In the High Peaks
















Saturday, August 18, 2012

Book Blogs and Les Libres for Sanity's Sake!

On this most incredible of cool and beautiful pre-autumnal days, I spent all my time hashing and mashing a syllabus for the first online course I'm about to teach at a new (to me) college. I'm still teaching the same course load at my regular college; this will be an additional course that I hope will give me some experience in the world of "distance education."

Please notice in my "Blogs of Substance" list to the left that I've added a new blog. While I was taking a brief break from my arduous, nerve-wracking ordeal today, I visited many book blogs, including "His Futile Preoccupations," a thought-provoking and amusing book blog that I believe many of you will find interesting. I notice Caroline of Beauty is a Sleeping Cat is already well acquainted with Guy.

Is this book-blogging world a small one, do you think? It's incredibly diverse, I know that. I've been trying to figure out where Guy hails from, and I'm going out on a limb to say perhaps somewhere in far western Canada. Ridiculous of me to guess. I'll let you know. I think a blogger's origins do matter as far as individual perspectives are concerned. Wherever Guy lives, he mentions being an ex-pat, and I assumed from the context that he meant he was a British ex-pat. But I'm probably wrong! Oh, no, here I go again. 

Gosh, during my mania-driven, full-frontal attack to get back into classroom mode after my semester-long, broken-leg hiatus, I need to seek out more blogs, especially during these late August weeks while many bloggers are on vacation. After several hours of slogging away, I have a desperate need for literate diversion! And, gosh again, I'm being terribly verbose today. Syllabus-writing does that to me.

As far as les libres are concerned, I'm going to be hosting a Bernhard Schlink Week. All details have yet to be determined, but it will take place this fall, in October, I believe, but perhaps in early November. And I will be posting all details in the next few weeks.

I'm treasuring every sentence of A Story of a Life by the Israeli writer Aahron Appelfeld. I urge you to read it, especially if Holocaust memoirs have turned you off in the past. This memoir is a unique experience! 



5 comments:

  1. Yes I'm British but live in America. Thanks for the mention.

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  2. Thank you, Guy, for helping me to put you on the map.

    I'm glad I discovered your blog!

    Judith

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  3. It's nice to see some of my favourite bloggers "meeting".
    Guy has a great blog and many of your interests, Judith. You will find many grea novels discussed and as you noticed he also has a way with words.
    Glad to hear about the Schlink week. Yes, I'm in!

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    1. Caroline,
      I hope to be pulling the whole "Schlink Week" together soon, with a long list of books and other writings, links, and so on.

      I may be wishing for the moon, but it would be so interesting to intrigue some German-language readers as you are. Maybe most German readers would find the readalong too mundane, too boring, or otherwise lacking in punch. I'll try to put my strongest foot forward.

      Judith

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  4. thanks for intro to Guy I must try his blog I ve seen his comment on other blogs but not looked at his blog ,all the best stu

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