will travel, will sail, will fly

Catch NPR’s latest offering on the art of travel. Read “Five Tips For Making Travel Meaningful” here — featuring two of the best writers in the genre. Say Paul Theroux and Pico Iyer and you have the most distinguished names in travel writing. The excerpts reproduced from their books 100 Journeys for the Spirit  and The Tao of Travel: Enlightenments From Lives on the Road will get you dreaming of that next, new place you’ve been itching to encounter.  ( Like, horseback riding on the turquoise waters of Turks and Caicos. See.)

Consider this quote from Theroux: “The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown, to bear witness to the consequences, tragic or comic, of people possessed by the narcissism of minor differences. Chekhov said, “If you’re afraid of loneliness, don’t marry.” I would say, if you’re afraid of loneliness, don’t travel. The literature of travel shows the effects of solitude, sometimes mournful, more often enriching, now and then unexpectedly spiritual.”

Read the rest here.

May all roads lead you to happy journeys!

for harry potter fans only

You. Must. Not. Miss. This.

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(Digital Spy) On how the mysterious Harry Potter website was launched

(Bookseller) J.K. Rowling launches mysterious website

(WSJ) A new website from J.K. Rowling

neurotribes: practical tips on writing a book from 23 brilliant authors

A gem of a post from the science and medicine blog Nuerotribes. Essential reading. Click here.

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There’s more inspiration here from the story of Harry Bernstein who first got published at 96.

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Or better yet, shun excuses, and just “shut up and write”.

summer readin’ for some summer luvin’

Summer often proves to be the most exciting season in books and if you are looking for a good summer read, you’d be well-served to check out Amazon’s summer suggestions for adults, teens, and kids.

Critics Notebook of the New York Times is also replete with ideas. See it here. For an array of options, also check out my recommended links below. (And do come back for updates.)

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As for me, I am still working my way through Aaron Sorkin’s thicket of a book (but utterly gripping in a way you wouldn’t expect from anything written on high finance; then again, we already know what “this” story is about), Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System–And Themselves. Also reading David Foster Wallace’s posthumously-published The Pale King. As a confessed DFW-fan, I want to savor every morsel of this book. This is his last work. And there is such a profound sadness that comes with the acceptance of this hard truth. Until, of course, the well-oiled wheels of big publishing come up with something new and DFW-esque. DFW is, after all, brisk business for a niche group. In the way that Steve Jobs has an Apple cult and Lady Gaga her Little Monsters, DFW left in his wake a literary cult that is clamoring for more. (Here, present!) DFW’s best friend, Jonathan Franzen, is visible more than ever (and in fact recently delivered a commencement address at Kenyon College where DFW famously delivered his 2005 speech; read Franzen’s controversial Kenyon speech here; read DFW’s Kenyon speech here) but Franzen with all his genius and his realism just doesn’t match the real McCoy. To be sure, I like Jonathan Franzen. His massive novel Corrections made me curse in the presence of my mother for its sheer realistic elegance. His book of essays How to be Alone was instrumental in making me reclaim my love for books. Franzen is as real as it can get. Franzen is tasting the rain on your tongue or licking sea salt ever so carefully. But DFW’s kind of reality is like getting his head inside yours. It is so many voices on at once. You recognize yourself. The difference is DFW is a very skilled, preternaturally gifted writer that the experience is Even So Much Better. It is to touch, taste, hear, see…aaah, everything– a sensory outburst. A sense of being. But these two authors, Franzen and DFW- the uncontested literary giants of our time- proceed from different planes altogether and should be read for their own merits because comparing them is a worthless exercise. I’ll take a snapshot anyway: Franzen is the life lived. DFW is the life examined. Both challenging writers, between the two of them, Franzen is easier to read; DFW the more demanding. And therefore the rewards are felt differently. Needless to say, I am a bigger fan of DFW mainly for his long, footnote-laden, nonfiction essays. To whet your appetite, Harper’s has made available to the public some of his essays. See the collection here. Also in my list is Hitch-22. (There is no way to say this but the June 2011 re-edition of the memoir is….perfect! Especially with the recent turn of events in Hitchens’ life as a dramatic backdrop.) Oxford-educated Hitchens is the one contrarian we need, regardless if you agree with his views or not. And the man CAN write! We need more voices like Hitchens whose ideas are incendiary, who are not bashful, and who are relentless in their questioning. And, then, of course, further down my queue is Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone. I’m not for sentimental fiction but after the big brainiacs DFW and Sorkin, I’d like to read something loving and gentle and a tad weepy even. An Amazon book club has published a guide to reading Cutting for Stone, calling it ‘one of the best books ever written and read.’ I don’t know about that because I’ve only just skimmed the first pages and it looks promising so far. I also fancy stories written by doctors with a preference for medical thrillers. There is something innately romantic when a surgeon trades the scalpel for a pen. Verghese is a trained M.D. (Stanford).  Remember Robin Cook and Khaled Hosseini? Both doctors. They wrote paperback fiction which I read and thoroughly enjoyed.

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Happy Reading!

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(HLS) Nine Harvard Law Professors Share Their Summer Reading

(NY Mag) The Ten Hottest Prospects From This Year’s Book Expo

(NPR) Books Preview: Spotting Summer’s High Fliers

(NPR) Historical Summer Reads to Transport You Back in Time

(Kansas City Star) Authors share their summer 2011 reading lists

(New York Press) Summer Guide 2011: Books

(Forbes) The Forbes Woman Summer Reading List

gone fishing: i am writing a book

The Muses are here! I must write. I have embarked on an adventure I didn’t know was possible: I am now writing a book that aims to promote Filipino heritage. Stay tuned.

the guardian’s ‘your bookshelf’ project

Couple of days back The Guardian called on readers to snap pictures of their bookshelves. The Guardian recently released some of its favorites from those who responded.  See it here. There is also a Flickr Group and you are still invited to join in the fun. Click here. Any devoted reader is sure to find inspiration. It lurks in these shelves.

meow! cat takes pictures; releases book

There is that part in the book I’m currently reading (see old post here) where former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson describes Lehman CEO Dick Fuld this way: “He’s like a cat; he’s had nine lives.” Their nine lives are perhaps a cat’s most vaunted virtues, but maybe it’s time we add ‘photographer’ to the lot?

I have feline affections, and as if I am not awed by cats enough, one cat, an American shorthair won me and cat-lovers the world over yet again. Cooper of Seattle is the newly famous (cat)-photographer whose humans had placed a camera around her collar that takes pictures every two minutes. The result: a montage of images from the POV of a cat, not surprisingly surprising, inspired, affecting, spontaneous, playful, and all too heartwarming as if Cooper’s graceful and inquisitive demeanor is translated into the photographs themselves. I will go on to even say that these photographs reveal the soul of an artist. On the whole, the concept strikes me as creative though not quite as original. A book of photographs on Boston has been published from the POV of ducks as inspired by the iconic Bostonian book, Make Way for Ducklings. For those interested, the book is called A Duck’s Eye View of Boston which certainly has more picturesque scenes than those from Cooper’s cam. Still, a cat’s got to make a scratch, and for a first, this one is sure to leave a mark.

Credit: YouTube

So, what about photographs taken by dolphins to promote ocean conservation? Or by canines serving in war-ravaged lands? Of elephants serving tourists in Thailand? Or better yet, photographs of humans by a zoo animal in captivity or in circuses to promote animal rights? That should give us some fresh and badly-needed POV.

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

Cooper Photographer Cat’s Official Website

Cooper’s Official Flickr Stream

Cooper’s Cat Camera by Mr. Lee

(Amazon) A Duck’s Eye View of Boston

(Amazon) Make Way for Ducklings

i’m currently reading: “too big to fail”

Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System and Themselves

by Andrew Ross Sorkin, 640 pp, Penguin Group (2010)

Read an excerpt of  Too Big to Fail here.

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(The Independent) Book Review: Andrew Sorkin’s Too Big to Fail

(Bloomberg Businessweek) Movie Review: Too Big to Fail

books, book scent, (and karl lagerfeld)

Have you seen this self-portrait by Karl Lagerfeld amidst a sea of books? Click to be stunned here.  For better view:   Try this. This. And also this.

A big bookworm, he has 300,000 titles in his library, a publishing house, and a bookstore.

But, are you ready for a Karl Lagerfeld fragrance that will smell like books? Forbes recently reported that the new scent will be called Paper Passion. Read the rest of the story here.

The name sounds a tad tacky to me; small wonder there are also reports popping out that Lagerfeld has denied the news. Let’s wait and see.

rodrigo y gabriela

The soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will be released in a few days and it promises to have the genius of the Mexican duo Rodrigo y Gabriela all over it, aside from Hans Zimmer’s, as expected.  I recently heard their performance of the track “The Pirate That Should Not Be” with an orchestra on Leno. Mindblowing.

But have you heard their cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” (composition: Jimmy Page) yet? It’s about time you do.

Credit: YouTube

Credit: YouTube

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(disZine) Walt Disney Records to Release ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ Soundtrack May 17

Rodrigo y Gabriela Site

bel kaufman at 100: bright and super

Photo Credit: Barnes&Noble / Barker Pub

The centenarians are showing us how it’s done! Just last month, a 100-year-old man made news for proposing to his 90-year-old girlfriend, and today, I was v. pleasantly surprised to come across this news story on Bel Kaufman who at 100 is still calling the shots in the classroom. Who knew she still has the wicked chops? It was in high school when I serendipitously found a copy of her classic, Up the Down Staircase in a forgotten corner of the library. It was the first seriously funny book I’ve ever read, something I was drawn to reading again and again. And because the library imposed a stringent limit, I would resort to friends to borrow the book for me. Up the Down Staircase follows the travails and triumphs of a new and young teacher in the city that is told in scribbles, letters, notes, posts, and whatnot. For its time, it was a truly modern novel.

This news totally made my day.

Happy 100th Birthday, Ms. Bel Kaufman!

Start reading (NYTimes) Bel Kaufman, at 100, Still a Teacher, and Quite a Character here.

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(Amazon) Up the Down Staircase

(Forbes) At 100, Still a Teacher, and a Jokester

(Times Square Chronicles) Bel Kaufman Wore Heels to her 100th Birthday Party

word from the wise

My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically.- Stephen Hawking

The New York Times recently published a rare interview with author and scientist Stephen Hawking where he salutes the enduring human spirit and shares a thing or two about life. Read it here.

excerpt: “seal team six: memoirs of an elite navy seal sniper”

Photo credit: TIME

SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal Sniper by Howard E. Wasdin and Stephen Templin is to be published by St. Martin’s Press (2011)

On CNN’s AC360 last night, it was reported that even before the taking down of  Osama bin Laden by the Navy SEALs, impostors have already come out to glorify themselves and falsely claim that they once belonged to this elite team. Since then, the numbers have doubled. Among them was a pastor whose fake story he patterned after Hollywood SEAL-movies G.I. Jane and Under Siege. It must be noted that the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 makes it punishable to falsely represent oneself as having received military honors although part of that Act has been struck down as unconstitutional on First Amendment (free speech) grounds. Anyway, watching the story unfold made me wonder that if men could be so intrepid as to fake something that could otherwise be straightened out by a rudimentary fact-checking, what is to stop those who are claiming to be prophets? But that is another story.

Now, here’s the good part: Vanity Fair gives us an exclusive book excerpt of- if the recent turn of events is any indication- what is set to be one of the biggest blockbusters this month. The book came out today. To start reading, click here.

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(TIME) Inside Seal Team Six: 9 Reasons Why Navy Seals Are Cooler Than You

(Amazon) SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy Seal Sniper

(Washington Post) Who Shot Bin Laden? Former SEALs fill in the blanks

sunset as poetry

Inspired by the breathtaking post on Philippine sunsets over at Teacup Moments, I patched a collage of photographs I had taken over time from my Manila home, a modest corner perched up in an unassuming highrise but with a front row seat to the best sunsets the city has to offer. Anyone who knows Manila knows that the city cannot be easily penetrated– it is at once chaotic and spiritual, irreverent, boisterous, modern and old, fast-paced and slow, bright and dun, but when the sun sets, it mystifies in quiet hues so graceful and lush, almost otherworldly.

Click thumbnail to view the details–

camera watch: fujifilm x100

I first caught wind of the new Fujifilm FinePix X100 on David Pogue’s NYT tech blog.  Pogue’s verdict? “The expensive, radical, retro, eccentric X100 represents a welcome new tug at the definition of “camera.” The influential Photography Blog echoes the observation that the X100 brings to the fore something that has not yet been seen in digital cameras as of late. It gives the X100 the coveted Essential! award, i.e. five stars. This hot new thing marries classic photography with cutting edge technology and made me feel like I have been scouting for a compact camera far too long. Aha, but, I compare camera specs and reviews at length until all choices seem to blur. Also, I can find a reason not to go on with the purchase. (Full disclosure: I have inadvertently shown some bias for the Canon, and save for my early HP digital camera, what’s in my bag all bear the Canon name.) This time I think am completely sold on the X100. Now about that price tag…

Explore the Fujifilm FinePix X100 here.

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

( New York Times) A Camera that Honors Old Virtues

(Photography Blog) Fujifilm FinePix X100: Review

(Trusted Reviews) Fujifilm Finepix X100 Review

do this, or that

Stumbled upon this quirky and entertaining site via Persephone Magazine (Daily Blog for Bookish, Clever Women).

To start the fun, click here.

Caveat: Addictive!

bookcrunch

Some interesting reads for bookworms this week—

(The Atlantic) ‘The Book Is Dead’? Let that Myth Rest in Peace

(Dissent Magazine) The Challenge to Book Culture

(The Atlantic) Dead Authors on Twitter

(The Browser) Woody Allen’s Five Books Interview

(NYT) Publishers Make a Plan: A “One-Stop” Book Site

pope john paul ii beatified

Pope John Paul II has been beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.

This is an apt occasion to take out two of my favorite books on the late Supreme Pontiff: Peggy Noonan’s John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father and A Year with John Paul II: Daily Meditations from His Writings and Prayers by John Paul II.

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We know of Peggy Noonan as a wordsmith- speechwriter/columnist/political commentator- though I have much to debate in terms of her political philosophy, I find her writings on faith simply spellbinding. It is when she writes about intimate matters of faith that her writing takes on a deeply personal form. She reveals both vulnerability and depth, and has the intellectual rigor that makes her such a compelling writer on religion. It is no surprise to find your own ardent, difficult personal questions being reflected in her passages. As a pilgrim herself, she understands the tribulations of any pilgrim. To anyone seeking spirituality or to anyone simply curious about history in the backdrop of the faith, Peggy Noonan is a stunning read.  Especially if your crave for facts and context. She’s got it.

She writes vividly with a detailed accuracy, she makes Pope John Paul II come alive- holy, human, strong, extraordinary, sometimes frail with pains and sufferings as real as your own. She writes what makes John Paul the Great. She will take you on a pilgrimage as if you are standing under the Roman sun drenched in sweat but happy amidst a multitude of millions all wanting to catch a glimpse of Il Papa.

I got a lump in my throat for all the mixed feelings that her narrative evoked.  This is an outstanding work.  The book was first released in 2005 following Pope John Paul II’s death. Noonan writes in her foreword–

As for me, after 9/11 my own thoughts were in a way liberated. My subject matter changed, turning more toward my faith, and I found myself more and more looking toward Rome, and the great old man who lived there until the past year. I found myself writing about him in the Wall Street Journal  and elsewhere with a new question in mind: Why do those of us who love him love him? How to explain it to those who did not or could not?

And so this book, a remembrance of John Paul II, and an attempt to capture some of his greatness. It is written with the conviction that the great deserve our loyalty and that those who have added to life, who have inspired the living and pointed to a better way, should be learned from and lauded.

My favorite line in Peggy Noonan’s book reiterates the phrase most often associated with Pope John Paul II. With that phrase, he rewrote history, he changed the world–

If there is a phrase people think of when they think of John Paul, it is “Be not afraid.” By the time the pope was a man, in his full maturity, he knew and was convinced that ultimately there was nothing to fear. “Be not afraid!” was his first announcement to the people of Rome and of the world when he became pope, and “Be not afraid” were the first words he said on his first trip to the United States, and in every trip to America thereafter.

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In A Year with John Paul II, which contains select excerpts from his books and his writings and which one can use as a daily meditation guide, his message “Be not afraid!” is a recurring powerful thread appearing more than ten times–

The Word “Be Not Afraid” Bears Repeating: The exhortation “Be not afraid!” should be interpreted as having a very broad meaning. In a certain sense it was an exhortation addressed to all people, an exhortation to conquer fear in the present world situation, as much in the East as in the West, as much in the North as in the South. Have no fear of that which you yourselves have created, have no fear of all that man has produced, and that every day is becoming more dangerous for him! Finally have no fear of yourselves!

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I once participated in a World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II at the helm.  I hold such a tender remembrance of the day and of the man. My mind would go back to  how intensely his otherworldly presence reverberated. While millions of us youngsters waited for hours, the clouds over Manila looked heavy and dark as if thunderous rains would fall out any second to ruin an important event, the culmination of a tireless yearlong effort by so many sectors. When finally, Pope John Paul II took his place at the altar, he smiled, lightly tipped his hand up to the already dark and gloomy skies, and after complimenting the crowd’s bright smiles said with his usual charisma, “What a bright day!” The moment he uttered it, it felt like he summoned the sun because the dark clouds appeared to split themselves in two with the sun peering in, shining as bright as ever as if all the while it was merely waiting to be called upon. It was electrifying. To be there and to see it. The next day, newspapers buzzed about that seeming miracle.

My reverence for John Paul II, now rightfully Blessed John Paul II has stayed unperturbed even though I don’t shy away from the writings of Hitchens and Dawkins and other critical provocateurs.

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I have a soft spot for the aged. Growing up, I had a close friendship with my great-grandfather. As a child I would watch the creases on his face as if marvelously pondering the many decades between us.  I listened carefully to his stories looking closely for hidden lessons in the parables. A visit to my grandparents would not be complete if I didn’t see my great-grandfather who lived just a few meters from them. My great-grandfather was my childhood best friend and his death when I was nine tore my tiny heart into pieces. I also grew up very close to my grandparents and I got to know them intimately as the individuals that they are. Which is why pictures of the old Pope John Paul II especially those leading up to his final years strike me- they remind me ever so gently of the strong but old hands, the persevering but old shoulders who had lifted me through the years.

I do care about the beatification of Pope John Paul II, and welcome the possibilities of how the news will change me anew.

The cover of my copy of Peggy Noonan's book on John Paul II

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(CNN) My travels with Pope John Paul II: A reporter remembers by CNN Senior Correspondent Jim Bittermann

(Amazon) John Paul The Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father

(Amazon) A Year with John Paul II: Daily Meditations from His Writings and Prayers

white house correspondents’ dinner

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(Politico) Full Speech: Seth Meyers skewers D.C.

(WSJ) Obama Jokes About Birthers, Poll Numbers and 2012 Candidates

(HuffPo) Seth Meyers White House Correspondents’ Dinner Speech

my kindle ebooks are now available for lending

My Kindle ebooks are available for lending- FREE!

I’m willing to lend all books in my archive but unfortunately Amazon has disabled lending on most titles.

I get the time restriction, i.e. a book is lendable only for 14 days and the owner can’t access the book while it stays on loan. I get the geographical limits, i.e. for now only readers residing in the States can lend out their books albeit to anywhere in the globe. But this I don’t quite get: Must most titles be restricted for lending? If this takes the same route, this is nothing more than a token as readers clamor for ebooks to be truly mobile. Hopefully this is just a slight glitch in the beta stage.

Because ebooks seems to be the future of publishing (and perhaps even of bookstores/books/reading for that matter), the democratization of the electronic bookshelf ought to be championed. Especially at this time when we are just beginning to understand and harness the potentially massive power of  the ebook as a tool. Especially after we have been told that more ebooks were actually sold than print books last year. The landscape now tilts in favor of ebooks, but woe, not so in the case of ebook readers. Anyone can tell there is something wrong with this picture.

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I hope to see a more relaxed and democratic attitude by Amazon towards lending and loaning. No, readers should demand it, in fact. Give the power back to the reader where it rightfully belongs.  The cost of ebooks is already prohibitive as it is. We know how ebook pricing remains wrapped in controversy and will probably stay that way. (Think of the cost of music downloads and its corresponding price wars.) If we remain straitjacketed by the device,  ebooks will stay in the realm of the nebulous, only to be enjoyed by the solitary reader, relegated in the dustbin of the electronic archive. Books- ebooks, paperbooks, whatever book that gets your fancy- must be shared. Or  at least,capable of being shared. Readers belong to an awesome community bonded by a common thread. Readers are effectively wishing to share. It is but natural. Stories are handed down. Books change hands.  Reading is a sweet solitary pleasure but sharing is the lifestream of the bigger reading community. It is to build on our trust in each other and say, You know, this book is my treasure but I trust you well enough that you’ll respect it as much. I will always remember the feeling when my cousin graciously lent me all his Asterix comic books and MENSA puzzle book collection. A whole new world opened up to me.

Where’s the fun if you can’t spread the love?

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I envision the day when I can allow friends to access my electronic bookshelf and scan its titles. And when I, too, can take a peek at what’s in their lists. I envision the day when I can freely loan my ebooks without the publisher or Amazon telling me that it is not lendable. I can live with the 14 day-limit because it protects my investment, but if ebooks have to be more meaningful, the other restrictions simply have to go.

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What’s available from me this week are—

Water for Elephants

The Hunger Games trilogy

Tales of the Jazz Age

Dubliners

Les Miserables

Kindly leave a note if any of the titles is to your liking so I can send it your way.

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A friend buzzed me to borrow Water for Elephants, and so far, it was painless. The transaction was done in less than a minute. Yes I do appreciate the freedoms that technology affords us. Only for sure, we deserve more.

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On the plus side, Kindle lending allows you to lend to and loan books from virtual strangers with nothing more than an e-mail as a medium. This is foolproof because the 14-day limit automatically retrieves the loaned out book and safely tucks it back to your electronic archive. In a big way, this is democratization, although not quite enough. We must still be able to choose the books that we want to lend out. I’ve also just recently made my books available for lending at BookLending.com. It’s worth checking out. I’ve also just posted one borrow-a-book request and I’m still hoping for positive feedback.

BOOKSHINES RECOMMENDS

(Amazon) Guide to loaning and lending Kindle ebooks

(Open Letters Monthly) In Defense of The Memory Theater

excerpt: “does the noise in my head bother you?”

Steven Tyler is a cornerstone of American hard rock, and if truth be told, he is the main reason why I watch American Idol 10. I don’t recall ever fastidiously sitting down to catch the reality show’s previous seasons. (I have now warmed up to three very talented Idol hopefuls: Scotty, James, and Casey.) So after marveling at Tyler’s often joshing and easily flamboyant quips, I await — 1) his first U.S. solo single; 2) the new Aerosmith album; and 3) his memoir, “Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?” — all to be released in the month of May.

MSN TODAY gives us an excerpt of Steven Tyler’s book here.

messi

Did you catch “that?” That is exactly the stuff of legends. And why on May 28, I will be indefatigably cheering for Barca!

Clipped from YouTube

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(Goal) Making history never looked so easy: Lionel Messi’s otherwordly talents

(BBC) Barcelona’s Lionel Messi joins the greats

(TIME) The 2011 TIME 100 – God of the Field

(Y! Sports) Dutch club VVV-Venlo sign 1-year-old child

book pic(ks)

A peek at some of the titles you’ll find on my old bookshelf.  Hopefully someday I’ll be able to properly survey my list and build a special corner for these goodies–

Crossposted @ BookShine

Crossposted @ A Class Act

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

(Roger Ebert’s Journal) Does anyone want to be “well-read?”

(Los Angeles Review of Books) The Death of the Book

2011 pulitzer prize winners

The 2011 Pulitzer Prize winners have been named!

Of particular interest to bookworms are the following categories–

• Distinguished fiction: Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad
• Distinguished play/drama: Bruce Norris, Clybourne Park
• History: Eric Foner, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavey
• Biography: Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life
• Poetry: Kay Ryan, The Best of It: New and Selected Poems
• General Nonfiction: Siddharta Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners

star light, star bright

“We are star stuff.”
— Carl Sagan

I was no older than five when my parents first took me to the Manila Planetarium which so impressed in my mind the awe-inspiring otherworldly beauty of outer space. What so captivated me was the splattering of billions upon billions of stars and the unchartered cosmos unfolding in unwieldy, almost psychedelic colors. It was mind-boggling and awesome. And thus began my frustrated and failed nerd-dom. Many years later, on a visit to the Liberty Science Center, I would bring home a pack of glow-in-the-dark star decals that came with a constellation map that I recreated on the ceiling.  If you sleep in my old bedroom, you would still see their remnants. In college, I found myself braving the dark (we were ill-advised to go around the campus at night due to safety reasons) to attend meetings of the university’s Astronomical Society housed in an observatory atop a hilly, secluded spot. It was short-lived (I was not particularly crazy to be out so late) and I had to contend myself with stargazing with the naked eye and counting shooting stars from the dorm’s rooftop on clear nights.

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Space has always seduced me and I have nurtured my child-like curiosity by reading books on the universe and also sometimes perfecting my Vulcan-salute.

My main resource is the National Geographic, that profound defender and promoter of scientific exploration. I have the collector’s edition of National Geographic’s Exploring Space: The Universe in Pictures with a foreword by John Glenn, once senator and the first American to orbit the Earth.  He wrote–

Futile as it may sometimes seem, we can hope for a day when words written by Archibald MacLeish in 1968 will be accepted by all: “To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold–brothers who know now they are truly brothers.

Also on my shelf is the children’s book which Stephen Hawking wrote with his daughter Lucy, George’s Secret Key to the Universe. It introduces science and astronomy to children via a heartwarming and funny story about an inquisitive kid. (Who knew Stephen Hawking has such a sense of humor or that he can even be understood by mere laymen? I have his A Brief History of Time because who doesn’t? And couldn’t make heads or tails out of it because who can?) George is  raised by puritan parents, the kind to march in eco-protests, make their own bread, use candles, and wash clothes by hand to make a statement. He befriends his scientist neighbor who owns a super-computer Cosmos who gives them an unforgettable ride around the Solar System and beyond. In the journey, George opens up his mind to science and the big, wide universe. George’s Secret Key to the Universe is more than a children’s storybook, it is also a teaching tool containing full-color photographs of the cosmos, including  the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way and stunning cosmic clouds! And has elementary side lessons in physics, mass, matter, light and the planetary bodies. I got this book for myself but it is especially appropriate to give to a youngster or the young-at-heart in the name of scientific literacy. (At worst, regale your date with trivia on the moons of Jupiter.)

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Then there is Douglas Adams’  Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which as science-fiction goes is among the funniest in the genre. Adams started out as a comic writer for radio and you can see how well his skill translates into written fiction. For posterity, I have on my Kindle The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which contains all main Hitchhiker books: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, and also Young Zaphod Plays It Safe, and Mostly Harmless.

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More important, I listen to Queen, and will forever be blown-away by Brian May’s PhD in astrophysics.  Also I adore another British rock band, Muse. When they came up with their album Blackholes and Revolution, I found myself singing-along to Supermassive Black Hole. Who wouldn’t? And I’m not sure if this counts but I celebrated the news that The Big Bang Theory will extend ’til 2014.

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But my favorite meditation on the universe is Carl Sagan’s A Pale Blue Dot.

[Video Credit: YouTube]

Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there–on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.

[Text Credit: The Planetary Society and Wikipedia. See also Good Reads]

BOOKSHINE RECOMMENDS

Manila Planetarium

Muse

Queen

The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy