still, this land redistribution did bring about a lot of changes. Was this tried anywhere else, and if so with what success? As Capitalists, what do we think of all this?
Look for this book in the Indian history section, avail. 2/1.
In 1957 the citizens of Kerala democratically elected a reformist Communist government. As I skimmed this book, written in 1994, I wondered if things had worked out the way they hoped, and actually they had! They now have a literacy rate of 94%, a life expectancy of 74 years, and a poverty rate of only 10%! (Poverty rates in 1957 had been a wopping 69%!) Strangely unemployment and per capita income have not improved much.
The most radical of reforms had to do with land reform. The size of rice land-holdings was capped. Excess land was redistributed to the landless, with the prior owners receiving some compensation. Taxes on the large land holders were collected and redistributed to the poor. Rented land became the property of its former tenants. Or at least that was what was supposed to happen. In actuality most change came about from the transfer of rented land to former tenants.
Franke discusses the stereotype of third world Communists as being "outside agents of the Soviet Union or some other antagonistic power", or as "corrupt puppets engaging in an international conspiracy against more 'democratic" regimes." It would sure seem that even if they were communist, this government got things done. Taking the poverty rate from 69% to 10%! It is interesting that the current government is not communist, but that the reforms are still in place.
Of course there are unique aspects of the Kerala area, including its natural beauty, which means much of its economy is now related to tourism. Still, this land redistribution did bring about a lot of changes. Was this tried anywhere else, and if so with what success? As Capitalists, what do we think of all this?
Look for this book in the Indian history section, avail. 2/1.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Modern Fishing Tackle (1961)
Modern Fishing Tackle, by Vlad Evanoff (HC, $2.50)
None of this stuff means anything to me. I only went fishing once, and then I only managed to hook a tree trunk. I am proud to say that I was much better at cleaning fish than I was at catching them, although one of the "dead" fish did manage to bite my finger! Well, my hosts had told me to stick my finger in its mouth! They said nothing about checking to see if it was dead first! This all happened almost 40 years ago, and I have yet to repeat either the fishing or the fish cleaning experience.
I would assume other people have had better luck. If so, check out this book to see how "they" did it in the 1960s. Look for this book in the fishing section. (And watch out for those tree trunks, and angry fish!)
And just in case you are interested, I do not blame that fish at all for biting me.
None of this stuff means anything to me. I only went fishing once, and then I only managed to hook a tree trunk. I am proud to say that I was much better at cleaning fish than I was at catching them, although one of the "dead" fish did manage to bite my finger! Well, my hosts had told me to stick my finger in its mouth! They said nothing about checking to see if it was dead first! This all happened almost 40 years ago, and I have yet to repeat either the fishing or the fish cleaning experience.
I would assume other people have had better luck. If so, check out this book to see how "they" did it in the 1960s. Look for this book in the fishing section. (And watch out for those tree trunks, and angry fish!)
And just in case you are interested, I do not blame that fish at all for biting me.
Margaret Thatcher, from the 1990 Socialist perspective.
"Margaret Thatcher, warmonger, breaker of unions, destroyer of public services, friend of the rich and enemy of the poor seems to have been the international success story of the 1980s. Yet as the 1990s begin defeat seems to be staring Thatcher in the face. The economy, the showpiece and basis of Tory strategy, is sliding into recession. There is public outcry over the condition of the health and education services. And the massive movement against the poll tax has already provoked one of the largest riots that central London has ever seen. So, asks Lindsey German, are these the last days of Thatcher?"
International Socialism: A Quarterly Journal of Socialist Theory, Autumn 1990 ($1.50)
includes the following articles:
The Last Days of Thatcher?, by Lindsey German
The New Imperialism, by John Rees
Nationalism and the Class Struggle in Scotland, by Neil Davidson
and
Order Out of Chaos, by Paul McGarr
What I find interesting, considering the events of this last month, is the discussion on Scottish Nationalism. Be sure to read the conclusions of the writer, when he compares class struggle with nationalism, and Ireland with Scotland. Look for this journal in the British history section.
International Socialism: A Quarterly Journal of Socialist Theory, Autumn 1990 ($1.50)
includes the following articles:
The Last Days of Thatcher?, by Lindsey German
The New Imperialism, by John Rees
Nationalism and the Class Struggle in Scotland, by Neil Davidson
and
Order Out of Chaos, by Paul McGarr
What I find interesting, considering the events of this last month, is the discussion on Scottish Nationalism. Be sure to read the conclusions of the writer, when he compares class struggle with nationalism, and Ireland with Scotland. Look for this journal in the British history section.
America's Secret Nuclear Bomb Squad
Defusing Armageddon: Inside NEST, America's Secret Nuclear Bomb Squad, by Jeffrey T. Richelson (HC,2009, $3)
During the Cold War, the U. S. became concerned that the Soviets would try to smuggle in a nuclear weapon, or that one of the nuclear bombs we lost after a military plane crash would explode. And what about nuclear satellites that crashed? Coming later were the concerns over Al-Qaeda and other international terrorists. Most of us never knew that in 1974 NEST (Nuclear Emergency Support Team), a secret team of scientists and technicians, was formed to respond to any nuclear threat against America.
This book's final chapters explore " the impact of 9/11 on NEST (including its controversial monitoring of Muslim sites in the United States), the team's interaction with secret military units such as Delta Force, its foreign exploits (which include responding to the apparent detection of radiation on a ship passing through Sri Lanka), its possible employment to help in securing nuclear weapons in Pakistan, and the challenges ahead."
Wow, now that is a dangerous job! Look for this book in the general non-fiction section.
During the Cold War, the U. S. became concerned that the Soviets would try to smuggle in a nuclear weapon, or that one of the nuclear bombs we lost after a military plane crash would explode. And what about nuclear satellites that crashed? Coming later were the concerns over Al-Qaeda and other international terrorists. Most of us never knew that in 1974 NEST (Nuclear Emergency Support Team), a secret team of scientists and technicians, was formed to respond to any nuclear threat against America.
This book's final chapters explore " the impact of 9/11 on NEST (including its controversial monitoring of Muslim sites in the United States), the team's interaction with secret military units such as Delta Force, its foreign exploits (which include responding to the apparent detection of radiation on a ship passing through Sri Lanka), its possible employment to help in securing nuclear weapons in Pakistan, and the challenges ahead."
Wow, now that is a dangerous job! Look for this book in the general non-fiction section.
Major Problems in American History
These 5 TPB are from an interesting set, written for students, but instructive to all of us. The books approach their subject by introducing first the primary sources, and then interpretations by expert authorities. When I was in school we never were exposed to primary sources, so this sounds like a fascinating idea to me. All books are $2.50, and to be found in the American history section, on the floor in a box marked "blogged".
Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution 1760- 1791, edited by Richard D. Brown (1992)
Major Problems in American Indian History, edited by Hurtado Iverson (1994)
Major Problems in American Urban History, edited by Howard P. Chudacoff (1994)
Major Problems in American Colonial History, edited by Karen Ordahl Kupperman (1993)
Major Problems in American Environmental History, edited by Carolyn Merchant (1993)
Major Problems in the Era of the American Revolution 1760- 1791, edited by Richard D. Brown (1992)
Major Problems in American Indian History, edited by Hurtado Iverson (1994)
Major Problems in American Urban History, edited by Howard P. Chudacoff (1994)
Major Problems in American Colonial History, edited by Karen Ordahl Kupperman (1993)
Major Problems in American Environmental History, edited by Carolyn Merchant (1993)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
N. S. Khrushchov
The National Liberation Movement: Selected Passages (1956-1963), by N. S. Khrushchov (softcover, 1963, $2)
"All this is claptrap, the ravings of slave-traders and slave-owners. What they are out for is not to introduce civilisation, but to continue using the cheap labour of the people in the colonies, to continue exploiting the wealth of these countries, to wring profits out of the oppressed peoples and grow fat by robbing them." - 1960
Even if you agree with the above statements, you would have to agree that Soviet Russia was not innocent of what they accused the west of doing. Khrushchov talks about the "Capitalist Imperialists" as "perpetuating economic dependence". He claims "We do not demand military bases and concessions in exchange for our assistance..." and "We support the Liberation Wars of the Peoples." When Khrushchov wrote this, Britain, France and Israel had just invaded Egypt. Meanwhile, some British colonies were still not independent. Yet even when this was written, the colonialist system was dying, and Soviet control was growing. Quite a few countries would have disagreed with the idea that they had been "liberated" by Russia.
One wonders what Khrushchov would say of the fall of the Soviet Union, and now to the rule of Putin. What would he say to the recent mass protests?
Look for this pamphlet in the Russian history section, avail. 1/27.
"All this is claptrap, the ravings of slave-traders and slave-owners. What they are out for is not to introduce civilisation, but to continue using the cheap labour of the people in the colonies, to continue exploiting the wealth of these countries, to wring profits out of the oppressed peoples and grow fat by robbing them." - 1960
Even if you agree with the above statements, you would have to agree that Soviet Russia was not innocent of what they accused the west of doing. Khrushchov talks about the "Capitalist Imperialists" as "perpetuating economic dependence". He claims "We do not demand military bases and concessions in exchange for our assistance..." and "We support the Liberation Wars of the Peoples." When Khrushchov wrote this, Britain, France and Israel had just invaded Egypt. Meanwhile, some British colonies were still not independent. Yet even when this was written, the colonialist system was dying, and Soviet control was growing. Quite a few countries would have disagreed with the idea that they had been "liberated" by Russia.
One wonders what Khrushchov would say of the fall of the Soviet Union, and now to the rule of Putin. What would he say to the recent mass protests?
Look for this pamphlet in the Russian history section, avail. 1/27.
Marx and Engels
Wage Labour and Capital, by Karl Marx (softcover, 1978, $1)
Originally published in 1891. This edition published in China.
The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, by Frederick Engels (TPB, 1972, $3)
Look for these in the philosophy section, avail. 1/27.
Originally published in 1891. This edition published in China.
The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, by Frederick Engels (TPB, 1972, $3)
Look for these in the philosophy section, avail. 1/27.
Lenin
The Agrarian Question and the "Critics of Marx", by V. I. Lenin (softcover, 1954, $2) Published in Moscow.
The Threatening Catastrophe and How to Fight It, by V. I. Lenin (softcover, 1932, $1)
The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky, by V. I. Lenin (softcover, 1981, $1.25) First published in 1934. Published in Moscow.
Look for these booklets in the Russian section, as of 1/27.
The Threatening Catastrophe and How to Fight It, by V. I. Lenin (softcover, 1932, $1)
The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky, by V. I. Lenin (softcover, 1981, $1.25) First published in 1934. Published in Moscow.
Look for these booklets in the Russian section, as of 1/27.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Arch Merrill's Slim Fingers Beckon
Slim Fingers Beckon, by Arch Merrill (HC, ex-lib, 1953?, $2)
This is only one of the Merrills in the latest donation. The rest will be blogged shortly.
The "Slim Fingers" of Merrill's title refer to the Finger Lakes.
"There is an old Indian legend that the Finger Lakes came into being when the Great Spirit placed the imprint of his hand in blessing on the Upstate land.
Scientists will tell you that those long, slim streaks of blue in the center of the New York State map go back to the glacial age, that when the great ice sheet melted, its deposits dammed the parallel north and south valleys, which filled with water from springs and streams."
Thus starts this historian to tell his true tales. I have been told that most children in Rochester know his stories. Me, I grew up in Jersey, so his stories are new to me. No matter if they are new to you, or if they are familiar friends, come and read them. Look for this book, and eventually for the others, in the local section. (Avail. 1/25)
This is only one of the Merrills in the latest donation. The rest will be blogged shortly.
The "Slim Fingers" of Merrill's title refer to the Finger Lakes.
"There is an old Indian legend that the Finger Lakes came into being when the Great Spirit placed the imprint of his hand in blessing on the Upstate land.
Scientists will tell you that those long, slim streaks of blue in the center of the New York State map go back to the glacial age, that when the great ice sheet melted, its deposits dammed the parallel north and south valleys, which filled with water from springs and streams."
Thus starts this historian to tell his true tales. I have been told that most children in Rochester know his stories. Me, I grew up in Jersey, so his stories are new to me. No matter if they are new to you, or if they are familiar friends, come and read them. Look for this book, and eventually for the others, in the local section. (Avail. 1/25)
Foreign Language Books
Several boxes of books in other languages came in our last donation from the college. I think some may be in Russian, some in Greek, and some in Chinese, but that's just a guess on my part. These books are in great shape, some not even out of the wrapper. Come and check them out in the boxes on the floor under the language section. Make us an offer, and we will probably say yes, but only if you tell us what the title says, and in what language. Hey, can we help it if we are all a little bit curious around here?
What the Bible Says About Money
What the Bible Says About Money: A Topical Concordance Containing Every Verse In the Bible Related to Money and Personal Financial Matters, by Larry Burkett (TPB, 1989, $2.50)
There are two parts here. One is a topical index listing every Scriptural reference by topic. The second is a listing of all Bible verses dealing with the subject of finances or material assets. All the books of the Bible have at least one reference, though The Song of Solomon, Jonah, Philemon and Jude have only one each. Wow! This is quite a reference book. How did Mr. Burkett do it, by hand, or by computer? Either way this is something special. I especially found the topical index useful. Look for this book in the Christian religion section, avail. 1/25.
There are two parts here. One is a topical index listing every Scriptural reference by topic. The second is a listing of all Bible verses dealing with the subject of finances or material assets. All the books of the Bible have at least one reference, though The Song of Solomon, Jonah, Philemon and Jude have only one each. Wow! This is quite a reference book. How did Mr. Burkett do it, by hand, or by computer? Either way this is something special. I especially found the topical index useful. Look for this book in the Christian religion section, avail. 1/25.
We are (cute) bears! **SOLD**
We Are Bears, by Molly Grooms (a children's book, 38 thick pages, ? year, $2)
Oh my, but these illustrations by Lucia Guarnotta are so, so cute.
Look for this in the children's section, avail. 1/27.
Oh my, but these illustrations by Lucia Guarnotta are so, so cute.
Look for this in the children's section, avail. 1/27.
American Women in War
Side-by -side: A Photographic History of American Women In War, by Vickie Lewis (oversize HC, 1999, $2.50)
This book "highlights the strength and courage of women in military service through poignant photographs and personal narratives, offering a new perspective of American history. In addition to other public and private collections, author Vickie Lewis has been given unprecedented access to the archive of the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation. She draws on hundreds of personal interviews and historical journal entries for her text, allowing many women's stories to be told in their own words. In more than 150 images we see a story of women unfold like never before."
I knew about Harriet Tubman and Clara Barton. I vaguely remember Molly Pitcher and the Battle of Monmouth, NJ. (I grew up in NJ, and she was a local hero.) I did NOT know about Sarah Emma Edmonds who enlisted in the Union Army as "Franklin Thompson". She started out as a male nurse, then offered to become a spy when one was needed. She ran spy missions while disguised. The army never knew she was a woman until 20 years later when she petitioned the government for a military pension. During her two years as a spy "she fooled others into believing she was a black man, an Irish peddler woman, a black laundress, and a young man from the South." In 1863 she returned to army nursing, where she contracted malaria. Oops, she couldn't have any doctor check her out! She had to vanish for a period, then returned as a civilian nurse.
What women, what human beings, what soldiers these women all were!
Look for this book on the new non-fiction table. (Later: military history)
This book "highlights the strength and courage of women in military service through poignant photographs and personal narratives, offering a new perspective of American history. In addition to other public and private collections, author Vickie Lewis has been given unprecedented access to the archive of the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation. She draws on hundreds of personal interviews and historical journal entries for her text, allowing many women's stories to be told in their own words. In more than 150 images we see a story of women unfold like never before."
I knew about Harriet Tubman and Clara Barton. I vaguely remember Molly Pitcher and the Battle of Monmouth, NJ. (I grew up in NJ, and she was a local hero.) I did NOT know about Sarah Emma Edmonds who enlisted in the Union Army as "Franklin Thompson". She started out as a male nurse, then offered to become a spy when one was needed. She ran spy missions while disguised. The army never knew she was a woman until 20 years later when she petitioned the government for a military pension. During her two years as a spy "she fooled others into believing she was a black man, an Irish peddler woman, a black laundress, and a young man from the South." In 1863 she returned to army nursing, where she contracted malaria. Oops, she couldn't have any doctor check her out! She had to vanish for a period, then returned as a civilian nurse.
What women, what human beings, what soldiers these women all were!
Look for this book on the new non-fiction table. (Later: military history)
Do You Remember the 6Os?
Maybe you do, and maybe not. Me, I remember them, but through the fog of my early teen years when TV shows and what I wore mattered more than Kent State. TV shows seemed more real, or at least more safe. Kent State, the Black Panthers, heroin, LSD, the draft and Vietnam, the assasinations, the SDS, the Chicago Democratic Convention... all swirled together into this unreal nightmare that most of the time I managed to put out of mind. I was too busy fighting over stupid stuff with my parents. Plus, all that bad stuff was happening to "other people", not to people I knew. It was the early 70s when the nightmares hit home. The draft ended the year before I graduated. Still, I knew friends who got hooked on heroin and disappeared from school, and I lost a friend when she joined the Panthers. But during the 60s I was still walking around in an bubble of innocence, too young to realize that the stresses my parents showed were not just due to me. I try to explain this time to my younger friends, and they don't get it. Just like I did't get it when I was living through it.
We have a number of books about the 60s, as you may have figured out by now. (Otherwise why did I just do all that pondering and rambling? ) These 60s books are located in a box on the floor of the American history section.
We have a number of books about the 60s, as you may have figured out by now. (Otherwise why did I just do all that pondering and rambling? ) These 60s books are located in a box on the floor of the American history section.
C. S. Lewis and his grief
A Grief Observed, by C. S. Lewis (Large print, TPB, 1961, $1.50)
"Writing with love, humility, and faith, the celebrated author C. S. Lewis submits an intensely personal account of the meaning of his wife's death. He wrote A Grief Observed as 'a defense against total collapse, a safety valve,' and came to recognize that 'bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love.'"
It is hard to know where to put this, but I finally decided on the bio. section, avail. 1/25.
"Writing with love, humility, and faith, the celebrated author C. S. Lewis submits an intensely personal account of the meaning of his wife's death. He wrote A Grief Observed as 'a defense against total collapse, a safety valve,' and came to recognize that 'bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love.'"
It is hard to know where to put this, but I finally decided on the bio. section, avail. 1/25.
Bull at a New Gate
Bull at a New Gate: An Irreverent Guide to Churchology, by Vic Jameson (small HC, 1965, $1.50)
This is a small book, which is irreverent, funny, maybe offensive, and sometimes plain profound. As the author writes, "You will find in this book a message about the NEED of the church in general to be renewed, and a crying, groaning, aching need of the laity in particular to be taught, challenged, inspired, led, pushed, infused, vitalized, excited, shaken, encouraged, and hounded until something happens to them... It is written also to try to get the laymen out- not so much out of his home and into his pew, but out of his pew and into the world."
So what do you think? Look for this book in the religion section, avail. 1/25.
This is a small book, which is irreverent, funny, maybe offensive, and sometimes plain profound. As the author writes, "You will find in this book a message about the NEED of the church in general to be renewed, and a crying, groaning, aching need of the laity in particular to be taught, challenged, inspired, led, pushed, infused, vitalized, excited, shaken, encouraged, and hounded until something happens to them... It is written also to try to get the laymen out- not so much out of his home and into his pew, but out of his pew and into the world."
So what do you think? Look for this book in the religion section, avail. 1/25.
Mixed Marriages (1962)
If You Marry Outside Your Faith: Counsel on Mixed Marriages, by James A. Pike (TPB, $1.50)
We have received another donation from the college. Included in it are quite a lot of religious books. I pulled out the most interesting ones to blog.
This book discusses mostly marriages between Protestants and Catholics, with some discussion of marriages with agnostics and Jews thrown in. I wonder about some of the statistics cited by the author regarding divorce and adultery. I agreed with the advice that the couple get to know both religious backgrounds before marriage. And the advice for them to seriously discuss how they will deal with religion before marrying, and how they will handle the issue after children enter the picture.
I ponder this whole matter remembering my mother's comment that she had had to give up her religion to marry my father. She was United Church of Christ, and Dad was American Baptist. Yet she considered her marriage in 1952 to be a mixed religion one, and even more so because Dad was going into the ministry. Few people, including myself, would now consider that to be the case.
Interesting to note is the difference of meaning of the term "mixed marriages", which now most likely means mixed racial marriage. Or am I wrong? What do you think of all this? Look for this book in the religion section, avail. 1/25.
We have received another donation from the college. Included in it are quite a lot of religious books. I pulled out the most interesting ones to blog.
This book discusses mostly marriages between Protestants and Catholics, with some discussion of marriages with agnostics and Jews thrown in. I wonder about some of the statistics cited by the author regarding divorce and adultery. I agreed with the advice that the couple get to know both religious backgrounds before marriage. And the advice for them to seriously discuss how they will deal with religion before marrying, and how they will handle the issue after children enter the picture.
I ponder this whole matter remembering my mother's comment that she had had to give up her religion to marry my father. She was United Church of Christ, and Dad was American Baptist. Yet she considered her marriage in 1952 to be a mixed religion one, and even more so because Dad was going into the ministry. Few people, including myself, would now consider that to be the case.
Interesting to note is the difference of meaning of the term "mixed marriages", which now most likely means mixed racial marriage. Or am I wrong? What do you think of all this? Look for this book in the religion section, avail. 1/25.
A Collection of Vices
The Book of Vices: A Collection of Classic Immoral Tales, edited by Robert J. Hutchison (small HC, 1995, $2.25)
Take the world of Western Literature, cull through it to find the craziest ones about vice, and then gather them all together in one place. This is the idea behind this wonderful book. Here are prose and poems. Some of the authors I recognized, some I did not.
One short one by Hilaire Belloc in the avarice section:
Fatigue
I'm tired of Love.
I'm still more tired of Rhyme.
But Money gives me pleasure all the time.
Now as to where to put this book... I thought of putting it in the classics section, but ended up putting it in the comic section. Enjoy! (Avail. 1/25)
Take the world of Western Literature, cull through it to find the craziest ones about vice, and then gather them all together in one place. This is the idea behind this wonderful book. Here are prose and poems. Some of the authors I recognized, some I did not.
One short one by Hilaire Belloc in the avarice section:
Fatigue
I'm tired of Love.
I'm still more tired of Rhyme.
But Money gives me pleasure all the time.
Now as to where to put this book... I thought of putting it in the classics section, but ended up putting it in the comic section. Enjoy! (Avail. 1/25)
Monday, January 23, 2012
Caring For Your Elderly Parents
Caring For Your Elderly Parents: The Help, Hope, Cope Book, by Patricia H. Rushford (TPB, 1994, $2.25)
Many of you may be in the position I was ten years ago. My father was aging, and his Parkinson's was getting worse. Plus, he lived in Maryland, and I lived here in Rochester. What was I to do? Whatever it was, I was the only family there was, so I had to do something. But what?
This book was written a while back. There are a lot more services and options now, especially in Rochester, but the decisions remain tough, and life will continue to be stressful for what seems to be an eternity. My advice is to reach out to family, friends and community, to learn as much as you can about options, speak openly to your parents, and to realize there is only so much you can do. One of the hardest realizations I had was when I realized there was nothing more I could do, and that what I was already doing was no longer enough. That is when I cried, a lot, and then did what needed to be done to keep my father safe.
Reading this book will give you some ideas. In the Rochester area you can contact the organization Lifespan for assistance. Also, check the internet or your local library for more recent information. Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, but there are more books in the health section.
Hang in there. Remember, you are not alone, even if it feels like it.
Many of you may be in the position I was ten years ago. My father was aging, and his Parkinson's was getting worse. Plus, he lived in Maryland, and I lived here in Rochester. What was I to do? Whatever it was, I was the only family there was, so I had to do something. But what?
This book was written a while back. There are a lot more services and options now, especially in Rochester, but the decisions remain tough, and life will continue to be stressful for what seems to be an eternity. My advice is to reach out to family, friends and community, to learn as much as you can about options, speak openly to your parents, and to realize there is only so much you can do. One of the hardest realizations I had was when I realized there was nothing more I could do, and that what I was already doing was no longer enough. That is when I cried, a lot, and then did what needed to be done to keep my father safe.
Reading this book will give you some ideas. In the Rochester area you can contact the organization Lifespan for assistance. Also, check the internet or your local library for more recent information. Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, but there are more books in the health section.
Hang in there. Remember, you are not alone, even if it feels like it.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Jane Austen and Colin Firth (VHS) ***SOLD***
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, (6 VHS tapes, ex-lib, 1996, $3)
This rendition of Pride and Prejudice has just been voted the best EVER of the period costume movies. Personally I don't care a fig for how many awards it won. I just love having Darcy played by Colin Firth. Yes, I did go to see the King's Speech twice, and it was grand.... But Colin Firth as Darcy, what movie can top that! I bought the tapes for myself about ten years ago, and sat down with a friend to watch only the first tape. Ha, I should have known better. Of course we watched the entire 6 hours, sighing and drooling the whole time... Oops, I didn't really just say "drooling", did I? Ye gads, readers of this blog will soon know all my secrets!
So bring the Kleenex, and have the time of your life watching this jem of a series. This set is on the VHS bookcase.
This rendition of Pride and Prejudice has just been voted the best EVER of the period costume movies. Personally I don't care a fig for how many awards it won. I just love having Darcy played by Colin Firth. Yes, I did go to see the King's Speech twice, and it was grand.... But Colin Firth as Darcy, what movie can top that! I bought the tapes for myself about ten years ago, and sat down with a friend to watch only the first tape. Ha, I should have known better. Of course we watched the entire 6 hours, sighing and drooling the whole time... Oops, I didn't really just say "drooling", did I? Ye gads, readers of this blog will soon know all my secrets!
So bring the Kleenex, and have the time of your life watching this jem of a series. This set is on the VHS bookcase.
Stieg Larsson's second book
The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson (PB, 2010, $1.50)
Stieg Larsson also wrote The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the movie that everyone seems to be talking about. I never go to movies everyone talks about, but I am planning on making an exception with this one. But back to The Girl Who Played With Fire, which is the second of his three books. Sadly, there will be no more, as he died in 2004. He never saw even one of them published. Life can be so short.
Look for this book in the PB fiction section.
Stieg Larsson also wrote The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the movie that everyone seems to be talking about. I never go to movies everyone talks about, but I am planning on making an exception with this one. But back to The Girl Who Played With Fire, which is the second of his three books. Sadly, there will be no more, as he died in 2004. He never saw even one of them published. Life can be so short.
Look for this book in the PB fiction section.
The Early Life of C. S. Lewis
Surprised By Joy: The Shape of My Early Life, by C. S. Lewis (HC, 1956, $2.75)
"In this book C. S. Lewis tells of his search for joy, a spiritual journey which led him from the Christianity of his early years into atheism, and then, back to Christianity."
"Lewis did not choose God as a last alternative, nor as a way out of emotional crisis. Here, rather is a modern man who has thought his way through to the ultimate answer... Mr. Lewis tells of his boyhood in Ireland, the books he read, his early schooling, his life in the trenches during the First World War, and finally his under-graduate years at Oxford."
What a treasure to have Lewis let us in on his early life's journey, and specifically on his spiritual journey. Look for this book in the bio. section, avail. 12/15.
"In this book C. S. Lewis tells of his search for joy, a spiritual journey which led him from the Christianity of his early years into atheism, and then, back to Christianity."
"Lewis did not choose God as a last alternative, nor as a way out of emotional crisis. Here, rather is a modern man who has thought his way through to the ultimate answer... Mr. Lewis tells of his boyhood in Ireland, the books he read, his early schooling, his life in the trenches during the First World War, and finally his under-graduate years at Oxford."
What a treasure to have Lewis let us in on his early life's journey, and specifically on his spiritual journey. Look for this book in the bio. section, avail. 12/15.
Third Cinema, Political Cinema
Political Film: The Dialectics of Third Cinema, by Mike Wayne (TPB, 2001, $2.25)
Call me behind the times, but I had not heard of third cinema, nor that there was even a first or second cinema. Turns out, main stream commercial films are First Cinema, and art films are Second Cinema, so what is Third Cinema? It is not necessarily Third World Cinema, though sometimes a film may be both. Primarily it is "a cinema that awakens/clarifies and strengthens a revolutionary consciousness, a cinema that disturbs, shocks and weakens reactionary ideas; a cinema that is anti-bourgeois at a national level and anti-imperialist at an international level; and a cinema that intervenes in the process of creating new people, new societies, new histories, new art and new cinemas."- Birri
I can think of only two movies I have seen that might fall into this category, and Wayne disputes the idea that The Battle of Algiers is one. So I have only watched the one, whose title I don't remember, but whose point of endless and purposeless violence by child soldiers I will never forget. It would seem Third Cinema is not for the faint of heart.
I meant to only skim this book, but ended up reading most of it. I now have a list of films to rent, if only I can get the courage to watch them.
Look for this in the film section, avail. 1/25.
Call me behind the times, but I had not heard of third cinema, nor that there was even a first or second cinema. Turns out, main stream commercial films are First Cinema, and art films are Second Cinema, so what is Third Cinema? It is not necessarily Third World Cinema, though sometimes a film may be both. Primarily it is "a cinema that awakens/clarifies and strengthens a revolutionary consciousness, a cinema that disturbs, shocks and weakens reactionary ideas; a cinema that is anti-bourgeois at a national level and anti-imperialist at an international level; and a cinema that intervenes in the process of creating new people, new societies, new histories, new art and new cinemas."- Birri
I can think of only two movies I have seen that might fall into this category, and Wayne disputes the idea that The Battle of Algiers is one. So I have only watched the one, whose title I don't remember, but whose point of endless and purposeless violence by child soldiers I will never forget. It would seem Third Cinema is not for the faint of heart.
I meant to only skim this book, but ended up reading most of it. I now have a list of films to rent, if only I can get the courage to watch them.
Look for this in the film section, avail. 1/25.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Parmele's Great Nations of Europe (1907)
Great Nations of Europe, 6 volumes, by Mary Platt Parmele (HC, 1907, $16 for the set of 6, which is less than 1/3 the price on the internet. )
The Short History of:
1. England, Ireland and Scotland
2. France
3. Germany
4. Italy
5. Spain
6. Russia
I am not sure if this is a complete set. It does occur to me that Ms. Parmele had to know an awful lot to be able write all these books. And it was a wonder she was even able to publish, as she was "only" a woman. Curious as ever, I checked her out on the internet, and found out her books are STILL IN PRINT! The Short History of Spain was, amazingly, just released in paperback less than a year ago! Parmele was originally from Albany. Her books were read in schools, but were written more for the general public.
Look for these books in the set section.
The Short History of:
1. England, Ireland and Scotland
2. France
3. Germany
4. Italy
5. Spain
6. Russia
I am not sure if this is a complete set. It does occur to me that Ms. Parmele had to know an awful lot to be able write all these books. And it was a wonder she was even able to publish, as she was "only" a woman. Curious as ever, I checked her out on the internet, and found out her books are STILL IN PRINT! The Short History of Spain was, amazingly, just released in paperback less than a year ago! Parmele was originally from Albany. Her books were read in schools, but were written more for the general public.
Look for these books in the set section.
Michael J. Fox, Optimist
Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, by Michael J. Fox (HC, 2009, $2.50)
"The last ten years, which is really the stuff of this book, began with such a loss: my retirement from Spin City. I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic, the shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD? Parkinson's had consumed my career, and in a sense, had become my career. But where did all of this leave me? I had to build a new life when I was already pretty happy with the old one."
I loved him in Family Ties. I loved him in Back to the Future. Then I lost track of him until his diagnosis with PD, which did not mean as much to me until my dad was diagnosed with it too. Of course Dad was a lot older, and not famous, except to his family and friends, but still... Dad was somehow lucky to find peace, and a sense of humor, in his latter days. But he was already in his late 70s when he was diagnosed. How does someone as young as Michael J. Fox cope with these losses? Some human beings just amaze me, and Michael is one of them.
Look for this in the bio. section.
"The last ten years, which is really the stuff of this book, began with such a loss: my retirement from Spin City. I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic, the shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD? Parkinson's had consumed my career, and in a sense, had become my career. But where did all of this leave me? I had to build a new life when I was already pretty happy with the old one."
I loved him in Family Ties. I loved him in Back to the Future. Then I lost track of him until his diagnosis with PD, which did not mean as much to me until my dad was diagnosed with it too. Of course Dad was a lot older, and not famous, except to his family and friends, but still... Dad was somehow lucky to find peace, and a sense of humor, in his latter days. But he was already in his late 70s when he was diagnosed. How does someone as young as Michael J. Fox cope with these losses? Some human beings just amaze me, and Michael is one of them.
Look for this in the bio. section.
Caricatures of Composers
The Sideways Guide to Composers, by Jeremy Beadle, with Caricatures by John Minnion (TPB, 1993, $2)
"Murderers, saints, jailbirds, princes, paupers, architects, adulterers, ascetics, insurance salesmen , suffragettes, chemistry lecturers... Composers are a bewildering lot, and that's even before you've tackled their music. The Sideways Guide to Composers gives an occasionally irreverent potted history of life and work for 100 of them, each caricatured in John Minnion's unique style that will be familiar to readers of Classic CD"
I just started going to hear the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's concerts- I doubt the comments in this book will make it into the programs at the RPO.
Look for this on the new non-fiction table. (Later, music)
"Murderers, saints, jailbirds, princes, paupers, architects, adulterers, ascetics, insurance salesmen , suffragettes, chemistry lecturers... Composers are a bewildering lot, and that's even before you've tackled their music. The Sideways Guide to Composers gives an occasionally irreverent potted history of life and work for 100 of them, each caricatured in John Minnion's unique style that will be familiar to readers of Classic CD"
I just started going to hear the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's concerts- I doubt the comments in this book will make it into the programs at the RPO.
Look for this on the new non-fiction table. (Later, music)
The (Not-so) Wicked Witch of the West? **SOLD**
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire (TPB, 1995, $2)
"When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?"
Just what we all need, another story of a misunderstood person.... er.... witch.
Look for it in the fiction section.
"When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?"
Just what we all need, another story of a misunderstood person.... er.... witch.
Look for it in the fiction section.
Legal Procedures of the Cheyenne (1941)
The Cheyenne Way, by Karl N. Llewellyn (HC, 1973, $3)
This is the "unique collaboration of a legal theorist and an anthropologist who, in this volume, provide a definitive picture of the law-ways of a primitive, nonliterate people. First published in 1941, The Cheyenne Way has been acclaimed universally as a foundational study of primitive law."
Sounds kind of different, doesn't it, although, as almost always, from the white perspective. Look for this in the Native American section.
This is the "unique collaboration of a legal theorist and an anthropologist who, in this volume, provide a definitive picture of the law-ways of a primitive, nonliterate people. First published in 1941, The Cheyenne Way has been acclaimed universally as a foundational study of primitive law."
Sounds kind of different, doesn't it, although, as almost always, from the white perspective. Look for this in the Native American section.
Paul Brand, Leper and Diabetic Surgeon
First off, let me warn you, this book is in German. Still, Paul Brand was an amazing man, and I wanted to tell you his story.
Finger an Gottes Hand: Biographie des englischen Chirurgen und Leprologen Paul Brand, by Dorothy C. Wilson (HC, 1966, ex. lib, $1.50)
Brandt, who was the child of missionaries, started his work as a surgeon working in India. He was the first to consider that the hands and feet of lepers rotted, not because of Hansen's disease bacilli, but because of injuries due to a lack of pain sensation. He became a pioneer in reconstructive surgery. Correct the deformities, he believed, and someone with leprosy could live a life without stigma. Eventually he also did surgery on diabetics, who also had injuries due to lack of sensation of pain.
Once back in the States, he began to see that pain was necessary for knowing something was wrong with the body, and that fear, anger and loneliness made pain worse. Brand worked on finding ways to lessen people's pain.
Look for this book in the German section, avail. 1/25.
Finger an Gottes Hand: Biographie des englischen Chirurgen und Leprologen Paul Brand, by Dorothy C. Wilson (HC, 1966, ex. lib, $1.50)
Brandt, who was the child of missionaries, started his work as a surgeon working in India. He was the first to consider that the hands and feet of lepers rotted, not because of Hansen's disease bacilli, but because of injuries due to a lack of pain sensation. He became a pioneer in reconstructive surgery. Correct the deformities, he believed, and someone with leprosy could live a life without stigma. Eventually he also did surgery on diabetics, who also had injuries due to lack of sensation of pain.
Once back in the States, he began to see that pain was necessary for knowing something was wrong with the body, and that fear, anger and loneliness made pain worse. Brand worked on finding ways to lessen people's pain.
Look for this book in the German section, avail. 1/25.
Medical Misssionary in the Making (1945)
Tom Hardy, P.K. (Told in Pictures): A Medical Missionary in the Making, by Kenneth L. Wilson (pamphlet, 1945, $1)
Interesting pamphlet, with pictures and captions, telling the story of how a mischievous preacher's kid gives up his ambition for money to become a medical missionary. The pamphlet's cover has separated from the rest of the pamphlet, but it is still interesting to read as an example of the ways boys in 1945 were introduced to the idea of becoming missionaries. Of course, maybe I just liked the title. As a former PK myself, I had to check this out. Look for it in the religion section, avail. 1/25.
Interesting pamphlet, with pictures and captions, telling the story of how a mischievous preacher's kid gives up his ambition for money to become a medical missionary. The pamphlet's cover has separated from the rest of the pamphlet, but it is still interesting to read as an example of the ways boys in 1945 were introduced to the idea of becoming missionaries. Of course, maybe I just liked the title. As a former PK myself, I had to check this out. Look for it in the religion section, avail. 1/25.
How Mike Smith Killed Pluto! **SOLD**
This is a book from my own library, one that I bought last year, but only now have read. And what a wonder it is! How can an astronomer be such a funny writer?
How I Killed Pluto, and Why It Had It Coming, by Mike Brown (HC, 2010, $5)
The most surprising part of this book on planets, or not-planets, is the amount of time Brown spends talking about the joy of marriage and fatherhood. Now this is man with the right priorities!
In regards to the planet part of the book, I found the discussion on who gets to claim discovery of a celestial body particularly fascinating. Is the discovery credited to the person who first announces the discovery, the one who finds it first, or the one who publishes a paper on it first? Then there is the main point, the definition of what a planet is. Mike Brown discovered lots of previously unknown stuff in the outer solar system, including something called Xena that is larger than Pluto. So if Pluto is a planet, then Brown's "Xena" would also be a planet. But if so, what about all the other newly discovered stuff in the outer solar system that also fits that definition of a planet?
Being an astronomer is not as boring as it sounds. I think you will enjoy reading this man's adventure as much as I did. Look for it on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/25. (Later: astronomy)
How I Killed Pluto, and Why It Had It Coming, by Mike Brown (HC, 2010, $5)
The most surprising part of this book on planets, or not-planets, is the amount of time Brown spends talking about the joy of marriage and fatherhood. Now this is man with the right priorities!
In regards to the planet part of the book, I found the discussion on who gets to claim discovery of a celestial body particularly fascinating. Is the discovery credited to the person who first announces the discovery, the one who finds it first, or the one who publishes a paper on it first? Then there is the main point, the definition of what a planet is. Mike Brown discovered lots of previously unknown stuff in the outer solar system, including something called Xena that is larger than Pluto. So if Pluto is a planet, then Brown's "Xena" would also be a planet. But if so, what about all the other newly discovered stuff in the outer solar system that also fits that definition of a planet?
Being an astronomer is not as boring as it sounds. I think you will enjoy reading this man's adventure as much as I did. Look for it on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/25. (Later: astronomy)
Friday, January 20, 2012
What the White Race May Learn from the Indian (1908)
What the White Race May Learn from the Indian, by George Wharton James (HC, $6 with loose spine, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
James lectured and wrote about California and the American Southwest. Even now some of his books on Indian baskets and blankets are in print.
This is another unique author. James, a minister, was tried in ecclesiastical court for real estate fraud, sexual misconduct, and using fake credentials. He was found guilty, and defrocked (though he would later be reinstated). Important to note: he was never convicted in criminal court.
Depending on who you talk to, his views on Natives were either idealized or insightful: his views on nutrition either faddish or ahead of his time. When I skimmed this book I found much to admire, but also much I disagreed with. In particular, his conclusion thanks his "dusky brothers" for "recalling to me some primitive principles which civilization ignores at its peril." Some of those "primitive principles" may not have been so primitive. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) government may have influence the writing of both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The power women held in their culture was also light years ahead of women's power in the white world. Still, this makes for an interesting read. Look for it in the Native American section, avail. 1/25.
James lectured and wrote about California and the American Southwest. Even now some of his books on Indian baskets and blankets are in print.
This is another unique author. James, a minister, was tried in ecclesiastical court for real estate fraud, sexual misconduct, and using fake credentials. He was found guilty, and defrocked (though he would later be reinstated). Important to note: he was never convicted in criminal court.
Depending on who you talk to, his views on Natives were either idealized or insightful: his views on nutrition either faddish or ahead of his time. When I skimmed this book I found much to admire, but also much I disagreed with. In particular, his conclusion thanks his "dusky brothers" for "recalling to me some primitive principles which civilization ignores at its peril." Some of those "primitive principles" may not have been so primitive. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) government may have influence the writing of both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The power women held in their culture was also light years ahead of women's power in the white world. Still, this makes for an interesting read. Look for it in the Native American section, avail. 1/25.
Errors of Russellism (1915)
Errors of Russellism, by J. E. Forrest (HC, 1915, $10, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
So, you are all asking, what is Russellism...
Pastor Charles T. Russell caused all kinds of ruckus at the end of the 19th Century, and the beginning of the 20th. He had no formal Bible training, but thought only his beliefs were the true ones. He believed Christ had returned to earth in 1874, and that the end of the world would come in 1876. When that did not work out, he recalculated and discovered his error. Now he expected the world to end in 1914. When that did not work out, he decided the right date was actually 1915. In 1916 he died, with the end of the world still not quite there.
He was always suing people for libel. He usually lost. His wife successfully divorced him. Supposedly he had forced her to be celibate, while he had "improper" relations with their foster daughter. He was also accused of selling regular wheat as "Miracle Wheat", and charging $60 a bushel for it, which sounded a lot like fraud to most people. He did, though, have a following. It split after his death, one part morphing into what is now called the Jehovah's Witnesses, though without most of Russel's beliefs.
The author of this particular book, Forrest, found "Russell had made a number of fundamental errors relating to the doctrines of the gospel and involving the final destiny of thousands of souls,[ and so] I have decided to set these errors, in their true light, before the public."
Does anyone see a parallel here to a current commotion? Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/25. (Later: religion)
So, you are all asking, what is Russellism...
Pastor Charles T. Russell caused all kinds of ruckus at the end of the 19th Century, and the beginning of the 20th. He had no formal Bible training, but thought only his beliefs were the true ones. He believed Christ had returned to earth in 1874, and that the end of the world would come in 1876. When that did not work out, he recalculated and discovered his error. Now he expected the world to end in 1914. When that did not work out, he decided the right date was actually 1915. In 1916 he died, with the end of the world still not quite there.
He was always suing people for libel. He usually lost. His wife successfully divorced him. Supposedly he had forced her to be celibate, while he had "improper" relations with their foster daughter. He was also accused of selling regular wheat as "Miracle Wheat", and charging $60 a bushel for it, which sounded a lot like fraud to most people. He did, though, have a following. It split after his death, one part morphing into what is now called the Jehovah's Witnesses, though without most of Russel's beliefs.
The author of this particular book, Forrest, found "Russell had made a number of fundamental errors relating to the doctrines of the gospel and involving the final destiny of thousands of souls,[ and so] I have decided to set these errors, in their true light, before the public."
Does anyone see a parallel here to a current commotion? Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/25. (Later: religion)
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Boccaccio's The Decameron
Stories from The Decameron of Boccaccio, edited by Colin Bennett (oversized HC, 1980, $3.50, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Well, if this not a find:
"The Decameron was Giovanni Boccaccio's greatest work and is probably the best known of all classics of erotic literature. It was started after the Black Death struck Florence in 1347-9 and it is against this sombre background that the stories are set. Ten young people agree to leave the plague-filled city and seek refuge together in the countryside. In the heat of the afternoons they sit together telling stories to pass the time. Surrounded as they have been by sickness and death, strict morals seem unimportant and the storytellers freely discuss subjects they would normally have blushed to mention in mixed company."
BEWARE: Do not read these stories when you are in a library, without expecting everyone to turn to you and say, "Shush...." when you laugh too loudly. (I learned this the hard way!)
Look for this in the classics section. Avail. 1/25.
Well, if this not a find:
"The Decameron was Giovanni Boccaccio's greatest work and is probably the best known of all classics of erotic literature. It was started after the Black Death struck Florence in 1347-9 and it is against this sombre background that the stories are set. Ten young people agree to leave the plague-filled city and seek refuge together in the countryside. In the heat of the afternoons they sit together telling stories to pass the time. Surrounded as they have been by sickness and death, strict morals seem unimportant and the storytellers freely discuss subjects they would normally have blushed to mention in mixed company."
BEWARE: Do not read these stories when you are in a library, without expecting everyone to turn to you and say, "Shush...." when you laugh too loudly. (I learned this the hard way!)
Look for this in the classics section. Avail. 1/25.
Short Story Classics: Foreign -1907
Short Story Classics: Foreign, five volumes, edited by William Patten (HC, $10 for the set of 5, which is 1/3 the internet price.) Pages that are brown, and pages that are not, are all mixed in together in these volumes.
Volume 1: Russian
Volume 2: Italian and Scandinavian
Volume 3: German
Volume 4: French I
Volume 5: French II (split spine)
Look for them in the sets section.
Volume 1: Russian
Volume 2: Italian and Scandinavian
Volume 3: German
Volume 4: French I
Volume 5: French II (split spine)
Look for them in the sets section.
PTL's Jim Bakker
I Was Wrong: the Untold Story of the Shocking Journey from PTL Power to Prison and Beyond, by Jim Bakker (HC, 1996, 647 pages, $3.50)
"Now for the very first time, Jim Bakker tells his own story- the glory days as a televangelist, the hostile takeover, the emotional breakdown. How he got to prison, his experiences behind bars, and what he learned."
Jim Bakker writes in the first chapter, "I had always believed that God loved me. He had literally granted me every desire of my heart, and I believed that His favor was upon me... [Now] I felt as though God had turned His back on me. Rejected and alone in the back seat of the squad car, questions ripped through my heart and mind. Was God punishing me for my sins?... Was I the evil person that the prosecutors in my trial and the media had presented to the world..."
I remember hearing of the scandal. I thought it had something to do with sex. Actually the crimes for which Bakker was convicted of were mail and wire fraud. If you sell lots of memberships to attend a luxury hotel, there first has to be enough rooms for them to stay in. Advertise through the mail, when the rooms did not exist, and you have committed the federal crime of fraud. Oh, then there was an allegation of rape, kept quiet with funds from PTL. Still, it was the crimes of fraud that sent Bakker to prison for 45 years, later lowered to 8 years. So, after only 5 years in prison, Bakker was paroled to start a new life, without the PTL, his riches or his wife.
Look for this book in the bio. section.
"Now for the very first time, Jim Bakker tells his own story- the glory days as a televangelist, the hostile takeover, the emotional breakdown. How he got to prison, his experiences behind bars, and what he learned."
Jim Bakker writes in the first chapter, "I had always believed that God loved me. He had literally granted me every desire of my heart, and I believed that His favor was upon me... [Now] I felt as though God had turned His back on me. Rejected and alone in the back seat of the squad car, questions ripped through my heart and mind. Was God punishing me for my sins?... Was I the evil person that the prosecutors in my trial and the media had presented to the world..."
I remember hearing of the scandal. I thought it had something to do with sex. Actually the crimes for which Bakker was convicted of were mail and wire fraud. If you sell lots of memberships to attend a luxury hotel, there first has to be enough rooms for them to stay in. Advertise through the mail, when the rooms did not exist, and you have committed the federal crime of fraud. Oh, then there was an allegation of rape, kept quiet with funds from PTL. Still, it was the crimes of fraud that sent Bakker to prison for 45 years, later lowered to 8 years. So, after only 5 years in prison, Bakker was paroled to start a new life, without the PTL, his riches or his wife.
Look for this book in the bio. section.
History of the US Navy **SOLD**
US Navy: A Complete History, published by the Naval Historical Foundation, written by M. Hill Goodspeed (HUGE oversized HC, 2003, 728 pages, $15)
This is the Navy's version of the last two books. It can also be found on the glass top of the case in the front.
This is the Navy's version of the last two books. It can also be found on the glass top of the case in the front.
The US Marine Corps' History **SOLD**
U. S. M. C.: A Complete History, published by the Marine Corps Association, written by Colonel Jon T. Hoffman (HUGE oversized HC, 2002, 665 pages, $15)
This is the Marine Corps version of the prior book. Look for it on the glass top of the case in the front of the store.
This is the Marine Corps version of the prior book. Look for it on the glass top of the case in the front of the store.
History of the US Army **SOLD**
US Army: A Complete History, published by the Army Historical Foundation, written by Colonel Raymond K. Bluhm (HUGE oversized HC, 2004, 743 pages, $25, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
THIS IS ONE HECK OF A SPECIAL BOOK!
The binding is a specialty padded one. The woven Army patch attached to the front cover is beautifully bright and gilded.
You have to see this book to understand how unique it is. Look for it on top of the glass case in the front of the store. (Note, this is not a light weight book.)
THIS IS ONE HECK OF A SPECIAL BOOK!
The binding is a specialty padded one. The woven Army patch attached to the front cover is beautifully bright and gilded.
You have to see this book to understand how unique it is. Look for it on top of the glass case in the front of the store. (Note, this is not a light weight book.)
Photography and Sensitometry (1962)
Sensitometry, by Hollis N. Todd and Richard D. Zakia (spiral notebook, 1962, $5, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Todd and Zakia, the authors, taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
"Sensitometry is concerned with the relationships between the silver (or other) deposits or impressions formed in a photographic image and the factors of exposure and processing to which the emulsion is subjected. Emphasis is placed on the methods and limitations of experimentation and instrumentation. An introduction to statistical methods of data handling provides a basis for applications of these methods to specific problems.
If anyone understands any of that last paragraph, you can call us (me) and explain it to us (me). Even one of our volunteers , who worked for Kodak, couldn't explain it to us in laymen's language. (And one of the authors was a relative, if only distantly.) (Not that that is an important point. I just thought I would throw it in.)
Look for this notebook in the local section.
Todd and Zakia, the authors, taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
"Sensitometry is concerned with the relationships between the silver (or other) deposits or impressions formed in a photographic image and the factors of exposure and processing to which the emulsion is subjected. Emphasis is placed on the methods and limitations of experimentation and instrumentation. An introduction to statistical methods of data handling provides a basis for applications of these methods to specific problems.
If anyone understands any of that last paragraph, you can call us (me) and explain it to us (me). Even one of our volunteers , who worked for Kodak, couldn't explain it to us in laymen's language. (And one of the authors was a relative, if only distantly.) (Not that that is an important point. I just thought I would throw it in.)
Look for this notebook in the local section.
Anna Sewell's Black Beauty
Black Beauty: The Grand Collection, Great Classics for Children, by Anna Sewell (oversize HC, 2008, $3)
Black Beauty was one of my favorites as a child. I must admit, just now, I sneaked a look at the end of the story and got a little teary eyed. (Shhhhh.... Please don't tell anyone!)
This is a beautiful condensed version, with large print, and amazing one and two page color illustrations.
The author, Anna Sewell, wrote only this one book. At age 14, after developing a bone disease, and having a fall, she became bedridden. When she was told she would not live much longer, she began to write this book, which was published the year before she died. Black Beauty would later be used to educated the public by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Look for this book on top of the glass book case.
Black Beauty was one of my favorites as a child. I must admit, just now, I sneaked a look at the end of the story and got a little teary eyed. (Shhhhh.... Please don't tell anyone!)
This is a beautiful condensed version, with large print, and amazing one and two page color illustrations.
The author, Anna Sewell, wrote only this one book. At age 14, after developing a bone disease, and having a fall, she became bedridden. When she was told she would not live much longer, she began to write this book, which was published the year before she died. Black Beauty would later be used to educated the public by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Look for this book on top of the glass book case.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Medieval Church **SOLD**
The Medieval Church: From the Dawn of the Middle Ages to the Eve of the Reformation, by Carl A. Volz (TPB, 1997, $2)
Reading this book is like connecting the dots of a children's drawing. After you are finished, the full picture becomes clear. We were always taught that medieval times were a dark age. Turns out this is not true, but a way the Renaissance leaders could glorify themselves.
Medieval times were really a time of growth, especially in the east. Many traditions we associate with Christianity started during the Middle Ages. Large churches, preaching, celibate priests, the veneration of saints, taking communion (on a regular basis), the importance of the laity, and much more. There were even the pre-Reformation ideas of Wycliffe.
The Avignon Papacy has always amazed me. Poor England, even though at war with France, must pay taxes to the French because the Pope now resides in Avignon, France. Eventually the Pope returned to Rome, but alienated the French cardinals, who retaliated by electing their own pope. To solve the problem, both popes were deposed, and a new one elected. Except the other two popes didn't fade away, as expected. So now there were now THREE popes....
Look for this book in the western civ. section, avail. 1/21.
Reading this book is like connecting the dots of a children's drawing. After you are finished, the full picture becomes clear. We were always taught that medieval times were a dark age. Turns out this is not true, but a way the Renaissance leaders could glorify themselves.
Medieval times were really a time of growth, especially in the east. Many traditions we associate with Christianity started during the Middle Ages. Large churches, preaching, celibate priests, the veneration of saints, taking communion (on a regular basis), the importance of the laity, and much more. There were even the pre-Reformation ideas of Wycliffe.
The Avignon Papacy has always amazed me. Poor England, even though at war with France, must pay taxes to the French because the Pope now resides in Avignon, France. Eventually the Pope returned to Rome, but alienated the French cardinals, who retaliated by electing their own pope. To solve the problem, both popes were deposed, and a new one elected. Except the other two popes didn't fade away, as expected. So now there were now THREE popes....
Look for this book in the western civ. section, avail. 1/21.
Grover Cleveland in Buffalo
Grover Cleveland as Buffalo Knew Him, by Charles H. Armitage (HC, 1926, $13, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Grover Cleveland was not even supposed to live in Buffalo, much less become mayor. At age 27 he was on his way to Ohio to look for a job when he stopped by to see relatives. There he stayed, to be elected sheriff, mayor, and eventually governor. He became known as an honest man, and a reformer. ( He vetoed an annual street cleaning contract, even though the winner had been a friend, because the bid had not been the lowest.)
Once he got into the presidency he was still known as a reformer, but with a heavy pro-business slant. One of his most famous interventions was in the Chicago Pullman Railroad Strike of 1894. The mail went by rail. When the mail couldn't get through he called in federal troops.
(Not mentioned in this book is his foreign policy.)
I had forgotten that Cleveland served two presidencies, but not consecutively. In 1888 Harrison took the electoral college vote, even though Cleveland took the popular vote.
Cleveland's other claim to fame was his marriage during his presidency. Before his election he was accused of fathering a child. He said it was possible, and got elected anyway. Then people surmised he was thinking of marriage, most likely to the widow of his former law partner. Oops, ... He did marry a Folsom, but it was his partner's young daughter who had just graduated from college. (Don't you just love a good love story!)
One of the endearing qualities of this particular book is the number of photos, grainy as they are, and copies of correspondence. Anything with any connection to Buffalo is included. Look for this book in the local section, avail. 1/21.
Grover Cleveland was not even supposed to live in Buffalo, much less become mayor. At age 27 he was on his way to Ohio to look for a job when he stopped by to see relatives. There he stayed, to be elected sheriff, mayor, and eventually governor. He became known as an honest man, and a reformer. ( He vetoed an annual street cleaning contract, even though the winner had been a friend, because the bid had not been the lowest.)
Once he got into the presidency he was still known as a reformer, but with a heavy pro-business slant. One of his most famous interventions was in the Chicago Pullman Railroad Strike of 1894. The mail went by rail. When the mail couldn't get through he called in federal troops.
(Not mentioned in this book is his foreign policy.)
I had forgotten that Cleveland served two presidencies, but not consecutively. In 1888 Harrison took the electoral college vote, even though Cleveland took the popular vote.
Cleveland's other claim to fame was his marriage during his presidency. Before his election he was accused of fathering a child. He said it was possible, and got elected anyway. Then people surmised he was thinking of marriage, most likely to the widow of his former law partner. Oops, ... He did marry a Folsom, but it was his partner's young daughter who had just graduated from college. (Don't you just love a good love story!)
One of the endearing qualities of this particular book is the number of photos, grainy as they are, and copies of correspondence. Anything with any connection to Buffalo is included. Look for this book in the local section, avail. 1/21.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Books on Religion
The latest of the religious book donations have arrived. There are boxes and boxes of them. Most are not yet priced. Come, take a look, and make us an offer!
VHS Tapes
Once again we are overflowing with VHS tapes. I found some I had been looking for. You will too.
Come and check them out.
Come and check them out.
A Hero of Columbine
She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall, by Misty Bernall (small HC, 1999, $1.75)
"Cassie Bernall, a 17-year-old junior at Columine High School in Littleton, Colorado, was a typical teen having a typical day, when two rampaging classmates put a gun to her head and asked her if she believed in God. She said yes. With that simple word, the story of Cassie's courage in the face of death was catapulted into the consciousness of an entire nation."
New here is Cassie's mother's story of her daughter's earlier journey out of the dark side. Look for it on the new non-fiction table.
"Cassie Bernall, a 17-year-old junior at Columine High School in Littleton, Colorado, was a typical teen having a typical day, when two rampaging classmates put a gun to her head and asked her if she believed in God. She said yes. With that simple word, the story of Cassie's courage in the face of death was catapulted into the consciousness of an entire nation."
New here is Cassie's mother's story of her daughter's earlier journey out of the dark side. Look for it on the new non-fiction table.
The Integration of New Orleans' Schools
The Second Battle of New Orleans: The Hundred-Year Struggle to Integrate the Schools, by Liva Baker (HC, 1996, 564 pages, $4)
Mostly this is about desegregation of the New Orleans' schools in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. Some of this I thought I knew. As usual, I didn't.
After the Civil War ended, integration came to New Orleans' schools, but only for 7 years. After Reconstruction ended and Jim Crow began, segregation was back. A newspaper editor named Paul Trevigne bravely took the fight to the governor, then to Louisiana's Supreme Court, and eventually all the way to the US Supreme Court. He lost.
By the 1930s the NAACP believed that education was the key to equality. They decided to strike at the "region wide inequities in salaries paid to white and black public-school teachers. In 1931-32, black teachers in the South's public schools received approximately half the wages white teachers received... School boards continued to " cast blacks... as 'beings of an inferior order.' According to the school boards' cyclical line of logic, the black schoolteacher could live on less money, blacks taught shorter terms, and deserved less money and since few blacks had advanced degrees they were worth less. If all these failed to convince, white officials could always fall back on the politically convenient fiction, a southern article of faith, that whites, by paying the bulk of the taxes in effect, owned the school system and would not be willing to pay the increases higher salaries for black teachers would require."
Thurgood Marshall, originally from Baltimore, led the fight in 1936 to bring equal pay to Maryland's affluent Montgomery County. Within two years Marshal had convinced the courts there to equalize all school teachers salaries. Then he went to Calvert County, and Prince George's County, and won there too. (Prince George's County a fore-runner in the fight against racism? Considering its reputation today, there may be a bit more work to be done there today.)
As I read this history, I can only imagine what courage it took to wage these battles. As a country, and as individuals we are the better for them. I have gone to school in all white schools of the 1960s, and later to integrated schools. The class lessons may have been similar, but exposure to people different from ourselves leads to learning and knowledge far more important than any book lessons. Look for this book in the African-American section.
Mostly this is about desegregation of the New Orleans' schools in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. Some of this I thought I knew. As usual, I didn't.
After the Civil War ended, integration came to New Orleans' schools, but only for 7 years. After Reconstruction ended and Jim Crow began, segregation was back. A newspaper editor named Paul Trevigne bravely took the fight to the governor, then to Louisiana's Supreme Court, and eventually all the way to the US Supreme Court. He lost.
By the 1930s the NAACP believed that education was the key to equality. They decided to strike at the "region wide inequities in salaries paid to white and black public-school teachers. In 1931-32, black teachers in the South's public schools received approximately half the wages white teachers received... School boards continued to " cast blacks... as 'beings of an inferior order.' According to the school boards' cyclical line of logic, the black schoolteacher could live on less money, blacks taught shorter terms, and deserved less money and since few blacks had advanced degrees they were worth less. If all these failed to convince, white officials could always fall back on the politically convenient fiction, a southern article of faith, that whites, by paying the bulk of the taxes in effect, owned the school system and would not be willing to pay the increases higher salaries for black teachers would require."
Thurgood Marshall, originally from Baltimore, led the fight in 1936 to bring equal pay to Maryland's affluent Montgomery County. Within two years Marshal had convinced the courts there to equalize all school teachers salaries. Then he went to Calvert County, and Prince George's County, and won there too. (Prince George's County a fore-runner in the fight against racism? Considering its reputation today, there may be a bit more work to be done there today.)
As I read this history, I can only imagine what courage it took to wage these battles. As a country, and as individuals we are the better for them. I have gone to school in all white schools of the 1960s, and later to integrated schools. The class lessons may have been similar, but exposure to people different from ourselves leads to learning and knowledge far more important than any book lessons. Look for this book in the African-American section.
Maxwell Air Force Field, Alabama
Maxwell Field, Alabama: Headquarters Army Air Forces Eastern Flying Training Command... Army Air Forces Pre-Flight School (Pilot)... Liberator Pilot Transition School, (oversized pamphlet, ?1943, $12, which is less than 1/2 the internet price.)
Cool pamphlet, filled with photos of Maxwell Field, from the commander's home, to the mess hall. Includes 5 pages of plane photos. The most interesting photo for me was of an early flight simulator. It does not say how many men lived and worked here, but this place is huge. As I look at the photos, I keep imagining myself arriving there, and how scared and lost I would have felt. This pamphlet would have helped a bit, but not by much.
There are some markings written in pen, probably by the original owner. Under the photo of the enlisted men's barracks is written, "This is a picture of our barracks!"
In the back of the pamphlet is a a section to be filled in with, "Your Buddies' Names and Addresses: Contact them after the war. (Mail this book home- you will appreciate it in years to come.)"
Look for this in the glass case at the front.
Cool pamphlet, filled with photos of Maxwell Field, from the commander's home, to the mess hall. Includes 5 pages of plane photos. The most interesting photo for me was of an early flight simulator. It does not say how many men lived and worked here, but this place is huge. As I look at the photos, I keep imagining myself arriving there, and how scared and lost I would have felt. This pamphlet would have helped a bit, but not by much.
There are some markings written in pen, probably by the original owner. Under the photo of the enlisted men's barracks is written, "This is a picture of our barracks!"
In the back of the pamphlet is a a section to be filled in with, "Your Buddies' Names and Addresses: Contact them after the war. (Mail this book home- you will appreciate it in years to come.)"
Look for this in the glass case at the front.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Learning to Make Pottery in Miyama, Japan
The Road Through Miyama, by Leila Philip (HC, 1989, $2)
Leila Philip, a blond haired American, wanted to learn to make Japanese "folk pottery".
Leila was not the first of her family to go to Japan. In the beginning of the 1900s, her 23 year old great-"Aunt Bessie" packed her bags and set off to Japan to study painting. She would stay in Tokyo for two years, refusing to learn Japanese, but earning an honorable mention in a Japanese art exhibit.
Now it is Leila's turn, and she wants not only to go to Japan, but to a "traditional workshop" in Japan. In Miyama, 700 miles from Tokyo, they speak a strange dialect, and don't much like strangers. What they do like, is to make pottery. Unlike most Japanese pottery communities, Miyama has not yet been "discovered". There is "no restaurant or visitor center, just 14 potteries and pottery painting workshops along the road." Leila could speak some Japanese, and she could make some pottery, so this sounded like a no-brainer. Or at least that is the way it seemed when she was in the States.
Here is the story of her two year apprenticeship in this far away village, and the lessons she learned, lessons about Japan, their people, their art, and about herself.
Find this book in the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/18 (Later: Japan)
Leila Philip, a blond haired American, wanted to learn to make Japanese "folk pottery".
Leila was not the first of her family to go to Japan. In the beginning of the 1900s, her 23 year old great-"Aunt Bessie" packed her bags and set off to Japan to study painting. She would stay in Tokyo for two years, refusing to learn Japanese, but earning an honorable mention in a Japanese art exhibit.
Now it is Leila's turn, and she wants not only to go to Japan, but to a "traditional workshop" in Japan. In Miyama, 700 miles from Tokyo, they speak a strange dialect, and don't much like strangers. What they do like, is to make pottery. Unlike most Japanese pottery communities, Miyama has not yet been "discovered". There is "no restaurant or visitor center, just 14 potteries and pottery painting workshops along the road." Leila could speak some Japanese, and she could make some pottery, so this sounded like a no-brainer. Or at least that is the way it seemed when she was in the States.
Here is the story of her two year apprenticeship in this far away village, and the lessons she learned, lessons about Japan, their people, their art, and about herself.
Find this book in the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/18 (Later: Japan)
Sugar Crops and Capitalism
Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, by Sidney W. Mintz (TPB, 1985, $2)
"Sidney Mintz shows how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life, and how it changed the history of capitalism and industry. He discusses the production and consumption of sugar, and reveals how closely interwoven are sugar's origins as a 'slave' crop grown in Europe's tropical colonies with its use first as an extravagant luxury for the aristocracy, then as a staple of the diet of the new industrial proletariat. Finally, he considers how sugar has altered work patterns, eating habits, and our diet in modern times."
Now, what would a world be like without sugar! Read this, to be found on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/18. (Later, general non-fiction)
"Sidney Mintz shows how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life, and how it changed the history of capitalism and industry. He discusses the production and consumption of sugar, and reveals how closely interwoven are sugar's origins as a 'slave' crop grown in Europe's tropical colonies with its use first as an extravagant luxury for the aristocracy, then as a staple of the diet of the new industrial proletariat. Finally, he considers how sugar has altered work patterns, eating habits, and our diet in modern times."
Now, what would a world be like without sugar! Read this, to be found on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/18. (Later, general non-fiction)
Weird American Laws
You Can't Eat Peanuts In Church and Other Little-Known Laws, by Barbara Seuling (PB, 1976, $1)
Some examples,
In Glendale, Arizona it is against the law to back up your car.
In Idaho, you can not fish for trout on the back of a giraffe.
In NY, "a railway company which negligently throws a passenger from a crowded car on a trestle is held liable for injury to a relative who, in going to his rescue, falls through the trestle." ( Here is my question- is it possible to throw a passenger off a railroad car and it not be negligence?)
These are supposed to be REAL laws, or at least they were when this book was published. Enjoy! Look for this in the comic section, avail. 1/18.
Some examples,
In Glendale, Arizona it is against the law to back up your car.
In Idaho, you can not fish for trout on the back of a giraffe.
In NY, "a railway company which negligently throws a passenger from a crowded car on a trestle is held liable for injury to a relative who, in going to his rescue, falls through the trestle." ( Here is my question- is it possible to throw a passenger off a railroad car and it not be negligence?)
These are supposed to be REAL laws, or at least they were when this book was published. Enjoy! Look for this in the comic section, avail. 1/18.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Abraham Lincoln (1925)
The Life of Abraham Lincoln, two volumes, by William E. Barton (HC, 1925, $5, for the set of 2. Poor condition, water stains) Autographed on inserted sheet.
From the introduction, "I have been able to explore the greater thoroughnessss some fields hitherto inadequately covered and to penetrate some areas hitherto unknown."
Wow, could he been any more arrogant than that?
Actually now that reread this, it doesn't sound so bad, but read the whole paragraph and you will know why I said that he was arrogant. Look for these books in the sets section.
From the introduction, "I have been able to explore the greater thoroughnessss some fields hitherto inadequately covered and to penetrate some areas hitherto unknown."
Wow, could he been any more arrogant than that?
Actually now that reread this, it doesn't sound so bad, but read the whole paragraph and you will know why I said that he was arrogant. Look for these books in the sets section.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Dead Sea Scriptures
The Dead Sea Scriptures in English Translation, introduced by Theodor H. Gaster (PB, 1964, $1.50)
The first edition of The Dead Sea Scriptures translated from the ancient Hebrew were published in 1956. This is the enlarged second edition, with more text, notes, lists and indexes. Have you ever wondered what the Dead Sea Scrolls ACTUALLY said? You can read it here. Look for it on the new non-fiction table. (Later: religion section))
The first edition of The Dead Sea Scriptures translated from the ancient Hebrew were published in 1956. This is the enlarged second edition, with more text, notes, lists and indexes. Have you ever wondered what the Dead Sea Scrolls ACTUALLY said? You can read it here. Look for it on the new non-fiction table. (Later: religion section))
Billy Graham (1957)
Billy Graham and the New York Crusade, by George Burnham (HC, 1957, $3)
When this book was written, Billy Graham was still considered "a young man". The authors spent time with him "at his home, in his office, on the golf course, etc." So we can "meet Billy the man, his family, his theology, his mission, his world vision."
How cool is this? Look for this book on the new non-fiction table. (later: religion)
When this book was written, Billy Graham was still considered "a young man". The authors spent time with him "at his home, in his office, on the golf course, etc." So we can "meet Billy the man, his family, his theology, his mission, his world vision."
How cool is this? Look for this book on the new non-fiction table. (later: religion)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The Confederate Negro **SOLD**
The Confederate Negro: Virginia's craftsmen and military laborers, 1861-1865, by James H. Brewer (HB, 1969, ex-lib, $3)
On the eve of war, more than 491,000 slaves, 58,000 free blacks, and 1,048,000 whites lived in Virginia. After the war came, there were not enough whites to do all the necessary war work. The Confederacy paid slave owners to rent out their slaves to build steamers, gunships, or fortifications. Slaves were also used to work on the canals, in the mines, and in the hospitals. So many slaves helped with the war effort, that at the end of the war there were not enough workers to do the necessary farm work.
Slaves did all this, and most of us never even considered the importance of slave labor to the Civil War. Read this book, and learn even more. Look for this in the Civil War section.
On the eve of war, more than 491,000 slaves, 58,000 free blacks, and 1,048,000 whites lived in Virginia. After the war came, there were not enough whites to do all the necessary war work. The Confederacy paid slave owners to rent out their slaves to build steamers, gunships, or fortifications. Slaves were also used to work on the canals, in the mines, and in the hospitals. So many slaves helped with the war effort, that at the end of the war there were not enough workers to do the necessary farm work.
Slaves did all this, and most of us never even considered the importance of slave labor to the Civil War. Read this book, and learn even more. Look for this in the Civil War section.
Personal Witnessing (1957)
The Art of Personal Witnessing, by Lorne Sanny (softcover, $.50)
Mr. Sanny was a member of the Billy Graham team. He trained in the US, Canada and Britain. Read this book and compare witnessing as it was done then, and the way it is done today. Look for this book in the religion section.
Mr. Sanny was a member of the Billy Graham team. He trained in the US, Canada and Britain. Read this book and compare witnessing as it was done then, and the way it is done today. Look for this book in the religion section.
African Folklore
Yes and No: The Intimate Folklore of Africa, by Alta Jablow (HC, 1961, weakened spine in the front, $2)
Jablow lists for us various types of folklore: riddles, stories of love, proverbs, and dilemmas. It was the section on dilemmas I found the most intriguing. Jablow states that dilemmas are solvable, but how to solve them? To "chose one horn" of a dilemma leads one to death. To withdraw from the dilemma, and not to try to solve it, leaves life meaningless. Only if you embrace both horns of a dilemma "as ardently as possible, and to stay with it" can find you find a solution. The lesson is not just in finding the solution, but also it is in the process. Note some of the dilemmas have solutions in the back. Some do not.
Look for this in the African section.
Jablow lists for us various types of folklore: riddles, stories of love, proverbs, and dilemmas. It was the section on dilemmas I found the most intriguing. Jablow states that dilemmas are solvable, but how to solve them? To "chose one horn" of a dilemma leads one to death. To withdraw from the dilemma, and not to try to solve it, leaves life meaningless. Only if you embrace both horns of a dilemma "as ardently as possible, and to stay with it" can find you find a solution. The lesson is not just in finding the solution, but also it is in the process. Note some of the dilemmas have solutions in the back. Some do not.
Look for this in the African section.
Old Testament Women
Far More Precious than Jewels: Perspectives on Biblical Women, by Katheryn Pfisterer Darr (TPB, 1991, $2.25)
Included here are the Jewish views on Ruth, Sarah, Hagar and Esther.
Look for this in the women's section, avail.
Included here are the Jewish views on Ruth, Sarah, Hagar and Esther.
Look for this in the women's section, avail.
Negro Spirituals
All God's Chillun: Meditations on Negro Spirituals, by J. Garfield Owens (small HC, 1971, $2)
"All God's Chillun is a book that black people can read with pride and recognition, and whites can read with awakened awareness."
Nifty book that goes into the meaning behind the words of Negro Spirituals. Look for it in the African-American section.
"All God's Chillun is a book that black people can read with pride and recognition, and whites can read with awakened awareness."
Nifty book that goes into the meaning behind the words of Negro Spirituals. Look for it in the African-American section.
History of the Factory Movement in England
The History of the Factory Movement, by Alfred [Samuel H.G. Kydd] (HC, 1966 reprint of 1857 edition, two volumes in one, 660 pages, $7, which is 1/3 the internet price)
"The leaders of the factory movement, in comparatively recent times, have, by extraordinary exertions forced on an unwilling government, a recognition of its duty, to protect by law the helpless; it was reserved for the promoters of the factory movement to break through the commercial materialism of their age, to compel society and the legislature to recognise every woman, young person, and child, employed in the textile branches of British manufacture, as a human creature, having a mind and body to be cared for, and, as being an object of higher regard than merely a piece of factory furniture, whose existance had no end to accomplish, beyond producing the greatest possible quantity of goods at the lowest possible cost."
When this book was written, the number of people working in factories was "probably, not fewer than half a million." Reform was starting to come to Britain. As of 1847, factory workers had to only work ten hour days.
Quite a beautiful book. Look for it in the business section.
"The leaders of the factory movement, in comparatively recent times, have, by extraordinary exertions forced on an unwilling government, a recognition of its duty, to protect by law the helpless; it was reserved for the promoters of the factory movement to break through the commercial materialism of their age, to compel society and the legislature to recognise every woman, young person, and child, employed in the textile branches of British manufacture, as a human creature, having a mind and body to be cared for, and, as being an object of higher regard than merely a piece of factory furniture, whose existance had no end to accomplish, beyond producing the greatest possible quantity of goods at the lowest possible cost."
When this book was written, the number of people working in factories was "probably, not fewer than half a million." Reform was starting to come to Britain. As of 1847, factory workers had to only work ten hour days.
Quite a beautiful book. Look for it in the business section.
Pittsburgh, PA ***SOLD***
Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City, by Stefan Lorant (oversize HC, 1975, 608 pages, ex-lib., $4)
Wonderful book on a wonderful city. Hey, I was born there, so of course it is wonderful. It is also wonderful because they have done so much to clean up the place after all those year of pollution from the steel plants.
Filled with photos, and more photos. Print is easy to read, even for me.
Look for it on the new non-fiction table.
Wonderful book on a wonderful city. Hey, I was born there, so of course it is wonderful. It is also wonderful because they have done so much to clean up the place after all those year of pollution from the steel plants.
Filled with photos, and more photos. Print is easy to read, even for me.
Look for it on the new non-fiction table.
Pitirim Sorokin's Social and Cultural Dynamics
Social and Cultural Dynamics, by Pitirim Aleksandrovich Sorokin, 4 volumes (HC, ex-lib., 1962, $25 for the set of 4, which is less than 1/3 the internet price.)
I. Fluctuation of Forms of Art
II. Fluctuation of Systems of Truth, Ethics, and Law
III. Fluctuation of Social Relationships, War, and Revolution
IV. Basic Problems, Principles, and Methods
From the preface:
"Considered objectively these volumes are an investigation of the nature and change, the dynamics of integrated culture: its types, its processes, its trends, fluctuations, rhythms, tempos...
But the possible decline of our present-day Sensate phase does not necessarily mean the end of the Western culture, any more than did the decay of medieval Ideationalism...
This explains why the possibility of the decline of the present cultural phase does not make me at all pessimistic. However profound the contemporary crisis may be- and it is infinitely deeper than most people recognize- after a trying transitory period, there looms not an abyss of death, but a mountain peak of life, with new horizons of creation and a fresh view of the eternal heavens."
Writing this in 1937, Sorokin was oh so wrong. Yet, even now, without hope, how can we go on?
Look for these books in the set section.
I. Fluctuation of Forms of Art
II. Fluctuation of Systems of Truth, Ethics, and Law
III. Fluctuation of Social Relationships, War, and Revolution
IV. Basic Problems, Principles, and Methods
From the preface:
"Considered objectively these volumes are an investigation of the nature and change, the dynamics of integrated culture: its types, its processes, its trends, fluctuations, rhythms, tempos...
But the possible decline of our present-day Sensate phase does not necessarily mean the end of the Western culture, any more than did the decay of medieval Ideationalism...
This explains why the possibility of the decline of the present cultural phase does not make me at all pessimistic. However profound the contemporary crisis may be- and it is infinitely deeper than most people recognize- after a trying transitory period, there looms not an abyss of death, but a mountain peak of life, with new horizons of creation and a fresh view of the eternal heavens."
Writing this in 1937, Sorokin was oh so wrong. Yet, even now, without hope, how can we go on?
Look for these books in the set section.
The Epic Poem : The Donner Party
The Donner Party, George Keithley (TPB, 1972, $3)
"Quietly, without pretension, The Donner Party does what true national epics always do; it celebrates the trials, contradictions and ultimate fate of the vital energies that a people value most." - The Atlantic
The Donner Party, to me, seems a strange topic for an epic poem, but in this job one has to keep an open mind, and if the Atlantic and National Observer both think it wonderful, who am I to disagree. Look for this book in the poetry section.
"Quietly, without pretension, The Donner Party does what true national epics always do; it celebrates the trials, contradictions and ultimate fate of the vital energies that a people value most." - The Atlantic
The Donner Party, to me, seems a strange topic for an epic poem, but in this job one has to keep an open mind, and if the Atlantic and National Observer both think it wonderful, who am I to disagree. Look for this book in the poetry section.
Native American
We have just received a nice collection of books on Native American subjects. Look for them in that section.
Dayle Courtney's Thorne Twins
7 Thorne Twins Adventure Books, by Dayle Courtney,
Read about the adventures of Eric and Alison Thorne.
(TPB, early 1980s, pages are yellow, priced each @ $ 0.75-1)
To be found in the young adult section.
Read about the adventures of Eric and Alison Thorne.
(TPB, early 1980s, pages are yellow, priced each @ $ 0.75-1)
To be found in the young adult section.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Taking Wheat to the Mill (1924) ***SOLD***
The Gang Goes to Mill, by Harriette Wilbur (HC, 1924, 322 pages, $3, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Company is coming to the farm, and Mom has run out of flour. Oh, no! Her son, Jasper, is now old enough to take the farm's wheat 12 miles away to the mill to be ground. Of course Jasper has to take his four friends. Off they go, to battle hornets, racing automobiles, skunks, ghosts and..... (I can't tell you more without spoiling the fun.)
This is a cute book, both in its story, and in the book's condition. Oh, do I like white pages! Look for this book in the children's section, avail. 1/11.
Company is coming to the farm, and Mom has run out of flour. Oh, no! Her son, Jasper, is now old enough to take the farm's wheat 12 miles away to the mill to be ground. Of course Jasper has to take his four friends. Off they go, to battle hornets, racing automobiles, skunks, ghosts and..... (I can't tell you more without spoiling the fun.)
This is a cute book, both in its story, and in the book's condition. Oh, do I like white pages! Look for this book in the children's section, avail. 1/11.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Parke-Davis Medicine Reference (1938)
Parke-Davis Blue Book: A Reference Catalog of Selected Scientific Preparations for Physicians ($10, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Included here are the drugs produced by Parke-Davis in 1938: endocrine preps (and sex hormones), pharmaceutical specialties, vitamins, and biological preps (vaccines).
Some of these drugs we still use today, like adrenalin, digitalis, sulfanimide, and the TB PPD test.
Sometimes the methods of administration are different from now- the use of a glass "Vaporizer" (nebulizer) to give "oral inhalation treatments."
Sometimes the indications for use turn your stomach- theelin suppositories to treat gonorrheal vaginitis in children, arsenic injections for syphilis, tar ointment for eczema, mercury as a disinfectant.
I liked the diagrams and photos. Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: the med. section)
Included here are the drugs produced by Parke-Davis in 1938: endocrine preps (and sex hormones), pharmaceutical specialties, vitamins, and biological preps (vaccines).
Some of these drugs we still use today, like adrenalin, digitalis, sulfanimide, and the TB PPD test.
Sometimes the methods of administration are different from now- the use of a glass "Vaporizer" (nebulizer) to give "oral inhalation treatments."
Sometimes the indications for use turn your stomach- theelin suppositories to treat gonorrheal vaginitis in children, arsenic injections for syphilis, tar ointment for eczema, mercury as a disinfectant.
I liked the diagrams and photos. Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: the med. section)
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Atlas of the Ear
Aural Atlas, edited by Samuel J. Kipetzky (HC, 1946, $3)
Included are 49 color plates of both normal and diseased ears.
I also found interesting the ads in the back of the book. Auralgan Research Division, the publisher, offered both 16 mm. Sound and Color Films, as well as Colored Magic Lantern slides(!) free for rental to any educational group of larger than 20 people. Auralgan will even supply "the film, projector, sound equipment, screen and competent operator... wherever such facilities are not available." That generosity makes me wonder if this book was even sold, or was just distributed gratis for educational purposes.
Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: in the med. section)
Included are 49 color plates of both normal and diseased ears.
I also found interesting the ads in the back of the book. Auralgan Research Division, the publisher, offered both 16 mm. Sound and Color Films, as well as Colored Magic Lantern slides(!) free for rental to any educational group of larger than 20 people. Auralgan will even supply "the film, projector, sound equipment, screen and competent operator... wherever such facilities are not available." That generosity makes me wonder if this book was even sold, or was just distributed gratis for educational purposes.
Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: in the med. section)
Understanding the Russians
From Nyet to Da: Understanding the Russians, by Yale Richmond (TPB, 1992, $2)
"Dramatic changes in the Soviet Union have increased opportunities for interaction between Russian and Americans. From Nyet to Da, solidly grounded in research and the author's own experience, offers a clear and concise analysis of the forces that have shaped the Russian character and an insightful description of Russian behavior today, especially as it differs from that of Americans."
Note that this book was written in 1992, so any changes since Putin has been in power are not included, nor any possible future changes if protests are successful. Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: the Russian section)
"Dramatic changes in the Soviet Union have increased opportunities for interaction between Russian and Americans. From Nyet to Da, solidly grounded in research and the author's own experience, offers a clear and concise analysis of the forces that have shaped the Russian character and an insightful description of Russian behavior today, especially as it differs from that of Americans."
Note that this book was written in 1992, so any changes since Putin has been in power are not included, nor any possible future changes if protests are successful. Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: the Russian section)
Atlas of Fetal Development
Color Atlas of Life Before Birth: Normal Fetal Development, by Marjorie A. England (oversize HC, 1983, ex-lib., spine is weak, 216 pages, $6, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
Be aware, these photos are graphic. Also, that these photos were obtained by dissection. Some of these fetuses were so tiny, they needed to be dissected with cactus spines mounted on handles. More than 30 systems, as well as many sub-divisions are shown here in ultimate detail. For instance, there are 9 photos of the external eye, and 6 microscopic ones.
Even the word amazing doesn't come close to describing this book. Look for it on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later:the med. section)
Be aware, these photos are graphic. Also, that these photos were obtained by dissection. Some of these fetuses were so tiny, they needed to be dissected with cactus spines mounted on handles. More than 30 systems, as well as many sub-divisions are shown here in ultimate detail. For instance, there are 9 photos of the external eye, and 6 microscopic ones.
Even the word amazing doesn't come close to describing this book. Look for it on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later:the med. section)
German Expellees from Europe (1954)
European Achievements in the Homelands of the German Expellees (TPB, 1954, with foxing on the outer and inside cover, translated into 4 languages- English, German, French and Spanish, $3, which is 1/3 the internet price.)
This is a really strange book. If I have it right, after 1000 AD, the Slavic rulers of Eastern Europe wanted Germans to move into Slavic lands, bringing with them their superior cultivation and culture. Eventually the German, Slavic and Baltic people would unite and form Europe, and to protect the area from Islam and the Turks.
After WWII ended, "centuries of constuctive work was destroyed when... [lands] were placed under foreign administration and when the mass expulsions of the German population took place... Sixteen million Germans, men and women, children and aged, were driven from house and home... The unjust mass expulsions rendered tham all homeless. They meant starvation and death for hundreds of thousands of them..." This book is filled with photos of the buildings and industry that the German people were forced to leave behind.
Is it only me, or is this point of view off? True, few people welcomed life behind the Iron Curtain, but "unjust mass expulsions" of Germans? Mass expulsions, maybe, but "unjust"? This is certainly an unique perspective. Look for this interesting presentation on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: Eurpean history)
This is a really strange book. If I have it right, after 1000 AD, the Slavic rulers of Eastern Europe wanted Germans to move into Slavic lands, bringing with them their superior cultivation and culture. Eventually the German, Slavic and Baltic people would unite and form Europe, and to protect the area from Islam and the Turks.
After WWII ended, "centuries of constuctive work was destroyed when... [lands] were placed under foreign administration and when the mass expulsions of the German population took place... Sixteen million Germans, men and women, children and aged, were driven from house and home... The unjust mass expulsions rendered tham all homeless. They meant starvation and death for hundreds of thousands of them..." This book is filled with photos of the buildings and industry that the German people were forced to leave behind.
Is it only me, or is this point of view off? True, few people welcomed life behind the Iron Curtain, but "unjust mass expulsions" of Germans? Mass expulsions, maybe, but "unjust"? This is certainly an unique perspective. Look for this interesting presentation on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: Eurpean history)
The Hobbit (Oversized)
The Hobbit: or, There and Back Again, J. R. R. Tolkien (oversized TPB, 1994, $4)
"Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known."
I was introduced to Tolkien at an early age. When I was ten, my neighbor came back from Oxford, carrying an autographed copy of The Hobbit for me. I didn't understand it, and my parents didn't try to read it to me. Was I surprised to find the above quoted poem in my fifth grade reader! Mind you, I still didn't like the book.I treasured it only because my "almost brother" had given it to me. Not till I was 17 did I read the trilogy and understand what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, I did not live in a progressive part of NJ. When I did my senior project on LOTR, I felt I had to include a summary of the whole thing. I don't how I did it, but I managed to wrap it all together in 20 minutes, which left 40 for the presentation. I got a great grade on it, but no one, including even the teacher, had ever heard of Tolkien.
The Hobbit is written differently from The LOTR. The LOTR is dark and for adults. The Hobbit is scary, but in a children's way. The story has always been told that Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a story to read to his children. Only lately has the information come out that his kids really weren't at all interested in it. (So much for that myth.) Still, this is a great yarn, and this edition has very easy to read print. It even has many, and I mean many, full page, or even two page spreads of drawings, not to mention the maps.
That reminds me- it's about time I got out my copy and re-read this wondrous tale. Look for this copy at the front desk, avail. 1/11.
PS: My almost brother was a progressive. In 1965 he actually called up Tolkien, praised his work, and was invited to come to tea. I wish my bro was still around to tell me about that tea party!
"Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known."
I was introduced to Tolkien at an early age. When I was ten, my neighbor came back from Oxford, carrying an autographed copy of The Hobbit for me. I didn't understand it, and my parents didn't try to read it to me. Was I surprised to find the above quoted poem in my fifth grade reader! Mind you, I still didn't like the book.I treasured it only because my "almost brother" had given it to me. Not till I was 17 did I read the trilogy and understand what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, I did not live in a progressive part of NJ. When I did my senior project on LOTR, I felt I had to include a summary of the whole thing. I don't how I did it, but I managed to wrap it all together in 20 minutes, which left 40 for the presentation. I got a great grade on it, but no one, including even the teacher, had ever heard of Tolkien.
The Hobbit is written differently from The LOTR. The LOTR is dark and for adults. The Hobbit is scary, but in a children's way. The story has always been told that Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a story to read to his children. Only lately has the information come out that his kids really weren't at all interested in it. (So much for that myth.) Still, this is a great yarn, and this edition has very easy to read print. It even has many, and I mean many, full page, or even two page spreads of drawings, not to mention the maps.
That reminds me- it's about time I got out my copy and re-read this wondrous tale. Look for this copy at the front desk, avail. 1/11.
PS: My almost brother was a progressive. In 1965 he actually called up Tolkien, praised his work, and was invited to come to tea. I wish my bro was still around to tell me about that tea party!
Friday, January 6, 2012
NY Biographical Dictionary
New York Biographical Dictionary: People of all Times and All Places Who Have Been Important to the History and Life of the State, published by the American Historical Publications (HC, 1986, 596 pages, $15, which is 1/3 the internet price)
This a beautiful book, with a wonderful quality of paper. (Translation- Isn't this paper really thick and white!) It may be ex-lib, but the only clues are tape mark residue on the binding, and "Plattsburgh Central" stamped on the copyright page. There are a few underlingings.
I don't think much of this book. How can you have a long section on Alan Alda, and not have anything on Nathaniel Rochester? It would seem that all the people included were born in New York, and Rochester wasn't. Still, the title reads people who have "Been Important to the History and Life of the State", a category that Col. Rochester certainly falls into.
As long as it doesn't matter to you that Rochester isn't mentioned, then this is quite a book. Look for it in the local section, avail. 1/11.
This a beautiful book, with a wonderful quality of paper. (Translation- Isn't this paper really thick and white!) It may be ex-lib, but the only clues are tape mark residue on the binding, and "Plattsburgh Central" stamped on the copyright page. There are a few underlingings.
I don't think much of this book. How can you have a long section on Alan Alda, and not have anything on Nathaniel Rochester? It would seem that all the people included were born in New York, and Rochester wasn't. Still, the title reads people who have "Been Important to the History and Life of the State", a category that Col. Rochester certainly falls into.
As long as it doesn't matter to you that Rochester isn't mentioned, then this is quite a book. Look for it in the local section, avail. 1/11.
Not Exactly What I Had in Mind
Not Exactly What I had in Mind: An Incurable Love Story, by Rosemary Breslin (HC, 1997, $3)
I suppose you could say this book reminded me of Love Story, but this book is better written, funnier, and really happened. Rosemary Breslin had a famous and wealthy father. She also had a weird, as in never seen before, ailment, that was not cancer, and was not AIDS. Exactly what it was, though, no one knew. They didn't know when she first became ill, and at the end of the book, 8 years later, they still don't know. Thus the problem- if you don't know the diagnosis, how do you treat the disease. More importantly, how does Rosemary manage to live both with the illness, and the uncertainty.
In the beginning Breslin's life is a mess. Not only is she ill, but she is also unemployed, heavily in debt, near to being homeless, and, need I mention, a tad bit depressed. You would expect this book to be a real downer, except it isn't. Like in a fairytale, she meets a prince. Unlike the fairytale, they do not live happily after, but oh, do they live!
"This can't be my life... But I know it is. And I love it. and I can't say I'd change any of it, even the illness, because it's who I am and without it maybe there wouldn't be Tony Dunne. And that's what it's all about for me. A great part of living with this illness and not losing my sanity involves both looking at the amazing way my life has unfolded after I got sick and accepting I may not get some of the things I want so badly. My health. A baby. A long life. But I did get to be someone I'm proud to be. And I got Tony Dunne."
This book was written in 1997, with Breslin and her husband hanging in there. I have grown to admire, and strangely even love this woman. She is so brave, so funny, and so real. Of course I checked out her current "status" on the internet, and found just what I thought I would find. I feel sad, but oh, but what a life!
Look for this on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: biog. section)
I suppose you could say this book reminded me of Love Story, but this book is better written, funnier, and really happened. Rosemary Breslin had a famous and wealthy father. She also had a weird, as in never seen before, ailment, that was not cancer, and was not AIDS. Exactly what it was, though, no one knew. They didn't know when she first became ill, and at the end of the book, 8 years later, they still don't know. Thus the problem- if you don't know the diagnosis, how do you treat the disease. More importantly, how does Rosemary manage to live both with the illness, and the uncertainty.
In the beginning Breslin's life is a mess. Not only is she ill, but she is also unemployed, heavily in debt, near to being homeless, and, need I mention, a tad bit depressed. You would expect this book to be a real downer, except it isn't. Like in a fairytale, she meets a prince. Unlike the fairytale, they do not live happily after, but oh, do they live!
"This can't be my life... But I know it is. And I love it. and I can't say I'd change any of it, even the illness, because it's who I am and without it maybe there wouldn't be Tony Dunne. And that's what it's all about for me. A great part of living with this illness and not losing my sanity involves both looking at the amazing way my life has unfolded after I got sick and accepting I may not get some of the things I want so badly. My health. A baby. A long life. But I did get to be someone I'm proud to be. And I got Tony Dunne."
This book was written in 1997, with Breslin and her husband hanging in there. I have grown to admire, and strangely even love this woman. She is so brave, so funny, and so real. Of course I checked out her current "status" on the internet, and found just what I thought I would find. I feel sad, but oh, but what a life!
Look for this on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/11. (Later: biog. section)
A John Verdon Mystery **SOLD**
Shut Your Eyes Tight, by John Verdson (HC, 2011, $4)
I don't normally blog fiction, but this mystery is special. I made the mistake of starting it one evening, and for 509 pages couldn't put it down. The sun was well up by the time I finished. Even though I was pretty tired by then, I still had to say "WOW" after "all" had been revealed.
Poor former NYPD homicide cop, Dave Gurney, is now retired. He and his wife live in the country. His wife is happy. He is not. His former partner asks for a consultation in a four month old murder case. A famous psychiatrist had married a former patient. It is time for the wedding toast, and he goes to get her, but instead finds her body seated at a table, but her head on the table. Who did the evil deed? Probably the gardener, who is now missing. Also missing is the neighbor's wife, who was thought to have been having an affair with the gardener. It is now four months later, and neither the gardener or the wife have been found. Where are they now, and did they do the deed? Gurney is itching to find out. Keeping his marriage requires he turn away. Guess which he decides to do?
Since this tale lasts for over 500 pages, it is safe to assume that all is not what it seems. I read a lot of mysteries, but even I didn't see where all the twists were leading. 500 pages! I never read a book that long. But I did this one, and I plan on reading Verdon's first book, no matter how many pages it is. (Note this is a very recent book, thus the higher price.) Look for it in the mystery section, avail. 1/11.
I don't normally blog fiction, but this mystery is special. I made the mistake of starting it one evening, and for 509 pages couldn't put it down. The sun was well up by the time I finished. Even though I was pretty tired by then, I still had to say "WOW" after "all" had been revealed.
Poor former NYPD homicide cop, Dave Gurney, is now retired. He and his wife live in the country. His wife is happy. He is not. His former partner asks for a consultation in a four month old murder case. A famous psychiatrist had married a former patient. It is time for the wedding toast, and he goes to get her, but instead finds her body seated at a table, but her head on the table. Who did the evil deed? Probably the gardener, who is now missing. Also missing is the neighbor's wife, who was thought to have been having an affair with the gardener. It is now four months later, and neither the gardener or the wife have been found. Where are they now, and did they do the deed? Gurney is itching to find out. Keeping his marriage requires he turn away. Guess which he decides to do?
Since this tale lasts for over 500 pages, it is safe to assume that all is not what it seems. I read a lot of mysteries, but even I didn't see where all the twists were leading. 500 pages! I never read a book that long. But I did this one, and I plan on reading Verdon's first book, no matter how many pages it is. (Note this is a very recent book, thus the higher price.) Look for it in the mystery section, avail. 1/11.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Driving With Dead People!
Driving With Dead People: A Memoir, by Monica Holloway (TPB, 2007, $2.50)
Doesn't that title just reach out and grab you! I figured this would be a fun book to read, heavy on the parts where the girl hangs out at an undertakers, and light on the descriptions of her dysfunctional family. Wrong! This is a wonderfully written book, and well worth reading, but it is not a light read. It starts out dark and gets darker.
Sometimes we need a reality check. The world is not always a place of kindness. The more we know about the world, the more we can understand it, others, and ourselves. There may be a lot of denial going on by in this family, but that doesn't mean that WE have to live in denial of ugliness or evil. Without the awareness of ugliness, we can't help others, or even ourselves, deal with the pain and heal. And, oh, does this world need help healing!
Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/7. (Later: the biog. section.)
Doesn't that title just reach out and grab you! I figured this would be a fun book to read, heavy on the parts where the girl hangs out at an undertakers, and light on the descriptions of her dysfunctional family. Wrong! This is a wonderfully written book, and well worth reading, but it is not a light read. It starts out dark and gets darker.
Sometimes we need a reality check. The world is not always a place of kindness. The more we know about the world, the more we can understand it, others, and ourselves. There may be a lot of denial going on by in this family, but that doesn't mean that WE have to live in denial of ugliness or evil. Without the awareness of ugliness, we can't help others, or even ourselves, deal with the pain and heal. And, oh, does this world need help healing!
Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/7. (Later: the biog. section.)
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Organized: the travel section
We are working our way through the new donations, and trying to bring order to the chaos. Just finished is the travel section. Feel free to check it out. ( Note, the last three blogs are of books from this section. Heavens, you know I can't go through a bunch of books and not see some I want to blog about!)
Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats
The Northeast Sanctuaries: A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats of the United States, by Jack Kelly (TPB, 1991, $3)
"Today more and more people are choosing to spend their weekends and vacations in search of tranquillity and spiritual renewal. This state is often most easily discovered in the quiet and seclusion of a retreat that provides the time, space, and conditions for the mind and heart to come to stillness. In this, the first of their regional guides to the monasteries, abbeys, and retreats of the United States, seasoned travelers Jack and Marcia Kelly offer a choice of more than 300 places both religious and nonsectarian, where it is possible to find refuge, peace, and true refreshment."
When I was in college, and just discovering religion (at least as an adult), the Catholics held a midnight retreat at a local monastery. I remember walking for about two hours in the dark, the last hour in silence. We then had mass in the monastery chapel. That was more than 30 years ago, and I still remember the peace I felt then, and the closeness to God.
This book will help you have your own spiritual adventure. Look for it on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/7. (Later: the travel section)
"Today more and more people are choosing to spend their weekends and vacations in search of tranquillity and spiritual renewal. This state is often most easily discovered in the quiet and seclusion of a retreat that provides the time, space, and conditions for the mind and heart to come to stillness. In this, the first of their regional guides to the monasteries, abbeys, and retreats of the United States, seasoned travelers Jack and Marcia Kelly offer a choice of more than 300 places both religious and nonsectarian, where it is possible to find refuge, peace, and true refreshment."
When I was in college, and just discovering religion (at least as an adult), the Catholics held a midnight retreat at a local monastery. I remember walking for about two hours in the dark, the last hour in silence. We then had mass in the monastery chapel. That was more than 30 years ago, and I still remember the peace I felt then, and the closeness to God.
This book will help you have your own spiritual adventure. Look for it on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/7. (Later: the travel section)
Fidel Castro's Oldsmobile
Che's Chevrolet, Fidel Castro's Oldsmobile: On the Road in Cuba, by Richard Schweid (HC, 2004, ex-lib, $2)
"Packard, Studebaker, Edsel, De Soto- cars long extinct in the United States can be seen at work every day on Cuba's streets. Havana and Santiago de Cuba today are home to some 60,000 North American cars, all dating back to at least 1959, the year the Cuban Revolution prevailed. Though few new parts have arrived in Cuba since 1960, the cars are still on the road, held together with mechanical ingenuity and willpower."
Schweid traveled through Cuba to research the story of motor vehicles in Cuba today. Along the way he tells the story of the Cuban people. What disturbed me the most wa learning of the "Special Period", the period after 1990 when the USSR disintegrated and ceased sending aid to Cuba. Food, soap and gas were scarce. Currency was scarcer. Individuals were allowed 10 gallons of gas a month, made their own soap if they could get the ingredients, and ate mashed banana peels.
People also bought bicycles. Che had started the first bicycle factory, but in 1990 it only produced 5,000 bikes a year. After the Special Period more factories were built, so by 1994, 200,000 Cuban-made bikes were going into circulation yearly, as well as the same number from China. Bikes were even used as taxis! Even in 2004 most people still used animals or bicycles to get around.
On the other hand, Cuba has universal health, and more than 67,000 doctors. Infant mortality is less than in the States, and life expectancy is just as long.
Do I sound un-patriotic if I doubt Americans could have coped so well, or for so long? Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/7. (later: the Cuban section)
"Packard, Studebaker, Edsel, De Soto- cars long extinct in the United States can be seen at work every day on Cuba's streets. Havana and Santiago de Cuba today are home to some 60,000 North American cars, all dating back to at least 1959, the year the Cuban Revolution prevailed. Though few new parts have arrived in Cuba since 1960, the cars are still on the road, held together with mechanical ingenuity and willpower."
Schweid traveled through Cuba to research the story of motor vehicles in Cuba today. Along the way he tells the story of the Cuban people. What disturbed me the most wa learning of the "Special Period", the period after 1990 when the USSR disintegrated and ceased sending aid to Cuba. Food, soap and gas were scarce. Currency was scarcer. Individuals were allowed 10 gallons of gas a month, made their own soap if they could get the ingredients, and ate mashed banana peels.
People also bought bicycles. Che had started the first bicycle factory, but in 1990 it only produced 5,000 bikes a year. After the Special Period more factories were built, so by 1994, 200,000 Cuban-made bikes were going into circulation yearly, as well as the same number from China. Bikes were even used as taxis! Even in 2004 most people still used animals or bicycles to get around.
On the other hand, Cuba has universal health, and more than 67,000 doctors. Infant mortality is less than in the States, and life expectancy is just as long.
Do I sound un-patriotic if I doubt Americans could have coped so well, or for so long? Look for this book on the new non-fiction table, avail. 1/7. (later: the Cuban section)
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