Dreams
Unlock the secrets of your dreams. Get a copy of Theresa Cheung's
The Element Encyclopedia of 20,000 Dreams: The Ultimate A-Z of Your Dreams
If you are playing a team game in your dream, this reflects how well you feel you are performing in a group (lazy, fair, a good sport, a cheat, a team player or a limelight-hogger).
If you see a judge or a courtroom, you are dealing with some moral confusion in your life.
If you're eating cheese in your dream, you are in for potential profit or gain.
If you're wearing an overcoat, it suggests you're hiding vulnerability.
Everyone dreams. Use this encyclopaedia to explore the world of your dreams and dream interpretation. Surprise yourself with the symbolism and psychology of dreams.
The "Long Nose"
Focke Wulf Fw190 "Long Nose": An Illustrated History of the Fw 190D Series
by Dietmar Hermann
As the title suggests, this book covers the complete development history of Focke-Wulf Fw190, or at least those powered by inline engines. The first one had a Daimler Benz liquid-cooled engine and the next a Jumo 213. A couple of years later, the Fw 190 D-9 powered by a Jumo 213A took to the skies and was a huge success with the Luftwaffe. 1700 had been produced by the end of World War Two.
I have no idea what I'm talking about really. I have just paraphrased the blurb on the dust jacket to get that little paragraph. I know nothing about military aviation history (or anything to do with aeronautics come to that) but we have loads of excellent books on the subject so you could browse on the website or come in and have a look at what we have in the shop. It's not just the individual aircraft (such as the McDonnel Douglas F4 Phantom II) but also biographies of great airmen (such as Ernst Udet) and much much more.
David Foster Wallace
by David Foster Wallace
This book has received really great reviews ever since it appeared about 10 years ago. It is billed as extraordinary, astonishing, addictive, exuberant, ambitious, accomplished, humorous, brilliant, and witty by various reviewers from all around the world. It is meant to have a "rumbustious comic energy and a generosity of spirit". I didn't get far enough to find out whether it lives up to the hype.
I seldom fail to finish a book. This one got me long before I reaped the apparent rewards. it was labouring under the title "Infinite Jest at My Expense" when I admitted defeat and stopped. Come in, get a copy, whizz through it (all 1079 pages) and then pop back and explain to me how thick I am and how unable to appreciate good literature. I promise I will listen carefully and if your argument is good enough, I may try again.
Canals
by Charles Hadfield
I was putting the above book away on a shelf in the shop when I got sidetracked by the picture on the front. It made me think about my holiday last year. We booked a week on a narrowboat (the name gives you a clue that it's just a bit narrower than a barge) in the UK. It was a wonderful experience, hard to describe but very addictive. The boat moves at a snail's pace on full throttle, to the point where dog walkers, toddlers on tricycles, and even those on zimmer frames overtake you on the tow path without hurrying and disappear into the distance as you putter along. You enter another world with a very different pace of life and I really highly recommend it.
However, back to the subject at hand, the above book is about the use of rivers and canals for transport and pleasure. It tells the history of inland waterways and their carrying of freight and passengers over centuries. It will be a fascinating read either before or after your own barge or narrowboat holiday!
Science and philosophy
What are black holes?
How did the universe begin?
Are there alternative universes?
What are stars made from?
How old is the universe?
Can the laws of physics change?
What is dark matter?
I haven't got a clue how to answer any of the above questions and there are many more in Stuart Clark's book The Big Questions which I also cannot answer. If you are like me, you may want to grab a copy of Clark's book and get reading. The author is a professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge so he probably knows what he's talking about. I suspect it is all a bit beyond me so I will wait for one of you to pop in and enlighten me in words of one syllable.
A Bit of Non-fiction
You have probably seen the Sean Penn film (or at least heard of it) Into the Wild. That is based on Krakauer's book of the same name, which tells the biographical story of Christopher McCandless in Alaska. It's a fascinating read. Then there is Into Thin Air, which is about the catastrophic 1996 Mount Everest expedition, at which Krakauer was present - another good read. However, if tales of extreme physical ordeal are not your sort of thing, you could try Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith instead. It is about Latter Day Saints / Mormons and murder - probably a much better read than my brief summary would indicate. I haven't read it but it looks interesting so I'd be interested in any opinions you'd like to pass on.
A Bookshop Conversation
- Do you have a copy of Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes?
- Yes. There's a paperback here or a hardcover for $15.50.
- I'll take the paperback.
- Is that all?
- Yes, thanks.
- That will be $10.00 today.
- A flat white, please.
- Anything else? No? That'll be $4.50 just now.
Both times I stood silently bemused for a minute wondering how much it would have cost if I'd come in tomorrow or yesterday (instead of today) or whether the coffee would have been cheaper had I arrived a little earlier or later (than just now). Go around and listen. You may be surprised to hear how widespread this very odd use of 'today' is.
Better late than never
We're only a week late! It's been a busy time for us and remembering to wish everyone the best for an enjoyable 2018 has lamentably taken a back seat. We were open Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day so maybe you can see why we didn't get round to the New Year's greetings until now. That's our excuse anyway.
