Les Miserables

No, it's not Canadian ... but this Canadian loves Les Miserables... and since that is what I am doing today .... listening to Les Mis rather than reading anything, I thought I would post a bit about it.

Have you seen it? I know Stephanie has ... and I have gone to see it every few years ...seems to me it should be about time for Les Mis to hit Toronto again! Not quite sure how long ago it was here last though ... I know Ross & I went, so has to be within the last 8 years.

We like musicals - have been to about one a year since we met, although not this year! Might have to do something about that.

Anyway, there are lots of musicals that I enjoy - but none has ever challenged Les Mis for its spot as number #1. I own the Dream Cast version pictured here - it is excellent. I especially enjoy Act #2 and listen to it about twice as often as I do the first side - typically, I start at the beginning... but then when it's over I don't want it to be over so I start side #2 again. Oh, and I love the encore in this one, too. They have Jean Valjean's from all over the world singing ...including Canadian Michael Burgess...so there... Canadian content after all :)

Read more...

Book Meme

I stole this meme from Stephanie at Ask Me Anything... and she got it from Books and Movies.

1. To mark your page you: use a bookmark, bend the page corner, leave the book open face down? I know better...but I do all of the above none the less.

2. Do you lend your books? Most often I give them away without expecting to get them back. I made the mistake of lending a signed book out once - never again! Never did get it back.

3. You find an interesting passage: you write in your book or NO WRITING IN BOOKS! I write in books - mostly just in books I use for school though, not my pleasure reading (although sometimes those end up being one and the same)

4. Dust jackets - leave it on or take it off? Gotta go! I always mean to put them back on when I'm done reading but, well, you know...

5. Hard cover, paperback, skip it and get the audio book?
I much prefer paperback, especially since I wrecked my wrists. I have a book stand that I still use a fair bit for hardcovers or textbooks. Pain in the butt to actually read with it though - and it doesn't work worth a damn in the tub!

6. Do you shelve your books by subject, author, or size and color of the book spines? I make piles on the floor around my desk, mostly... or beside my bed... or on the bathroom counter. The book fairy comes along and puts them on shelves.... he also finds them again when I need a particular book.

7. Buy it or borrow it from the library later?
I buy it - or whine so my sister gets it for me, cuz she's got connections. I try to avoid libraries as much as possible because they always want you should bring them back!

8. Do you put your name on your books - scribble your name in the cover, fancy bookplate, or stamp?
Hardly ever.

9. Most of the books you own are rare and out of print books or recent publications?
All of the above. I have a lot of signed editions from Canadian authors that attend the Leacock Festival... and also a lot of advance reading copies cuz I am spoiled (or maybe it is that I whine well).

10. Page edges - deckled or straight?
Who cares? Well, people do - including many people who study Public Texts (yeah, that would be me) ... but mostly I care more about what's on the pages than what they actually look like.

11. How many books do you read at one time?
I often have many, many books on the go at once .... unless something really engages me, in which case, all the rest get left where they are until I am done that one.

12. Be honest, ever tear a page from a book?
Nope, although I have once or twice torn a recipe from a magazine at the doctor's office.



If you should decide to do this one, I hope you'll let me know...would love to read it.

Read more...

eReaders Guest Post

The Kindle is a big and exciting topic now that the second incarnation is out there. It’s loaded with cool features and is backed by the Amazon.com conglomerate. I, of course, don’t have one.

What I got for Christmas is a Sony eReader and I’m lovin’ it. There were several reasons I chose the eReader. It can read pdfs and word files, so I could put my own novels in ‘em and bring ‘em. The wireless feature in Kindle didn’t interest me and I liked the Sony’s all-metal case. It looked, apparently, slightly better than the original Kindle (according to reviews) and the size was excellent (I saw one in Borders). And it was cheaper.

But why get an ereader anyway? Well, first of all, I love gadgets and I’m an avid reader. When I travel, I’m used to bringing six or more books with me so the thought of replacing them with one book-sized contraption is appealing. I’m absent minded and am constantly misplacing books so it’s nice to be able to find my favorites. My favorite books I read over and over and over again. Also, at least with the Sony, one can have as many as 8 eReaders using the same library, so I can let everyone in the family have access to my library if I get them a similar unit.

So, how is it? It’s great. It’s much easier to read than a computer, the screen is clear. You can read several days in a row, all day, on the same battery charge. It comes with a nice magnetized leather case (don’t bother buying one) and it feels very solid. The buttons are easy to use. The eReader, at least when I got it, came with 100 classics downloads, the $2 classic books (i.e. public domain) novels out there. That’s quite a hefty number and so I could stock up my Shakespeare and Poe and Dumas and Jane Austen and…

The menu is not desperately intuitive and the Sony eBook store wasn’t as easy to navigate as I would have liked. One can’t read it while charging and the software to transfer books wasn’t perfect.

Still, I have learned to love it and have already begun buying ecopies of my favorite rereadable books so that I never have to do without them again.

Steph: the rocket scientist

Read more...