{"id":322,"date":"2009-01-14T03:39:31","date_gmt":"2009-01-14T03:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amperzen.com\/blog\/?p=322"},"modified":"2009-01-14T03:39:31","modified_gmt":"2009-01-14T03:39:31","slug":"jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amperzen.com\/blog\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff VanderMeer reads and reviews 60 in 60 days…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jeff<\/a>I’ve met Jeff at several conventions — doubt he’d remember me. I’ve also sat in on several panels and heard him speak. Occasionally, maybe once or twice a month, I get over to his blog<\/a> and sort of catch up on what’s he’s doing — mainly because he’s thoughtful, intelligent, opinionated, and interesting. Those are the criteria I usually use when visiting blogs. I don’t have to agree with a blog just be informed and\/or entertained.<\/p>\n

Anyway, he’s now reviewing the Penguin Great Ideas series by reading and reviewing one book a day for 60 days. Today (1\/13\/09) he is up to book #26 Revelation and the book of Job. These are the books that perhaps we all should have read at one time or another — we’d be richer for it I’m sure. Having read through VanderMeer’s reviews, I’m certainly thinking I’m going to need to look in on this series.<\/p>\n

You can read Penguin’s page about the series<\/a> and they have this to say about the books:<\/p>\n

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At Penguin’s blog<\/a>, they have coverage of Jeff VanderMeer’s efforts to read and review 60 in 60 days.<\/p>\n

Every now and then I decide I’m going to improve my understanding of myself, the world, and everything. I know the answer is 42, but how did it get there. In my last foray to improve myself, I read Marcus Aurelius\u2019 Meditations<\/em>. Surprisingly, I loved the book. It wasn’t what I expected it to be — dull as dust and like dragging my eyeballs over sand. Instead it’s simply a man’s thoughts on life and his place in it — what he wishes to be and how he hopes to achieve his goals. It was a bit like reading someone’s diary. Many of his thoughts gave me much to think about in relation to my time and my life. So, it was well worth the effort. This was the #2 of 60 on VanderMeer’s blog.<\/p>\n

Some of the classics that they suggest you read in college are really good reading. My belief is that maybe if instructors didn’t tell us how necessary it is to read these wonderful works of philosophy and “deep thinking” then maybe it wouldn’t trigger our “fear of failure to understand” and we’d just read them as we would anything else and find that indeed they are good books well worth reading. For example, I found Herodotus to be a bit of a gossip and when you read his words they’re like reading a travelogue.\u00a0 On the other hand, the translation notes are a hard slog through a swamp with hidden quicksand pools.<\/p>\n

So, pop over to Jeff VanderMeer’s blog and read what he has to say about the books in the Great Idea Series. You may find yourself putting some of them on your reading list — I know I did. Now, if I could figure out how to get the time to actually read them — I’d be golden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve met Jeff at several conventions — doubt he’d remember me. I’ve also sat in on several panels and heard him speak. Occasionally, maybe once or twice a month, I get over to his blog and sort of catch up on what’s he’s doing — mainly because he’s thoughtful, intelligent, opinionated, and interesting. Those are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,41,17],"tags":[418,42,43],"class_list":["post-322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-csa","category-reading","category-writing","tag-education","tag-jeff-vandermeer","tag-penguin-great-ideas-series"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nJeff VanderMeer reads and reviews 60 in 60 days... - A Curious Statistical Anomaly<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/amperzen.com\/blog\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"davinci\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"davinci\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4344e39b0408fba0234cf68dcf6ea62e\"},\"headline\":\"Jeff VanderMeer reads and reviews 60 in 60 days…\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-01-14T03:39:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":588,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/thepenguinblog.typepad.com\\\/.a\\\/6a00d8341c3b2653ef010536781d45970c-800wi\",\"keywords\":[\"Education\",\"Jeff VanderMeer\",\"Penguin Great Ideas series\"],\"articleSection\":[\"CSA\",\"Reading\",\"Writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/jeff-vandermeer-reads-and-reviews-60-in-60-days\\\/\",\"name\":\"Jeff VanderMeer reads and reviews 60 in 60 days... - 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