Author name: tejvan

Cracking Economics and national bookshop day

Saturday was National Bookshop Day. They seem to have a national day for everything these days. But, in the case of bookshops, I think it is well deserved.

cracking-economics-blackwells

I’m really glad to see bookshops hanging on – holding back the winds of technological change and remorseless move to all things digital. There is something uplifting about a bookshop, for want of a better description it has soul. A feeling that will never be replicated by the convenience of Kindle and online reviews.

At various times in my life, I’ve been fascinated by nearly all sections in bookshops – especially religion and spirituality section – just about everything apart from particle physics and fiction. I don’t like fiction unless it is Lord of the Rings.

Today, I went into my local Blackwells Oxford to find ‘Cracking Economics’ by Tejvan Pettinger. They had eight copies, which is great because when I checked online two days ago, they said they had ten.

Which means they possibly sold two in two days!

I should have bought a copy to honour my local bookshop, but my publisher has already kindly sent me 20 copies in the post, so I don’t really need a 21st copy.

Still, there it was on the shelf next to the Oxford Dictionary of Economics.

The Economics Bible

economics-bible

The other funny thing is that in America, the same book is called “The Economics Bible.” On that cover, they have put my name next to a picture of Karl Marx. So perhaps some readers in America will think that Tejvan Pettinger is a rather grim looking bearded figure from the Nineteenth Century.

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Poppies outside a village church

poppies

There is a poignant beauty to this display of red poppies – especially against the grey Yorkshire sky and dark stone. It is to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele.

In 1917 our village Menston was quite small, but a high percentage of its young men died fighting in the First World War – especially this particular battle.

A hundred years ago is another lifetime. But when I turned 40, it went through my mind that conscription was often for men under 40 years of age.

We are fortunate to live in the absence of war, but I also remember Sri Chinmoy’s aphorism.

“Peace does not mean the absence of war.

Peace means the presence of harmony, love, satisfaction and oneness.”

 

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The joy of grammar

When I went to Oxford University, I remember a professor handing back an essay with a mark B+. He added the comment – “Very good, but it would have been an A – if you had given even the briefest attention to correct grammar and spelling”. I remember being very happy to get a B+ from Oxford. That was good enough for me!

Since, almost by accident, I have become a ‘professional blogger’ / ‘professional writer’, I am endeavouring to improve this aspect of writing, and over the years have learnt to enjoy this aspect of writing more. (1)

I did intend to write an article here, but it made more sense to share at my Cycling Blog, for my long-suffering cycling readers.

This is the article from Cycling Uphill.

Proof-reading blogs

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