Tag Archives: The Washington Post

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Libraries, Memories & History

Is that unread book making you feel guilty? You’re not alone

Librarians and teachers, self-professed fans of lengthy, complex tomes, and even bookstore owners have similar tales of woe

By Stephanie Merry, September 4, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. EDT

(Illustration by Michael Parkin for The Washington Post)

There’s a book that sits on a shelf in my room that routinely snags my attention and fills me with the exact dread of accidentally making eye contact with an ex at a crowded party. Look away! my brain screams. But it’s too late. Regret, shame and annoyance flood in, and I am once more in a silent standoff with that book I keep meaning to read and never do.

It’s not long or a classic, and it’s certainly not the only book I own and haven’t finished. But something about the spine always catches my eye, reminding me again and again (and again and again) of broken promises and literary shortcomings. One day, surely, I will finally pick up Z.Z. Packer’s “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.” Right?

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/09/04/unread-books/

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Pleasures, Podcasts

How to organize your books — even when you have thousands of them – The Washington Post

Serious book lovers share their strategies for displaying their collections and keeping all those titles from taking over

By Rosa Cartagena, March 3, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST

Monica Chavez, pictured, built her home library with her husband. They chipped away at it on weekends for two years. (Monica Chavez)

Here’s a riddle for you: When a book editor and political science professor downsize from a six-bedroom house in the suburbs to a 900-square-foot Manhattan apartment, how many books will they have to get rid of?

For Matthew Budman (the editor) and his wife, Cristina Beltrán (the professor), the answer was a staggering 12,000.

“We had, you know, giant yard sales, and we had people carting off thousands of books,” says Budman, author of “Book Collecting Now: The Value of Print in a Digital Age.”

The transition was tough, but he says it allowed him to recognize that quantity isn’t everything. Now, he keeps roughly 3,000 titles at home (plus thousands more in storage).

Source: How to organize your books — even when you have thousands of them – The Washington Post

Current Affairs, Memories & History, Politics, San Diego, Science & Health

Air conditioning has a climate problem. New technology could help. | The Washington Post

By Shannon Osaka, (c) 2022, The Washington Post, Sat, September 10, 2022 at 7:01 AM·6 min read

Image
air conditioning unit, from article…

This week, Californians got a reminder of one of the most vexing paradoxes of global warming. With temperatures well over 110 degrees Fahrenheit in some regions on Tuesday night, hundreds of thousands of the state’s residents received beeping text alerts to notify them that the power grid, straining under the weight of millions of air-conditioning units, was about to collapse. Save power now, the text warned, or face rolling blackouts.

Consumers conserved, and the state’s electricity grid made it out of a record-breaking hot day relatively unscathed. Still, as temperatures rise worldwide, more people are going to need to install air conditioners. But as currently sold, AC units can actually make global warming worse: On hot days, they suck tons of electricity from the grid, and their chemical refrigerants can accelerate global warming.

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/air-conditioning-climate-problem-technology-140155875.html

Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Libraries, Politics

School libraries banned more books than ever before in 2021 – The Washington Post

By Hannah Natanson, April 7, 2022 at 1:13 p.m. EDT

Pennsylvania librarian Samantha Hull has been fighting book bans all school year. (Kyle Grantham for The Washington Post)

Two reports this week show the United States is facing an unprecedented wave of school book banning — spurring Congress to hold a hearing Thursday focused on the issue, which free-speech advocates warn will undermine democracy.

PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for freedom of expression, found there have been 1,586 book bans in schools over the past nine months.

–from article…

The bans targeted 1,145 unique books by more than 800 authors, and a plurality of the books — 41 percent — featured prominent characters who are people of color.

Thirty-three percent of the banned books, meanwhile, included LGBTQ themes, protagonists or strong secondary characters, and 22 percent “directly address issues of race and racism.”

Source: School libraries banned more books than ever before in 2021 – The Washington Post

Current Affairs, Film & Movies, Memories & History, Television

Fans, colleagues mourn death of actor William Hurt – The Washington Post

By Travis M. Andrews, March 13, 2022 at 7:56 p.m. EDT

William Hurt in 2016. (Phil Mccarten/Reuters)

Movie fans spent Sunday night mourning the death of William Hurt — and celebrating his remarkable career.

The Oscar-winning actor, cemented into film history for roles in “Broadcast News,” “Body Heat,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “The Big Chill,” among others, died March 13 at 71.

“It is with great sadness that the Hurt family mourns the passing of William Hurt, beloved father and Oscar winning actor, on March 13, 2022, one week before his 72nd birthday,” his son Will said in a statement obtained by Deadline and reported by other outlets. “He died peacefully, among family, of natural causes. The family requests privacy at this time.”

Source: Fans, colleagues mourn death of actor William Hurt – The Washington Post

Current Affairs, Politics, Web & Technology

Thousands book Airbnbs in Ukraine to donate to people impacted by the war – The Washington Post

By Jaclyn Peiser, March 7, 2022 at 6:05 a.m. EST

Listen to audio podcast below…

(Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Hilary Mak was at home in Surrey, England, on Thursday afternoon when her daughter shared an Instagram post about a way to send money to Ukrainians.

The idea, the message said, was to book Airbnbs.“It captured my imagination,” Mak, 59, said in an interview with The Washington Post.

“I have donated to charities, but I thought maybe this was a way to connect to people in an individual way … and to let them know that people are behind them and want to do whatever they can to help.

”Mak found a rental in Kyiv and messaged the host telling her she wanted to help. The host responded immediately, Mak said.

Source: Thousands book Airbnbs in Ukraine to donate to people impacted by the war – The Washington Post