Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*
*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.
This week I’m reading The Long Mars by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, the third (and most likely final) installment of the Long Earth series. I’ve only read the first few pages, but it already appears to be a significant improvement over the other two.
Enough chatter; you want the teaser! Happy to oblige:
Well, there are plenty of contingencies we couldn't
survive at all. A massive enough meteor strike.
In Retrospect
I gave last week’s read The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer 5 out of 5 stars; I’d give more if I could. I’m actually working on writing a review to post here and on Goodreads – unlike the review for Republic of Pirates, which I still haven’t gotten around to . . .
The Seven Deadly sins may bring to mind one of two things.
For Catholics (and several other religious denominations), the phrase refers those faults that may or may not send one directly to Hell without passing Purgatory or collecting $200. Although thirty pieces of silver may be an option, I hear the gift shop is terrible.
For the more musically-minded, the phrase might plant an earworm:
Sail away where no ball or chain
Can keep us from the roarin' waves
Together undivided but forever we'll be free
So sail away aboard our rig
The moon is full and so are we
We're seven drunken pirates
We're the seven deadly sins
Of course, the two are not mutually exclusive. Anyway, Heather over at bitsnbooks recently posted her Seven Deadly Sins of Reading; being tagged by proxy, here is my own list:
LUST: a strong sexual desire
What attributes do you find most attractive in male (or female) characters?
Intelligence and strength of will. This means I often find myself sympathizing with the antagonists of a story rather than the intended protagonist.
Gustave Doré Francesca and Paolo
GLUTTONY: intense over indulgence
What book have you devoured over and over with no shame?
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
The Discworld novels by Sir Terry Pratchett
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
Third Circle illustrated by Stradanus
GREED: an intense and selfish desire for something
What is your most expensive book?
I’m not sure; there are several contenders:
A large coffee table book on Raphael
A leather and gold edition of 100 Decisive Battles from Ancient Times to Present
Several turn-of-the-last-century encyclopedias and almanacs (valuable for their prints)
Gustave Doré The Hoarders and Wasters
SLOTH: a reluctance to work or make an effort
What book have you neglected to read due to laziness?
Until recently that distinction would go to To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It was the only book I’d ever lied about reading, too.
Now, I’m probably neglecting Atonement by Ian McEwan; it’s been on my Currently Reading list since January and I haven’t even cracked the cover.
Gustave Doré The Slothful
WRATH: extreme anger
What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
Nicholas Sparks in that I love to hate him. Lacking originality, his books are highly predictable; never mind the fact that he’s literally sold the exact same story many times over.
Fifth Circle illustrated by Stradanus
ENVY: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities or luck
What book would you most like to receive as a gift?
Anything signed by Tolkien, Lewis, Pratchett, or Dante (good luck with that last one!)
Gustave Doré The Envious
PRIDE: satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements or from qualities or possessions that are most widely admired
What books do you talk about most in order to sound like an intellectual reader?
Even though it will be Wednesday when this finally posts. You know how things keep piling up . . .
Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share two sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*
*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.
Last night I started Amanda Palmer’s Art of Asking. I was just going to grab two sentences and ended up reading the first 64 pages; I only stopped because I had to sleep sometime and I really did need to make it to work on time this morning. That’s how good it is. Now I’m going to break my own rules and share not two but three sentences:
Here's the thing: all of us come from some place
of wanting to be seen, understood, accepted,
connected.
Every single one of us wants to be believed.
Artists are often just . . . louder about it.
If that doesn’t spark your interest, bear in mind that Amanda Palmer herself retweeted my library run to get her book:
How many authors would do that?
In Retrospect
I awarded last week’s book Republic of Pirates 3 out of 5 stars. I’m still working on writing a review; stay tuned to Goodreads!
Photography 101 has its challenges. Monday’s pop of color was no different.
I took another sunrise photo and thought that’d be it:
And then inspiration struck as I was cleaning out my supply cabinet and found a hoard of forgotten pencils – and just in time for standardized testing, too!
Stand Apart
by J.E.
People always say to be yourself until you do, then
you find that everybody lied to you: "Your hair is
too short, too long, too bright, too dark; your
music's too loud, too goth, too punk, too rock; your
art is too something; why can't you just be
normal like us? You're so fake, focused on the
external; fit back in the box in our monochrome
world where no one stands out, no sensitivities
curdled."
So we hide ourselves away behind a facade of what
passes for normal; believing we're flawed we put on
a show for the world to behold while the things that
make us us grow withered and cold. In a world that
sees in charcoal grey and midnight black we see in
bright neon hues and refuse to go back to the way
things were before. Choosing rather to wrestle our
innermost demons, we risk and dare all to be the
yellow pencil.
Personally, I like the first pencil photograph best; what do you think?
Word of the Week certainly fits the mold of a regular feature.
Last week’s word was discovery. This week’s word is . . .
LOSS
Late last week, my sister posted to my Facebook:
Truly the end of an era, people are wondering who will supply their dinner rolls and cookies with frosted faces and donuts and cakes and – most importantly – lebkuchen.
However, all is not lost. There are rumors the bakery will be bought – property, machines, expertise – and the tradition continue. In addition, I received a parcel:
Three Lebkuchen! Thanks, Mom!
I’m not as desperate financially able as the woman who cleared out her freezer and ordered fifty dozen lebkuchen.
FIFTY DOZEN
At ten dollars per dozen, that’s quite a bit of dough.
Pun intended.
Then there’s the loss the world is talking about:
Sir Terry Pratchett
I doubt there’s anything I can say here that hasn’t been said elsewhere.
I have no story of how I met him or saw him or received an autographed book as a gift. Nevertheless, he influenced my life in ways few authors have. In those terms, he’s part of my Triad:
Dante
Tolkien
Pratchett
His books have been out since the early eighties, but I only discovered the Disc in 2008 or so with the Hogfather DVD American release. Having loved the film, I tracked down the book; looking back, it may not be the best introduction to Discworld, but I was hooked. Soon most extra money went to purchasing more of Pratchett’s works, and I found myself emotionally invested in Rincewind and Granny Weatherwax and Gythia Ogg and Havelock Vetinari and Sam Vines and Moist von Lipwig and DEATH.
As Iain Sutherland wrote on the change.org petition that DEATH return Sir Terry:
Terry Pratchett turned Death from a figure of hate into a much loved and sometimes welcomed character. No-one else cared about you Death.
You owe him!
I’ve never cried about the death of a celebrity or other public figure . . . until now.
And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was crying not as much for Sir Terry, but for the end of the Disc.
Does that make me selfish?
I’ll never understand why I’m such a selfish man.
Sir Terry’s death also makes me angry.
Angry for the loss of literary wonder.
Angry at the Alzheimer’s that took him far too early.
Angry at the unfairness of it all.
Another petitioner on change.org wrote
It is like when you lose that relative who you didn’t know very well, but they helped you get through some really tough time and you always meant to call or write, and now it’s too late.
It’s times like these that make us wonder what makes it all worthwhile. Sir Terry had the answer:
“I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there
in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
CATS, he said eventually. CATS ARE NICE.”
When it comes down to it, I just don’t know what to say. So I’ll read instead, savoring every line and turn of phrase and share the ones that speak to me. Because although Sir Terry is gone,
No one is actually dead until the ripples
they cause in the world die away.
Can you hear the locomotive
Over wooden trestles running?
Now and then its whistle plaintive
Names the letter Q. Now coming
Ever closer, see the native
Coal-steam rising and billowing,
Towering and authoritative.
The title for this post comes from “Dog Days are Over” by Florence and the Machine:
The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run
Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by 
Running In My Head 