Category Archives: Books

where everything was forbidden

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“Making Do” by Italo Calvino translated by Tim Parks There was a town where everything was forbidden. Now, since the only thing that wasn’t forbidden was the game tip-cat, the town’s subjects used to assemble on meadows behind the town … Continue reading →

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Renaissance Kindle

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The Bookwheel, invented in 1588 by Italian engineer Agostino Ramelli, was a heavy, 600-pound wooden rotating bookcase that let scholars easily use up to eight open books at once. It had a clever gear system to keep the books upright … Continue reading →

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fooleries of magic and religion

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

  Man is so intelligent that he feels impelled to invent theories to account for what happens in the world. Unfortunately, he is not quite intelligent enough, in most cases, to find correct explanations. So that when he acts on … Continue reading →

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An Amusing Anecdote

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Book store humor

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

A very nice, well-appointed lady spends about an hour browsing the stock, including the locked cases. After building a rather formidable stack of unrelated books worth over $3,500 (including some very scarce Mark Twain first editions), I couldn’t resist asking: … Continue reading →

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This morning’s hallowed moment

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Presently the smell of coffee began to fill the room. This was morning’s hallowed moment. In such a fragrance the perversity of the world is forgotten, and the soul is inspired with faith in the future […]. Some day, incredible … Continue reading →

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How to act around books

Posted on March 20, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

 

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You have to walk a mile in someone’s shoes

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

What a brilliant book/art project . The shoe/book by Magdalena Haras who has taken excerpts from ‘The long Walk’ by Slawomir Rawicz and made them into a book that is also a pair of shoes. Magdalena’s interpretation alludes to secrecy with the information … Continue reading →

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Underground Reading

Posted on March 18, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Nestled in a copse in a corner of a verdant field in Kisaru, Japan there’s an inviting library built to serve local residents of a farming community. Designed by architect Hiroshi Nakamura, Library in the Earth occupies a space that … Continue reading →

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Fugue State

Posted on March 15, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Death Fugue by Paul Celan Black milk of morning we drink you evenings we drink you at noon and mornings we drink you at night we drink and we drink A man lives in the house he plays with the … Continue reading →

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