What I'm reading...

I've had my first reading experience with a Kindle Fire, given to me as a gift by a dear friend. I love gadgets, but I love books even more. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get lost in the reading, being tempted to flit to the web, but that wasn't the case. I think that I will always have bookcases filled with books, but there is only so much room in my small apartment...the Kindle will be my bookshelf extension. 

What I'm reading:

The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai (Grove / Atlantic, Inc.)

http://amzn.com/0802142818

I downloaded this book from Amazon on the Kindle Prime program that allows members to borrow books from a lending library, one at a time, once a month. I was introduced to Desai's writing through an interview she had with Michael Silverblatt on his KCRW program, Bookworm. I'm really enjoying it.

I always have more than one book going at a time. 

1Q84, by Haruki Murakami, translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel (A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., NY)

http://amzn.com/0307593312

I downloaded this book to my Kindle from the Chicago Public Library.

 

These are such tumultuous times in the publishing world, as we transition from the dominance of paper distribution to the digital delivery of books. I still love bookstores and I'm fortunate to have two within walking distance from my home. There used to be four bookstores within walking distance, until just a few months ago. 

 

 

 

 

What I'm listening to...

 

The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877 (audio version) by Professor David Blight (Yale)

 

The course is available at iTunes University - 27 podcasts, running about 50 minutes each.  This is the course descpription from the site:

 

Description

(HIST 119) This course explores the causes, course, and consequences of the American Civil War, from the 1840s to 1877. The primary goal of the course is to understand the multiple meanings of a transforming event in American history. Those meanings may be defined in many ways: national, sectional, racial, constitutional, individual, social, intellectual, or moral. Four broad themes are closely examined: the crisis of union and disunion in an expanding republic; slavery, race, and emancipation as national problem, personal experience, and social process; the experience of modern, total war for individuals and society; and the political and social challenges of Reconstruction. This course was recorded in Spring 2008.

 

http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/the-civil-war-reconstruction/id341650730

 

 

 

What I'm reading...

I've been following Michael Silverblatt's discussion of Joan Didion's Play it as it Lays on Facebook. I've just picked up the novel today at the library. I like Didion. The first book I read of hers was Miami. I was living in Florida at the time and I found her descriptions of the area and that time period very nuanced; I got hooked on Didion's style.

While I was at the library, I also picked up Didion's Democracy and Chris Hedges' War is a Force that Gives us Meaning. I put a hold on Miami; I want to read it again.

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I'm looking for recommendations for books on Cuban history, covering the 1950's and 1960's, the end of Batista's rule and the beginning of Castro's. Leave comments here, or send me an e-mail. Thanks!

Chicago Children's Choir - Winter Wonderland

I shot this in December of 2009. The Children's Choir was part of the annual caroling at the Bean in Millennium Park, here in Chicago. It was about 2 degrees that night, and colder yet with the wind chill. I'm surprised my small pocket camera didn't completely freeze up on me. The visuals on this aren't great, but the sound is wonderful! Enjoy!