Literature

2013 Reading Agenda

/ inkspeare
"Study drawing shows the allegorical figu...

“Study drawing shows the allegorical figure of Romance nude. She bends her head to read a book on her lap. Romance was one figure in a painting, The arts, in the north end lunette of the Southwest Gallery in the Library of Congress’ Jefferson Building.” Graphite drawing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over the weekend, I started thinking about some of the books that I wish to include in my 2013 reading agenda.  There are tons of books that I wish to read, however, I included the ones that I have waited to read for some time or that at one point, have awakened my curiosity.  If time allows it, I will be adding a few more to the list, as I go.  Here are the ones that made it to the list.

January – Generosity by Richard Powers (This one was suggested to me)

February – The Lace Reader by Brumania Barry

March – A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire

April – The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King

May – Great Tales of Horror by H.P. Lovecraft

June – Secrets of the Freemasons by Michael Bradley

July – Aleph by Paolo Coelho

August – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

September – Confessions by St. Augustine

October – The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

November – The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

December – Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

As an extra on the list I added Twilight of the Gods by Adam Pffefer.

As you can see, this list has some old, some classics, some new, and as far as genres, it is all over the place.  I like to mix things up a bit.  There are tons of classics that I would love to read, and some that I want to read again, and there are many new authors whose works pick at my curiosity and make it to the beginning of the list. Titles capture my attention, reviews not so much, since everyone has their own guidelines for reviewing as well as taste in what speaks to them or not.  Usually, I don’t go by reviews when selecting a book.  One thing that does influence what I select is format.  For some reason, I do not enjoy reading an e-book format; I prefer to have the real tome in my hands.  It is just not the same experience, for me.  Anything else, I can read on the PC, as long as it is not too long, but books, I like to experience as a whole.

Do you enjoy one format more than the other?

Reading Agenda

/ inkspeare / 2 Comments
Various antiquarian books, including Francis G...

Various antiquarian books, including Francis Grose’s Antiquities; this is one of the most popular images. If you want to use it, please copy it and host it on your own site. It’d be nice if you linked back to here, though. I still have the original image from the camera, if you want to experiment with colour balance. It’s 1712×1368 pixels. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I love books since I can remember, and to tell you the truth, I worry that there is not enough time in my lifetime to read all the wonderful tomes that I want to read. I try to read at least one book a month, the minimum. Right now, I am missing all the juicy tomes that are packed in several boxes in VA, for when I get to move.  Some very old, some new.  Vintage books are a passion of mine, although I don’t consider myself an avid collector – but certainly looking towards the future to start a collection of rare tomes.

The end of the year will soon be here and I have to say that I have thought about my next selection of books for the next five months.  I have a few books scattered around which I intend to finish before 2012 says goodbye.  So far, I have planned to read those but want to add two new books which I have waited to purchase, since I want to own them in actual presence and not electronic format.  One of them is “So Dark the Night” by Cliff Burns and the other is “The Mandolin Case” by Dr. Tom Bibey.  Can’t wait to get those.

So far, my 1 book a month agenda looks like this.

AUGUST – “The Mandolin Case” – Dr. Tom Bibey

SEPTEMBER – “So Dark the Night” – Cliff Burns

OCTOBER – “Count Lucanor” – Prince Don Juan Manuel

NOVEMBER – “The Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady” – Edith Holden (this is a vintage book)

DECEMBER – “Finding Water” – Julia Cameron

I am starting to think about 2013 Reading Agenda, and will be sharing it with you, once completed.  Many times, I get to read more than one book a month, and that of course, bumps one book ahead of schedule.   Do you have any favorites that you want to read?  Any that you have enjoyed so much that you would like to suggest?  Your suggestions are welcomed.

The Miracle of Senses

/ inkspeare / 2 Comments
The pentagram is used as a Christian symbol fo...

The pentagram is used as a Christian symbol for the five senses, and if the letters S, A, L, V, and S are inscribed in the points, it can be taken as a symbol of health (from Latin salus). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I have said before, sometimes I get so focused on a task that I forget everything around me; I block everything else, and many times I forget that I was just making pancakes for breakfast or that I had just put a load of laundry and heard the bell a minute ago.  All I can say is thank God for all my senses.  The smell of starting to toast pancakes or the too quiet house will alert me and bring me back.  The gentle nag of a cat that wants a temptation treat has brought me back from the extreme focus vortex just in time.  This brings me to the topic of appealing to reader’s senses in your writing.

Just as it is important to me to get rescued by my senses, I thought of how important sensory stimulation is on a novel or a piece of writing.  Awakening readers senses gives a new depth to your story, and may rescue some readers from boredom – boredom of too much dialog or description.  Even if you are deprived of one sense, another takes over, keener and improved.  I try to keep this is mind when writing my story, as I tend to run into too much dialog.   To me, the senses are a miracle; it is how we experience the world, and how readers can experience your story.

Sometimes, I tend to ask myself the weirdest questions, and I have asked myself if I was to be deprived of a sense or ability, which one will I give up.  I know, it may sound sinister to many, but I think about unusual things sometimes.  I would give up speech.  I don’t  talk much; I am the silent type, the observer, and I rather write than talk.  As long as I can communicate when I need to in some way, I think I would be happy.  I am a very visual person, and that would be the sense that I would miss the most, probably to the point of insanity, which brings me to this point – readers are very different in their consumption of reading material and learning, so the senses that prevail throughout your story may appeal to some readers more than to others.  My point, striving for a good balance might not be a bad idea.

Do you think about stimulating the senses when writing your story?  Which sense would you give up?  Which one would you miss the most?  If you are missing a sense, how have you improved the other senses?

 

Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! and So On …

/ inkspeare
Happy Christmas, painted by Johansen Viggo

Image via Wikipedia

A Christmas + Wish

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays Everyone

Have a happy, happy one!

Cheer and Joy dance in your heart

Merry Melodies from afar.

 

May this year bring you blessings

Tons of sweet things, bliss, and great things

May your heart be full of joy

And your home of many toys.

 

To your neighbor cheer and greet

Make much merry, full of glee

Thank the Lord for all your blessings

Give to others, enjoy sharing.

 

Start the year in full force

See your dreams take some form

If you are tired take a break

Rest, relax, and start again.

 

Happy Holidays to All!  Blessings to you all and thank you for visiting, reading, and commenting here at Inkspeare.

You are What You Read

/ inkspeare / 7 Comments

How many times have you heard the adage “You are what you eat?”  The same can be said about reading.  You are what you read.  Whatever you feed your brain, that is the connection that you are promoting.  The connections that form in the brain are the result of the stimuli that we receive.  So, if we feed the brain garbage, we better beware, because that is the connection that we are forming.  Despite all our medical and scientific advances, much of how the brain works is still a mystery.  But we know for sure that the brain is making connections as we learn and receive more stimuli.

So when Rene Descartes – the philosopher – said, “I think therefore I am,” we can say that he was not only referring to the cognitive and thinking process, but for sake of this argument, of the possibility of becoming in the sense of what we feed our brains.  How does a college student become a physician?  By learning, reading, and studying to be one.  He becomes the information that he studied.

The possibilities are infinite.  By feeding our brain the right kind of information we become.  Take your goals into consideration.  For example, do you want to be in a better financial position?  Then, start feeding your brain the kind of information that will take you there.

We also read for entertainment. It relaxes us, and takes us to another world.  When is time to come back to reality the reading material that we choose to advance ourselves, is as important as the air we breathe.  Many of us use reading as an escape to reality, or a tool for learning, but it can be much more.  Reading can be a positive power of suggestion, a tool to make you achieve your potential.

So, next time you pick up that book (or magazine, or whatever) – are you feeding your brain a healthy diet?

Poetry

/ inkspeare / 2 Comments

For today’s post I will share a few verses that celebrate the season.  The first one is a Haiku.  I like Haiku poetry because it is uncomplicated and packed with emotion and images.  Hope you like this one.

Fall Dance – Haiku

Cool crisp springs

Rolling hazy meadows

Dancing leaves in the breeze.

The next piece talks about that interlude, when the color of Autumn has left and the earth is waiting for Jack Frost.

Autumn Gray

Browns and grays covering the landscape

The fate of red and yellow hues,

Sounds of crisp under my feet

Grainy dust the leaves become.

Color gave way to gray

Peaceful silence of the season,

Lonely moments for the soul

To reflect in God, faith, reason.

The holidays are near,

To brighten us with cheer

A new slate, come clean, near

All thanks to Autumn Gray.

Hope you enjoyed my attempt at poetry.

Wishing you a beautiful Holiday Season and a joyful Thanksgiving Celebration,

Blessings,

Inkspeare

The Book, the Movie, the Reader, and the Audience

/ inkspeare / 8 Comments
A 16 mm spring-wound Bolex "H16" Ref...

Image via Wikipedia

What is better, the book or the movie?  That is a question that we hear many times, specially when talking about a recent release.  However, there  is no real answer to that question.  Really, there is not.  This is why.

I have found that book lovers (including myself) enjoy reading the book, but love seeing the movie for these reasons –

  • You want to see the images in the movie and compare them to the images that you have stored in your mind after reading the book.
  • You want to re-live the book using other senses.
  • You want to see the interpretation of that book in film and how it compares to the book.  Did they get it right?
  • You want to put faces to the main characters in the book.  You probably may have cast some in your mind.
  • You watch the movie as an extension of the book.

There are many other reasons, as reading a book and watching the movie is a personal experience, one that each reader/movie goer makes as individual as their senses.  This is why there is no straight answer to that question.  For some the book is better than the movie, for others, the opposite may be true.  Some will hate both (although, if they hated the book I doubt they will go to see the movie).  And, for a few others, they will love both, and will keep re-reading and watching over and over.  I count myself in that last group – many times.

 

On this topic

http://jitterygt.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/the-book-or-story-is-always-better-than-the-movie/

Shakespeare a Day 18

/ inkspeare
This is a publicity news photograph of Preside...

Image via Wikipedia

“Can honour set-to a leg?  No.  Or an arm?  No.  Or take away the grief of a wound?  No.  Honour hath no skill in surgery, then?  No.  What is honour?  A word.  What is that word honour?  Air.” – King Henry IV, Part I

It is what it is.  A matter of the soul? the spirit? of love of the country? of the human condition?

Shakespeare a Day 17

/ inkspeare / 6 Comments
Venn diagram of the material implication which...

Image via Wikipedia

“This above all; to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” – Hamlet

True words, as it is hard to be false to the world when we are true to ourselves.  When we experience many back stabs in the course of our lives, we might tend to become a bit skeptical about trusting people; however, this is not the way to live fully, as it denies the essence of Love.  By being true to yourself and putting out the best of you, the ball ends up on the other’s court – even when you experience deceit, you are at peace with yourself.  In this world, the good and the bad coexists, and sometimes, wolves wear sheep’s attire – the only weapon against that is the satisfaction of being true to yourself.

Shakespeare a Day 16

/ inkspeare

“Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ‘Twas mine; ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.” – Othello, the Moor of Venice

What’s in a name?  Nothing – Everything.  Once you have been branded, that’s it.  After you lose everything, home, possessions, friends … you have your name, you have yourself.  The last thing you want to lose is that.

Today, many people have lost a lot with the economic meltdown, more will keep losing this year;  however, the last thing that will remain is your Spirit, much more than a branded name.  Today, I can say this (and many with me) – “Who steals my purse steals trash;”  however, no one can rob ME!