Category Archives: Books

Towards Balance

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

I continue to be amazed by the spectactular land art created by the French mural artist known as Saype. He recently unveiled unveiled a new artwork in the Swiss Alps, near Villars-sur-Ollon, called “’Vers l’équilibre” (Towards balance) which depicts a … Continue reading →

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How many more times will you watch the full moon rise?

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Death is always on the way, but the fact that you don’t know when it will arrive seems to take away from the finiteness of life. It’s that terrible precision that we hate so much. But because we don’t know, … Continue reading →

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I am not a Luddite, but…

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

This week I ran across a press release for a new web-based “publishing” company that is now selling a form of ebooks as NFTs. After reading the press release (see below) and checking out the website my initial reaction to … Continue reading →

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Marginal Medieval Memes

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Even if you don’t geek out over illuminated manuscripts as much as I do, there’s a good chance that you will be entertained by the short video below. It’s likely that you’ve seen images from medieval manuscripts depicting both real … Continue reading →

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Smaller than a breadbox, bigger than a TV remote

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Smaller than a breadbox, bigger than a TV remote, the average book fits into the human hand with a seductive nestling, a kiss of texture, whether of cover cloth, glazed jacket, or flexible paperback. – John Updike Today is international Paperback Book … Continue reading →

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A Summer Reading List You Can Trust

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

President Barack Obama has released his annual summer reading list. On Facebook, he wrote, “I’ve read his summer reading list. “I’ve read a couple of great books this year and wanted to share some of my favorites so far. What have … Continue reading →

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You’re Not Alone

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

When I saw this street art mural I was reminded of a comforting quote from the great writer Kurt Vonnegut: Nothing I can say can have any effect, except to say to somebody else, “You’re not alone.” That’s as far … Continue reading →

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The hills are terrible, they hide the truth of the past.

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Sunrise by Louise Glück This time of year, the window boxes smell of the hills, the thyme and rosemary that grew there, crammed into the narrow spaces between the rocks and, lower down, where there was real dirt, competing with … Continue reading →

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Scotland’s Year of Stories

Posted on July 24, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

The tourism organization VisitScotland has announced that 2022 is a “Year of Stories,” and has launched a project called Braw Beginnings (braw meaning fine, good, or pleasing) which translates the first lines of iconic books inspired by or written in Scotland into … Continue reading →

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Children’s Lit

Posted on July 22, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

 

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