Books

[grandpaTJ]

Been working my way through the James Herbert books. I think that comedy and horror are likely the most difficult genre to write, and Herbert is a master.
The books pull you right in.

[CaajScot]

Jul 20, 2015 3:24:50 GMT grandpaTJ said:

Been working my way through the James Herbert books. I think that comedy and horror are likely the most difficult genre to write, and Herbert is a master.
The books pull you right in.

Good reads by Herbert I liked.....


The Rats (1974)
The Fog (1975)
Domain (1984)
The Magic Cottage (1986)
Haunted (1988)
The Ghosts of Sleath (1994)
The Secret of Crickley Hall (2006)
The Fog was good and they made a film on it but it was not as good as the book, the same as The Rats. 

[CaajScot]

Just finished reading another Lee Child book about the character Jack Reacher called Personal. Read them all and the next one I will have to get is Make Me with Reacher published in September.

[dazjoe]

Got started on the GOT books. Bought the lot in a charity shop for about $20, bargain.

Loving the 1st book so far, it helps to be able to put the faces to the names and picture the actors speaking the lines.

So far the show and book are faithful to each other (other than the ages, Jon and Rob are 15? Daenery's is fucking 12?!) but I know that they start to deviate, and am looking forward to it.

[CaajScot]

Mar 29, 2016 21:19:00 GMT dazjoe said:

Got started on the GOT books. Bought the lot in a charity shop for about $20, bargain.

Loving the 1st book so far, it helps to be able to put the faces to the names and picture the actors speaking the lines.

So far the show and book are faithful to each other (other than the ages, Jon and Rob are 15? Daenery's is fucking 12?!) but I know that they start to deviate, and am looking forward to it.

You have me puzzled there daz, what books are GOT and who is the author? lol. 

[dazjoe]

Mar 29, 2016 21:47:43 GMT CaajScot said:

Mar 29, 2016 21:19:00 GMT dazjoe said:

Got started on the GOT books. Bought the lot in a charity shop for about $20, bargain.

Loving the 1st book so far, it helps to be able to put the faces to the names and picture the actors speaking the lines.

So far the show and book are faithful to each other (other than the ages, Jon and Rob are 15? Daenery's is fucking 12?!) but I know that they start to deviate, and am looking forward to it.

You have me puzzled there daz, what books are GOT and who is the author? lol. 

Sorry mate, Game Of Thrones. Good old George RR Martin.

[CaajScot]

Reading a few books when I was in hospital for a week over a month ago and one of the books was by Sean Slater called The Guilty was quite good. Never heard of the guy before but I will have to see if I can get anymore of his novels.

The Survivor (Jacob StriKer #1)
Snakes & Ladders
The Guilty (Jacob Striker #3)
The Unforgiven
Dust & Bones
Untitled Slater 4 (Jacob Striker )
Zornesblind (Jacob Striker #2)
The Dark Side: A collection of mysteries & thrillers

SPOILER: Click to show

 



Sean Slater is the pseudonym for Vancouver Police Officer Sean Sommerville. As a police officer, Sommerville works in Canada's poorest slum, the Downtown East Side - an area rife with poverty, mental illness, drug use, prostitution, and gang warfare. He has investigated everything from frauds and extortions to homicides. Sommerville has written numerous columns and editorials for the city newspaper. His work has been nominated for the Rupert Hughes Prose Award, and he was the grand-prize winner of the Sunday Serial Thriller contest, which was co-written by Daniel Kalla and published in the Vancouver Province. When not patrolling the 'Skids', Sommerville is working hard writing.

[CaajScot]

Just finished a Lee Childs, Jack Reacher thriller our son bought while he was on holiday and read 'Bad Luck and Trouble', good read and it was one of them books you just can't put down. I am a Lee Childs - Jack Reacher book fanatic anyway and that should have me caught up with his books until the next one in the Jack Reacher series.  

[WhatsTheMata]

All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr

If you are a fan of WWII stories, here's your book. Two separated stories of two children, Marie-Laurie, a French 6 year old who's blind in the occupied France and Werner, 8 year old orphan in nazi Germany. Their stories cross at some point in 1944 – but it doesn't end there.

What has drawn me to this book was the sensitive language used by Doerr. One afternoon and before the sun goes down, it was over.



Any Stephen King book for those who have never read it. Please stop whatever you're doing – unless United is on – and submerge yourself into the brilliant plots of this genius.

[RAZ]

got a number of new books lately. dont even know where to start.

C.G. JUNG - the red book
Richard Dawkins - the god delusion
the voynich manuscript, already finished it
gregor a. gregorius - exorial
albertus seba - cabinet of natural curiosities
the grand grimoire
peter kropotkin - mutual aid: a factor of evolution
philip k. dick - martian time slip

someone read any of the books mentioned and can highly recommend it? i`m spoiled for choice and cant decide where to start at the moment

[CaajScot]

A good call from our son, he knows I love reading Lee Child - Jack Reacher books so he got me a Jack Reacher book for my Birthday just gone, this will go down a treat with me and looking forward to reading it.

[WhatsTheMata]

I finished the best book about Brazil's economical history I've read so far which means nothing but it's a pretty good one. Took me a while as it is in English, and it was complex to me on the content as well but it's worth it.

The name of the book is Inglorious Revolution: Political Institutions, Sovereign Debt, and Financial Underdevelopment in Imperial Brazil by William Summerhill. If any of you like economics or work with it and have interest on the build-up (and current fall) of one of the most promising economics in the world, give it a read.

www.amazon.com/Inglorious-Revolution-Political-Institutions-Underdevelopment-ebook/dp/B015Y1YTLU

[RAZ]

a shame really that this thread is not being used more.


While i still cant really handle the actual problems i face in life, ritalin has helped me to regain my concentration and thinking abilities back that i have lost for a long time. I have been an avid reader since i was a small child but lost that capability in recent years due to depressions etc. In the last couple of weeks i gained it back and finished numerous books while i also started writing again myself again and continuing my idea that i started years and years ago about a book i want to write. Something i also havent done in years.

I wanted to share my thoughts on some of the books i finished and will read soon and maybe someone in here might be interested in a book or two that i mention. Most of them i consider really important literature and highly important pieces of work that most of us should read in order to gather more understanding and information about the world. Some of the books i read in german, some of them in english but i will keep this to english obviously. Dont expect anyone to be interested but i`ll give it a try.

First about the ones i have actually read and finished in the last couple of weeks:

RICHARD DAWKINS – THE GOD DELUSION

it was actually the 2nd time i have finished this brilliant book. Dawkins is one of the most well known and respected scientists and evolutional biologists of our time. A very big critic of religion and this book is probably THE one book about religions and the problems we face with them. It varies from „consciousness-raising“ messages, to problems we face today with religion, atheism, children indoctrinated by religion, religion and morality, darwinism, religious fanatism and so many other aspects. It is probably the most in depth critical work against religion and the belief in a god and does not get boring at all. Highly recommended and dawkins is a fantastic writer and thinker who i would urge anyone to read and inform yourself about his works.

This book is a 11 out of 10. whether you are an atheist or believer, if you have the slightest interest in religion this is a must read.


PROF. LAWRENCE KRAUSS – A UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING

lawrence krauss is a cosmologist and theoretical physicist and probably one of the worlds most famous physicists at the moment. „a universe from nothing“ touches the topic of the „god existence“ slightly and destroys it with science. But more than that its a simple book about how our universe originated, what actually happens out there, how it works and functions and what might happen in the distant future with our universe or possible „multiverses“. Its a physics book and for me personally who struggles with mathematics and physics, it wasnt that easy to read actually. Nonetheless extremely interesting to get an insight into the work of someone like him who tries to explain to us the „nature“ of our universe. For all the science fiction lovers, definately an interesting read.

Krauss wrote another book that i still have to read named „the physics of star strek“. Need to get that one eventually.

MICHAEL POLLAN – HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

wow...just wow. This book has left me speechless after finishing it. Michael pollan is a journalist i really respect and admire. He has written books about nutrition and the food/meat industry in the past and with this one he has dived deep into the area of pychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, lsd or ayahuasca in the psychatric world.

Few know that scientists, psychologists or neuro scientists have experimented and treated people with depressions, anxiety, cancer and addictions such as alcohol or cigarettes already back in the 50s and 60s after the famous swiss scientist alber hoffman „created“ LSD. The results back then were absolute outstanding and breathtaking. Politics, the fear and demonization of all drugs and the hippie movement destroyed all the research and made it illegal for decades, pushing it into the underground.

A few years ago, some of the biggest and most respected medicine institutes in the usa, aswell as scientists and doctors in the UK or switzerland have restarted the work on that. And their results show simply incredible success rates in the healing or „dealing“ with depressions, cancer in the last stages or addictions. All that without pretty much any side effects to the patients. The book tells the whole story of psychedelic research from its beginning to today as of 2018 (it was released in february 2019). the story behind psychedelic psychotherapy and its research is probably one of the best stories you will ever read, better than most novels. Full of crazy and suspicious characters, politics, weird experiments, underground therapists and so on. On top of that, pollan himself tried and described his own experiences he made while writing the book with psilocybin, LSD and DMT.

Really, i`m not kidding, this book is pure gold. You wont be able to stop reading. One of the best books i have ever read in my entire life.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS – GOD IS NOT GREAT, how religion poisons everything

Probably one of the brightest intellects of our time or as sam harris said after hitchens died of cancer: „the man had more wit, style and substance than a few civilizations i could name.“

hitchens was probably the best debater i have ever seen. Shortly before his death he had a public debate with tony blair about religion (can be found on youtube). And he simply destroyed him. In fact, hitchens destroyed absolutely every single person he ever debated with and its known that most of his counterparts were really terrified by the prospect to debate him because he was just too good.

„god is not great“ is an outstanding book. You will rarely see anyone using the english language as elegant and intelligent as he did. The book touches so many topics of religion that its hard to list them all. But it goes from genital mutilation on children, the question if religion is child abuse, religious monopoly and corruption, if religion makes people behave better to heavy critics and insight information about mother teresa and her so called „good“ work. With this book, hitchens really destroys religion with logic and intelligence and there is almost no argument left to defend the belief in god after reading this.

I urge everyone to check out some of his videos on youtube. Hitchens was a phenomenon, who knew every single holy book better than any religious person and leader. There certainly wont ever be another one like him, a genius of our time who passed away too early.

YUVAL NOAH HARARI – SAPIENS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND

brilliant book by harari who is an israeli historian. It is basically a history of humankind, evolution from the stone age up to today, mostly focusing on homo sapiens. It answers questions like why did we start to believe in gods, nations, human rights? Why do we trust in money, books and laws? Why did we subdue to burocracy or consumption? How did the transition from „hunter-gatherers“ to settling to agriculture happen? And did all this actually made humanity happier?

A great and easy read.

SAM HARRIS – LETTER TO A CHRISTIAN NATION

harris is a known american philosopher, neuroscientist and author. „letter to a christian nation“ is a short book, basically what it says, a letter. Around 120 pages that can be finished in 2-3 hours. Its mostly adressed to the conservative christian right in america but also touches on islam and is highly interesting to religion in general. He talks about topics such as abortion, embryonic stem cell research, fundamentalism, education system, creationism and in general problems we face with religion today. Its short, straight, direct and easy to read. Very good book from an intelligent man.


THE HOLY BIBLE

yes, i had to mention it. Its the second time i`m reading it. Last time was around 13 years ago or so. Still havent finished it as i`m going through old and new testament. I personally regard it as the most important book to read for a non-believer. You wont find another book that is more brutal and bloody and that manages to accumulate topics such as genocide, genital mutilation on kids, rape and torture of women, homophobia, halluzinations, misogyny, incest, the torture and killing of babies and children, racism and countless more horrible topics in one single writing. An absolute must read in order to understand what believers actually MUST believe in order to say there is a god.



Some books that are still waiting for me to get started with them:



DANIEL KAHNEMAN – THINKING, FAST AND SLOW

THE QURAN

JAMES FADIMAN – THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPLORERS GUIDE



among many others. I might review them aswell if there is even interest in that.