Red Pen’s blog

Read in July

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:50:25 -0600

Favorites this month: Mother Night, Smoke and Mirrors, Child 44

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Read in June

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:00:06 -0600

Top 3 for this month: Then We Came to the End, Speaker for the Dead, The Host

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Read in May

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:04:45 -0600

THE BEST: The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World Part travelogue, part psychological study, part philosophical journey, Weiner's book narrates his determined quest to find and experience the world's happie...

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Coincidental covers

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:47:03 -0600

I recently saw a promotion for a new book and it looked eerily familiar to me. I was sure I'd seen it before, but it's a new release, so how could that be? Turns out, I had a different book in my Amazon wish list with the same photo on the cover...

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Read in April

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:21:13 -0600

THE BEST: Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time It seems trite to tell you that this book is inspirational, but it truly is. It is the reminder we all need that one passionate, committed person can set in mo...

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Economics twofer

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:24:17 -0600

Due to coincidence imposed by the library queue, I recently read these two books back-to-back. First, an unflinching look at the ravages inflicted when Friedmanite free-market capitalism is brutally imposed upon an economy, particularly in time...

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Read in March

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:11:20 -0600

THE BEST: The Monsters of Templeton Willie Upton returns to her hometown of Templeton, NY in a state of upheaval and soon finds herself unexpectedly wrapped up in solving the mystery of her paternity and unearthing the long-buried secrets of seve...

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Quote of the day

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:43:25 -0600

"So she lived in a state of perpetual loss--the runner who gives her all to the race and always comes short. She couldn't give up the fight and couldn't quite win and so she was caught between the pride of battle and the shame of defeat. And in ...

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Read in February

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:24:18 -0700

THE BEST: The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story This nonfiction account of heroism in Nazi-occupied Poland is my top pick of the month. I am deeply moved and inspired by individuals who match their wit and courage against tyranny in order to save ...

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But that doesn't make sense!

nobody@vox.com(Red Pen) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:33:40 -0700

Has the action or motivation of a character ever really nagged at you after you finished a book? At times, a fictional character will make a choice, or voice an opinion, or take a course of action that serves the story or furthers the plot, but j...

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