Not a fuck up. Didn't do anything. If you'd googled it in front of the students...

I once told a class of Taiwanese students that I didn't have a little brother. I have two little sisters. The problem is that little brother/sister are slang for penis and vagina. I'm male.

Not all books work on audiobook for me. I read A Brief History of Time on paper in college. I reread it as an audiobook and even though I'd already read it, I got nothing from it. The book is just too dense for me to read as an audiobook. If I get distracted for a little bit, it's a big deal.

Lighter books are great. I listen to them while driving, working out, or doing chores around the house. It would also matter what kind of driving. I'd not listen to one in busy traffic.

When I was a kid, I browsed libraries and just read things that looked good. I was literally judging books by their covers.

When I got older, I started relying more upon people. I'd read based on talking to people. Someone would describe a book. If it sounded good, I'd either put it on my TO READ list or just read it. If it was good, I'd look for other books by the same author. I'd also look for similar books/authors.

Other ways of relying upon people are awards. People voted for those books to get the awards-they didn't win them based on some marketing push. Science Fiction/Fantasy has the Hugo and Nebula as the top awards. It's got other significant awards. Most genres have their own awards. There are also general awards for non-genre books. I've not been liked by some books that've won awards, but overall they have been a reliable source of suggestions.

When I was younger, I had clumsier TO READ lists. Now, I use goodreads. It's also good for keeping track of books you have already read. Like a book journal. I write reviews, but mostly for myself. However, goodreads is now owned by Amazon. Since you are starting a new TO READ list, I'd recommend starting a list with a website that is not owned by Amazon. Goodreads will try to sell the books Amazon wants to sell. The will probably restrict exporting your data-which will make changing your website difficult.

Really, the only thing I thought that was dated in it was how episodic it was.

I was surprised by how funny it was, given the age.

It was in Carlisle. Outside Harrisburg. I moved away in 2008, so it might not still be there. Even then, the owner made a lot of her money off of online book sales. Another cool thing about the place was one decoration. In the cash register area, the counter and I think the walls were covered with wine corks. Minor, but not the kind of thing you would see in a chain.

I recall a used bookstore in Philly. I drove to Philly once largely for the bookstore. It had a cat. I adore cats. You don't see many cats in stores, though. It wasn't organized well, but that was because they had more books than shelves. Books just stacked on the floor. If I'd lived closer, I probably would have gone there a lot.

I kind of think it's just because it's pretty, etc. Now, it's nice for Instagram, etc. In more classic terms, it makes for a nice visual memory of a day. But, it sounds like in practice, a lot of the memory of the day would be about the arranging of complicated things that often go wrong.

My wedding was just signing some paperwork at the Family registration center(Taiwan). My wife had had a traditional wedding with her ex. Not fun. Mostly just a chance for her FIL to do business.

1. Books are great, so lots of books are awesome. Some new bookstores, like Barnes and Noble, are branching out into selling other things more. That might have positives for reading, like getting more kids interested in reading. But, it has negatives, like LESS BOOKS. Most used bookstores just sell books.
2. New books are expensive. As a poor college student, used bookstores were great for getting a collection of books. This conflicts a bit with my tendency toward a desire to have less stuff. Used bookstores help with that, too. They buy books, too. And, I use that money to buy more books.
3. The one I went to in Chattanooga was huge, with a great selection. That's where I started the collection. But, the design was kind of boring. The really cool ones are converted from something else, and seem to have had shelves added at random. Just PACKED with books. I used to go to one in Pennsylvania. A former residence. The first time I went there, I thought it was decent sized. Then, I discovered the second floor. It also had a kitchen where you could make tea. I think there were some snacks. If they sold anything, it was on an honor system. I think it was the second or third time I went there that I discovered the attic. They had places to sit and read. They held poetry readings there.
4. The place in Chattanooga was a chain, but most are not.
5. I prefer used books to new books, even ignoring the price. They give me a sense that someone has already enjoyed this book.

I think for some books, it's because the author is acting like he is trying to keep things private because he doesn't want the science to become public knowledge.

It is supposed to be a journal.

I read Gone with the Wind in HS. 1000 pages, though not as dense as Dune. Since I loved Dune when I read it on my own in college, I'd loved to have read this in HS. Getting to discuss it in class sounds great. Actually, HS discussions usually sucked, since no one wanted to be there. Maybe if it were in Honors English.

Overall, the fact that I had to read these meant that I didn't really think about whether I liked them until at least some time after college. I was a good student, which meant I did my homework. Mostly, now I judge my like/dislike by how much I remember and whether the book elicited an emotional response.

All these were 9th grade. I liked most of the stuff

To Kill a Mockingbird (I liked it) and Romeo and Juliet (I liked it) Some Greek mythology. I loved Greek mythology when I was younger, so there wasn't much new to me.

Lord of the Flies. I remember a decent amount of this.

Great Expectations-Mrs Haverham(sp?) is very memorable. The very ending, epilogue type thing, stuck with me.

These were 10th grade(the only Honors English I took):

Julius Caesar-I remember several points of this. Mostly, I remember reciting the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech outside the cafeteria. It was either that, or recite a much longer portion just to the teacher. I'm shy, so it wasn't fun. It was good to be pushed out of my comfort zone, though. At some point in the speech, I even decided to try having fun with it by putting emotion into the speech. Basically, acting.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn-Some of the sex stuff was memorable(not in a porn kind of way), though I've kind of forgotten the details by now. I remember realizing where "on the rag" came from.

Exodus by Uris-Barely remember the basic plot. I think it was about the creation of Israel.

Gone with the Wind-I think I cried when the daughter died.

As a twelfth grader, I remember reading books that I knew were way below my reading level. I should've been in honors, but 10th grade was heavy on the essay writing. I didn't like rewriting. Since this was before so many people had computers, rewriting meant actually writing again. Also, Gone with the Wind was 1000 pages. So, 11th and 12th grade I took regular English.

A book written in the same universe as The Outsiders. The way the acid fried the kid's brain was memorable.

Don't remember the year:

The Great Gatsby-I really liked a couple of scenes from it. One was where the girlfriend talked about how she didn't need to drive carefully because other people can do that. Then hit someone.

Hamlet and Macbeth. I remember the basic plots and a few scenes, but that's it.

In college, I read Jane Eyre and a book about a someone going west in the Wild West days. I know he in the epilogue, he became a railroad tycoon. I didn't like Jane Eyre. Between that, Dracula, and maybe another Victorian Era novel, I've decided that they just seem way too concerned with etiquette for me.

I kind of thought that cyberpunk tended to explain a lot less than more traditional SF intentionally. You get thrown into the chaos, the same as the characters are thrown in. As compared to traditional SF, which often pauses at the beginning as a professor explains the situation to someone. The lack of that break also speeds up the action.

I think it's far easier than Dune, though.

Neither are hard SF, if you are referring to hard SF, meaning accurate scientifically.

I stopped getting it in high school or college. It has come back briefly once or twice as an adult. Definitely only in the spring as an adult. I think it lasted longer as a kid.

Mine was pretty bad. It itched a lot and the backs of my legs. The backs of my legs were all scab some of the time.

As an adult, I found that baby powder helps. A particular kind of dandruff shampoo helps. I don't remember the name, but it was thicker than most shampoos. Definitely a strong shampoo.

As an adult, I was better able to eliminate foods I'm allergic to. Either I was better able to notice when I had a reaction than my parents or they didn't believe if I even thought to tell them.

The problem with tracking food allergies is that people often don't eat one food at a time. People eat a bunch of foods all mixed. Also, allergies can add up. Like, maybe they don't react to one allergen but react to three together.

I've started a list of the various things my son ate not long before he has had reactions.

It doesn't work well with food. You digestion interacts too much with food for a skin test to be accurate.

I'm allergic to lots of stuff. It probably depends upon the location of the eczema, since it can have lots of other causes. I got eczema on the backs of my legs and sometimes the insides of my elbows when I was a kid. It started as a baby. But, it was consistent in when it happened. Spring, through summer. Trees pollen is a problem in spring. Grass is a problem in summer. Ragweed is a problem in fall. Winter is about mold and maybe dust. My problem is mostly trees, so I might be off about the others.

Testing doesn't always find allergies. It only finds the most common allergies, because that's what is tested for. You can also find allergies by tracking. For eczema, that would probably not be food. So, time of year, what was he in physical contact with? Contact might not be immediately apparent, like laundry detergent.