Author Archives: MrPopularSentiment

Manners & Customs in the Bible, 3rd edition by Victor H. Matthews

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Read: 6 April, 2013

In Manners & Customs, Matthews covers the major periods of biblical history, from the Ancestral Period down to the Intertestamental and New Testament Period. In each section, he covers some of the historical background of the period, such as what was going on politically both in Hebrew lands and nearby regions. This is followed with specific discussions of construction methods and styles, marriage customs, clothing and adornment, weapons and military technology, and more.

I found the text interesting, particularly in its range, though I was a bit disappointed by how heavily it relied on the books of the Bible for its sources – mainly because I’m also reading the Bible and thus have access to those same passages. What I wanted was more information on what other texts from the period and the archaeological evidence have to say. Though I suppose I might have been unreasonable given that the title of the book specifies that the manners and customs are in the Bible.

It also led to some issues where Matthews took the Bible at face value in the absence of any corroborating outside evidence, but he was using the same matter-of-fact voice he uses elsewhere when there is corroboration. So, for example, he talks about the exodus as a discrete event, as it’s presented in the Bible, without mentioning the possibility of a folk tradition that glomped together multiple migration events, or simply a cultural memory of Egyptian occupation.

All in all, I found it to be an interesting read. There are better introductions to “biblical times” resources, though I appreciated Matthews’ focus on domestic customs – even though I found these to be far more sparse than the title had led me to believe.

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Back to Classics Challenge

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This was a 2012 challenge, so I’m afraid that I’m rather late to the party, but it’s still an excellent idea! Hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much, the objective is to read within one year:

  1. Any 19th Century Classic
  2. Any 20th Century Classic
  3. Reread a classic of your choice
  4. A Classic Play
  5. Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction
  6. Classic Romance
  7. Read a Classic that has been translated from its original language to your language
  8. Classic Award Winner
  9. Read a Classic set in a Country that you (realistically speaking) will not visit during your lifetime  – Countries that no longer exist or have never existed count.

So, any takers? Leave a comment with your choices for each category!

How Clean Is Your House? by Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie

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Read: 21 March, 2013

“Slovenly” would be a very kind word to use for my housekeeping skills, particularly when I first moved out from under my parents’ feather duster. I got a lot better when my son was born and I was on maternity leave – not only because I had a lot more time on my hands, but also because I had an added incentive not to let yummy edible dust bunnies accumulate. Still, though, there were/are a lot of gaps in my knowledge about how to properly take care of a home.

So I took to one of my parent groups and asked if anyone could recommend a good “quick and dirty” beginners’ guide.

I’d tried to flip through a few housekeeping books in the past, but they all assumed a level of proficiency that I just didn’t have. They would skip over the basics, or they’d just go into so much detail that I felt overwhelmed.

The first response in my request was that I should pick up How Clean Is Your House? A few people offered practical advice of their own but, mostly, everyone agreed that I should pick up Woodburn and MacKenzie’s book.

Unfortunately, it seems to be out of print, at least in Canada. But I did find a really cheap copy on Amazon’s “New & Used” section.

And it’s exactly what I needed.

I think that it would be far too simplistic for someone who has already been caring for their home for a while, since they really do only cover the very basics. In fact, the amount of text in the book is quite limited – most of the page space being taken up by photos of Woodburn and MacKenzie wearing rather ostentatious rubber gloves and posing as they look in disgust at something off-screen, or close-up photos of cleaning implements or objects in need of cleaning.

If I’d paid more than $10 for the book, that might upset me. But considering that I paid less than $4 including shipping, it’s not a big deal. And, in fact, the focus on only the most vital information was precisely what I had asked for.

The book is divided into sections for each room in the house, plus a bit about “getting started” and a special section for all the lovely messes pets make. Some sections have a little information about how to deal with the big accidents, but the focus is mainly on what to do for normal day-to-day maintenance (plus a bit in the “getting started” about what to do when conquering a house that hasn’t been cared for in a long time).

Perhaps the most useful part of the book is the section where they break down a daily, weekly, and monthly routines, plus a checklist of those special “once a year” type of chores. This was perhaps the most helpful section for me in the entire book.

I think that this book would make a fantastic gift for someone about to strike out on their own for the very first time. I wish someone would have given it to me so I wouldn’t have spent all of five years wallowing in my own filth!

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Community Libraries

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My city has an amazing library system. There’s a lot of them and, because they are all networked, you can order books from any branch and have it delivered to the branch most convenient for you. The collection is incredible, and it’s rare for me not to find something I’m looking for.

But, unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky. Even within Canada, there are areas with very little library access, and many municipalities are cutting funding for libraries as a way of saving money in the short term (which, as far as I am concerned, is extremely short-sighted, but that’s a separate discussion).

Community Libraries

But regardless of a community’s library access, I think that these free neighbourhood book exchanges are fantastic! I know that a lot of employers and even some apartment buildings have them. The idea is quite simple – drop off any books you no longer want, pick up any books that take your fancy.

I’m sure that abuse does happen, but I’ve never seen it happen. The only problem I’ve ever seen with community libraries is that the book quality is often quite low. There’ll be the occasional great find, but community libraries will often be overtaken by read-in-two-hours mysteries and romances.

But despite this, I think they’re a great idea, and I’d like to see more communities and neighbourhoods set them up!

Make sure you read Taryne’s blog post about these community libraries!

The Dresden Files #2: Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

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Read: 24 March, 2013

Once again, Murphy calls Dresden out to a crime scene that just doesn’t seem right. The deceased is one of Gentleman Johnny Marcone’s men, he’s been mauled and there are wolf tracks at the scene of the crime. Dresden suspects werewolves.

Unfortunately, my main complaint about Storm Front hasn’t been fixed. Dresden likes to describe himself as a believer in chivalry, wanting to protect the women around him. It would be easy enough to chalk it up to the character since Dresden plays off as a weird combination Noir Cool Guy and scraggly teen doofus (yeah, it’s awkward), but the narrative facts shatter that excuse. The strong female characters, while present, tend to act rashly, making careless mistakes that get people hurt, usually as a result of not wanting to be protected by men like Dresden.

Storm Front had some absurdities in it, but Fool Moon really takes it to the next level. There’s the standard turf war between the FBI agents and the local cops, but in this case the FBI agent opens fire on the cop. Yes, opens fire. As in she shoots her gun. It makes sense for that character to behave in such a way, but it makes absolutely no sense for the local cop not to go completely nutzo-berzerker on her. At the very least, there should a report filed and disciplinary action. The idea that Murphy would simply shrug it off as just another cop turf scuffle is absolutely absurd.

We see this again later when Murphy arrests Dresden for having once held a piece of paper with a symbol on it that was later seen drawn on the floor in a crime scene. She doesn’t even ask him for an explanation (nor allow him to give her one). She just jumps straight to arrest. It’s almost like cops don’t have to do paper work or obey the law in Dresdenland.

I’d say, as a general rule, Murphy is pretty much off the deep end in this book.

I do really enjoy the descriptions of the potions – how they’re made and how they work. The rest of the magic system I could take or leave, but the potions are quite cool.

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Portrait of the author as a young man (or woman)

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HemingwayEver wonder what your favourite author looked like as a teenager? Were they geeky and gawky? Were they good looking? Did they already have that special authorial glint in their eye?

Flavorwire has a bunch of pictures up, and they’re quite neat to look at. Check out the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Neil Gaiman, Flannery O’Connor, Margaret Atwood, Mark Twain, and more!

How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles van Doren

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Read: 28 March, 2013

This book was recommended to me by a homeschooling mother, and I can certainly see why. It’s a wonderful little primer on how to read books in such a way that the reader is able to get as much from the experience as possible. It covers how to make notations in a book, how to write an outline, how to use external materials effectively, and how to engage in a conversation between reader and writer. It even has a section where it goes into the specifics of how to read different kinds of texts.

I think that it would be a fantastic foundational text for a high school level English class – whether in a classroom or a homeschool (or, even, to be read by an industrious individual looking for a little self-improvement). It’s not a book best read at once, but rather digested chapter by chapter over the span of, say, a school year. It’s a little dry, so if you’re planning to use it with students, be prepared to liven it up with fun exercises, conversations, and sample readings. But taken in smaller chunks, it shouldn’t be too painful, and I think it would be well worthwhile.

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Reading Around the World: April 2013 update

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After I had a crazy run in January, I’ve slowed down to a creep as far as Reading Around the World has been going. I spent a lot of time working my way through my TBR pile and playing catch up in Science Fiction and Fantasy classics. Even so, I have managed to sneak a few of my global readers in, bringing my total up 15 countries out of approximately 120!


visited 15 states (6.66%)
Create your own visited map of The World or website vertaling duits?

Obabakoak by Bernardo Atxaga

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Read: 22 April, 2013

I picked this up as my Basque read for the Reading Around the World challenge.

It’s a collection of short stories that seem unconnected. Though the title of the book literally means “The people/things of Obaba,” though in his prologue, Atxaga notes that another possible interpretation would be “stories from Obaba.” Even so, Obaba features only in a few of the stories.

In many ways, I found this to be a very international book. And though my purpose in choosing it was to get something of an insider’s perspective into Basque country, most of the stories deal with being an outsider there – the very first, “Esteban Werfell,” being about the child of a German caught between his father’s culture and the culture that surrounds him. And all of it is bound around with the idea of the outsider infiltrating and replacing the local.

There are some odd connecting themes to the stories, subtle enough that I had missed the ones I’ve found during my initial reading, and I’m sure that there are plenty that I haven’t spotted.

I really enjoyed most of the stories just from an entertainment perspective, but the more I think about the book, the more I feel that I have to think about. Each story is complex, and they inform each other in interesting and surprising ways. I think that I’ll be carrying Obabakoak around with me for a while.

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