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devoured a good book lately?

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So for some light reading before bedtime, I've been making my way through some Nazi war atrocities. These are Goebbel' (the director of Nazi Propaganda) reconstructed diaries. Much is missing and the rest was apparently loose pages so dating wasn't always precise, but it still presents an interesting picture of the thoughts of one of the highest ranking Nazi's of the period.

It's interesting to note how Goebbels' attitude changes as Germany goes from the offensive to the defensive; as well as his (and other's) stubborn refusal to admit that Germany is being defeated by the Allies. They kept thinking victory was "right around the corner". Unfortunately the diaries end well before the end of the war (or at the diaries as we have them). It would have been interesting to note his reaction to D-Day and what followed.

This long-lost treasure is beginning to be rediscovered, mostly due to its appearance in Paul Collins' Sixpence House and its subsequent reissuing under Collins' "Collins' Library" imprint. In a nutshell it is an English phrase book for Portuguese speakers; the author, however, didn't speak a smack of English. He did, though, have a Portuguese to French dictionary, and a French to English dictionary. One can imagine the results. It includes such gems as:

Zombo deles; o meu navio e armado em guerra, tenho equipagem vigilante e animosa; e as municoes nao me faltam.

I jest of them; my vessel is armed in man of war, I have a vigilant and courageous equipage, and the ammunitions don't want me its.

Makes for great reading. Also for those who can't get enough, check out here where someone took the As She Is Spoke translation and compared it with the translation AltaVistata's Babelfish translator offers.

Revisited an old favorite yet again. I've read this book countless times, and also have it on tape courtesy of a friend. I still find it entertaining and enlightening. Not to say that I agree with everything that's in it, but you don't have to do so to appreciate the book.

ironically, although this book was a commercial and popular success from the start, it was very coolly received by Lewis' colleagues at Oxford, who felt it went against that professional detachment which professors were supposed to have towards, well, everything (see Humphrey Carpenter's The Inklings for a thorough discussion of this).

Still, one of my favorite books by CS Lewis.

I seem to have entered into this phase of reading books about books. Bizarre Books is just that, a list, sometimes with commentary, about strange books the authors have come across during their careers as writers and booksellers. Although they, perhaps, have too much of a penchant for bathroom humor and puns, some of these titles are absolute gems. So if you ever come across The Supernatural History of Worms buy it for me, I will pay any price...

Finished reading The Complete Guide to Strating Used Bookstore, by Dale l. Gilbert, with certain inklings in mind. Quite a nice little book (it's a slim volume), and I'm not surprised how many bookshop owners I've spoken to say they read it whilst starting out, even if they ended up not following it to a T. Certainly I'd have to say this is the best book on the subject so far I've read which dealt with all the "nut & bolts" of the issue, down to how to build your selves for your stock in order to save some money. But far from being a penny-pincher, Gilbert is adamant other times when he feels you should not cut corners.

And I would personally have to admit that when I start my own bookshop I will probably alter his plans somewhat. But it will be on my head should I do so, since he did warn me.

For all of you who didn't rush out immediately and buy Dr. J. Rutgers' How to Attain and Practice The Ideal Sex Life, it's now for sale through my eBay store. Be sure and get it. Your spouse will thank you. No really.

I believe this is very worthwhile. However, I am also of the blog generation where we hide in plain sight (or plain site as the case may be). Thus I have every intention of listing just about everything I check out from the library. Congress can come after me if they'd like. Perhaps I can lend them the copy of Yobgorgle I just checked out. They might learn a thing or two. Then Dan Quayle and I will go read Mr. Popper's Penguins again.

PS Also, just so none of my subversive deeds go unnoticed, I also bought a copy of Saint-Exupery: a biography by Stacy Schiff, which is a biography (apparently) of the guy who wrote Le Petite Prince which, upon further investigation, I discovered was French! Thus my subversiveness is complete. I have allied myself with the French (sorry, the freedom) persons and thus have joined the anti-Americans. I await my investigation. Can Federal investigations be blogged?