Monthly Archives: July 2008
Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book
Sei Shonagon’s Pillow Book, written by a court gentlewoman in 10th century Japan, is thoroughly enjoyable. It’s the kind of book best read in small bits and pieces, kind of like a diary, although it isn’t one, exactly. In fact, … Continue reading
Filed under Books
Training updates
I just got home from another fun Tuesday night race. In spite of the fact that I am officially burnt out on racing, I still enjoy the Tuesday night races, largely because I have no hope whatsoever of doing well, … Continue reading
Annoyed!
Since I’m feeling intensely irritable at the moment (I’m fine, just tired), it seems a good time to point out how much I hated this article on so-called “reader’s block” (via The Literary Saloon). Let’s just say that I will … Continue reading
Thoughts for Thursday
I seem to be having trouble blogging regularly this week. It’s low motivation partly, which surprises me, as I’d expect to have all kinds of energy because it’s summer and my schedule is much slower than usual. But instead I … Continue reading
The Silent Woman
Thanks for all your comments about how you choose books; I enjoyed reading about people’s methods. In addition to the Nam Le book of stories (which I’m now half way through and am enjoying a lot), I picked up Adeline … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Nonfiction
Moving on
So I finished my two un-put-downable books, and now I am in the slightly angsty position of having to choose what to read next. Debby asked me recently how I choose my next book, and I have a few different … Continue reading
Two wonderful, entirely different books
There are two wonderful but entirely different books I’d like to write about tonight. The first is Keith Devlin’s The Math Gene, which Emily kindly loaned to me. I wrote about the first half of the book here (raving about … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Fiction, Nonfiction
Training update
I went swimming today! And I ran! And I raced yesterday on my bike and will race again tomorrow. I’m becoming a triathlete, it seems. My triathlon training plans got put on hold last February when I hurt my foot … Continue reading
Filed under Triathlon
Un-put-downable books
So what do you do when you are reading two books neither of which you can put down? I can’t exactly read them both at the same time. I’m stuck going back and forth between them. But that’s not at … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Fiction, Nonfiction, Reading
A reading meme!
The wonderfully talented Ella has tagged me for a meme, for which I am grateful, as I would like to post this evening, but am also feeling a little tired from the 46-mile ride I went on today, as well … Continue reading
Maisie Dobbs: An Incomplete Revenge
I recently finished the latest Maisie Dobbs novel, An Incomplete Revenge, and it was an interesting experience because this is the first in the series (of five novels so far) that I read in book form rather than listening to … Continue reading
The Gentleman’s Daughter, continued
First of all, make sure to check out the choices for the next Slaves of Golconda group reading — everyone is welcome to participate! I have now finished the second half of Amanda Vickery’s The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Nonfiction
The next Slaves of Golconda book
Stefanie has asked me to choose the next Slaves of Golconda book, and I’ve picked out four possibilities for people to vote on. Come on over and let me know what you think!
4th of July ride
I rode my first century of the season today. A friend of mine is training for an ironman, and she asked if we wanted to ride 100+ miles today, and of course I couldn’t say no. So we set out … Continue reading
Filed under Books
Nonfiction
I just finished Amanda Vickery’s book on women in the 18th and early 19th centuries, The Gentleman’s Daughter, and I enjoyed it very much; I learned a lot from it, it was very well written, and it had cool pictures … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Nonfiction
