1. Gateways to the Classical World – NYTimes.com
This is about apps for true geeks (greek geeks?). I have been thinking that the next time I replace my personal laptop I will seriously consider going Apple. Same for phone. I find the Windows 8 the last straw, especially on our larger laptop. It moves slowly and seems to get confused between touch screen and touch pad and cursor. Plus all the current apps seem to show up first on Apple machines.
2. Malala Yousafzai: By the Book – NYTimes.com
You remember this young woman. She was brutally attacked for her stand on education and women in her country. She has fascinating reading habits.
3. ‘Excellent Sheep,’ by William Deresiewicz – NYTimes.com
I keep reading reviews of this book. In this one, a Princeton prof disagrees a bit with some of what Deresiewicz says but still thinks it’s an important book.
4. Inside the List – NYTimes.com
This is a weekly column in the NYT Sunday Book Review. This week, Jennifer Szalai talks about Murakami and asks a question I have thought of: namely, how far are the English translations of his work from his originals. And she also has some witty stuff on Dinesh D’Souza (pointing out the origin of a Robert Frost quote he uses).
5. Jacqueline Woodson’s ‘Brown Girl Dreaming’ – NYTimes.com
This book review not only inspires me to read the book being reviewed but also Nikki Giovanni’s Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day which the reviewer mentions.
6. ‘Building a Better Teacher’ and ‘Getting Schooled’ – NYTimes.com
I don’t know why exactly but education continues to interest me. This review is thoughtful and worth reading.
7. ‘The New Arabs,’ by Juan Cole – NYTimes.com
Even though the reviewer points out that this book is written for boomers about a younger interesting generation, it still sounds excellent.
8. Cornel West: “He posed as a progressive and turned out to be counterfeit. We ended up with a Wall street presidency, a drone presidency”
I love Cornel West. I read the hate of Obama on Facebooger and I am hesitant to pile on, but West gets it right from the left.
9. Dealing With Digital Cruelty – NYTimes.com
I don’t really experience digital cruelty. I do however experience a bit of a small shock sometimes by what people are saying in the public of the internet (usually not anonymously). This article helped me see it more clearly.
10. A Memoir Is Not a Status Update – The New Yorker
A reminder that life is real.