Carpe Libra

Letters to an American Lady is a book of letters C. S. Lewis wrote to um, an American lady. It is not a Carp book, nor should it be. It’s not his best known work and is obviously different from his other books. It only has Lewis’ letters so you’re only getting his part of [...]

Once it turns summer up here in Wisconsin, we sure do have some nice days. The past two months have been beautiful. During this beautiful weather, which lasts only about 2 months, a guy feels like he’s wasting it if he sits inside reading.
Occasionally I will venture outside and read. I can read plus enjoy [...]

JoAn Karkos checked out a book from her library but refused to return it. She sent a check through the mail with a note telling the library that she considered the book pornographic and would not return them so no one else could check them out.
The library has taken her to court. The court ordered her [...]

“Survival of the fittest” is tough. We know its effects on animals but it’s weird to think of it in relationship to languages.
Peter Austin studies and writes about dying languages around the world. He recently listed the top ten most endangered languages in the world. Number five is in Oklahoma!
A lot of them are in Asia, as [...]

Twitter is a blogging format that allows you 130 characters per post. Each blog post is just a sentence. The idea is to give frequent updates as to what you are doing and thinking that are easy to read.
Sounds annoying and, as I’ve found, actually is. However, several Carp books are being Twittered. When you [...]

Awhile back I told you about the plan to write George Orwell’s journals online in blog format.
Well, here’s the blog. Find out the weather conditions he experienced on this day in 1936! How thrilling!

Pratibha Patil, president of India, has encouraged her people to go ahead and read books. The younger generation needs to develop an affinity for books and not waste all their time on television and the internet.
Apparently Ms Patil is a Republican supporter as she is in direct violation of Michael Moore’s dictates. Look for a [...]

To celebrate the author’s 100th birthday this Thursday, Houghton Mifflin is publishing a new edition of Roger Tory Peterson’s classic, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America ($26, 9780618966141/0618966145), that for the first time combines the Eastern Birds and Western Birds guides in one volume, has new maps, 40 new paintings, new range maps [...]

Michael Moore, who is not on the Carp 500, has issued directives for all Americans to cease reading and instead use that time to work for a candidate that will make life less expensive so then we can afford time to read.
Mr. Moore and I have completely opposite views on politics, mainly, Michael Moore cares; [...]

A U.S. court was wrong to award rights to some of John Steinbeck’s best-known novels, including “The Grapes of Wrath,” to his son and granddaughter, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Back in 2006 a court decided that Steinbeck’s son and granddaughter had rights to about 10 of his works. Now his publisher, Penguin Group, gets to keep [...]