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3 votes
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Review: Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics
8 votes -
The 2019 National Book Awards finalists announced
6 votes -
What are you reading these days? #29
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit. Notes We're coming up on #30! Exciting! Previous...
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
Notes
We're coming up on #30! Exciting!
Previous topics
Previous topics are listed in the wiki.
12 votes -
Snowden in the Labyrinth
12 votes -
A book from Alan Turing… and a mysterious piece of paper
6 votes -
Book review - Turn Of Mind by Alice LaPlante
Turn of Mind is a mystery. It's for the most part written in journal format. Interestingly it's a journal that sits in the house of a person with Alzheimer's disease. Jennifer White was an...
Turn of Mind is a mystery. It's for the most part written in journal format. Interestingly it's a journal that sits in the house of a person with Alzheimer's disease.
Jennifer White was an orthopedic surgeon in Chicago. Once brilliant, Dr. White is now in the later stages of the disease and the journal is written in by family members and housekeepers to help her remember who she was and who she is. A fractured portrait emerges of a cold and strong minded woman who has had a full life that she remembers in bits and pieces. Amidst the pages is mention of a neighbor, Amanda, who has been murdered. Slowly things come together for the reader while Dr. White's disease progresses into confusion.
Yet she still has moments of lucidity, remembering the details of her profession, where she was considered one of the best and most respected hand surgeons in the country. Her deterioration is something she's at times very aware of, and it is this that makes the book so powerful.
The narrative often lapses into Jennifer's past memories of both her parents and her children. This adds authenticity to her mental condition but also made me impatient for what seemed to be more important details. As Jennifer is interviewed by police officers and pulled into interaction with her grown son and daughter, we can begin to understand the horror of this disease, especially regarding how hard it is to trust people who may be trying to manipulate the sufferer for their own purposes.
I'd put this near the top of my list for books enjoyed in 2019. It brings to mind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon, narrated by an Aspberger's spectrum person. Turn of Mind is a hard book to read, but it's even harder to put down once you get into it.
4 votes -
Literature locked up: How prison book restriction policies constitute the nation’s largest book ban
6 votes -
What are you reading these days? #28
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit. Notes I'm finally going to update the wiki today,...
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
Notes
I'm finally going to update the wiki today, hopefully. FYI.
Previous topics
Previous topics
will beARE listed in the UPDATED wiki!!!as soon as I update it.14 votes -
The Guardian's ranking of the 100 best books of the 21st century
16 votes -
Stieg Larsson and the unsolved murder case of Olof Palme
11 votes -
How to be a professional author and not die screaming and starving in a lightless abyss
15 votes -
What are you reading these days? #26
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit. Notes Hi everyone! I'm @acdw, I'm taking over this thread...
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
Notes
Hi everyone! I'm @acdw, I'm taking over this thread from @cadadr. This is my first one, and I'm excited for the discussion!
If anyone has any suggestions about how to run this thread, please feel free to PM me (I don't want to clog up this thread with suggestions). If there's enough messages, I'll start a thread to discuss them publicly.
Previous topics
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21 votes -
11 Forgotten Books of the 1920s Worth Reading Now
6 votes -
“This has to end. We cannot say it any clearer.” A guide to the decades-long familial dispute over John Steinbeck’s estate.
7 votes -
Libraries and archivists are scanning and uploading books that are secretly in the public domain
8 votes -
Literary Paper Dolls: Rebecca
4 votes -
Head cases - Field notes on a beautiful friendship
5 votes -
In "The Testaments", Margaret Atwood expands the world of "The Handmaid’s Tale"
8 votes -
Who really cares about literary prizes? And what can they tell us about reading, publishing, and canon making today?
4 votes -
Dolly Parton's ‘Books From Birth’ has now delivered one million free children's books to DC kids
8 votes -
Five steps to becoming a read out-loud book hero
10 votes -
Harry Potter books removed from St. Edward Catholic School due to 'curses and spells'
7 votes -
What are you reading these days? #27
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit. Notes Sorry this is posted so late! I would've posted it...
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
Notes
Sorry this is posted so late! I would've posted it tomorrow, even, but I'm working all day so I won't have the chance. I'll make sure and bump this thread Sunday, so we can talk about our reading. I'll set an alarm for next time!
Previous topics
Previous topics will be listed in the wiki as soon as I update it.
9 votes -
The Egg
23 votes -
John W. Campbell Award is renamed after winner criticizes him
12 votes -
IF, Rudyard Kipling's poem, recited by Sir Michael Caine
6 votes -
What do you think the first sentence of this poem means? | Fiddler Jones by Edgar Lee Masters
THE EARTH keeps some vibration going There in your heart, and that is you. And if the people find you can fiddle, Why, fiddle you must, for all your life. What do you see, a harvest of clover? Or...
THE EARTH keeps some vibration going
There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.
What do you see, a harvest of clover?
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves hereafter ready for market;
Or else you hear the rustle of skirts
Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”
How could I till my forty acres
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a wind-mill—only these?
And I never started to plow in my life
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.I've always loved this poem. To me, it's about a man, loved by many, that recognizes his responsibilities, but can't help but forgo them to go and have fun with friends and loved ones (in short, anyways). The first line, however, has always intrigued me, and I can never land on a meaning for it. I think it's basically saying that in your heart is your true character (your soul), and that will never change. Or maybe it's saying that everyone has that "vibration" in their heart that yearns for enjoyment. What do you think?
4 votes -
Why everyone should read Harry Potter: Tales of the young wizard instill empathy, a study finds
7 votes -
'My nerves are going fast': The Grapes of Wrath’s hard road to publication
3 votes -
Ta-Nehisi Coates talks to Jesmyn Ward about writing fiction, reparations, and the legacy of slavery
4 votes -
Orwell knew: We willingly buy the screens that are used against us
10 votes -
Disappointed love and dangerous temptations: Textile factories and true crime
4 votes -
Women Between the Wars: In Jean Rhys’s novels, women exhibit a particular kind of English suffering, a perfect illustration of the female condition in the interwar years
7 votes -
To build a movement: Michael Walzer’s "Political Action" contains many useful guidelines for organizers today, but social movements are often messy and unpredictable affairs
5 votes -
What are you reading these days? #25
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk a bit about it. Notes First of all, I'm again having to post the topic...
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk a bit about it.
Notes
First of all, I'm again having to post the topic earlier b/c travel. Sorry.
Seconly, big news! It's already been almost a year that we do these threads! It's been a beautiful time for me, but I've decided that the time has come that I pass the torch on to another Tildista to post and manage these threads. I posted a topic on ~tildes declaring my decision; we held a vote and elected @acdw as the new maintainer of these threads. This is the last one of these topics that I'll post; from the next thread on @acdw will be taking over. FWIW, I'll stay around and comment on these threads when I can.
Hey @acdw, hope you'll have a great time doing this! Good luck!
Previous topics
Previous topics are listed in the wiki.
16 votes -
The Installation: A dystopian science fiction short that imagines the future of big pharma
4 votes -
What does Amazon want with the notoriously fickle world of publishing? To own your every reading decision
4 votes -
Democracy is a puzzle
7 votes -
Beloved author Toni Morrison has died at 88
18 votes -
Despite being a best-selling author, Jane Austen was paid very little
6 votes -
Millennial socialism and its limits
6 votes -
Are today’s young readers turning on The Catcher in the Rye?
9 votes -
Poetry: “The Places We Are Not” by Sarah Kay
3 votes -
Eight crime writers who wrote other forms of literature, including literary novels, memoirs, and even works of history
7 votes -
Twice a year this floating library delivers thousands of books to the remote islands of Stockholm's archipelago
4 votes -
What are you reading these days? #24
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk a bit about it. Notes Sorry for posting late this time round. I had an...
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk a bit about it.
Notes
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Sorry for posting late this time round. I had an intense week, and was basically too lazy to post yesterday.
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I will not include a list of past topics in the topic text anymore, given it is redundant with the listing in the wiki. Below you'll find a link to the relevant section in the relevant wiki page instead. If you think this is a bad change, PM me about it; if a lot of you don't like it I might end up reverting this.
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Have a nice weekend!
Previous topics
Previous topics are listed in the wiki.
17 votes -
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Hell is Other Internet People: Gretchen McCulloch’s new book unpacks the language of the internet
7 votes -
How Michael Palin introduced North Korea to Monty Python
6 votes -
Rebuilding Jane Austen’s library
6 votes