Category Archives: Books

untouched and still possible

Posted on January 1, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

To the New Year BY W. S. MERWIN With what stillness at last you appear in the valley your first sunlight reaching down to touch the tips of a few high leaves that do not stir as though they had not … Continue reading →

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Happy Public Domain Day Eve

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Way back in 1998 Congress passed the Copyright Term Extension Act extending US copyrights by 20 years to life-plus-70 for human authors and 95 years total for corporate authors. The extension was retrospective, so works in the public domain went … Continue reading →

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Predicting The Future

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The late American author Octavia Butler died nearly 15 years ago, but the disturbing plague year that is coming to a close has resulted in a renewed interest in her books. Her Parable books were especially popular in 2020, with … Continue reading →

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The Person of the Year

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

The book trade magazine Publishers Weekly has named the “Book Business Worker” as person of the year. The wonderful graphic above illustrates just some of the multitudes who keep publishing and bookselling going even in the midst of a world-wide pandemic. You … Continue reading →

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The Ghost of Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

If you are a habitué of certain regions of social media, it’s likely that you have stumbled upon the work of Brian Bilston who has been called the “unofficial poet laureate of Twitter” for his clever, digestible, pun-tastic poetry. He recently … Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Get the Christmas Edition

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

 

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The Good Kind of Flood

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

If you follow TBTP on a regular basis you are well aware of my tremendous affection for Iceland and all things Icelandic. One of the most surprising things about the island nation is the love of books and reading. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, History, Tourism, Writing | 1 Comment

Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Hermann Hesse : “This day will never come again and anyone who fails to eat and drink and taste and smell it will never have it offered to him again in all eternity. The sun will never shine as it … Continue reading →

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Bookmarking it old school

Posted on December 19, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

How to use a medieval bookmark: 1.) Read. 2.) Spin the volvelle to mark where on the page you stopped reading (I-IV correspond to different sections on the page. 3.) Close book. 4.) Repeat as necessary. By the way, the … Continue reading →

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