Books are among the only objects that no one barely touches. A book can allow many students to see a whole new world, only if they are willing to open a book and immerse themselves with imagination.

As they return to school for the 2021-2022 school year, students tend to be very busy with future courses they plan to take. Some students may be active in a sport at Fountain Valley High School or some may take extracurricular classes in addition to homework due the next day. Students often find themselves in a situation where they can’t find time to do anything else: play games, talk with friends or just sit down and read a good book.

Some students read, but not for pleasure. An English class may assign a reading project, which requires a student to choose a book and read it in order to complete the assignment. Typically, most students only read a book if it was an assignment. The school takes the love of reading from most students on campus. Attending classes is a higher priority and when free time is available, very few students will resort to reading a book.

One of the problems that students face when trying to find a book to read is how to choose one. “Never judge a book by its cover” is a common phrase; but when it comes to choosing a book, students tend to choose the book with the prettiest cover. However, this is not always the case.

Some books may be recommended, some books have a certain genre that students are interested in, and not all books have covers. A simple title can entice students to pick up the book and check it out. Everyone has a different taste in books and it can be hard to find a good book these days.

Now what makes a good book? A good book depends only on you. Some people may find a book boring, but another may find it interesting. Many genres are featured today and students have a wide range to choose from, from fiction to non-fiction, fantasy to mystery. However, some students may be looking for a book to keep them on their toes while others may be looking for a book to get their cheeks rosy.

English teacher Terick Thomas finds the essays and articles powerful and revealing; although there are times when the books are on the same page.

“For me, a good book is when it’s able to show me a whole new world that I never thought of before,” Thomas said.

Many teachers also have their own reasons for what makes a good book. Basically, it is up to you to define what a good book is and which books give them joy when reading.

A book is a good source of pleasure and it allows you to open up to creativity and to work with your own imagination. Last year, all students had to do almost everything on the computer and often spent hours staring at a screen. Reading books is a great way to take a break from staring at a screen and has many benefits.

An article by Health Line states, “Reading involves a complex network of circuits and signals in the brain. As your reading ability matures, these networks also become stronger and more sophisticated.

Reading allows students to experience new vocabulary and sentence structure, which can better benefit creativity and grammar. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s hard to understand anyone’s feelings about being on screen or just being away from others for too long. Reading can fill this void for many students.

Books are a good source of pleasure for everyone, but many will struggle to find the time to read a book.

Many students will find books lying around their house waiting to be picked up and read. However, we do not find the time to do so. Many students will say that reading a book consumes valuable time that they can use for studying or doing homework. On top of that, not all students find a passion for writing and reading, so sitting down to read rather than doing something more fun will be quite a challenge.

Even with limited time, books offer students a chance to imagine and create their own world in their heads. With many issues today, a book can open students’ eyes to new meanings and lessons.

Math teacher Tony Diaz, who barely reads, still finds pleasure in reading things like articles and essays. For him, it’s not necessarily a book but when it’s a subject that interests him, he would certainly read it, but not every day because it turns out to be very difficult.

“When students are younger, they should [read]. It would help develop their vocabulary and some creativity,” Diaz said. “I don’t think it should be something you’re forced into, but it will help.”

Books provide a lot of entertainment through adventures and stories, so grab a book and read it. You will not regret it.

I was 12 the first time I read a book with a black girl as the main character. It was seventh grade and we had read the Dear America series – hardcover books with big themes and cute little satin bookmarks. This one was Thought My Soul Would Rise and Soar: Patsy’s Diary, A Liberated Girl, written by Joyce Hansen. I remember being excited when I saw Patsy’s face on the cover – pretty much the same color as me and wearing her hair like I sometimes wore mine.

I also remember being embarrassed once I realized all my classmates were making fun of Patsy. They didn’t want to read the story of a slave they had nothing in common with. Meanwhile, reading about Patsy was the first time I had even seen myself in a book. Her story was completely different from mine, but at least she looked like me, struggled like me. I was sure I had more in common with Patsy than with my complaining classmates.

After Patsy, I tried to get my hands on as many books with black characters as possible. But when I found black girls in books, they were secondary characters or storylines, and the books where black people featured prominently were about slavery. I was wondering, where are all the books about ordinary black people, little black girls like me who are struggling and in pain but also having fun and having adventures? When I started writing my novel, What the Fireflies Knew, it was because I wanted to see parts of myself and my childhood on the page. KB’s story is not my story, but I hid little bits of myself in it. And what emerged was a black girl story, featuring a curious, joyful, traumatized, regular black girl. I quickly discovered that when we are the main characters in our own stories, it shows us that we are precious, that we are worthy, that we are seen and heard. We count.

The stories of young black girls show the mundane, painful, and beautiful parts of growing up as a black girl. They give voice to black girls and women on topics of beauty, discrimination, class, racism, colorism and mother/daughter relationships. They take the typical elements of coming-of-age stories – facing fears, taking responsibility, finding a sense of self, accepting the unfair nature of the world – and reimagining them through the eyes of ordinary black girls, just like me . These are hard stories to write, because of their layers, their pain, their visceral, unfiltered truth. But they are needed, for black girls and for the world. Here are my favorite portrayals of black youth in fiction; the books that taught me how to write Black girlhood, the books that taught me about myself.

*

Toni Morrison, The bluest eye
(Vintage)

With her very first novel, Toni Morrison changed many lives, including mine. The bluest eye tells the story of a young black girl named Pecola who struggles with her identity. She desires blue eyes, which she equates with whiteness, after being treated badly due to her dark skin. According to legend, Toni Morrison started writing the book because she wanted to talk and write about black youth. She decided to venture away from the norm and write a story that centered on the realities that black people faced, even if that ultimately meant her book would become one of the most frequently banned books of all time. Always, The bluest eye stands as one of the most poignant tales of black youth, filled with meaningful lessons about the negative impacts of racism/white supremacy and giving voice to characters often overlooked in fiction.

Jesmyn Ward, Collect the bones
(Bloomsbury)

One of the most honest, visceral, and profound accounts of black youth I have ever read is that of Jesmyn Ward. Collect the bones. This book is told through the voice of 15-year-old Esch as she and her family prepare for a hurricane – a hurricane they don’t yet know will be Hurricane Katrina. Ward’s novel spoke to me in a way I didn’t expect. Esch’s first-person narrative prioritizes the unfiltered experience of a black girl in a moment of extreme turmoil and indecision, to which, as readers, we become intimately connected. We support Esch, we cry for Esch, we love Esch. His voice is genuinely black; his authentically human experiences. The path Collect the bones portrays Esch’s humanity, his full experience, is what convinced me to write a book, and it was the book that I used as an example when I tried to put my own words into the world.

Jamaica Kincaid, Annie John
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

I first read Annie John– the evocative and moving story of a young girl growing up on the island of Antigua – in 2019, as part of my doctoral exams. I was studying the black girl and I did not expect to discover a title that I did not know. Imagine my surprise, then, when I started reading Annie John and I found a character that looked so much like my own main character, KB; so much like me. I read with awe that Annie, in her unique, unwavering voice, learned some familiarly difficult lessons about growing up and finding herself. Somehow his influence was felt throughout my own book before I even read it. That’s the power and beauty of stories about young black girls.

Alice Walker, The purple color
(Penguin)

One of the most impactful movies I can remember watching growing up was The purple color. The movie came out the year I was born, and I was quite young when I first watched it. Although I was too young to fully understand and appreciate many of the themes, I was moved by the casting of Black, and especially the story of two estranged sisters who eventually find each other. It wasn’t until high school that I read the book for the first time. I was drawn to the epistolary style and found Célie’s letters both beautiful and heartbreaking. Parts of the book were still confusing to me, but I felt connected to the trauma and loss Celie suffered. I re-read the book when I was in college and it immediately became one of my favorite books of all time. I am continually inspired by Alice Walker’s commitment to using writing as a way to show the beauty and horror of truth.

Jacqueline Woodson, Red to the bone
(River)

It was difficult to select just one book by Jacqueline Woodson for this list, as her writing regularly focuses on young people of color, with Woodson wanting them to see themselves—well, fully—in the books. I decided to Red to the bone, a novel for adults in which Woodson explores history, community and family heritage. What makes this story unique is Woodson’s decision to tell a family story by focusing on the experiences of 16-year-old Melody as a young black girl, as well as those of her mother, years before. , at the same age. Books, according to Woodson, should act as both mirrors and windows, a metaphor for eminent scholar of children’s literature, Rudine Sims Bishop – they should both reflect people’s experiences and provide windows into different worlds. Centering Melody and the stories of her mother, Woodson crafts a powerful and poetic black girl tale steeped in tradition and heritage that teaches the world about the black girl, while welcoming black girls with open arms.

Angela Thomas, The hate you give
(Harperteen)

Based on the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas’s The hate you give tells the story of 16-year-old Starr, who lives her life as a balance between two worlds. That balance is shaken when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her unarmed childhood best friend at the hands of a police officer. Although centered around this tragedy, The hate you give stays true to the legacy of black girl fiction by giving Starr an authentic voice, allowing her to tell her own story in her own way. When I read this book, two things struck me. First: how easy it was for me to understand Starr’s point of view, because it was so similar to mine.

The second thing that struck me was how much my work in progress looked like The hate you give. Again, I found so many connections between the stories I tell (and the way I tell those stories) with other stories of black youth. And that’s the beauty of black youth in fiction: the stories we tell about black girls will resonate with black girls, but they’re also universal stories of self-love and acceptance, pain and joy, strength and trauma, which will resonate with every reader. These are stories the world needs to hear.

__________________________________

What the Fireflies Knew by Kai Harris is now available from Tiny Reparations Books.

]]> https://nyisbookcountry.com/claire-heuchan-2022-my-year-of-reading-lesbian-and-bisexual-womens-books/ Wed, 26 Jan 2022 15:31:59 +0000 https://nyisbookcountry.com/claire-heuchan-2022-my-year-of-reading-lesbian-and-bisexual-womens-books/

2022 might just be the time I manage to keep a New Year’s resolution. This year, I’m reading books by lesbian and bisexual women. I won’t say “only”, because that implies a limitation. In fact, I can imagine few things more liberating and delightful than a year spent eating on Sapphic stories.

The idea came during the holiday season. I was looking Single until the end – a cute gay Christmas romantic comedy – with my grandmother. It was, as Craig Revel-Horwood might say, “Fab-U-Lous, honey.” And even. After five minutes, I considered turning off the movie. Neither messy love lives nor references to gay culture are what could accurately be described as my Catholic grandmother’s cup of tea.

I was about to chicken out and suggest love, in fact instead when she was laughing. Really laughed. Not his polite laugh, but the real one, filled with surprise and delight. And that’s when I realized: in my panic, I was doing both of us a disservice.

As a lesbian, I don’t see myself in the endless stream of straight stories revered as classics. They do not reflect my life, my culture or my community. And yet I watch. Partly because straight culture is inescapable. But also because the characters’ lives don’t need to mirror our own for their stories to entertain and transport us. I’m not a middle-aged alcoholic horse-human hybrid, but I will forever feel a kinship with BoJack Horseman. And if I can hook up with a jaded millionaire horse who has a brand of heroin named after him, why shouldn’t my grandma hook up with a chaotic but wholesome twink?

I began to think very seriously about why, for all the joy they bring, I had assumed that queer stories couldn’t have universal appeal. What am I clinging to, that part of me still classifies gay media as lesser or niche media? The obvious answer is internalized homophobia. And if there’s one thing Grey’s Anatomy (that pinnacle of straight television) taught me is this: when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras.

This revelation was surprising. And uncomfortable. Having founded an international lesbian book group and cherished every book we read together, I thought – perhaps naively – that I had moved past homophobic complexes.

So many authors apply incredible insight when writing about women navigating patriarchy – yet still can’t create stories undefined by heterosexual norms.

Over the past few years, as I have engaged wholeheartedly with lesbian culture and feminist politics, my tastes have changed. Books that once wowed me because a male author wrote a compelling three-dimensional female character now seem like the bare minimum. And they’re far less interesting to me than any female writer on the experiences of femininity.

Previously, I was primarily drawn to literary fiction – stories of smart, sharp, invariably straight heroines going through dysfunction. But now I find these books frustrating. So many authors apply incredible insight when writing about women navigating patriarchy – yet still can’t create stories undefined by heterosexual norms.

For decades, lesbian and bisexual writers have dreamed up other possibilities for female characters. Octavia Butler redefined science fiction and fantasy to construct worlds so far removed from our heterosexist schema. With his first novel Jumped up, Emma Donoghue questioned possessiveness in romantic relationships and dared to ask what is possible when we give equal importance to friendship. In her Stories of Gilda, Jewelle Gomez strips away the violence that has defined vampire lore; created a heroine whose unlife work sustains a community of equals.

These ideas and the interwoven policies are exciting. They entertain as much as they challenge. If there are any books that have the power to undo the remaining threads of internalized homophobia tied in my mind, it’s the lesbian books. And I’m excited to find out how this year of Sapphic reading will change me.

Granted, my resolve might waver if JK Rowling publishes a new Cormoran Strike novel this year. I want to know if A) Matthew dies B) Robin and Cormorant finally get together. But the only exceptions I allow are professionally edited books (like most writers, I don’t make that money from Rowling) and books read for self-study. While I’d love to reach the reading age required to understand French lesbian fiction, I’m still struggling as a woman through the translated Harry Potter series. It’s life.

You cannot rush growth. But you can feed it. If we stop doing work, we stop developing. We are stagnating. We never come to know who we could have been if we hadn’t dared to try. Yes, it is humiliating to acknowledge any bias or internalized prejudice. But it’s also liberating; an opportunity to grow, so that we can better serve ourselves and, more importantly, our communities. Since books develop empathy and imagination, they are the ideal starting point.

Claire Heuchan is an author, essayist and black radical feminist. She writes the award-winning blog, Sister Outrider.

I read the same book every night for years, its repetition becoming almost meditative even as it put others to sleep. This book? “Goodnight Moon”, of course, which I read to my children until it finally came out of our evening mix.

Are you a proofreader? If so, what’s in a book that keeps you coming back to it? For many, the act of re-reading is more enlightening than any initial reading, though there’s also something to be said for going back to a childhood favorite to try and recapture that feeling. Some books are just part of who we are.

Do you like books? Get The Book Pages newsletter emailed to your inbox: Subscribe now.

So when I contacted author and fellow Samantha Dunn, she didn’t hesitate to tell me about her choice. “I always think about horses,” Dunn said. “Books and horses.”

She has a precious copy of a novel that she thinks she has read at least eight times. “Black beauty. This is one of the most heartbreaking books about animals, and our responsibility to them exists,” she said before the line died down as she, I guess, thinks more books and horses.

As well as answering unsolicited questions about what she reads, writes and thinks — she also has ghosts on her mind, but that’s for another time — Dunn and I were discussing the magazine’s literary-themed edition. SCNG Premium she is working on. Called Bookish, it arrives in the Sunday 30 January newspaper.

In it, National Book Award-winning author Charles Yu shows off his bookshelves, writer Annabelle Gurwitch shares her favorite haunts, and there’s an article on Southern California’s literary hotspots.

There’s also a treat for book readers: the first look at our top 10 notable Southern California authors.

“We’re unveiling our top 10 standout books by Southern California authors who made an impact in 2021,” Dunn said. “I’m really excited about this because it’s specific to California authors.”

We think you’ll like it too. If you’d like to see Sam’s treasured copy of “Black Beauty,” scroll down, but first we have a Q&A with author and professor Myriam JA Chancy.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Myriam JA Chancy on the author she reads the most

Myriam JA Chancy is the author of “What Storm What Thunder” and Hartley Burr Alexander Professor of Humanities at Scripps College Claremont Consortium. Here she shares what she reads, the book that makes her think and the works of James Baldwin.

Q. What are you reading now?

I am currently reading “Les Pépinières Barbares” by Héctor Tobar. My next reading will be “Velorio” by Xavier Navarro Aquino on Hurricane Maria.

Q. How do you choose what to read next?

There are authors who are always on my radar, especially if they are philosophers or literary critics. Most of my reading of fiction comes from recommendations, either by other writers who told me about a book they had a hard time reading or by a friend of theirs, or, increasingly, by social media posts or book clubs announcing their upcoming readings (although I’m not in any book clubs myself). If I see a recommended book multiple times, likewise, I tend to stick with it.

Q. Is there a book you dread reading?

“In Search of Lost Time” by Marcel Proust. I’ve wanted to read this book in the original for a very long time but its length is daunting.

Q. Is there a genre or type of book that you read the most — and what would you like to read more of?

I definitely lean towards fiction above all, although I like to read philosophy and cooking memoirs. I would probably like to read more poetry, but it’s a harder sell for me.

Q. Do you have a favorite book or books?

James Baldwin’s collective works are probably ones I return to again and again; I also teach a seminar on his works every few years, which gives me the chance to read them again. I have a couple of his latest books that I haven’t read yet and hopefully in the coming year.

Notable Literary Event

Subscribers should look for Bookish, SCNG’s premium magazine, which will be released on January 30. The issue includes Noteworthy, our first annual tribute to 10 local authors who made an impact in 2021. There will be a special Noteworthy edition of the SCNG Bookish virtual program on February 1. 4.

How to join the event: Click here for the link.

‘An open folder

David Guterson returns with his first novel in a decade, “The Final Case.” READ MORE

What books do you re-read?

Here is the precious copy of “Black Beauty” by Samantha Dunn.

Recommendations

Have a book recommendation or a question? Email me with “BOOK PAGES” in the subject header and we might use it in the newsletter: epedersen@scng.com or just tap reply to this email.

Between my ears in this little Netherworld realm of scripture, I am visited by many creatures, some friendly, some insistent. When I was young, Jim Murray was my friend. We were spending the day at the LA Open. Jim was actually covering it and I was there for the endless free press buffet. The LA Times Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist was arguably the greatest sportswriter in history. Golfers played golf. We discussed the life of a writer and Murray confessed his great sin.

Daily, Jim Murray made people laugh or cry from the parapets of ridicule on the sports page. As we toured the lavish Republican wetlands of the Riviera Country Club, Jim shared his one big regret in life. His lifelong dream, his passion, was to be a detective novelist.

“Journalism was like a post office job to me,” Murray said, pushing back his thick cartoon Coke bottle glasses as we trudged across the golf course. “Journalism was just a way to pay the bills until that first book deal was done.”

Life often comes with big buts.

A wonderful wife and family came. At Time Magazine, Jim was told to step out of the genre and cover a sporting event. This first column skyrocketed Murray to become America’s top syndicated sportswriter.

Corn?

Jim Murray never got to write his gumshoe thrillers.

Hard to believe, but I was in therapy a long time ago. Why do you ask?

I’m crazy. This is one of my best features.

After three sessions, my therapist greets me with a stern, sensitive but hostile face. Gluttonous for punishment, she had asked for writing samples to see what to scribble on my board after “Whackazoid.” Before I could sit down, she hit me. Hard. In the breastbone. She scolded, “It’s a SIN you don’t write. I’m not talking about newspaper columns. I want to say – your novels…” Bless her kindness. She wouldn’t let go. It was a sin not to share my art with the world.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. Over the decades, The Fortress Literary has repelled my assaults, pouring cauldrons of boiling oil over any request or manuscript bold enough to storm the gates of bookdom. I’ll never forget that horrible clutch when Doubleday bought my first novel, “Naked Came the Sasquatch.” All the DD costumes loved it, calling every day, lined with laughter. I was in the penthouse elevator booking deals, backslaps and big advances. Drat my damn sixth sense. The president of Monday Doubleday was supposed to sign my big deal, I got the call. Not reading the book, Prez simply decided that there would be no first books by first authors. Period. Farewell. Broke my heart. Cut.

I sent it to other publishers. They loved it. A major costume called. Me. At home. “Sasquatch” was the best book she “…had read in the last two years and probably the best book (she had) read in the next two years…” But, she couldn’t publish it.

Why?

“You don’t write like the others…”

I replied. Isn’t that – the point? (Unless you’re pumping 142-page factory manuals on waterbeds. The water…goes…inside…)

I met another publisher at a convention. She ran TSR, the SciFi house that produced “Dungeons and Dragons.” She was about to launch a big new mainstream wing. “Naked” was to be the vanguard of TSR’s new editorial empire. I was to be the emperor. Signed with her. She rushed to have a baby. I never came back. A new editor is coming. He hates me. I don’t like him too much either, the scary little booger-eating moron. Four months later, he was fired. I’m now a published author with TSR and those three initials might as well have been KKK because TSR is some kind of fantasy sword, pointy ears, and pixie dust where all the characters are called Zoothar the Zootharian.

Ask Sylvester the cat to say this fast 10 times…

My own sarcasm comes back as instant karma? May be. I spent not years, but decades, trying to shake off the TSR scar, get published, and reacquire an agent. (Mine is dead, I have an alibi.) All those writing awards? The best-selling romantic/comedy/horror adventure “Sasquatch”? It didn’t matter.

A year ago, I started my own publishing house, John Boston Books. I had accumulated so many manuscripts that I would simply publish them myself. Last Friday at JBB’s Fillmore offices, we pressed The Button and the first of many novels and books was launched: “Ghosts, Ghouls, Myths & Monsters – The Most Haunted Town in America”. This is the first of three volumes. “Volume II: Vampires, Bigfoot, Gum Punks & Monsters” – launching in early February. I will publish a book every four to six weeks in 2022 and beyond – including the sequel to “Sasquatch” – “Naked Came the Clownpire”. Or maybe it’s “Naked Came the Novelist” or maybe “Naked Came the Clownsquatch” because I haven’t decided on the final title yet.

Visit the site below. Sign up for the newsletter at [email protected] As our motto happily suggests: “It’s a perfect day to read a John Boston book…” Like “Melancholy Samurai”. Or that of the “SCV Monsters”. Go. To buy. Write great reviews. Shower shameless five-star reviews like kisses on a baby.

OKAY. So. It’s here that YOU guys come in.

Revenge.

That Doubleday a few years ago wasn’t just about me. It was all over the Santa Clarita Valley. For that, I intend to execute every ungodly East Coast publishing house screaming into the Hudson River. As Conan the Barbarian correctly noted when asked The Meaning of Life:

“To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their wives!

Make known. Forge weapons. Saddle horses. Boil water and tear leaves for dressings. BUY MORE BOOKS. Galloping through the SCV countryside along our way to Fifth Avenue, we’ll pluck a few sheep, set fire to villages, crush enemies, and hear cool ambient wailing. It’ll be fun.

We are coming to New York.

And we take no prisoners…

SCV’s John Boston is the most prolific comedian/satirist in the history of the world. Visit johnbostonbooks.com — OR —
amzn.to/3rgijUr.

]]> https://nyisbookcountry.com/reading-books-is-a-wonderful-way-to-travel-and-taste-exotic-dishes/ Sat, 08 Jan 2022 08:00:00 +0000 https://nyisbookcountry.com/reading-books-is-a-wonderful-way-to-travel-and-taste-exotic-dishes/

Can’t travel? Read a book. Can’t get gourmet food? Read a book. Better yet, read a travel book that delves into food.

I did exactly that and got help from a delightful volume titled A Mobile Feast: Life-Changing Culinary Adventures Around the World. This planet alone publication takes you to distant lands and foods, through the eyes and words of remarkable writers.

Take the opening lines of Pico Iyer’s essay, ‘Daily bread’. He is in a Benedictine hermitage in California. “The quiche is as sweet as hope itself, and the long asparagus tips are so elegant on the plate that taking one feels like playing with the symmetry of a Klee. There are bowls of lettuce in our midst, and the thick vegetable soup alone would make a hearty meal. Bottles of vinaigrette fill the blond wood table, big enough for the six of us, as early spring sunlight streams into the window-filled dining hall, so we feel like we’re tasting the sparkle and to take a long sip of sunshine.”

Each chapter is a beautifully crafted essay that delves into people, food, culture, and memories. And some of the memories are not just about the food but also about the circumstances under which it was eaten.

Curiously relaxing

“Like most of us, I like to eat while I’m on the move,” writes author Jan Morris. “An Indian curry is best of all when it’s been rushed through your compartment window at Hooghly Station just before your big train departs for Mumbai.” She remembers boarding the “last fragile remnant” of the Orient Express, where she was handed a paper bag containing an apple, some cheese and half a bottle of excellent white wine – “that what could be a better snack while we worked across Europe?”

There is something oddly relaxing about these dreamlike chapters. You’re locked inside, thanks to a seemingly invincible virus, but see yourself on the Italian Riviera with American author and journalist David Downie. He stands in front of a vegetable garden destroyed by wild boars and watches the farmer cut down one after another the damaged plants. “He rummaged among the artichokes, cutting and tugging, before turning to a lemon tree adorned with yellow orbs. Soon the basket burst open, its contents neatly arranged. He entrusted it to us.”

Small asides

I then find myself in French Guyana with journalist-author Mark Kurlansky, as he recalls his favorite restaurant in Cayenne. “He specialized in game from the forest: small game agoutis, succulent tapir stews, a python or an iguana from time to time, foods that you don’t find in many places… I don’t didn’t understand why not everyone ate there. too… Instead, they crowded into French restaurants to eat Northern foods ill-suited to the tropics, sweaty pâtés and gloppy sauces that languished in the heat – and later in your stomach. Well, I’ve concluded, that’s how the French are – like most cultures with good cuisines, completely clinging to themselves.

It’s the subtext – like the little aside about culinary snobbery – that makes this book so easy to read. The connection between food and culture is the common thread in travel editor William Sertl’s essay “Cooking with Donna.” He is in a luxurious Caribbean estate and has just received an elegant bell that he must ring for the next class.

“At first, I laughed, without meaning to. Then I hesitated, got up, pushed my chair under the table, and walked straight into the uncharted territory of the kitchen. Donna was stirring the contents of a saucepan on the stove. I walked over, took the lid and said, ‘What are we eating?’ »

Food, he says, is the key to culture — “the easiest way to connect with people you haven’t met yet.” Mostly, I might add, the food you have left to try (python, anyone?) and the trips you have left to take.

Rahul Verma enjoys reading and writing about food as much as cooking and eating it. Well, almost.

Just as there are classic book lovers, there are digital book lovers. Specifically, tech fans are very happy with this appearance. It’s just that the advent of digital books created a rivalry with classic books. In fact, it depends on the reader’s pleasure. So, at the end of the day, you really can’t wait to switch from normal books to e-books. These include pros and cons.

1. These are ECOLOGICAL

To be manufactured, classic printed books must use 3 times more raw materials and 78 times more water than e-books. They also require a very high consumption of important resources like ink, paper (trees and even other materials). If you love nature and want to protect it and also want to be a conscientious reader, you can use an e-book. This way you can read as many books as you want without feeling guilty.

2. An instant process

Another very important advantage is that a digital book can be purchased with a few clicks and a media file is downloaded absolutely instantly to the device. The process is very quick, so you pay and you have any book you want in your e-library.

3. Convenience

If you are a tech and gadget lover and your hobbies were all tech, online movies, online games such as online blackjack, or others. So, you want to discover the world of books but you do not want to leave the comfort of technology, the e-book is perfect, it is very practical, fast, and has a very wide variety of books. So combine the pleasant and the useful, reading will be a very comfortable pleasure since you do it the way you like it the most.

4. It helps visually impaired people

Facilitates reading access even for the visually impaired. Some monitors are specially designed for these people. An E-book can be very easy to read in low light or why not, even in the dark. It is possible to display motion or use audio converter software to read the text aloud to visually impaired or elderly people. The material can be arranged as the author wishes and is not limited to a linear path of the book.

5. Instant search

If you can’t remember the title of a book but remember an interesting phrase, you can instantly search for a word or phrase to find it. In this way, we reduce the time and we can enjoy reading more. By researching keywords, you can find out how many times a word is cited in the text. Other dictionaries can be installed to read books in different languages. They also have active links to find additional information (hyperlinks).

6. Other benefits

The e-book uses E-Ink technology which means the device mimics the look of ink on plain paper, making you feel as natural as possible. The battery lasts up to 2 months (if Wi-Fi is disabled). And the brightness of the screens can be adjusted so that you don’t have to worry about the bedside lamp. Obviously, where there are advantages, there are disadvantages. There aren’t many here, but let’s see what they are.

Make an emotional connection with reading

In a 2012 study, some participants were asked to read a story in print and others in digital format. The conclusion that was reached in the end was that those who read the book in physical format were able to make a much stronger emotional connection to the narrative. Others who read in electronic format did not achieve the same. Most parents choose to read stories to their children at night, but not many people choose an eBook, but classic books. This digital format is more associated by many parents with entertainment and is avoided even due to the negative impact on sleep.

We conclude that the question is very clear, an e-book is very necessary and good to use! There are so many benefits that you will definitely consider using an eBook. Whatever option you choose, whether technological or classic, you have to read as much as possible and escape into the world of stories!

Markus lives in San Francisco, CA and is the video game and audio expert on Good e-Reader! He is very interested in new e-readers and electronic tablets, as well as games.

New Year. New dreams. New resolutions. New lists to read.

Entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for new books that will help them hone their skills, improve their business, and teach them how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Often times, we go through the best lists of books shared by famous people to find the ones we missed. Every successful person is a lifelong learner, that is, a reader. To help you, we have set up the best books for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are those who come up with solutions to problems that people ignore or bypass.

As masters of our own lives, these books light the way to mastering ourselves and understanding how the world works. The five books below are some of the best books for entrepreneurs to read because they offer in-depth information without sounding sad or bland.

The Numbers Don’t Lie: 71 Stories That Help Us Understand the Modern World – Vaclav Smil

Vaclav Smil is a lucky author. Time and time again, one of the richest men in the world, Bill Gates, has vouched for his books and continues to recommend them to his acquaintances and friends. His detailed analyzes and insights on seemingly boring topics are a melting pot of data, stories and history. With the wisdom of hindsight, he shows us how numbers help us make sense of a seemingly chaotic world. It also explains how numbers can be used to present appropriate arguments and provides you with the tools to do so. It is one of the best books for entrepreneurs to read because they give us the knowledge to see the big picture.

Anthro Vision – How Anthropology Can Explain Business and Life – Gillian Tett

Anthro Vision – How Anthropology Can Explain Business and Life – Gillian Tett

Gillian tries to help us understand what human beings think, do, and why they do it. An accomplished anthropologist, she tries to show us why we need to clean the lens with which we see the world, often and how. As we find ourselves drowned in all forms of data, she urges us to take a closer look at human culture and its role in shaping the world. In a constantly changing world, Tett challenges our tunnel vision and dares to reverse our point of view by providing concrete examples. Although this book does not present any commercial routes, it should be on the list of entrepreneurship books for beginners because it shows man for what he really is – a social animal.

Noise: a flaw in human judgment – Daniel Kahneman, Cass R Sunstein and Olivier Sibony

Noise: a flaw in human judgment – Daniel Kahneman, Cass R Sunstein and Olivier Sibony

Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Kahneman and fellow authors Sunstein and Sibony explore the effect of noise on judgments and the reason for variability. They shine a light on how the pandemic has highlighted dormant issues and how to tackle them head-on. It draws attention to both noise and prejudice, which impairs judgment and possibly the outcome. One of the best books for entrepreneurs to read, it helps us focus on what’s important while eliminating the rest.

The joy and transformative power of lifelong learning – Tom Vanderbilt

The joy and transformative power of lifelong learning – Tom Vanderbilt

If ever there was a reading list of books on entrepreneurship for beginners, it would be the bible. The author discusses failure and the bottlenecks that keep us from trying something new. We are born with huge potential, but after spending our first few years learning we tend to stop updating our skills. Mr. Vanderbilt explores how people develop new skills and studies them in relation to psychology and neuroscience. It also shows how embarrassing it can be to take the first step, but the rewards far outweigh the problems starting out. The sense of accomplishment and courage that we develop as we progress in our learning journey. A timeless treasure of wisdom, it is one of the best business books for beginners in all fields.

Chatter: the voice in our head and how to harness it – Ethan Kross

Chatter: the voice in our head and how to harness it – Ethan Kross

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant praises the book for helping people redefine the most important conversations in their lives – the ones they have with themselves. High praise indeed by a fellow author and that in itself makes it one of the best books for entrepreneurs. Renowned neuroscientist Ethan uses his training in psychology to show us how to harness and channel our inner voice, for healthier and more successful lives. He delves deep into our daily lives using behavioral and brain studies to highlight how our inner voice is the GPS of our lives. Filled with stories that support research, this is a must-read book for entrepreneurs.

Any book you read changes your view of the world. the The best books for entrepreneurs are those that combine research and stories to empower an individual to boldly chart their own future, which is why these five books are at the top of our lists.

Golf governing bodies have revealed a new model local rule to further limit the use of green reading books in the hopes that players and caddies will only use their eyes and feel to read putts. The local rule model G-11 allows tournament organizers to restrict players to using only the distance book they have approved for use in competition.

This local rule was developed by the R&A and the USGA with feedback from several professional tours. It is intended only for the highest levels of competitive golf and at competitions where it is realistic for the committee to create an officially endorsed yardage book. It will be available from January 1, 2022. The PGA Tour recently placed its own restrictions on green reading books, so this new local rule will affect the best players in the world.

The new local rule gives tournament organizers the option of establishing an officially approved distance book for a competition so that the diagrams of the greens show only minimal detail, including steep slopes, levels or false edges which indicate sections of greens. Handwritten notes from players and caddies on the approved distance book are also limited.

Players and caddies will now only be allowed to add handwritten notes and information obtained through their knowledge and experience while watching the balls roll on the green or seeing television coverage. Handwritten or printed information unrelated to green reading, such as swaying thoughts or transport distances, is permitted.