Tag Archives: books

Book fan, Barack Obama

Posted on 01/25/2017 by

There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them (Joseph Brodsky) Regardless of your political views, our former president, Barack Obama, was a phenomenal book fan. How he found time for his passion baffles me, given … Continue reading →

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On Reading Rebecca Mead’s My Life in Middlemarch

Posted on 09/07/2016 by

All of us have a favorite book we wouldn’t mind reading again. For me, it’s David Copperfield, simply because I identify with much of what happens in it. The same holds true for Rebecca Mead in her bibliomemoir, My Life … Continue reading →

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Before Surgery Reading: Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small

Posted on 05/22/2016 by

I’ve always loved animals. I can’t say where it comes from, but maybe it’s in the genes. Both my nieces exhibit the same trait. Currently, I’ve been reading James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small. If you’re old enough, you … Continue reading →

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On finding a new booklist quarry

Posted on 03/14/2016 by

I confess I’m addicted to booklists. No sooner do I finish one book, but I’m into another. What surprises me is that I can’t remember anyone in my family serving as a role model when I was a child, either … Continue reading →

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My Best Reads for 2015

Posted on 12/31/2015 by

My thirst for good reads continued in 2015, and among them, two stand out for special praise in providing me with pleasure, insight, and continuing reflection. (I’ve reviewed both more fully elsewhere in Brimmings.) Fiction:   John Williams. Stoner (New York … Continue reading →

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Oliver Sacks: Medicine’s Laureate

Posted on 07/30/2015 by

I find every patient I see, everywhere, vividly alive, interesting and rewarding; I have never seen a patient who didn’t teach me something new.  Or stir in me new feelings and new trains of thought. –Oliver Sacks I’ve just finished … Continue reading →

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Same Sun Here

Posted on 05/10/2015 by

Dear River, I cannot tell from your name if you are a boy or girl so I will write to you like you are a human being. The above comes from a book I’ve been reading for middle grade children, … Continue reading →

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A Poet Reminisces: Essays After Eighty

Posted on 02/15/2015 by

I have always liked poetry and poets, in particular, because of their sensitivity to human experience. One poet I like a lot is Donald Hall, a giant among contemporary American poets, although he’s given up the craft, or as he … Continue reading →

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On Reading E. O. Wilson’s The Meaning of Human Existence

Posted on 12/28/2014 by

I finished reading E. O. Wilson’s remarkable book, The Meaning of Human Existence, two weeks ago and am now finally getting to tell others why I like it so much. For one thing, I admire its author, an eminent, cerebral … Continue reading →

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Being Mortal

Posted on 12/17/2014 by

I’ve just finished reading Being Mortal: What Matters in the End by Dr. Atul Gawande. I had read his previous Complications about life as a surgeon several years ago, greatly impressed. Both books have been highly praised, with the present … Continue reading →

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