The Virtual Book Group has its very own blog which will be open to the public soon. I can pretty much guarantee that none of the *books pictured above will be chosen for group reading this year. Our first book discussion will take place the last weekend in March ~ Out Stealing Horses by Per Pettersen.
Does anyone use book plates anymore? I rarely see them, but found this one in a young adult book about the Civil War. 
The big news around our house is not about this **old Kindle from last year, but the Kindle 2 that we ordered. Just got news that it will be delivered in March! We're looking forward to comparing the two gadgets.( I still haven't fully explored the capabilities of the old Kindle because I'm lax when it comes to reading instruction booklets.) *To be fair I did skim two of the books pictured and was kind of (very) freaked out that Margaret Sanger, Margaret Mead and the others were lumped in with Hitler for being destructive. The Fulton Sheen book had a lot of fun tidbits like ... having a child is the cure for boredom. (Trivia: Actor Martin Sheen took his professional name from Fulton Sheen because he greatly admired him.)
**The old Kindle shown above has a page from King Coal by Upton Sinclair on the screen.
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19 comments:
I seem to recall reading on one my writing lists that the new Kindle's wi fi capability is limited to the US and the purchase of e-books is limited to US residents or those with US credit cards - for copyright reasons. I guess the rest of us will have to stick with "real" books! ;-)
A R: that first bunch of books looks oh-so-familiar. Add in a few of the same ilk in French and you have one corner of the bookshelf in my mental recollection of childhood reading of the imposed variety. (I'm really curious to know who are the authors of the five other books which 'didn't help' - the list of the cover is high camp already.
I had home made bookplates at one point, based on a bear-in-a-boat design my husband made to illustrate something I wrote. The one you show is really pretty.
Haven't read Upton Sinclair's King Coal. It sounds like it has a similar slant to Zola's Germinal (in subject matter, of course, not style.)
I always wanted bookplates. Maybe I will design one for myself! I do enjoy finding them in used books...
Hey Avid. I've quite a few books with the book plates in them. Also one that was written on in the back. The owner was obviously on a car trip and had written down the types( and numbers) of cars that had passed by. Kinda like a spotting game. I'll have to post that, at some point :)Also, my Mom alway wrote in books she gifted to me( I'll scan those, as well ). It's an interesting topic.
Kinsey was (gasp!) a believer in Darwin! Kinsey's smut paved the way for horrors like Playboy Magazine -- simply shocking.
We use bookplates at booksignings sometimes when we want to get a book signed by an author, but we run out of books. So the author signs the plate and then we can give them to people to put on their book later.
I had some when I was a kid and still see them in some of my old books. I have some cool ones designed by Aubrey Beardsley -- I'm saving them for I don't know what.
Very jealous of your Kindle!
i just googled to find out the list of the books that 'screwed up the world' - although it is alarming to see the margarets on any list that also contains the name of hilter, as they say the devil is in the details.
the sanger book which was listed is one where she advances the theory of eugenics....we of course celebrate sanger's work on promoting birth control as a way of having women gain control over their lives and reproduction....
even the mead is a personal hero of mine, the mead book listed is one where she herself was duped by her 'respondents' .... and who hasn't believed things that later turn out to be complete fabrications....
I did find the entire list most interesting....
curious cats can see the list here:
http://listverse.com/literature/10-books-that-screwed-up-the-world/
I don't know if I could ever read a book on a kindle.... intriguing concept - I find the paper in books comforting....
didn't know that about martin! i wonder how charlie feels about fulton???
My bookplates have, yes, a black cat on them! and I received them when I was a child. I'll post a picture tomorrow. We can have a bookplate day.
To R. L Bourges: I've read Germinal (in translation)- thought it was brilliant.
Here's what I like about the basic Kindle (which I said I would never ever want because the Sony e book was such a turn off.)
Here's what I like on Kindle in no special order
1.Audio books,
2.Listening to any music,
3. getting good editions of classic books (that sometimes cost a dollar)
4. the fact that it is so lightweight, it's easy to use
5.I read a lot more of The Sunday Times than I do if it's strewn all over the table. (and it only cost 50 cents)
6. no paper waste!
7. e books are inexpensive. I save a lot there.
8. choice: I still treasure real books, papers, and having them all over the house, but it's also nice to have a choice.
9. the Kindle pays for itself rather quickly.
10. It makes me want to read even more. My many trips to the library haven't slowed down, but since I got the kindle I read at least one extra book each week just because I enjoy the gadget.
11. I can put my own writing inside, and art, drawings etc --create my own e books.
12.Sometimes I'm out in the country miles from the newsstand.. you can be out in a rural area, and order a book and get it in seconds--You don't need a computer or wifi at all. It works like a cell phone but with no fee for the "call" to the "bookstore".
13. When I was ill I got a variety of books delivered and it made me feel so nurtured!
14. free sample chapters of books--I've sampled countless books.
15. When something just works well -- ahh the delight! a long lasting battery! Yay! well designed -
I'm very curious about the newer model.
funny thing though, when I first got it I was positive that I wouldn't like using it-- --I thought it would be a big pain to use--it was a gift though, so I wasn't about to be rude about it. Turns out it was the best gift I got in 2008. Now everyone in my family borrows it for an hour here and there and wants one.
Cinnamon--Zola is my fave author.
Oh -- RL: King Coal reminds me of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and The Grapes of Wrath" if you liked those... and so forth.
Cinnamon,I did find a book on Tacitus but all in "high Latin". I can't READ latin, so I found a primer book of Latin. Maybe, I'll go back for it...
I love bookplates. I'm not currently using them, but have designed some for friends. A very nice tradition, I think.
The Kindle lloks like a great gadget.
Avid: I have only read Germinal- with the reading group- and it was one of only 2 or 3 books that we ALL agreed was exceptional. I
have 'La Joie de Vivre' waiting to be read...in French! Not sure if my French is up to it!!
SubT- Thank goodness for translators, hey?
I just wondered- didn't Barbara suggest the first book for VBC? Does anyone know if she is wanting to join? Barbara I will be over to yours:)
Sub T-- Tacticus! Latin!
I also still use bookplates and sometimes give them as gifts. It is a tradition I enjoy and as another Blogger pointed out, one worth preserving. The people to whom I've gifted bookplates always seem to appreciate them.
This for Cinnamon: if you enjoyed Germinal, you should enjoy all of the Rougon-Macquarts. I'd be tempted to go with Le Ventre de Paris or Au bonheur des dames before La joie de vivre, though - mainly because La Joie is a bit outside the mainstream of the series (but an good read in its own right). Le Ventre de Paris is a fabulous evocation of the world around the old Parisian Halles. A fabulous read.
(yes, I like Zola) :-)
And A R: yes, loved the Grapes of Wrath, so King Coal is duly noted at this end.
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