New issues of Orwell’s writings by Penguin. 1984’s cover is indeed great. Along with Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World, this book is increasing in importance.  

cjalifelessordinary:

Reading is Shiny!

libraryjournal:

thetinhouse:

(via What If Your Favorite Album Was a Book? | Mother Jones)

PURPLE RAIN

isensualist:

I must have this book!

thatsomethingsomething:

Excerpt: Quiet

Today we make room for a remarkably narrow range of personality styles. We’re told that to be great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. We see ourselves as a nation of extroverts — which means that we’ve lost sight of who we really are. Depending on which study you consult, one third to one half of Americans are introverts — in other words, one out of every two or three people you know. (Given that the United States is among the most extroverted of nations, the number must be at least as high in other parts of the world.) If you’re not an introvert yourself, you are surely raising, managing, married to, or coupled with one.

If these statistics surprise you, that’s probably because so many people pretend to be extroverts. Closet introverts pass undetected on playgrounds, in high school locker rooms, and in the corridors of corporate America. Some fool even themselves, until some life event — a layoff, an empty nest, an inheritance that frees them to spend time as they like — jolts them into taking stock of their true natures. You have only to raise the subject of this book with your friends and acquaintances to find that the most unlikely people consider themselves introverts.

It makes sense that so many introverts hide even from themselves. We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal — the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight. The archetypal extrovert prefers action to contemplation, risk- taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt. He favors quick decisions, even at the risk of being wrong. She works well in teams and socializes in groups. We like to think that we value individuality, but all too often we admire one type of individual — the kind who’s comfortable “putting himself out there.” Sure, we allow technologically gifted loners who launch companies in garages to have any personality they please, but they are the exceptions, not the rule, and our tolerance extends mainly to those who get fabulously wealthy or hold the promise of doing so.

nypl:

“Stop Book Burnings.”

Emphatic words from a 1942 exhibition presented by the Muhlenberg Library on W. 23rd Street.

thelifeguardlibrarian:

Published today, in 1813.

Classy. Two of my favorite subjects.