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Archive for the ‘reading’ Category

More Congo reading

Posted in Congo, Fiction, Springboard Reading, books, literature, non-fiction, reading, war on January 24, 2008 | 3 Comments »

Two more for the springboard reading list. Jeff suggested Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, Memoir of a Boy soldier. There’s an interesting controversy about this. The newspaper The Australian claims that the events described in the book happen two years later than Beah says they did. This would mean he was fifteen, not thirteen. [...]

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Live and Learn

Posted in Congo, News, Springboard Reading, books, reading, war on January 23, 2008 | 2 Comments »

When I started the Springboard Reading project, I didn’t really expect it to bear fruit so quickly. About 3 weeks into 2008, I know exponentially more about the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That isn’t hard – in honesty, I didn’t know a lot about it before that anyway. Anyway, today I read this:
A [...]

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Springboard Reading II: The River Congo

Posted in Springboard Reading, books, history, reading on January 15, 2008 | 4 Comments »

So we’re off on the 2008 Reading Challenge. I’m off the springboard and it’s juddering in the air behind me as I plunge into the pool for the first length. Following on from The Mission Song dealing with the bloody truth behind geopolitics as it influences the Congo, today I picked up Blood River: A [...]

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Springboard Reading, or Chain Letters.

Posted in Fiction, Springboard Reading, blogging, books, literature, reading on January 14, 2008 | 10 Comments »

While I was reading last night (The Mission Song, John le Carre) I daydreamed my way into a reading project for the year. Springboard reading.
In essence, it goes like this. Once I have read a book, I pick up one of the things touched on in it and follow it up with the next book [...]

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“Happy New Year!” she expectorated.

Posted in books, literature, reading on January 3, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Tomorrow will be the fourth day of January, and I’m beginning to wonder when people will stop saying “Happy new year” to me. Still, mustn’t grumble. I’m trying to no longer take a perverse delight in being grumpy, but it ain’t easy!
And as for this New Year’s Resolution business – as good as it is [...]

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Furst things First

Posted in Fiction, books, life, literature, reading, work, tagged , , , on October 18, 2007 | 3 Comments »

I’m still reading Night Soldiers, and loving it. It’s becoming one of those books that make you hope your bus will be a bit late so you finish the chapter. In some ways it is dull, but I’m still hooked on it. I’ll rephrase that: I don’t find it dull at all, but if someone [...]

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