Friends of African Village Libraries (I post regularly here)- Daytime session at Sherigu Community Library
- La deuxième journée des activités de café littéraire à la bibliothèque de Boni
- Échanges avec la nouvelle gérante de la bibliothèque de Koho
- Reprise des activités de la bibliothèque mobile Pénélope
- Sortie de la Bibliothèque Mobile Pénélope à l’école Sainte Thérèse
- Bonne nouvelle pour les amoureux de la lecture à Niankorodougou
- Bibliothèque communautaire de Zimtenga ! Les livres attendent patiemment le retour des communautés
- Bilan des activités du mois d’août de la bibliothèque de Bougounam
- Bilan des premières journées du café littéraire
- Nyariga community library, daytime activities
Author Archives: mkevane
“God’s Caravan” by Tiphanie Yanique in The New Yorker
“God’s Caravan” by Tiphanie Yanique November 4, 2019 The New Yorker. I really enjoyed the story (I listened to Yanique reading it on the podcast). It starts slow, and slowly builds, adding layers of complexity as you move along. With … Continue reading
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Blistering critique of MPP and President Roch Kaboré by opposition in #Burkina
Non content de réchauffer les projets de Blaise COMPAORE pour se les réattribuer, le Président KABORE se lance maintenant dans les inaugurations de morceaux de routes. Là où un Haut-commissaire ou un Gouverneur étaient suffisamment compétents pour inaugurer ces mini-infrastructures, … Continue reading
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The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio … context so important for appreciating the song
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Recent short stories in The New Yorker
“The Bunty Club” by Tessa Hadley from the October 28, 2019 issue of The New Yorker. Hadley has several stories with fugue states embedded in them, where the narrator and reader are no longer sure that the continuation of the … Continue reading
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A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, by C.A. Fletcher
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, by C.A. Fletcher. Enthralling dystopia set in a future England with very few humans left. More for the young adult audience. The ending a little too pat for my … Continue reading
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Farewell, My Lovely, by Raymond Chandler
Farewell, My Lovely, by Raymond Chandler. Definitely second-rate Chandler. The Big Sleep was much better. Amusing for the historical snippets, not amusing for the casual bigotry, and the writing is sloppier than The Big Sleep. Plot also more convoluted: let’s … Continue reading
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I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid
I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid. Billed as a “literary thriller” I thought this might be a good read after some more mundane books. But I was wrong. The novel was interesting for awhile, but then it started … Continue reading
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Affordable housing at about $200,000 a unit in San Jose?
I wish reporters would give better sense of the financing and ownership details of these affordable housing projects. For example, from SJ Spotlight, an excellent new online newspaper serving the South Bay: The two proposals on the agenda are located … Continue reading
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The dustup between Paul Paul Kéré and Rémi Dandjinou over the Burkinabè army’s preparedness
Totally relevant for those who call for former President Compaoré’s return to “help” deal with the insurgency. From the comments section: Cher Maître,Vous n’allez pas vous faire oublier un peu?Qu’est ce que le ministre a dit qui ne soit pas … Continue reading
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Great reporting by Abdel Aziz Nabaloum about lack of public services in village of Koumna in Loroum #Burkina #lwili
Situé dans la commune de Ouindigui dans la province du Lorum, Koumna est un village enclavé. Cerné dans ses limites géographiques par les eaux, cette localité connaît un problème d’accès aux infrastructures sociales de base, à l’eau et à l’assainissement. … Continue reading
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What did Mulvaney actually say?
So the context of the rather raucous press conference was that Mulvaney wanted to say that the overall reason for aid holdup was corruption in Ukraine and Europeans not contributing. Rather lame of course because all that should have been … Continue reading
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Looking forward to reading some new Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
If you saw my comments in Mookse on the story by Joyce Carol Oates, then you can easily tell why I happened to google Bynum during a break. Chinese American writer Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is causing waves across the Atlantic … Continue reading
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“Novels are machines for falsely generating belief”… essay on fiction, by Zadie Smith in The New York Review of Books
Great essay on writing (and reading) fiction by Zadie Smith. Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) I’m sure I’m not the first novelist to dig up that old Whitman chestnut … Continue reading
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The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler
My neighborhood book group read this and we had a fun discussion. This is a great novel. Sure some parts are no longer politically correct, but you have to read past that. Chandler’s writing is so literary: crafted, thoughtful, evocative. … Continue reading
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Fiasco, by Thomas Ricks
From 2006. Not the best-written book. Lots of vignettes, often little narrative flow. He drops characters that he should be coming back to: Cheney is never mentioned after page 100 for example. I don’t think any Iraqi leaders other than … Continue reading
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Adam and Allison Grant rewrite children’s books and much fiction: “Noble deed doers, you should first lecture the victims and help them help themselves more otherwise you are an enabler…”
OK I’m making fun a little, but their essay on The Giving Tree just rubs me the wrong way. Instead of marveling at the moral ambiguity of the book, the impulse is to “fix” it by explaining to you child … Continue reading
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Great article in The New York Times about rural America and public services
I watched the fight unfold with a sense of sadness, anger and frustration. I started arguing. It didn’t work. The pay request was pulled from the Quorum Court’s agenda.I didn’t realize it at first, but the fight over the library … Continue reading
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Trivia from movie version of The Big Sleep
From a great blog post on the film The Big Sleep: http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/bigsleep.htm Agnes Lowzier, the saleslady at Geiger’s bookstore and Joe Brody’s accomplice, played by Sonia Darrin. Although her face is very familiar it’s difficult to find information on her. … Continue reading
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UEMOA : La masse salariale du Burkina a dépassé la norme – NetAfrique.net
Burkina on a public employee spending spress? Selon la commission chargée des politiques économiques et de la fiscalité intérieure de l’Uemoa, la masse salariale du Burkina présente un taux de 48%, dépassant ainsi la norme Uemoa qui est de 35 … Continue reading
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Looking forward to Yo la Tengo in SF on Tuesday!
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