By: Bill Bryson
http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/076790818X/sr=1-1/qid=1162142059/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6363344-6132963?ie=UTF8&s=books
I happened upon this book on Amazon.com while purchasing some other things. Being the perpetual student that I am (I've finally stopped going to school after about 22 years, now I'm simply a student of life) I saw this book and it piqued my interest right away. The thought that went through my head about that time went something like this: "Just think, if I can make it through this 560 page book, I'll know just enough about so many things that I may actually be able to become the good conversationalist I've always wanted to be." That's assuming that I can make it through the book in one piece.
I started reading this book last week, to get a start on my 52 book year and my heart sunk a little. I read the introduction and was thrilled to get started. The author would discuss the things in this book that some people (perhaps just a bunch of us so-called "nerds") wondered about, but never got adequate answers to, such as: How do we know what the core of the earth looks like if no one's been "down there" to see it first-hand? I thought to myself, "I never really cared about science enough when I was growing up to really care how they knew about it (I was just happy to make it through class without falling asleep), but now that you mention it, how do they know?" The author also claims that he will speak to all the uber-nerds (i.e. scientists) to find out how all this stuff works and then filter it for the not-so uber nerdy so that we can comprehend it with our small brains. Great! That's just the book for me.
The first chapter, as you can imagine what would be discussed in a book about everthing, was about the "Big Bang" and the beginning of the universe. WAY over my head. It took all I had to make it through that chapter and onto the next one about supernovae. Not surprisingly, I haven't approached this book with the furvor that I normally have when I have the time to read a new book. However, I will not give up my quest to learn a little bit about "nearly" everything. Without that knowledge, how would I ever reach my goal of becomming a Renaissance (Wo)Man? Looking at the bright side of this, the Big Bang is supposed to be difficult to understand. Once the book ventures closer to the period of my being, surely I will pick things up easier, won't I?
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Why are we here?
As this is my first posting, I will attempt to describe what my purpose is for those of you who might end up reading it. I do not pride myself on being a great writer. In fact, I feel that I am a very mediocre writer and do not entertain any grandiose ideas of people being so interested in what I have to say or in my style of writing that they come far and wide to check it out like many do with Dooce. I must admit, then, that this blog has been created primarily for my own benefit, and if others happen to be interested or helped along the way, so be it.
The fact of the matter is that I don't have anything really interesting to say and do not want to attempt to make a name for myself among the myriads of bloggers out there. What I can write about, however, is about the books that I have read. Reading is one of my favorite pasttimes and once I've read a book, I put it away on the dusty bookshelf and probably never pick it up again. I never write anything down about the books I've read and I have gotten to the point where I read so many of them that I forget what any of them were about. I know that I LOVED the book, but don't ask me to give you the plot description. I can't.
What I'm trying to accomplish with this blog is to cronicle the books that I've read (as they say, for posterity's sake), perhaps give my own amateurish review of the book, and maybe even discuss the book. This will be my journey.
I was reading through some FAQs on one of my favorite author's websites (Dean Koontz) and he has said that he reads anywhere between 150 and 200 books a year. I have never thought to keep track of my reading lists, so I don't know how many I have gotten to in any given year, but I can tell you this - it's no where near 150. I also read a post by a woman who is so addicted to reading that she has up to 26-some books open (READ: being actively read) at any one time. She said it might take her 10 years to read Homer's The Iliad, but by god she'll do it. Seeing as though my attention span (and memory) is not that advanced, I could never pull it off myself. Though I can't approximate either one of these book-aholics, I will do what I think may be possible FOR ME. I am going to attempt to read 52 books this year, with an average of a book a week. Some will take a short time, others longer, but that is my goal. We'll see on October 23rd, 2007 if I'm there or not.
The fact of the matter is that I don't have anything really interesting to say and do not want to attempt to make a name for myself among the myriads of bloggers out there. What I can write about, however, is about the books that I have read. Reading is one of my favorite pasttimes and once I've read a book, I put it away on the dusty bookshelf and probably never pick it up again. I never write anything down about the books I've read and I have gotten to the point where I read so many of them that I forget what any of them were about. I know that I LOVED the book, but don't ask me to give you the plot description. I can't.
What I'm trying to accomplish with this blog is to cronicle the books that I've read (as they say, for posterity's sake), perhaps give my own amateurish review of the book, and maybe even discuss the book. This will be my journey.
I was reading through some FAQs on one of my favorite author's websites (Dean Koontz) and he has said that he reads anywhere between 150 and 200 books a year. I have never thought to keep track of my reading lists, so I don't know how many I have gotten to in any given year, but I can tell you this - it's no where near 150. I also read a post by a woman who is so addicted to reading that she has up to 26-some books open (READ: being actively read) at any one time. She said it might take her 10 years to read Homer's The Iliad, but by god she'll do it. Seeing as though my attention span (and memory) is not that advanced, I could never pull it off myself. Though I can't approximate either one of these book-aholics, I will do what I think may be possible FOR ME. I am going to attempt to read 52 books this year, with an average of a book a week. Some will take a short time, others longer, but that is my goal. We'll see on October 23rd, 2007 if I'm there or not.
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