Your Summer Reading And The Corrosion Of The “Reading Mind”

Summer isn’t what it used to be, is it? I neither giddily await its arrival nor lament its passing. Whereas summer once meant travel and sunburned feet and a continuously-lit drinking lamp, it now only holds one promising possibility – the chance to get caught up on some reading. I read numerous lists about the best books to read this summer and I had high hopes, but alas, summer was not the reading extravaganza I had hoped for … still, it was not without its well-read moments.

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The Hunt For The “Good Books”

Did you happen to catch the Billboard Music Awards a few days ago? Me neither. These types of award shows only exist so that every schlub who ever appeared on programs like American Idol and The Voice can win something. Good for them. The youth of today needs the positive reinforcement that comes along with a “participation” trophy.

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2017 & The Five-Star Books

As I approach my 500th book review on Goodreads it strikes me how rare a “five-star” book really is. Goodreads.com is a nice place to find a new book and I especially like it because it allows me to create a digital archive, an online library of all the books I’ve read. This site lets you rate books on a scale of one-to-five stars. If a book only rates one or two stars then it’s crap and, well, it means you’re shitty at picking out books. I’ve never rated a book as “one star,” but, alas, I’ve stumbled and had to endure a couple of “two stars.” It turns out that most of the books I read, in the final evaluation, rate three or four stars. A “three-star” book, in my estimation, is a solid read but just not as compelling as I’d hope; a “four-star” book is a damn fine book just short of greatness.

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