Laudator Temporis Acti (Free subscription) | yesterday
The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) defines arboricide as "the wanton destruction of trees." The OED 's earliest citation is dated 1899—H.G. Graham, Social Life of Scotl. 18th Cent. I. v. 199: "This crime of arboricide was distressingly frequent." There are earlier examples of the word. The earliest example I can find is from 1844, in Asa Gray, "The Longevity of Trees,"...
Thomas Kraemer (Free subscription) | 08/11/2009
PHOTO: cover of book by Tim Miller, Glen Johnson, "1001 beds: performances, essays, and travels," University of Wisconsin Press, 2006 . From Tim Miller, "My new book '1001 Beds,'" posted Feb. 13, 2009 on the Tim Miller Queer Performer blog at timmillerperfomer.blogspot.com . (See "1001 Beds" at University of Wisconsin Press ) PHOTO: The controversial Mapplethorpe fisting...
The Kindle Reader (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the November 6th issue include: The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America , by Timothy Egan. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. NONFICTION/HISTORY. EW's slant: "Few writers have the Pulitzer Prize-winning Egan's gift for transforming history lessons into the stuff...
A Year of Reading (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Who Would Like a Christmas Tree? by Ellen Bryan Obed illustrated by Anne Hunter Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2009 review copy provided by the publisher I know the pumpkins are still sitting on the porch, but soon enough, cars will be driving down the road with Christmas trees tied on. Here's a book to remind you that "your" Christmas tree once belonged to a host of animals. In January,...
Laudator Temporis Acti (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings , Part II ( The Two Towers ), Book III, Chapter IV ( Treebeard ): 'There were rowan-trees in my home,' said Bregalad, softly and sadly, 'rowan-trees that took root when I was an Enting, many many years ago in the quiet of the world. The oldest were planted by the Ents to try and please the Entwives; but they looked at them and smiled and said that they knew where...
DOWN and OUT (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
“…the reason science matters: it’s the one method we’ve found to test what we believe against the intractability of what is.” –editor Elizabeth Kolbert Title: The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009 // Editor: Elizabeth Kolbert // Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (Mariner Books) // Pub. Date: October 2009 // 352 p. I’ve never been disappointed by [...]...
cynsations (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
S. Terrell French is the first-time author of Operation Redwood (Amulet, 2009). From the promotional copy: Waking up alone in an abandoned office, Julian Carter-Li intercepts an angry e-mail message meant for his high-powered uncle: Sibley Carter is a moron and a world-class jerk!!! With that, Operation Redwood is set in motion as Julian discovers his Uncle Sibley's plan to log an ancient redwood grove...
A Year of Reading (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
A simile is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things, often introduced with the word "like" or "as." For example: I am as hungry as a bear. A metaphor is also a form of comparison, but it does not use "like" or "as." For example: That last math problem is a bear! Similes and metaphors seem to often be taught in the spring, right before state tests,...
Running a hospital (Free subscription) | 01/11/2009
I'd like to suggest a book to you, entitled Newton and the Counterfeiter , by Thomas Levenson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Levenson is a professor in Writing and Humanistic Studies at MIT. We are all familiar with Isaac Newton's outstanding contributions to science and mathematics, but how many know about his career after 1695? In that year, tired of university life at Cambridge, he moved to London...
Open Democracy (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
"You've got just one year when they treat you right, and before they start worrying about themselves." The speaker was Lyndon B Johnson, laying out the facts of presidential life to his aide, Harry McPherson. ‘They'' were first, Congress, and second, the news media. "The third year", LBJ went on, " you lose votes . . .The fourth year's all politics. You can't put anything...
Beattie's Book Blog (Free subscription) | 30/10/2009
Saturday Morning with Kim Hill, Radio NZ National 31 October Four book-related guests this week: three New Zealanders and one from New York. 10.00am: Ruth Reichl, editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, last appeared on the programme in early 2008. She is the author of four memoirs: Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me with Apples, Garlic and Sapphire, and the new book, Not Becoming My Mother (Allen & Unwin,...
Our Little Acre (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
Bloom-Again Orchids: 50 Easy-Care Orchids that Flower Again and Again and Again by judywhite 132 pages Timber Press (November 28, 2009) List price $14.95 Who thinks orchids are scary plants, hard to grow, and expensive? *raises hand* Judy White is here to tell you it's not true! In her new book, Bloom-Again Orchids: 50 Easy-Care Orchids that Flower Again and Again and Again , she attempts to debunk...
A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
Genesis by Bernard Beckett . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . 2009. Audio: Brilliance Audio , narrated by Becky Wright. 2009. Reviewed from audiobook supplied by Brilliance. The Plot : Anax is facing an incredibly difficult examination. She wants to enter the Academy; and is now facing three examiners, in her area of choice, history. Not the far history of the 21st century and the conflict, wars, plagues;...
Boston Globe (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, one of the oldest publishers in the United States, plans to unveil today the biggest deal in its history: a $40 million, multiyear contract with Detroit public schools. But this is not the typical agreement to sell a textbook to every student.
The Thinking Mother (Free subscription) | 28/10/2009
My Summary Statement: A Moving Memoir of an Artistic Child My Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It Title: Inklings Author: Jeffrey Koterba Genre : Memoir Publication: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (November 3, 2009) Full Retail Price: $25.00 Jeffrey Koterba’s first book is Inklings, a memoir (in traditional text not a graphic format memoir). Koterba is no stranger to publication, he’s a professional...
Videos