Reading Circle Books

Lifelong learning together

Ex Libris

The Heart of Father’s Day

Fathers are parents as well; we deal with those who are tender, and weak, and unprepared. Our strength is employed to their good and enjoyed in their company. That is the true heart of a father. It is a context of relationship changes everything.

Learn More

The Library Has Landed! Phoenix Takes Books to Mars

Human interactions with the Red Planet have long been a blend of wonder, science, imagination, fear, longing & engineering. In honor of this interplay, The Planetary Society has placed a DVD among the scientific instruments on board the Phoenix Lander that touched down on the Martian south pole this last memorial day. And it carries books.

Learn More

Firefox 3: How to Surf the Web

I’ve been using the open-source Firefox web browser since 2003, when a techie friend (thanks, Rocky!) emailed our church list to suggest it as a less virus-vulnerable alternative to the standard Microsoft mess.

That makes me an internet expert 😉 –and since I know everything there is to know, I thought I’d write you this handy guide:

Learn More

Homeschool Moments: Dishing Out BOF, Dealing with Prejudice

Overcoming prejudice and distrust is not a one-time attitude adjustment, but a continuing journey in the company of people who are not like us, but who may become our civic friends. Such a strategy might go a long way toward more important goals: building a supportive environment for homeschoolers, and reinvigorating the varied practices of education & learning in America today.

Learn More

On Manifestoes

So here are some manifestos of the present day on books, education, faith, and civic life. Though their weight for good or ill, for much or little, is as yet unknown, these are some of the words that will shepherd us into our shared future.

Learn More

The Hundred-Mile Diet Map and More

A new map of food sources within a hundred miles of Madison, Wisconsin, shows kind of connection and sharing that will allow us as human societies to learn to be conscious of and take responsibility for the earthly places in which we live and move.

Learn More

Total Recall

Wired magazine has published a profile of Piotr Wozniak, developer of Super Memo, who has figured out how to remember everything you’ll ever learn. Ironically enough, the author refers to an article I remember reading when it came out in American Psychologist: “The Spacing Effect: A Case Study in the Failure to Apply the Results […]

Learn More

Want a Bestseller? Write About God…or Something…

Taken with my smudgy phone camera on my way through our local big-chain bookstore. What a menagerie! Pictured: A New Earth Eckhart Tolle’s popular Easternish mystic self-help catechism. The Shack Written by William P. Young and recommended by everyone I know, and their cousin. 😉 No less than Eugene Peterson, for crying out loud, compares […]

Learn More

Books Are Not Widgets

Books are not widgets. Books are a part of our culture and should be treated as such. Making them into throw away goods is bound to lead to disaster. The best way to handle books is like how we should handle food: small scale and local. –Jenn, gleefully watching Borders go bust at A Bookseller’s […]

Learn More