{come & visit} my life in books

Hey, come over and see me 

on Simon's lovely blog 

Stuck in a Book. 

I'm part of Day 3 of My Life in Books: Series Four. 

I promise you, it's filled with: 

shocking revelations, 

wild surmises, 

& attempts to smuggle in 

as many cats as possible!

Edward Bawden's cover for The Listener, 1961.

I note now that it is a Christmas picture. 

Sorry for that reminder.

{misc.} squirrel met een boek

Source: what-floats-my-boat.tumblr.com via skiourophile

{weekend words}

As it happens... we have a detailed account of the work habits of one of antiquity's more prolific scholars, the Elder Pliny. In a well-known letter (3.5), the Younger Pliny describes the solution to his uncle's (evidently unusual) desire for reading efficiency: he had a lector read to him over meals and scolded a friend who made the lector slow down to repeat a mispronounced word (11-12); when taken a bath he had a book read to him or dictated notes (14); he traveled with a secretary, who performed the same duties in any spare moments (15); to allow similar accommodation during the journey itself, he always used a litter in preference to walking (16).

William A. Johnson (2010) 

Readers and Reading Culture in the High Roman Empire

An instance of the ancient audio book? I wonder if this would improve my efficiency. You can read the letter in full in English (scroll down to 3.5), rather archaic English or in Latin.