A Celebration of Reading

This site is dedicated to reading, books and critical thinking.

On the site you will find a listing of the books I have pooled for reading during the month as well as the titles of the books I am actively pursuing. If you want to know more about what I have readily available for reading selections you can browse my bookshelves as I often do while searching for a specific title or perhaps just seeing what I might pull out for addition to my monthly pool.

Although it never seems to be accurate or up-to-date I have included a copy of the inventory of books I have read since I started reading on my own with some seriousness back in the 1950’s.

I also enjoy making comments about the books I have read recently and have included a BLOG that allows me free reign and also solicits comments from guests to this site. I have included the comments from each year going back to 1997 when I started this web site. Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a ranking the best books I have read so I include both some general rating lists and also list specific to each year since 1997.

If you run into me on any of the online reading groups (especially at Yahoo) you may have had a taste of Parker’s Rules. For those that haven’t had the experience and for those that just can’t seem to remember the rules, I have included them on this site and will include some personal comments on reading, literature and critical thinking as the muse grabs me. Here are Parker’s Rules of Literature and Parker’s Myths of Literature.

Finally, to round things out I have started to post a bit more about myself and my world, so if you look around the site you will find photos and text that I put there hoping to make it all a little more personal and friendly (I even have a central Photos section). My Blog is called Beyond the Pale and although I don’t regularly make entries (yet) I tend to drop into subjects that interest me and maybe you will also be interested enough to add to the conversation.

So I hope you pick up some suggestions from this site that will have you racing over to the nearest library or bookstore for a must-read book. I’m always around so don’t hesitate to drop me an email if you have a comment.

To assist in locating all those little hidden pages I keep tossing into the site, I have added a Site Map to make it marginally easier to avoid missing the good stuff. So if you need help, try going to the ...