Nothing like a list to get motivated, right? Thanks to the wonder of social media sharing, I recently came across a meaty 2016 Reading Challenge list. The checklist items are broad – allowing individual users to choose their own books. <– Here’s
Ways of Going Home

Ways of Going Home by Alejandro Zambra was short. That was the first thing I noticed – it was a small book. Apparently, Zambra’s previous two books were also super-short. There are three or four stories contained in the book,
Go Ahead & Like It

This one is a victim of marketing confusion. I had expectations of Go Ahead & Like It by Jacqueline Suskin before it ever arrived at my doorstep. In brief, I expected a book about making lists to contain some space
Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead

I decided almost immediately that The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead was a good book. Most objectivity went out the window with tip #2: “don’t use first names with people considerably older than you until asked, and sometimes not even then.”
Episode 5: “The Law of Life”

“One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop and “The Law of Life” by Jack London
Episode 4: “The Interlopers”

“If” by Rudyard Kipling and “The Interlopers” by Saki
Episode 3: “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”

“The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain and “Messy Room” by Shel Silverstein
Episode 2: “The Cask of Amontillado”

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe; “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
Episode 1: “A Jury of Her Peers”

“A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and “Without Ceremony” by Thomas Hardy
Demon-Haunted World

Carl Sagan was a brilliant astronomer who also had the enviable talent of being exceptionally good at communicating what he loved to other human beings. For specialists in any field, this skill is in relatively short supply. This talent (or ability,