Samantha’s Comments (group member since Aug 17, 2017)

Samantha’s comments from the Never too Late to Read Classics group.

I finished a book last night, 1 of 2 I was reading, and the GR app shows I'm reading 0 books but with the cover of the one I'm still reading. The book is an option to update reading... And the website shows correctly, it seems. Glitch in the matrix?

Melanie, if it makes you feel any better, the Portuguese did greatly influence Brazil (during the times of empires and colonization, but still). The national language in Brazil is Portuguese and not Spanish, as much of Central and South America.

Rosemarie, if you want to read it, I recommend requested a copy of ebook or physical. Maybe your library could get one from another system for you through interlibrary loan, if not an ebook.

I hope everyone in the USA who actually had the Labor Day holiday off work is enjoying the shortened workweek. To everyone else that works M-F - Tomorrow is already hump day! :)

Lesle wrote: "I still need to get to this one. My ever growing back log of books.

I am glad to see you like it Kathy!!"

There are worse problems to have. ;)

Kathy wrote: "I enjoyed these stories about British Intelligence agents Calder and Behrens. They are two older men who live in small Lamperdown but are ready to jump into action when called upon. I liked how eac..."

Sounds like these could be fun reads when you're limited on time.

Step back to the 6th century CE to explore The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. In the linked Penguin Classics edition, the book comes at about 150 pages long but may still urge you to think about your morals and choices. With his impressions upon Chaucer and Dante, this might appeal to readers interested in The Canterbury Tales or The Divine Comedy: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso.

From GR: Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric, and an exceptional Greek scholar. When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. The Consolation was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse' Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free will, restore his health and bring him to enlightenment. The Consolation was extremely popular throughout medieval Europe and his ideas were influential on the thought of Chaucer and Dante.

Libraries are very interesting places to work. You don't realize how many different functions and positions there are until you get on the inside. When I have my feet more under me about my various tasks, I'll eventually have a fun project that'll be my specialty. More on that later. :)

Luís wrote: "Samantha wrote: "Lesle, I now work "behind the scenes" ordering & cataloging, simply put, and don't interact with the public much. My work location changed to the back of the main branch of our lib..."

Luis, I rarely ever pulled up ebooks to read when slow at the desk, while I was working in a branch. Staff are not allowed to read physical books while on the clock...that behavior would look very bad. My reading time actually has not changed, except now I get off work a half hour sooner than I used to, which is great.

Lesle wrote: "Does that make it a hard adjustment Samantha? (behind the scene)

I love customer service and interacting with customers. Im not sure I would like that even if the job was interesting. I would have..."

I have worked with the public since I was 17, so I am perfectly happy working behind the scenes in collections with selecting and cataloging materials. :) I still see staff, and there's always that chance of being pulled to the front of the branch to help out, if they are shorthanded. Three Sundays out of the year I'll work on the floor, too. This position is great for me, once I get the hang of cataloging.

Lesle, I now work "behind the scenes" ordering & cataloging, simply put, and don't interact with the public much. My work location changed to the back of the main branch of our library system.

Today is day 3 of my librarian job working in collection development. My days are very different than last week but I'm enjoying it!

Happy birthday, Piyangie! Hope you can relax and read.

In the summer of 2023 Louisiana experienced its worst drought in decades. The typically second rainest state in the country kept having wildfires. Not only did we not have the equipment to fight those, but our firefighters and emergency responders did not fully know how. Other states sent people in to help. It felt surreal.

Very well articulated, Mike. I was born and continue to live in the "first world," thus making every problem I am likely to experience in my life a "first world" problem. That does not discount my problems nor that of others in any part of the world. I do not apologize for nor am ashamed of the life I was dealt and continue to work hard to be successful in. Some of us may only make impacts in our local communities or with the people in our families and immediate circles, and those impacts still matter. Not everyone will impact the world on a large scale, and that is OK. :)

I'm with Rosemarie. Some advancements in schools these days are really great, while some are actually steps backwards (at least in the USA). I even saw when I was teaching and subbing 6-9 years ago that teens and youth in general rely way too much on Google for their information. They think they are very tech savvy, but too many have limited understanding of their technology - both the expanse of how tech CAN be used as well as its limits.

Agreed, Karin. The US is just not very focused on boosting families for success.

I know if we have a child, we'll figure it out like everybody else does. Both our moms are in their 70s and do not have the energy to watch a baby or toddler all day.

No children for me yet, but I have heard that childcare is super expensive. I've know of couples who have one parent quit their job to stay home with the kids because that is cheaper than them both working and paying for daycare. Absolutely insane and a huge problem. Hmm, I wonder why people are having less kids and waiting til they're older to do so?

The heat index when I got home from work today at almost 6pm in the evening was 104 F. That's 40 C. This heat & humidity is normal for us in southern Louisiana at this time of year.

With equal votes for two books by Frantz Fanon, August brings us a choice of his works. Note: The writing of neither book is meant to make the reader feel comfortable, as these are sensitive subject matters of the philosophical nature. Black Skin, White Masks focuses on the black race in the "Western" world that has generally been dominated by the white or Caucasian race. The book is about 230 pages long.

From GR: A major influence on civil rights, anti-colonial, and black consciousness movements around the world, Black Skin, White Masks is the unsurpassed study of the black psyche in a white world. Hailed for its scientific analysis and poetic grace when it was first published in 1952, the book remains a vital force today.