A Thursday round up of Stories that have caught my attention in the past couple of days.
One in four adults read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and older people were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.
I’m really struggling with this headline. And, I’ve posted on the topic before. Where are all these non-readers? I totally get that I read more than the average norm, but I cannot fathom that one quarter of the people I interact with each day have not read a SINGLE Book in the past year? Although, my cousin-in-law tells me that my cousin is in that number. Help me out here, what about in your circle?
BALTIMORE -- The Rangers smashed their way into the record books on Wednesday night with the biggest offensive outburst seen in the Major Leagues in 110 years.
Marlon Byrd and Travis Metcalf both hit grand slams and Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez hit two home runs each as the Rangers walloped the Baltimore Orioles, 30-3, in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Camden Yards.
The 30 runs were the most in the Major Leagues since the 19th century and set a new American League record. The Boston Red Sox scored 29 runs on June 8, 1950, against the St. Louis Browns and the Chicago White Sox matched that on April 23, 1955, against the Kansas City Athletics.
Um, yeah, guess who the Mariners play tonight? Hopefully the Rangers have gotten several games’ worth of hits out of their system. Wow! Thirty points in a game – when I saw the headline, I thought it was a football score.
£260,000 medieval cross found in bin by woman hunting crockery
A cross from the Middle Ages has been found in a rubbish bin in Austria, by a woman looking for old crockery. That was in 2004, in the western town of Zell am See.
She had no idea what she tucked behind her couch at home. Now experts say the cross could be worth £260,000. A local museum has custody of it, temporarily. And whether the woman, who has not been identified, will get any money is not clear.
She found the cross after a hotel-owner who lived in Zell am Zee died, and his apartment was being cleared by relatives. The woman showed the cross to the niece of the dead man, but the she didn't want it and allowed the woman to take it, police said.
This came to me in my Medieval news update. Isn’t that fascinating? I have to admit, stories of antiquities that were displaced (and stolen) during the Second World War fascinate me.
And, lastly, what a lovely story of reconciliation coming out of the Russian Church, reminding us of the Orthodox history of the West... Holy Saints of Great Britain and Ireland, pray to God for us.
Moscow, August 21, Interfax - The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church instituted a holiday to honor Christians who lived on the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and were canonized before the 1054 schism that divided Christendom into the Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
The holiday will be an annual event observed on the third Sunday after Pentecost in the Julian Calendar.
Photo credit.
posted by Mimi @ 8/23/2007 11:37:00 AM
19 Comments
19 Comments:
There aren't any non-readers in our house that's for sure. We'd fill a library if I started to total up how many books the hubster, kids and I read in a year.
Though in my extended family there are many non-readers: my sister, my sister's husband, my brother, my mother, my father, one of my aunts. Hmm...and the list could go on.
I am always discouraged when I find out how little my students read. This is surely a habit that will be carried into adulthood. I dare say that one in four will eventually be one in three and one in two. I have no doubt that even amongst the more literate (including myself) this medium that we are using at present is having a negative impact on the reading of proper ink, paper and binding books.
I was so saddened by that news but not shocked. I can't imagine not reading. That would be torture. My husband's two are not readers but we are slowly changing that. Not watching TV helps tremendously. Also, they see us reading all the time. We'll make readers out of them yet.
Having been surrounded by paper and ink all my life, it is hard for me to imagine living without books. Nevertheless, one of the major malls in our area did not have a bookstore until last year. For some fifteen years, it existed without any books on sale, all one could buy were cheap magazines and tabloids. That speaks volumes about us as a society, and it is not good.
How many of us are literate in the classical sense of the word? When one notices the popualarity of Cliff's Notes, one can see that the vast majority in college do not care to be challenged by real literature, they only wish to be certified to make money.
Sad, but not lost, yet. After all, people in the blog world are often literate (sadly, many are not!), perhaps, our task is to keep the flame alive.
In re the British saints, the individual saints had been commemorsated all along. The new holiday is a collective celebration, similar to that of the Holiday of all Russian Saints (itself an inspired 20th century innovation).
Vara
yeah I have been wondering about the reading thing - I read somewhere this week that only 1 in 4 Americans had read a book this year.Given that HP is so popular it's a scary statistic - and I wonder how much of it is due to the addiction to the news on TV (and other programmes)
My hubby isn't really a reader either - but me and our daughter are avid readers and my son reads a 1-2 books a month too.
We're a family of non-readers for sure! I htink I read two books last year and read part of one and another on photography this year, that's it.
My whole family is like that other than my mom and one sis. That's it, a family of 10 people and only 2 are readers.
Although we are huge internet and magazine readers...now if we were counting magazines that would be a whole other story.
Speaking of medieval news updates: do you know about the weekly archaeology news podcast from archaeologica.org? I listen every week while I'm cleaning out my inbox--great stuff, and medieval finds are well represented. Just thought I'd share!
I'm going to see the Rangers play tomorrow night. I hate to say it but since they are my home team I hope they win again! :) Unfortunately it is the Mariners they play that night also so we will have to root for opposing teams! ;)
That's a frightening statistice! I've always loved to read and my oldest sister but growing up, my middle sister never did. That is, until a few years ago...just out of the blue she figured she'd read (and she was 37 or 38 at the time) yea, Deana! Anyway...DH and I are reading HP and before that he read all the HALO books but prior to that, he only read what was required of him for school. Glad that changed. His only brother a few years younger has probably never read anything but a magazine-don't understand that.
I read that same article on reading and nearly cried myself to sleep over it. Is it possible that people who don't read exist. I read 30-40 books a year and I'd read more if time permitted. ~SIGH~
I have read about 40 books this year so far! It just has to be done!!! I try hard to encourage my children to read, and to give books as gifts when possible.
Just stopped by also to say thank you for praying along with the intentions I have posted on my blog. It means a lot to have that prayer support! I appreciate that you are so generous with your prayers.
Tag! You're it!
Speaking of reading, I'm enjoying Goodreads so far as a way to keep track of what I've been reading. I've also kept things simple by only recording since I signed up in July. So far I've read 17 books, but that counts "Danny and the Dinosaur."
Off-topic, Mimi, how did you decide to become a member of a CSA? We're at the "sleep on it" stage.
Mymother was reading Agatha Christie while inlabor with me...the joke is that she HAD to finish the chapter before giving the final 'push'!
Lauren loves fairies.
Natalie loves mystery.
I love books...shopping for, getting lost in, making my own. AND...I am proud to say that I have NEVER bought Cliff Notes!
I' m not surprised though that others don't share the same passion...with television, videos, the internet sucking the life out of anything creative.
I'm a firm believer that we should 'unplug,' park our patooties in a comfy chair and read to our kids.
Goodness to NEVER read a book??? I love books and always have 2 or 3 on the go...I do eventually finish reading ALL of them and then start again with another lot.
I can't imagine a life without books.
Peace & blessings
Marie
My husband is a non-reader. I've known him for 16 years and in that time he's read ONE novel, and that was Huck Finn for his English class.
When I was teaching, I was astounded at how few of my students hated to read. I immediately implemented 15 minutes of reading time in my classes because then at least I knew they were reading SOMETHING. It really is discouraging to me.
On a totally unrelated note...Running To STand Still is my favorite U2 song, too.
I've been pondering about this quite a bit. Do I CARE if people never, ever read pen and ink again so long as they are still sharing writer's words? Not really.
I like tangible books in my hands. But I also read A LOT online and listen to audiobooks a great deal. No matter what the medium, I think the important thing is to open my mind to words and ideas, regardless of how they may be transmitted into my brain.
Printed page is a tool. Because I have a life long relationship with books, I cannot imagine my world without them. But if other tools can accomplish essentially the same function of allowing the gift of words to transcend time and space, does it really matter??
Clearly, seeing a MOVIE is NOT the same as reading a book. My jury is still out about how I may process books on tape differently from those I visually read.
I've read some of a novel online...how is that different from reading a book in my hands?
If I can carry an iPod around that holds books - is that diffrent?
I'll have to ponder this some more.
Mimi:
I don't have an email address for you. Please email me at waterandspirit@yahoo.com My wife is going to Seattle, WA this weekend, and staying in Des Moines, and it looks like you attend Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Tacoma, about 30 minutes away. Is that an OCA church?
I'm a friend of David Wooten's (O Taste and See) and my wife, Karolyn (Ruth), would like to attend the Liturgy and the Eucharist Sunday morning.
Please email me and I'll connect you with her by email so you can advise her re: the church and contacting the priest about the Eucharist. Thanks!
I can't imagine going a whole year without reading a book. I mean, I can appreciate being really busy, say with school or work, and not getting a chance to read much even for a month or two. That's happened to me. But to live without books? Heavens preserve us!
Incidentally, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 was actually about the effect TV has on literacy, not about censorship. I don't still have the link, but I'll go digging for it...
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home