Archive for February, 2009

Weekly Book Recommendation: February 19, 2009

Friday, February 20th, 2009

I was sitting at my desk thinking about what book to recommend this week when my husband brought in the mail.  At the bottom of the pile was my issue of The Sun Magazine just waiting for a thorough read.  Begging for it, really.  I’ve long been a fan of The Sun and as I turned the pages scanning this month’s selection, I thought, “Hey, why not recommend a magazine?  These are readers interested in the same kind of writing I am.”  I’m going to do one better–I’m going to recommend two that you might not have on your shelf, but probably should:

The Sun: A Magazine of Ideas — A mix of the personal and political, this magazine never fails to provide food for thought. 

UTNE Reader — If you’re interested in activist literature, this is a must-read.  It’s the “Reader’s Digest” of alternative presses.  Mostly nonfiction, often controversial, always thought-provoking.

Thoughtful reading!

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Weekly Book Recommendation: February 11, 2009

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Several years ago, I took a class on Mark Twain.  I’ve always been a sucker for well-written satire and Twain certainly exceeds the standard in that regard, but the book I’ve returned to time and again from that class wasn’t one of his better-known works.  Written late in his life, Letters from the Earth is more social commentary than fiction, more character than plot, and more thought-provoking than entertaining. 

The stories in Letters from the Earth represent Twain’s increasingly cynical view of organized religion.  Interestingly, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been banned more often, but perhaps simply because it’s read more often.  This week, I’m recommending a step away from the classics and into the realm of work driven more by the author’s world view than any care for what the reader thinks.  Usually, I don’t like that kind of stuff, but in this case I have to make exception.

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