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ABOUT

I am an enthusiastic reader. Among my goals is to piece together a picture of the Universe. The Universe being human culture, thought and history, as well as the wonders of the natural sciences. There is so much to learn and comprehend! I am not an expert in most of the subjects that I read and discuss. My greatest qualification is that I am an insatiably curious person.

Please feel fee to comment on anything! I love to discuss these topics. I welcome agreement as well as disagreement. If you would prefer to email me, my email is EmperorbjtAToptonlineDOTcom (turn the AT and DOT into the symbols, just trying to defeat the spam bots).

Most of what one is likely to find here are not plain reviews. Instead, when I discuss a book I tend to write about a thought or two that I have about the work. The topic might involve a major theme of the tome, but it might not. It could be just be something fairly minor that I want to share my thoughts about. If anyone wants a straightforward review, do not be shy! Post a comment or E – Mail me and I will be happy to share a conventional review.

A little bit about me. I live on Long Island, New York with my wife and a very spoiled cat. In addition to reading I love the outdoors and can often be found in the fields and forests in all sorts of weather. I love to both cook as well as eat all kinds of food and beverages. I am particularly fond of artisanal cheese and craft beer.

11 comments:

@parridhlantern said...

I've a great fondness/ obsession with real ales, single malt whisky & proper cheeses. So hi fellow bookfiend & best wishes for the New Year.

Brian Joseph said...

Hi Parish - Happy New Year!

Good to hear about your interest in cheeses and ales. I have heard much about the pleasures of malt whisky but I am not well versed in it. Perhaps I will explore it in 2013.

JacquiWine said...

Hi Brian,I’ve nominated you for a Very Inspiring Blogger Award. Feel free to check it out here, but please don’t feel obliged to continue the process – it’s up to you!

http://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/very-inspiring-bloggers/

Brian Joseph said...

Thanks so much Jacqui!

I am honored.


Heading over to your site to check out your post.

The Reader's Tales said...

Craft beer yessssss please ;)

Brian Joseph said...

Hi Reader's Tales - It is great time to be into craft beer.

Jim KABLE said...

Brian: I have just found your literary blogsite - following from your comment on Whispering Gum/WG's site. My wife and I have a niece and husband working in NYC - living in White Plains. We visited NYC in Sept/Oct 2012 and again exactly two years later in 2014. We stayed both times on Dekalb Avenue - firstly looking across at Fort Greene Park and secondly in Bed-Stuy. We attended an interview night at the Irondale Theatre - of New York Times opinion writer Charles M Blow -cabout his memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones. I found the history by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - An Indigenous Peoples' History of the US (a kind of tribute in some senses to Howard Zinn's A People's History of the US) and apart from exploring as much of Manhattan and Brooklyn's Kings County - we also visited Jamaica - including, interestingly, First Presbyterian -cwhich was the current President's childhood church. Here in Australia one of my paternal family links married into one of the descendants of a Queens County Jamaica-born chap called Billy Blue - born around the late 1730s - sent to Sydney Town around 1801/1802 from England - marrying and having five children - given a land grant by Governor Lachland Macquarie - known now as Blue's Point - alongside Lavender Bay (his daughter Susannah married George Lavender) - looking directly at Sydney Harbour Bridge -cdiagonally opposite (beneath the Bridge) to Sydney's Opera House. He died in his 90s in I834! Some research from Now Sydney University historian Cassabdra Pybus seems to suggest that Billy or his family were of a slave background - the original "owner" perhaps Dutch - de Blaauw - hence Blue. Long Island - the western end or further to the east - it's not so far removed from south-east Australia. In family connectedness at any rate. Have you come across the writing of Geraldine Brooks? From Sydney - married to Pulitzer prize winner US writer Tony Horowitz - his book on Tom Brown. She is herself a Pulitzer prize winner - she and her family spend time between Martha's Vineyard and Sydney. Just to say hello - it's always reassuring to find others who love books and reading and thinking and writing responses. My wife and i were at the recent Adelaide Writers Festival - some fine oersins oresent inckuding Teju Cole and Barbara Kingsolver among others such as Kamila Shamsie and some fery notable Australian writers, too. Jim.

Jim KABLE said...

Around 10 typos I note on re-reading - tiny writing - big fingers on my digital keyboard - rest assured I can spell! Apologies!

Brian Joseph said...

Hi Jim. Thanks for stopping by. The world is so connected. I find that so many people from every corner of the Earth are somehow connected to the New York City area.

Something else that I find common around the world is that one can find some bookish folks almost everywhere.

I am the worthy speller and typist in the world so I empathize :)

Brian Joseph said...

I have not read Geraldine Brooks but I have wanted to for awhile.

Anonymous said...

Follow me to
Seventh-Heaven
by MARTYRDOM -
guillotines rock:
all over within a
split second, bro.
Otherwise, welcome
to the Abyss o'Misery.
☆ nrg2xtc.blogspot.com ☆