Given the thread title here, may I suggest any discussion of books goes over here?: Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - December 2024 edition
“The purpose of this book is to offer information, primarily through books, on the Republic of Liberia, a country located on the West Coast of Africa, and its people.”
Liberia: A Visit Through Books, by Izetta Roberts Cooper with Kyra E. Hicks
“This time it is to be a real Christmas story.”
The Flying Classroom, by Erich Kastner
“I am seated in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies.”
– Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace
“When she was a young girl, Grandma Channah walked barefoot to the tsar’s cousin’s mansion to meet her father when his day’s work was over.”
Dinner with Eleanor, by Helen Niemtzow Pratt
“Oliver was a very minor mage.”
Minor Mage, by T. Kingfisher
“Frank and Joe Hardy clutched the grips of their motorcycles and stared in horror at the oncoming car. It was careening from side to side on the narrow road.”
– The Tower Treasure, Franklin W. Dixon
(Taking a break from Real Lit’ra-choor to listen to a nostalgic audiobook…) (with the original text)
“So Max has gone off with another woman?”
Mistletoe Mysteries, collected by Charlotte MacLeod (This is a short story collection, and the above sentence is from MacLeod’s “A Cozy for Christmas”.)
“It was long ago now that Hercules came to the crossroads.”
Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values, Good Character, Good Deeds, by Ryan Holiday.
“A small ship sailed through the vastness of the 'verse.”
Firefly: The Magnificent Nine, by James Lovegrove
“Hygge (pronounced “hoo-gah”) is a quality of presence and an experience of belonging and togetherness.”
The Book of Hygge: The Danish Art of Contentment, Comfort, and Connection, by Louisa Thomsen Brits
“The moment Fetter is born, Mother-of-Glory pins his shadow to the earth with a large brass nail and tears it from him.”
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
When we first meet George Garvey he is nothing at all.
The Vintage Bradbury (story collection, this one is from the first story, The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse
“Lars Thorvald loved two women.”
Kitchens of the Great Midwest, by J. Ryan Stradal
“Even though Josie Nixon had graduated from college and gotten married and knew how to hang curtains and had opened a retirement account, going to this conference still felt like the most grown-up thing she had ever done.”
A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson
“This is a story about two men, one named Gale Sayers, the other Brian Piccolo.”
Brian’s Song, by William Blinn
“It was winter, just a few days before Christmas.”
The Wood at Midwinter, by Susanna Clarke
“I fell in love with colors in the way most people fall in love: while concentrating on something else.”
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair
“I learned about the death of my uncle Jake in a deeply unexpected way, which was from the CNBC Squawk Box morning show.”
Starter Villain, by John Scalzi
“I’ve worked in hotels for more than a decade.”
Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality, by Jacob Tomsky
“The early history of Scotland, like that of most countries, is largely veiled by what are known as the mists of antiquity, in this case a more than usually felicitous phrase.”
A Concise History of Scotland, by Sir Fitzroy MacLean
“Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her.”
The Godfather
I have watched the movie so many times I thought I might try the book.
“The custom of drinking orange juice with breakfast is not very widespread, taking the world as a whole, and it is thought by many peoples to be a distinctly American habit.”
Oranges by John McPhee
Currently just read:
EVERY Who
Down in Who-ville
Liked Christmas a lot…
“‘num alio genere guriarum declamatores inquietantur, qui clamant: ‘haec vulunera pro libertate publica excepi, hunc oculum pro uobis impoendi; date mihi…’’” and eksetera.
First bit from Petronius, Satyricon…I know this is an English language board, but you can look it up or translate it yourself if you must.
No, I’d have no idea what a good English translation is. I cheated and picked up the Gareth Schmeling translation and edition in the Loeb Classical Library to accompany a couple of schoolboy latin-only readers I had lying around forgotten and not much used…can’t speak to the textual edition of Schmeling, but I don’t see anything wrong with Gareth’s workmanlike translation.
Just the once per five years or so reaquaintance I make with Silver age Latin…never really gave Petronius a fair shake after all these years with Vergil, Ovid, Horace, and everybody, so he gets a chance this time around.