Classics Considered

Saw this over at Kristin's blog Wool and Wheel ...it's been a while since I did one of these, so I thought it would be a fun interlude to reviews.  Feel free to fill this out on your own blog, or in the comments - would love to read your answers! 1. What book is currently on your nightstand?  Right now, there's The Heart of the Antarctic (Ernest Shackleton), the Bible, my Nook, and my tablet. From my 2014 Powell's trip .  On the left is Albanov's In the Land of White Death , an excellent polar (north) memoir which I haven't reviewed but highly recommend. Heart is turning out to be a lovely read so far - more informal and relaxed in tone than South .  Maybe it's the pre-War zeitgeist, or Shackleton's personal optimism at this earlier point in his experience.  His excitement over the ponies is rather sobering...considering he didn't bring them on the Endurance , I can only imagine how badly things will go on the Nimrod .  (But, I digress.) 2. What wa

T. E. Lawrence (1888–1935) If you've been following me on Goodreads, you'll understand I have been reading books this year , while blogging at a record low.  Far from a lack of interest in blogging, my motivation was the need to take a break...I still consider myself on break as I write this.  However, I wanted to say a few thoughts on my longest read of the year (thus far) before removing all my markers in it and packing it off back to the library.   A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence was written by psychiatrist John E. Mack, published in 1976, and came highly rated (based on my internet research).  Let me take a moment to dissect that sentence:  First off, I felt uncomfortable with the title.  The quote is not by Lawrence, and while it's provocative, I had no idea going into the book what the "disorder" refers to.  What a great and awful title for a biography. The author is not a historian by profession, but a different type of social scienti