philosophy

A perfect little gem of a book.

A book I quickly fell in love with. It may not be a perfect book for every reader, as we all have our different preferences. Not everyone will love it as much as I. But I love it. I find it hard to imagine a book that could be more perfect.

I rarely buy books. I work in a library, so I feel almost every day I have all the books I could ever want at my fingertips for free. I don't often feel the need to buy them for myself. Plus, buying a book means I am unlikely to read it.

These are (most of) the books I currently have checked out from my library, hoping to

For lovers of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Love in Lowercase, by Francesc Miralles, shares many of the same elements, but with a lighter touch; philosophical, humorous, it is a story of loneliness and love, coincidence – and cats.

Samuel, a rather solitary professor, begins a new year with the appearance of a surprise visitor, which sets off a chain of events that draw him out of his stagnant routine and into relationships with some colorful characters. The story takes place in Barcelona, which is sure to charm lovers of that city, as Samuel wanders through many of its well-known streets on

I wonder if I have a problem. I definitely have a tendency to seek spiritual inspiration from super-rational thinkers rather than from rabbis and priests and theologians.

Now in his twilight years, Klein has formed this book from a notebook he started as a young college student and abandoned in midlife. He titled that notebook "Pithies," and it contained short quotes from major thinkers he was studying, followed by his reactions to each. He abandoned the project at the time as naive and futile, yet in revisiting the notebook more recently found value in it, and so emerged this book.

I

If you've played the original PS2 versions of both of these games, then the PS3 upgrade doesn't make that much difference.  Sure, the games are prettier in HD, and the textures are gorgeous to behold (and if that's your thing, then I'm hardly going to discourage you!), but the glory of these games lies in the content, not the resolution.  If you've never played either of these, then this is a perfect opportunity for you.

Ico (pronounced EE-koh) is the first game in the series, and it's not without its flaws, but I feel that the flaws are vastly overshadowed by its brilliance.  You play as a