Do you love books? This magical video is sure to make you smile…

First, I just had to share this amazing video with you!

I so admire people who have the talent (and patience) to plan and execute something like this.

.
This week on the Starts at 60 Book Club, we’d like to talk about the word “amateur”. One of our SAS community recently noted in a post about sport that it has become derogatory. I found this an interesting comment because for many years much of my spare time was spent acting and directing in community theatre, where the word amateur is frequently used to downgrade a production.

The word “amateur”, in broad terms, means “for the love of”; it does not imply second best, shoddy or unprofessional standards. It only means the people are not paid to give a performance, write a review, operate the sound system, control the lighting or play sport – they volunteer their services. Many a world class actor began their careers in amateur theatre and when it is all said and done, I’ve seen many a bad production where the tickets have cost a small fortune and all the cast and crew were paid.

I feel this about our Books at 60 Reviews; they are all written by gifted amateurs and their standard is as good as you will get anywhere. Importantly the people behind the reviews are just like you; we read for our own enjoyment and then pass on our feelings about a book.

So with all this in mind, last weekend I read a review in one of our broadsheets of the book, The Dictator by Robert Harris – interesting because Books at 60 Reviewer Vivienne Beddoe wrote her review two months earlier, click here. Further, Vivienne’s review makes me want to read the book, whereas the “professional” one sounded learned, but boring. Okay I’ll admit a bit of bias, but I’m sure you agree, the Starts at 60 Reviewers are excellent!

Sometimes you may notice that a review is not as insightful as at other times. You are right, we do borrow from media releases for some of our book club material. Why do we do this? The aim of Books at 60 is to keep you up to date with what is happening in bookland. We want you to enjoy the books we read and also the new releases getting good press elsewhere, or books in genres you tell us you like to read. Much as I would love to present to you full reviews each and every day, it’s not possible … yet … but we are working on it! Nonetheless, a minimum of 4 reviews every week are actual reviews of books we have read and enjoyed.

This week’s library pictured above is the awesome Library of Belarus, what do you think of that design? So futuristic and yet somehow those side wings seem to offer a warm welcome – has anyone seen this library in their travels?

Till next week, happy reading.

Karen

Join the Starts at 60 Book Club for more great reading recommendations!