9 Year Blogiversary!

Babbling Books is nine years old today! This anniversary brings a mini – crisis in my blogging activities but optimism for the future. The mini – crisis that I refer to will be evident to anyone who has been following this blog, that is, I have not been posting much.

The reason that I have not put up a lot of entries in the past few months in twofold. The reasons are also related. The first is that I have been working more and more hours at my job. These hours have been escalating. I have been working more in the past few weeks then I have worked since my blog started. In fact, I remember that 9 years ago, I started my blog shortly after a work project ended that was taking up a lot of time. At the time, I figured that the extra hours could be devoted to blogging. 

 

The second reason is something that happens from time to time. I have been stuck in a period of what I will describe as lower motivation. Much of this low motivation is part of the natural cycles of ups and downs. However, another related factor is the fact that about two months ago the keyboard on my desktop  computer died. I replaced it with something that I had lying around, but something that I thought would be a good choice. It was a Macally keyboard that was a large piece of hardware. I thought that its size and apparent sturdiness would be good for writing. However, in retrospect it it turns out that using it was an unpleasant experience.  Among other things it led to a lot of typos and missed key strokes.  I have replaced it with an Apple Magic Keyboard which is ironically much smaller but much easier and pleasant to write with. I did not realize that this poor keyboard experience was keeping me away from writing, but once I replaced it, writing blog posts became a positive experience again.    

I must admit that had my busyness at work coincided with a period of higher motivation for blogging, that I would have still managed to post more. I am naturally a very slow writer, so the combination of these two factors has really slowed down my posting.  

 

The really good news is that, while the long hours at work were caused by several factors, the biggest driver of time at work was a project that was just concluded on January 31^st. I should be working a lot less now. I am hoping that this freeing of my time will be also help spur more motivation to write blogs.

 

Thus, I am optimistic that I will be posting more frequently going forward and that 2021 will be a good year for blogging. I am looking forward to the future. Have no fear, Babbling Books should still be around for a while. 

 

As I do every year, I want to thank all my wonderful commenters. I am grateful to everyone who has taken the time to comment and engage in my comments section. Interaction with other bloggers in our comments sections is one of the main reasons to blog in the first place. 

Happy reading and blogging in 2021 everybody!

8 Years Old!

Babbling Books is eight years old today! The term often used for these milestones is blogiversary. Time seems like it is passing so quickly. It feels like it was just yesterday that I started the blog. 

Every year I thank the blogging community. I think that it is very important to do so. What makes my blog worthwhile is the people who read it and who comment here. I want to that everyone who spends time at my site. I especially want to thank the people who leave comments. My commenters are fantastic. So that you everybody who reads and comments here. 

It is also the New Year. In the past, I have never been one to make resolutions or change directions at this time of year. If I wanted to change something, I usually would do so whenever I thought to do it. However, this New Year has gotten me to thinking. Over the past year I have been reading more than a few books that focused on current social issues and the debates that surround them. While this has not been a bad direction to go in, and I feel that I gained knowledge and insight from these books, reading time is very precious.  Personally, I place greater value reading books that will be applicable ten years from now, or even one hundred years from now, over books whose ideas have a shorter shelf life. I cannot read everything that I want to so I have to pick and choose. Thus, I will likely read and post about less of these current – issue works and instead concentrate more on books that I deem to be more centered upon universal themes. That does not mean that I will completely refrain from reading books on current topics. In fact, there is one in particular, that will be published in the coming months, that I want to read and will likely want to post about. However, I will likely read less of them. 

In addition, I would like to read more books. However, I have a busy life and limited time will make this goal a little more difficult to attain. In past years I have also set out to read more and have done so. I managed to succeed in this by being more efficient with my time and devoting more time to reading. Because of these past efforts I have already plucked a lot of low hanging fruit in terms of wasted time.  Thus it will now be more difficult to increase my reading time. With that, I will try to read at least a little more in  2020. Those are my bookish thoughts and goals for the coming year. 

I hope that everyone has a fruitful and enjoyable reading year in 2020. I am looking forward to further reading adventures myself. Happy reading everyone!

Talking About Disagreement

I do not hesitate to post about controversial issues. Though I mostly keep my posts on this blog to the subject of books, I tend to read some books that cover contentious topics. I read books on the subjects of race, gender, politics, religion, etc. Even books whose focuses are not on these issues sometimes touch upon them. For instance, sometimes history books delve into the issue of colonialism, race, gender, etc.  Those who know me on Twitter also know that I do not shy away from controversial issues there. 

Sometimes bloggers write or tell me that they stay away from posts about controversial topics. However, since books touch upon all of these things, it would be impossible to properly write about them without commenting on these issues. Likewise, on other social media, I tend to freely express my opinions. Expressing myself is one of the great joys of life. 

There are many reasons that folks stay away from such topics. Online, there is always the possibility that one may receive hateful or at least angry comments.  With that, these are fairly uncommon when it comes to book blogs. I think that for many, there is more of a fear that people may disapprove of their opinion. People sometimes fear that a difference of opinion means someone will not think well of them as individuals. 

I find that there is a fear to disagree with one’s own tribe. In other words, liberal folks will tend to shy away from criticizing folks on the left, conservative folks will likely shy away from criticizing folks on the right. On issues of race and gender there is often the fear that one will be seen as racist or sexiest if one takes certain positions. It is possible that bias may creep into even a well-intentioned person’s discourse. Thus, I think one should think carefully about one’s opinions on these sensitive issues, listen to other people's points and employ logic, ethics and empathy.  At that point,  one should not shy away from speaking their minds if one truly believes something. There will always be people who agree and there will always be people who disagree. 

There is a larger issue of social media harassment and mobbing. The political and social right and the left seem to have their own sets of really bad people out there. I will be posting more about that in the future, but I want to keep this particular post restricted to general disagreement and the hesitancy to express opinions. 

This brings me to the main point of this post. It is OK to disagree as long as you do not get nasty and as long as you do not engage in personal attacks or even worse behavior.  Issues relating to politics, religion, race, gender, etc. are very complex. People also have their own experiences which often help to shape their opinions. Unless two people are ideologues, it is impossible for any two individuals to agree on everything. I disagree with my friends, my family, even my wife on multiple topics.  I am a traditional liberal in the American sense of the word. However, I am also critical of various trends that I see emerging on the on the left such as postmodernism, an extreme form of identity politics, etc.  I am also an atheist who does not agree with the generalizations that I often hear about various  religions, whether those generalizations are good or bad. However, I  also strongly defend those who criticize religion. It is impossible to imagine any one person agreeing with me on everything, especially with my mix of views. 

Disagreement is often the source for finding the truth or coming over to more reasoned positions. Thus, as I have written before, if I take a position that anyone disagrees with, they should feel free to tell me in the comments section. 

I generally do not read books that are too tied to current events. I try to read books that I think will be relevant 50 or 100 or 150 years from now. In my original draft of this post I had written that I was thinking of reading The Tyranny of Opinion: Conformity and the Future of Liberalism by Russell Blackford. That book delves into the pressure that modern society exerts against those who speak opinions that are unpopular. I am a fan of Blackford’s Tweets as he expresses opinions somewhat similar to those that I have expressed above. In the meantime I have actually read and finished the Blackford's book. I will be posting about it in the coming weeks. I want to note that I have not changed anything in the preceding paragraphs as a result of reading that book, as I wanted to present this post as it was originally intended, before wading into Blackford's ideas. 

There will always be people who shy away from disagreement. There will always be people who embrace it. Social media raises all sorts of new questions and issues that relate to it.  I will continue to try to use my blog as a vehicle for opinions while trying to be open to the views of others. 

7 Years Old

Babbling Books is seven years old today!  As always, I want to thank the Blogging Community and all the folks who read and comment on my blog. You all are the reason that posting about books is worth it. 

Seven years has gone fast. What I originally envisioned for my blog I have realized. I wanted to talk about books. Books are about ideas and are sometimes about opinions and controversial issues. Thus, I wanted to express opinions. I did not want to shy around controversial issues. I had hoped that people would come to my comments section and not be afraid to express their opinions, even if they disagreed with me.  All these things have come to pass. 

Of course, not everything is perfect. I do not post as often as I would like to. Early on, I participated in a lot more group reads and events. As of late I have refrained from posting as often as I would like and from participating in group events. This is because my life outside of the blogging world has been very busy. Nevertheless, my blogging continues and I hope for less hectic future days when I can blog more and participate in the blogging community more. Some bloggers have expressed the feeling that they have gotten burned out or tired of blogging. I feel no such thing thus far. Perhaps the fact that I do not post nearly as much as I would like to has helped me to avoid burnout. Either way, I hope to be around for a while longer.

I hope that 2019 is a great year for everyone’s reading and blogging life. So once again, happy reading everyone!

My Comments Section

I want to share a few thoughts about my blog. In particular, I want to talk about my comments section and what it has grown into. On multiple occasions in the past, I have written about how wonderful the book blogging community is and how grateful I am for all the folks who come here and comment on this site. What my comments section has grown into is something truly special.

People come to this blog and leave many comments. Many if these comments are detailed. Many folks clearly think about my posts and put thought into their responses to them. Many introduce a diversity of ideas that surprise me at times. Sometimes folks will come back and continue conversations. 

There are several regular commenters who visit and will challenge my ideas. They will occasionally disagree with me, or they will present ideas counter to mine. As I alluded to above, some come back multiple times and continue to discuss these issues. I not only am fine with this, I am delighted that this goes on. Echo chambers are bad. They foster a form of closed mindedness and are often an impediment to truth and wisdom. I always wanted my blog to be about the exchange of ideas. Any productive exchange must include the questioning and examination of ideas. I will at times delve into controversial subjects.  I am not afraid to express my opinions. I welcome comments that also delve into controversial areas and that express divergent opinions. 

That civility and politeness are keys to good discussion goes without saying.  You all have been extremely civil and polite. This is true even when there is disagreement. This is true even when we have delved into controversial or sensitive subjects. I do not think that there has been a single instance of a regular commenter here issuing an uncivil comment or impolite remark. 

So one again, I want to thank everyone who has ever commented on this blog. I appreciate and value each and everyone who has done so. As I spelled out above, the level of comments and discussion here has been intelligent, reasoned and thought provoking. I look forward to great discussions in the future. 

4 Years Old!

Babbling Books is four years old today! When I started out, I had only a vague idea of where this blog would go.  Four years later, I find myself very satisfied with the direction that my site has taken. I am also very happy about the fact that I am interacting with all sorts of bright and interesting bookish people.

Thus, my first order of business, as I have done on past anniversaries, is to express appreciation the wonderful blogging community with whom I regularly interact. I have met so many interesting and intelligent fellow bloggers. I must thank all of those who have commented on Babbling Books over the years.

 Contemplating the past four years, I am struck by how much about blogging has improved the way that I think. I touch upon all sorts of social, political, scientific and other subjects in my posts. I have always thought a lot about these subjects and have held lots of opinions on them.  Putting my thoughts about these topics into words has done so much to refine my outlook. Writing about these matters has made me think even more deeply about them. Thinking in such detail has helped me to understand the nuances and complexities that I otherwise might have missed. It has also made me more likely to contemplate competing ideas. As an added bonus, I now have a permanent and ongoing record of my thoughts on these various subjects.

As 2016 begins, I am looking forward to another year of sharing my thoughts on engaging books and concepts. I am also looking forward to more fruitful interactions with the bookish folk of the Internet.

Happy reading everyone!

Just Talking About Books

I recently read and blogged about James Joyce’s Ulysses. My commentary on that book is here. The particular entry on Joyce’s work ended up just a little different from my typical posts. As my comprehension of that novel was so much below my usual level, I chose to devote four or five paragraphs of my post to my personal impressions of the reading experience itself. Though I have posted in similar ways on a few other occasions, this does not reflect my usual blogging style. I should note that I subsequently rounded out this particular entry with some commentary on various aspects of the novel, thus making the commentary a little less centered upon myself.

For a moment as I was formulating the post, I questioned myself, is this the way to write about a book? I am wary of analyzing books from too personal of a view. I often eschew doing so. I believe that too much personal bias gets in the way of understanding what an author is trying to say. Though I did not venture into the territory of “I liked this character” or “I related to that character,” I was writing mostly about my own reading comprehension and what I got out of the book in relation to my own limitations in understanding.

Then I asked myself, is this train of thought taking the idea of blogging too seriously? This thought in turn expanded to thinking about the entire nature of my blog and of what I want to accomplish with it.

I realize that I am not engaged in literary criticism, but what exactly am I doing? I cannot pretend to be conducting serious analysis. I am not qualified to do so, and one look at my commentary indicates that I am not formally doing this. In fact, when I look back at many of my posts, it turns out that to some degree, at least, I commonly incorporate my own experiences in my commentary. Yet, at the same time, albeit in an amateurish way, I do apply some aspects of criticism to my writing.

Of course, what I am doing, plain and simple, is talking about books. With that, part of the way that I like to talk about books is to include some unprofessional form of literary criticism. I liken this to participating in a local sports league. One does not need to be a professional or even a very good athlete to enjoy playing a sport.

So do I need to adhere to strict rules regarding criticism? Of course I do not. I do not want to restrict myself in any way like that. Nor would my unqualified efforts stand up to such a serious approach. As I allude to above, blogging about books, for me, is about sharing thoughts and ideas. Whatever thoughts and ideas seem interesting to me at the time of writing is what I write about. Why not occasionally think about and share my personal impressions of various works based upon my own biases, including likeability of characters?

Yet, sometimes I like to dabble into such slightly more formal territory. Ironically for me, it adds to the fun. One beautiful thing about having one’s own blog is that there are no rules. So I can write posts in so many different ways.

I can summarize a book and give my opinion on it. I can hone in on a book’s main point and agree, disagree or take a neutral stand on it. I can focus on a particular theme, passage or character and analyze that. I can just talk about how a book affected me, how I felt about it or what I learned from it. From time to time, I have found it worthwhile to employ all these approaches.

Since likability or relatability of characters or plot developments is not something that I usually find very interesting, I will very rarely incorporate such musings in a post. However, I reserve the right to do so, especially if I find a noteworthy angle to that chain of reasoning.

I love blogging about books. I love sharing my thoughts on reading and other issues. An eclectic approach, not just in my choice of books, but also to the way that I approach the discussion of a tome, seems to work very well for me. It has added to the joy and fun that writing and sharing ideas concerning books entails. There really are no rules. After all, I am just talking about books.

Visiting Postcards From Asia

When Delia from Postcards from Asia asked me to participate in her "Guest" series where bloggers answer questions that are posted on her blog I was honored.

So today you can find me over at Delia’s site where one can find my answers to some bookish questions as well as some insights about me personally.

The post is here.

 While reading the post I urge everyone to explore Delia’s blog. It is full of insightful reviews on all sorts of interesting books. Delia’s writing is both lively and insightful.

Thanks Delia for having me as your guest.

3 Years Old!

Today, Babbling Books turns three years old. What a three years it has been!

Though I have written about the following on previous anniversaries, the points are so important that they bear repeating. There is no better time than now for a recap on my thoughts about blogging.

I want to begin by mentioning the wonderful book blogging community. I cannot overemphasize the value that I place both in the friendships that I have established as well as the warm and intellectually enlightening interactions that I have engaged in with my fellow bloggers. In our exchange of comments, joint read-along and other events, as well as discussions that have at times spilled over into email, interacting with my blogging friends has been both fun and beneficial. So, once again, a huge THANK YOU to my friends!

Another theme of previous years has been my now fulfilled desire for self-expression. One of my primary motivations for starting the blog was a yearning to share my ideas with others. I wanted to express myself in a coherent, organized and permanent way. I wanted to create a record of my thoughts that anyone who was interested could access. As I envisioned my blog, I foresaw it centering on books, but also touching upon social, political and scientific issues. I have done what I set out to do. Even if what I have to say is not exactly profound, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to say it in this medium.

I have also previously written about the double-edged sword of blogging; ironically, it is time consuming and actually cuts into my reading time. Sometimes this has presented real difficulties. At one point, I seriously considered giving the blog up due to this challenge.  However, as I also mentioned before, though I read a little less as a result of blogging, the quality of the reading experience is enhanced.

I have reached a point where I cannot imagine NOT blogging about books. An essential component of reading for me now seems to be sharing and organizing my thoughts, as well as interacting with others about these books. Without these accompanying activities, reading now seems dull and incomplete.

Thus, this anniversary sees me once again championing the benefits of book blogging, and feeling appreciation to all of my online friends.

Thanks to everyone who reads and comments here.