11
Followers
23
Following
Reading Slothfully
I was told in elementary school that I only could read at half the speed for success in college. Oh well, one benefit of slow reading is you get to live with the characters a longer period of time. I read in a vain attempt to better understand people. At my other homes, I'm known as a spouse, pop, guy in the choir, physical chemist, computer/web dilettante and child-care provider. In theory, I'm a published author, if you consider stuff like Quenching Cross Sections for Electronic Energy Transfer Reactions Between Metastable Argon Atoms and Noble Gases and Small Molecules to count as publications. I've strewn dozens of such fascinating things to the winds.
Currently reading
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas
The Spirit of the Border
Ramona the Brave (Ramona, #3)
The Underground Man (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)
Delilah of the Snows
Mrs. Miniver
Betsy-Tacy Treasury (P.S.)
A Christmas Carol
The Way Some People Die
Envy of Angels
Chip, the Dam Builder
Jim Kjelgaard was one of my favorite authors back in 5th grade or so. I'm sure y'all can imagine the fun we had changing word emphasis on the title of this book given that we were all pre-adolescent boys back in those days. Whatever, although more of a youth read than a geezer read, Chip is still a good read, even for a geezer.Basically, it is a nature book about the habits and activities of beavers (and some other animals, trout, deer, muskrats, etc.), clothed in a story line. So, while reading, and becoming engrossed in the story, one learns the basics of beaver life: how beavers scout out locations for their ponds; how beavers build their dams and lodges; how beavers store up food for long winters; how beavers interact with other animals in the wild; how beavers protect themselves; the important ecological benefits that stem from beavers' careful management of the flow of water along streams; and so forth. Reading this is a great way to learn a bit of science all the while thinking you're reading a fun story.
