What We Are Reading Today: ‘Leonardo da Vinci: An Untraceable Life’ by Stephen J. Campbell

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Updated 11 November 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Leonardo da Vinci: An Untraceable Life’ by Stephen J. Campbell

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) never signed a painting, and none of his supposed self-portraits can be securely ascribed to his hand.

Addressing the ethical stakes involved in studying past lives, Stephen J. Campbell shows how this invented Leonardo has invited speculation from figures ranging from art dealers and curators to scholars, scientists, and biographers, many of whom have filled in the gaps of what can be known of Leonardo’s life with claims to decode secrets, reveal mysteries of a vanished past, or discover lost masterpieces of spectacular value.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Choosing Schools’

Updated 11 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Choosing Schools’

Authors: Mark Schneider, Paul Teske and Melissa Marschall

School choice seeks to create a competitive arena in which public schools will attain academic excellence, encourage individual student performance, and achieve social balance.

In debating the feasibility of this market approach to improving school systems, analysts have focused primarily on schools as suppliers of education, but an important question remains: Will parents be able to function as “smart consumers” on behalf of their children?

Here a highly respected team of social scientists provides extensive empirical evidence on how parents currently do make these choices. 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘A Course in Complex Analysis’

Updated 11 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘A Course in Complex Analysis’

Author: Saeed Zakeri 

“A Course in Complex Analysis” explores a central branch of mathematical analysis, with broad applications in mathematics and other fields such as physics and engineering.

Ideally designed for a year-long graduate course on complex analysis and based on nearly 20 years of classroom lectures, this modern and comprehensive textbook is equally suited for independent study or as a reference for more experienced scholars.

Saeed Zakeri guides the reader through a journey that highlights the topological and geometric themes of complex analysis. 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Following the Bend’ by Ellen Wohl

Updated 09 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Following the Bend’ by Ellen Wohl

When we look at a river, either up close or while flying over a river valley, what are we really seeing?

“Following the Bend” takes readers on a majestic journey by water to find answers, along the way shedding light on the key concepts of modern river science, from hydrology and water chemistry to stream and wetland ecology. 

In this accessible and uniquely personal book, Ellen Wohl explains how to “read” a river, blending the latest science with her own personal experiences as a geologist and naturalist who has worked on rivers for more than three decades.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’

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Updated 09 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’

  • Yagisawa’s minimalist yet evocative prose beautifully captures themes of loss, growth and the solace found in the written word

Author: Satoshi Yagisawa

The Japanese international bestselling novel “Days at the Morisaki Bookshop” by Satoshi Yagisawa is about a secondhand store that gets a second life.

Yagisawa’s debut novel, first published in 2009 then translated into English by Eric Ozawa in 2022, has been steadily climbing the bestseller lists, even in late 2024.

The award-winning book snagged the Chiyoda Literature Prize in Japan and is still frequently featured on “must-read” lists.

The story follows Takako, a melancholic 25-year-old woman, who has her once happy life uprooted after a sudden betrayal.

The self-described “non-reader” reluctantly seeks refuge at an unlikely place: her quirky uncle’s secondhand bookshop which has been in her family for three generations.

“From late summer to early spring the next year, I lived at the Morisaki Bookshop. I spent that period of my life in the spare room on the second floor of the store, trying to bury myself in books,” the novel starts.

“The cramped room barely got any light, and everything felt damp. It smelled constantly of musty old books.”

Within that time, Takako gradually reconnects with herself and discovers the healing power of books and community. But the story becomes more complex and layered as she moves out of the bookshop — but she always finds herself coming back.

Like the bookshop, the novel is crammed with treasures. And, like Takako, the book has become my recent refuge read.

Set in Tokyo’s Jimbocho, a district known as “Book Town” for its rich literary culture, the warm and introspective storytelling style kept me savoring each page.

Yagisawa’s minimalist yet evocative prose beautifully captures themes of loss, growth and the solace found in the written word. The universal message is about picking up the shattered pieces of your life, and how we should never judge a book by its cover.

The sentences are short but not terse. The imagery is vivid but not overdone. The conveyed emotion is relatable without being boring. The story is unapologetically poignant without being patronizing.

The 2024 sequel, “More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop,” revisits the store and its characters, further exploring Takako’s journey and the relationships and connections she forged; some tangible and others not.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons

Updated 08 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons

“Europe’s Alpine Flowers” covers the flowering plants and conifers that occur regularly on mountains and in Arctic areas north of a line that runs from the Pyrenees to Southern Romania. 

For many botanists—and gardeners—the alpine flora is the best it gets. There are many species adapted to a harsh climate of extreme winter cold and strong winds, including some of our most beautiful rock plants, such as gentians, saxifrages, and crocuses. 

These also include subtle and rare flowers that require care to discover and identify.