The following entry is by Cheryl, our fearless Bluesocks reading group leader.
In 1985 at Christie’s auction house in London, Kip Forbes, son of Malcolm Forbes, paid $156,000 dollars for a bottle of Chateau Lafitte. This is the highest price ever paid for a single bottle of wine, but this was not just some lowly flagon [...]
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Posted in Adventure, Bluesocks' Picks, Books, Characters, Coming of Age, Literary fiction, Neil's Picks, Quick read, Sense of place, Sports, Subculture on June 16, 2008 | No Comments »
It’s a sign of a good book when an author can take subject matter that is completely alien and render it in a way that immerses you, fascinates you, moves you. The Australian Tim Winton did that for me with Breath, a coming-of-age tale about surfing and other extreme adventures.
In Breath, two boys in their early teens [...]
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On this week’s Blogging for a Good Book, I’m posting about four authors who are coming to the Williamsburg Library Theatre on Monday, March 31. We’ll be having a relaxed conversation with Margaret Coel, David L. Robbins, and Jacqueline Winspear, led by Willetta L. Heising. The event starts at 7 pm in the Theatre at [...]
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Posted in Andrew's Picks, Books, Dark humor, Fast-paced, Humor, Microhistories, Nonfiction, Quick read, Quirky characters, Subculture on January 11, 2008 | No Comments »
If you’ve ever closely read, or even scanned, the pages of a typical personals ad, you’d recognized the usual format – gender preference, age, something about the advertiser’s looks and interests. Specialty and ‘elite’ publications might have more information tailored toward the expected demographic – second home location, brand of Scotch, favorite theorist – that [...]
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I used to know very little about the Nantucket whaling industry. As far as I was concerned, the intrepid crews sailed offshore, filled their holds in a week or so, and soon returned home to their adoring families. Not so, it seems. Far more typical, at least in the early nineteenth century, was the voyage [...]
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This week I’m changing it up a bit and blogging about movies. Documentary films actually. You may even notice a theme through the week.
Word Wars: Tiles and Tribulations on the Scrabble Game Circuit is an honest glimpse into the lives of hardcore Scrabble game players. This film focuses on four national top ranking men, who [...]
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Prior to reading this book, my knowledge of the Amish could be summed up like so: “Some sort of religious thing, I think… with buggies?” Can’t quite consider myself an expert yet, but Plain Secrets taught me a lot. It was akin to learning about the Mormons in Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven, [...]
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