Bee’s Musings

Then you might love “Read It Forward” from Random House. Just by sending an email, you can get free advanced reading copies of forthcoming books. I was able to pick up a few copies of books at Book Expo America earlier this year - and its great to be able to read a book before it hits the shelves, and start recommending it to your friends, family, and book groups.

Read it Forward

There’s a post on LifeHacker that answered an interesting question - what books have touched your life the most? Of course, the winner was the Bible, but there were a few other interesting contenders:

• The Ayn Rand Collection (mostly just the author in general)
• Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• The Stranger
• George Orwell - 1984 and Animal Farm, most notably

And, of course the list goes on. There are quite a few that I haven’t read - which makes me wonder… why am I sitting here writing about the books I haven’t read instead of reading them?

The books from Lifehacker

A short story based on lost and discarded grocery lists. I laughed. And I read my shopping list to see what people would interpret from mine.

Enjoy!

Eggs, Milk & Vodka

I got new CDs today - Fergie because its good workout music, and Joss Stone because Tara recommended it. While I was adding the songs to my iPod, I decided to read through some of the liner notes. I hardly ever read liner notes - I just by real CDs because its easier to have real “backups” than to burn CDs from the tracks I purchase online. Now I’m starting to remember why.

When I was younger and got CDs, I loved to read through the lyrics to songs. I mean, how else was I going to know the words to the Barenaked Ladies songs?

These liner notes have the lyrics as well, but I keep finding lyrics like “Your pedestal is falling down da da da da da da da da da da.” I’m sure that the “da da”s are actually in the song, but do they need to be in the liner notes? Do they really add to the poetic quality that songs should have? Or are they simply to be a melodious enhancement to the composition?

Either way, now I remember why I don’t read the liner notes very often.

Sometimes I think my blog is just turning into a whole collection of sites that I find to be interesting, entertaining, or flat out good ways to spend my time. This moment is no exception, as I proudly present Common Errors in English.

Not only does this give you the correct way to use words like to/too/two, but can also give you the history and background (as well as correct usage, of course) of common phrases.

Some examples:
Begs the Question
An argument that improperly assumes as true the very point the speaker is trying to argue for is said in formal logic to “beg the question.” Here is an example of a question-begging argument: “This painting is trash because it is obviously worthless.” The speaker is simply asserting the worthlessness of the work, not presenting any evidence to demonstrate that this is in fact the case. Since we never use “begs” with this odd meaning (“to improperly take for granted”) in any other phrase, many people mistakenly suppose the phrase implies something quite different: that the argument demands that a question about it be asked—raises the question. If you’re not comfortable with formal terms of logic, it’s best to stay away from this phrase, or risk embarrassing yourself.
Please RSVP
R.S.V.P. stands for the French phrase Répondez s’il vous plaît (“reply, please”), so it doesn’t need an added “please.” However, since few people seem to know its literal meaning, and fewer still take it seriously, it’s best to use plain English: “Please reply.” It is a mistake to think that this phrase invites people to respond only if they are planning to attend; it is at least as important to notify the person doing the inviting if you cannot go. And no, you can’t bring along the kids or other uninvited guests.

I’m a book devourer. I admit it. I get a book and I can hardly put it down until I’ve read it, cover to cover. That’s what I did with the new Harry Potter book, even though I tried to tell myself I wouldn’t.

And now that it’s over, I’m feeling a little lost.
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I’ve never been quite normal - I’ve always enjoyed reading (and writing) a little more than the average person. When summer reading lists came out, I was always at the library, getting the first 3 books and happily checking each one off the list.
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Gone With the Wind is easily one of my favorite books. I’m fascinated by the Civil War, and the depth of the love between Rhett and Scarlett sweeps me away - even if things don’t work out in the end. Maybe its because I read the book for the first time when I was 12 or 13, around the time when my little brain cells were bursting with the ideas of love.

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I did it! I finally finished Anna Karenina!

It was a good book, although I’m not sure I would rank it as one of the best books ever written. At least I can now put it on my list of “Books I’ve Read”

So, I’ve decided that the internet needs a new service. I’d like a to make a queue of books that I’m interested in. I want a list of the books I’ve read, where I can post little reviews and notes, and I can see what my other friends are reading. I want recommendations for other books based on my reading choices. I think Amazon might do something like this, but right now, I’d rather just send out a nice request to the universe to create a free service for me.

And if anyone actually reads this, and you know of a service like this, let me know.