Anne Frank Banned in VA School

Incredible, rapid decision, with one complaint, to remove the biography from class-room study.

Reversed decision.

A book resolution for 2010

Linda Miller at Salon.com had some interesting things to say about reading books, how we select them and last but not least, how a journal, diary or record of those books we read with some notes, can be a sure-fire way to keep our memory neurons active and our information gathering skills dynamic.

My New Year's resolution about books and reading differs somewhat from Ms. Miller's suggestion to read a book that is unappealing.

Instead I am going to parse my "wish list" at Amazon and elsewhere, and sift through the pages to refine which of the dozens--possibly hundreds of books--I have accumulated in the last couple of years.

I know that if I made reading my sole occupation as I did the summer I spent in Guilford I could read between 5-7 books per week, but I am in a different place in my life and that ain't going to happen.

I started to review all the books on my lists; deleted quite a few and will be gathering the titles and authors into a fresh journal later this month.

The Talented Miss Highsmith

WP's review of the book differs widely from that of the NY Times and its pre-review, so much so that I thought I was reading about two different biographies.

I look for more meat on the review plate and read the LA Times.

Invention of the Jews

Sands book sounds fascinating. But will I read it?

Intimacy has yielded to oversharing

"Intimacy has yielded to oversharing," a resonating statement from Stacy Schiff's review of Thomas Mallon's new book, "Yours ever, People and their Letters, on letter writing in the New York Times.

The Woman Who Named God

Poet and scholar, Charlotte Gordon, undoubtedly did massive research to bring, "The Woman Who Named God," to print. With so little narrative in the Old Testament about Hagar, one is left more with interpretation than fact. However, conjuncture about the role of Hagar to Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah), and later to Islam, couldn't come at a better historical cross-roads as Islam, Christianity and Judaism all continue to spar for their special place as God's Chosen.

One could postulate or fantasize about how the Middle East would have been a different landscape, with other issues, if Hagar and Ismael had remained with Abram and Sarai, or conversely, how Islam might have never emerged if Abram had followed his first instruction's from Yahweh.

It appears more women are entering the biblical writing arena, each exploring either other female biblical figures like Gordon, or exploring biblical implications, like Elaine Pagels and Karen Armstrong. Each bring a unique vision to what has been traditionally the purview of men. I welcome their perspective and applaud their academic resourcefulness.

What Scares You?

Here are some good scares, suggested by writers in the WP.

NPR summer book picks

Summer reading list from NPR here.

I heard the author on NPR

Now here is a review of "Roger and Me."

His experiences with non-human primates were fascinating and I found myself comparing them to my own.