tonari no shibafu

If wishing made it so

 

Bookstore Employee You scored 34% on knowledge of librarianship.

You know more than most about library stuff, maybe a lot more, and maybe there's a library job in your future... You might look the part of a librarian, but you're not one.  Consider joining your local "Friends of the Library" group.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 33% on knowledge

Link: The Are You a Librarian Test written by attention on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Holiday Gift Ideas

Here are some things that I am thinking about getting myself some folks for Xmas.

The best Cookbooks of the year.  (via Rebecca Blood)

Michael Broadbent's book, Vintage Wine. 

Riedel wine glasses.  Heard about these on Hsiao-ching Chao's excellent On Food podcast.

Dr. Toy's best children's products of 2005.  (via Rebecca Blood)

Nigella's measuring cups.  Mmmm, Nigella...  (via Slashfood)

External harddrives that look like legos. 

A bike helmet cover.  (via Boing Boing)

Catalog your personal library

From Languagehat comes information about Librarything which is a fairly versatile tool for cataloguing your personal library.

UPDATE****:  It turns out that the free accounts are limited to 200 books.  It costs $10 to upgrade to an unlimited account.  You can see my first 200 books here.

Mail Order Books

I just received this book from 日本の古本屋. This is a good resource for people in Japan that are looking for used or out-of-print books. There are many better-known sites for such things, but I have ordered and received books from them 5 or 6 times and have always received stellar service. If you need a book and don't have time to comb the stores in Jimbocho, this is a good alternative.

Back from Golden Week 2004

I took a little break from blogging during the Golden Week holidays (and beyond). For non-Japanophiles, the Golden Week holidays this year were Thurs. April 29th and May 3-5 (M-W), which made for a 5 day weekend for most of us, and those who took vacation days on Friday had a week off.

Someone's conception of the Western canon

There is a ... "meme" ... going round the lit community, and I follow suit here. If you have a site, copy the below list and bold the books that you have read.

via Little Professor

Page 23 Explaining Religion

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

"This logic derives from the original premise that the rise and course of authentic religion was determined by specific revelation, or primal divine instruction of some kind, positing in the world vera religio as a reference point and norm for all that followed."

I guess the scary thing is that I was actually on page 23.

via Gen Kanai among other places

10 Favorite Novels

Jessa over at bookslut (among other people) was asked to give her ten favorite novels. What a difficult task. Though I admit that I am occassionally disappointed by a novel, I probably add one or two books to the WoW column every year. Though, recently, the studies have seriousy curtailed my reading of non-non-fiction. Oh, for a areturn to the days of being a research student...no credits to worry about...no assignments to pass in...

I guess that many times I am either reading an author that I already dig, or am following the recommendation of a trusted friend, so the chances of my reading a stinker are low.

So, trusted friend, if you had to choose ten works of fiction, what would they be? Here's my ten if someone put a gun to my head right now.