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Comenius and the Beginnings of Educational Reform by Will S. Monroe
I finished reading Comenius and the Beginnings of Educational Reform by Will S. Monroe (published in 1900). John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), sometimes referred to as the “father of modern education,” was referenced in something else I was reading. When researching who he was, I ended up coming across this book and decided to check it…
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Red
I often walk by this International truck parked in an alley…
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The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
Here’s an old book jot from February 2021: I just finished reading The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman. It is a mystery novel published in the 1960s and the first in a series. Emily Pollifax is a retired woman who lives a quiet life and yearns for something a little different. And she soon…
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New Atlantis by Francis Bacon
I finished reading New Atlantis written by Francis Bacon and published after his death in 1626. It is regarded as an early example of a utopian novel. In it, a ship of sailors, lost at sea, stumbles upon an island nation. The narrator, one of the sailors, introduces the reader to the land of Bensalem,…
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The Weapon Shops of Isher by A.E. van Vogt
I just finished reading The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951) by A.E. van Vogt. This science fiction novel combines three previously published short stories, two from the early 1940s and one from 1949. It is a novel of ideas, as well as action. It courses along quickly, setting forth a world under the influence of…
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The Life of a Simple Man by Émile Guillaumin
Here is a book jot from February, 2021: I just finished reading The Life of a Simple Man, written by Émile Guillaumin and published in 1904 (translated by Margaret Holden; revised translation by Margaret Crosland). It is a fictional memoir about Tiennon, a peasant born in 1823 in rural France. He tells the story of…
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The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier by Jakob Walter
I finished reading The Diary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier by Jakob Walter (edited and with an introduction by Marc Raeff). This was an amazing read. The author was a German stonemason who was conscripted into Napoleon’s Grande Armée and served in multiple campaigns during the Napoleonic Wars, including the ill-fated 1812 Russian campaign. At…
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The Pioneers by James Fenimore Cooper
I just finished reading The Pioneers (1823) by James Fenimore Cooper. Although the fourth and penultimate volume in the narrative chronology of The Leatherstocking Tales, it was the first published. I had a wonderful time reading this chapter of the life of Natty Bumppo. The reader feels as if they are adventuring along with him…
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La Princesse Lointaine (The Princess Far-Away) by Edmond Rostand
I just finished reading La Princesse Lointaine (The Princess Far-Away) by Edmond Rostand (translated by Charles Renauld), first published in 1895, and I loved it. I stumbled across this play and went into it knowing practically nothing about the play or the author. It’s superbly crafted and I was drawn into it almost immediately. Rostand…