Category: Ruminations

Book Review: The Year of Living Biblically

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

Did you know there are upwards of 700 commands in the Bible?  I know that because I just finished reading The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs, a kind of memoir about Jacobs’ efforts to spend a year following every command in the Bible as literally as possible.  Strange subject?  Well, yes–but the book was funny, intriguing and at times quite insightful too.

Jacobs is ethnically Jewish but, at the beginning of the year, is an agnostic with a completely secular relationship to Judaism.  He lives in New York City with his wife and young son, and is a writer for Esquire.  His previous book was about reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, and he needs a new subject.  He latches onto the Bible, curious to know more about the book that’s such a foundation for Western culture.

The book is told in semi-journal form, relating anecdotes, adventures and reflections day by day throughout the year.  Each section is tied (more or less loosely) to one commandment, everything from “Love thy neighbor” to “Thou shalt not cut the corners of your beard.”  (The beard becomes a big thing–literally and figuratively.) Continue reading “Book Review: The Year of Living Biblically” →

Favorite Moments with Terry Pratchett

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

As sad as I was to hear about Leonard Nimoy, it was even more devastating a couple weeks later to hear that Terry Pratchett had died.  Pratchett’s Discworld series is my go-to resource on bad days and sad times, the funniest book I ever read came from his pen, and I consistently pick one of his books for funniest read of the year every year.  When I heard of his death, inside of fifteen minutes I was on my mobile phone to–what else?–request a Discworld book from my library.

So in honor of Sir Terry, I’m re-posting my collection of favorite Discworld moments…not quotes exactly, because several are all about the dialogue or the back-and-forth.  Hereare some moments that always make me think or make me laugh or do both!

First, a philosophical one, about the power of knowledge:

They thought the Library was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was the simple fact that it was a library.

– Guards! Guards!

And another time, Death waxes philosophical.  It should be noted that Death always speaks IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS:

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?
The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of potato.
SQUEAK, he said.
Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE.

– The Truth

And because Death is so brilliant, another one, after someone suggested that he should be “more of a people person”:

KNOCK KNOCK.
He looked up.
“Who’s there?”
DEATH.
“Death who?”
There was a chill in the air. Beano waited…
I WONDER… CAN WE START AGAIN? I DON’T SEEM TO HAVE THE HANG OF THIS…

– Men at Arms

Maskerade is probably a favorite moment in its entirety, and I could quote most of it…but here’s just one moment.  A dead body turns up, along with a note from the Opera Ghost:

Hahahahaha!  Ahahahahaha!
Yrs, The Opera Ghost
P.S. Ahahahahaha!

“I don’t understand!  Is this man mad?”

Salzella put an arm around his shoulders and led him away from the crowd.  “Well, now,” he said as kindly as he could.  “A man who wears evening dress all the time, lurks in the shadows and occasionally kills people.  Then he sends little notes, writing maniacal laughter.  Five exclamation marks again, I notice.  We have to ask ourselves: is this the career of a sane man?”

“But why is he doing it?” Bucket wailed.

“That is only a relevant question if he is sane,” said Salzella calmly.  “He may be doing it because the little yellow pixies tell him to.”

– Maskerade

The image of the Phantom of the Opera, chatting with the little yellow pixies, never fails to crack me up.  It’s the same for this very odd bit below, about a crazed artist:

“He was convinced that if he went to sleep at night, he would turn into a chicken.  He’d leave little notes for himself saying, ‘You are not a chicken,’ although sometimes he thought he was lying…  Scholars have puzzled over the notes ever since, seeking some insight into the poor man’s tortured mind.  They are not in any order, you see.  Some are very…odd.”

“Odder than ‘You are not a chicken’?”

– Thud!

I think I need to re-read all of these books now.  🙂  Other Discworld readers, what are your favorite quotes or moments?

Fairyland Beckons…

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

oncetimenine400The first day of Spring is…either today or tomorrow, I never remember (and yeah, I’m sure Google knows, but where’s the fun in looking it up?)  Either way!  It’s been warm and sunny in my neighborhood for at least a week, the daffodils have been blooming for over a month, and the real point of all this is that Spring is here (or as good as) which means it’s time to turn towards fairy tales and fantasy for the annual Once Upon a Time “challenge.”

If you know this blog, it won’t surprise you that this is my favorite reading challenge. 🙂

I’ve decided to be unplanned this year, and let the books, magic and possibly pink sparkles fall where they will.  I have lots of fantasy books on my To Be Read list, and since I’m also aiming to do more rereading this year, I’ll see if I can rustle up any past-read fairy tale retellings too.  I’m curious to see if they read differently to me now, after the last five years or so of immersing myself in fairy tales so much more!

I only have two definite books on my list for this challenge, only because they’re the two I already picked up at the library:  Dearest by Alethea Kontis, third book in the Woodcutter Sisters series, which I’ve been holding onto waiting for this challenge to arrive.  And A Question of Magic by E.D. Baker, which has a really cool premise and I hope will change my mind about this author (because I wasn’t able to get into the previous two books I read…)

And beyond that…we shall see!

Favorite Quotes from Mr. Spock–and Friends

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations5 Comments

It was a sad day recently when Leonard Nimoy died–the actor who brought us one of my very favorite characters, the ever (or usually) logical Mr. Spock.  I watched “This Side of Paradise” that evening–a good Spock episode that shows his not so logical side.

For today’s post, I thought I’d bring together some of my favorite Spock quotes…but swiftly realized that they’re all “Spock and someone else” quotes.  Which makes a lot of sense, because the truth is, I love the triumvirate of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.  In a ranking of my favorite characters, those three have to be a unit, because it’s not so much any one of them as the way they all fit together.

One of the nicest compliments I ever got in the long ago days when I wrote Star Trek stories was when someone called me “the queen of Kirk, Spock and McCoy dialogue,” remarking that even in ridiculous situations, they still sounded like them.

I might quote myself another day 🙂 but for today, here’s some “Kirk, Spock and McCoy dialogue” from the original source. Continue reading “Favorite Quotes from Mr. Spock–and Friends” →

Blog Hop: Judging a Book By Its…Title

On By cherylmahoneyIn Blog Hop4 Comments

book blogger hopThis week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you think a book’s title is important?

A book’s title is possibly THE important thing for me.  I pick up some books by way of word of mouth, and in that case it will usually be a friend telling me something about the story (and why I should love it). And I read a fair number of books because I’ve read the author before and want to see what else they’ve written.

But a lot of the books I read?  Either I click on a book review, or I pull a book off a shelf.  And in either case, whether it’s a post title or the spine of the book, the first thing I have to go on is the title.

The funny thing is, with a few exceptions (The True Meaning of Smekday or The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland come to mind), the title doesn’t stay all that important to me.  I wouldn’t say that I particularly love the titles of most of the books I particularly love.  But there has to be something about the title that caught my eye to begin with!

Do titles make a big difference in what you read?  Or do you find books in a way (word of mouth, for example) that makes the title less important?