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Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
I finished reading Childhood’s End (1953) by Arthur C. Clarke. This science fiction classic opens with humanity’s first encounter with an alien species. Characters come and go and the plot develops primarily through their interactions with each other and the aliens. The writing is brisk and tightly descriptive. There is not much character development; the…
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The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather
I finished reading The Song of the Lark (1915) by Willa Cather. It’s a coming of age story and follows Thea, a young girl born and raised in a small town near the sand dunes of Colorado in the last decade of the 19th century. I loved the first half or so of the novel,…
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A Comic a Day: Captain America #144
I am attempting to initiate a new habit for myself…reading a comic book every day. I am sure it won’t actually be every single day, but hopefully this will result in reading a comic most days. I decided to jot out a bit of a recap and reaction to the first one I read. Here…
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The Poetry of Thomas Hardy
I have been dipping into this great selection of poems by Thomas Hardy. I have loved his poetry for years and this is a great volume to have at one’s disposal. Long ago, I read A Trampwoman’s Tragedy while traveling in Hardy’s homeland. I remember reading The Convergence of the Twain in a college class.…
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L’Assommoir by Emile Zola
Here is a book jot from July 2021: I finished reading L’Assommoir (1877) by Emile Zola, translated by T. W. Tancock. It’s one of twenty books that make up his Les Rougon-Macquart series. These novels follow two lines of a French family living in the latter half of the 19th century. L’Assommoir chronicles the lives…
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Indiana Jones and the Curse of Horror Island
A few nights ago, I read Indiana Jones and the Curse of Horror Island (1984), written by R. L. Stine and illustrated by David B. Mattingly. This is the first Indiana Jones Find Your Fate book, which is a choose-your-own-adventure style gamebook series. I read a couple of these as a kid and decided to…
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The Fortune of the Rougons by Émile Zola
I just finished reading The Fortune of the Rougons (1871) by Émile Zola, translated by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly. This is the first book in Zola’s Les Rougon-Macquart cycle of twenty novels. I have previously read four other books that take place much later in the series, and reading the beginning was quite interesting. Some characters…
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The soul’s dark cottage…
I am trying to create a habit of reading a poem every day. I just this evening read Of the Last Verses in the Book by Edmund Waller (1606-1687). Here is an excerpt, a line I particularly enjoy: “The soul’s dark cottage, battered and decayed,Lets in new light through chinks that time has made.”
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Rawhide Kid and the Western
I read an issue of Rawhide Kid last night (#68, 1969), a Marvel western that began in 1955 and ran until 1979. I really enjoyed Larry Lieber’s distinctive art. It has a clean sharpness to it that works well with the bright, bold coloring style of the comic. Lieber wrote and drew the comic from…
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Pickle!
I tried making refrigerator pickles this evening for the first time. I’m hoping they turn out crunchy and tasty!