Monthly Archives: January 2015

Reading during a virus attack: Brother Cadfael

Posted on January 24, 2015 by readingmater

Once upon a time I gave each person in my high school history class a map/poster of medieval York. It was to be their textbook for the semester. The aim was to find out as much as possible, about the city, … Continue reading →

Posted in Mysteries, Novels | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

If we are human, we sing.

Posted on January 18, 2015 by readingmater

I am always fascinated with musing about human origins- think of it as Deep Genealogy.The World in Six Songs delves back into brain studies, chemical activity, DNA and all that good stuff to explore the universality and early origin of … Continue reading →

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Tiger Mother?

Posted on January 16, 2015 by readingmater

No! Western mother! When I first knew my oldest kids (I am their Mom 2.0) they were six and nine. They astounded me by singing all the time, in harmony (the older did the improvised harmonies,) with or without accompaniment. … Continue reading →

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Bathsheba

Posted on January 13, 2015 by readingmater

“You saw her bathing on the roof/ Her beauty and the music overthrew you.” (Leonard Cohen) So was Bathsheba responsible, or was King David? Nathan the prophet claimed the latter. Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy, has a main … Continue reading →

Posted in Novels | Tagged , | 3 Comments

In the name of God.

Posted on January 9, 2015 by readingmater

I am here in what people refer to as Paradise  reading about a place that is Hell on earth. Here in Hawaii reading about Afghanistan under the Taliban. Muslims do everything “Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim,” in the name of God the … Continue reading →

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Am I a racist?

Posted on January 6, 2015 by readingmater

Yes. There have been so many conversations in the wake of news coverage of police shootings of black people, followed today by an arrest without injury of a white woman who had been shooting into cars and pointed her gun … Continue reading →

Posted in non-fiction, social justice, sociology | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Awesome.

Posted on January 4, 2015 by readingmater

Awesome. The stone circle in Avebury, when I am standing inside it, somehow brings me to a place where I am surrounded by the touch of thousands of years of human lives at his spot, many of them in some … Continue reading →

Posted in Novels | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Best of 2014

Posted on January 1, 2015 by readingmater

Looking through the list of my posts, as I did last year, I found some I would not remember if I hadn’t blogged about them, some by favourite authors, some on important topics; a haphazard list. So here are my … Continue reading →

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