Books

So what's everyone currently reading?

Here's a few from me.

I've given Amazon references (both U.K. and U.S.) in case anyone wants to look at the details of any of these. I'm not suggesting anyone go to that particular store -- someone did accuse me of that last time I put an Amazon link! (If anyone does want one of these but doesn't want to use Amazon, just copy the ISBN number and take it elsewhere.)

A recent book on human origins by Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London [I]The Origin of Our Species[/I]:

[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Origin-Species-Chris-Stringer/dp/1846141400/]The Origin of Our Species: Amazon.co.uk: Chris Stringer: Books[/url]

Different title in U.S.:

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Survivors-Came-Humans-Earth/dp/0805088911/[/url]


Steve Jones' book [I]Darwin's Island: The Galapagos in the Garden of England[/I]. Interesting discussions hung on the peg of just how much fieldwork Charles Darwin did back home:

[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darwins-Island-Galapagos-Garden-England/dp/0349121419/[/url]

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-Island-Galapagos-Garden-England/dp/0349121419/]Amazon.com: Darwin's Island: The Galapagos in the Garden of England (9780349121413): Steve Jones: Books[/url]


But lest we forget that we're not just biological beings but self-conscious ones, here's a brilliant attack by a philosopher on ways of thinking that ignore that. [I]Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity[/I] by Raymond Tallis:

[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aping-Mankind-Neuromania-Darwinitis-Misrepresentation/dp/1844652726/[/url]

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Aping-Mankind-Neuromania-Darwinitis-Misrepresentation/dp/1844652726/[/url]


And here's another book of philosophy: Professor Roger Scruton's [I]Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet[/I]. I came across this serendipitously while browsing the bookshelves in a local bookshop this weekend and bought it. Probably the only book published this year to have an index that includes [I]Aquinas, St Thomas ... game theory ... Pearl Harbor (attacks on) ... Scheler, Max ...[/I] and [I]Women's Institute[/I]. A complex and fascinating discussion of ecological problems, and different ways of thinking about them, from an awake mind with an immense reading background:

[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Philosophy-Think-Seriously-Planet/dp/1848870760/]Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet: Amazon.co.uk: Roger Scruton: Books[/url]

Different title in U.S.:

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Think-Seriously-About-Planet-Environmental/dp/0199895570/]Amazon.com: How to Think Seriously About the Planet: The Case for an Environmental Conservatism (9780199895571): Roger Scruton: Books[/url]


Here's Wim Hof's story. Interesting stuff on the cold, how Wim regards it, how he trains, and what techniques he uses. Unsurprisingly, breathing is important, and Wim utilizes meditative techniques, including visualization:

[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Becoming-Iceman-Wim-Hof/dp/1937600467/]Becoming the Iceman: Amazon.co.uk: Wim Hof, Justin Rosales: Books[/url]

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Iceman-Wim-Hof/dp/1937600467/]Amazon.com: Becoming the Iceman (9781937600464): Wim Hof, Justin Rosales, Brooke Robinson: Books[/url]


And now for an old favourite -- Samuel Hearne's description of his journey into the Barren Grounds of Canada in the 18th century. Much social, attitudinal, and technological information on vanished cultures scattered throughout the text:

[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Journey-Northern-Ocean-Adventures-Collection/dp/1894898605/[/url]

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Northern-Ocean-Samuel-Classics/dp/1894898605/[/url]


Finally, here's the history of the end of one of the last great hunting cultures of the world -- [I]Death on the Prairie: The Thirty Years' Struggle for the Western Plains[/I] by Paul I. Wellman. Wellman has a good readable prose style, is comprehensive and detailed, and I doubt anyone's ever told this tragic story better than he:

[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Prairie-Thirty-Struggle-Western/dp/0803297211/[/url]

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Death-Prairie-Thirty-Struggle-Western/dp/0803297211/[/url]

I kind of float around between a few books at a time, and since I get most of them on my Kindle, I can carry a crapload of them with me at once. Right now I'm reading:

[I]Making a Good Brain Great: The Amen Clinic Program for Achieving and Sustaining Optimal Mental Performance[/I] by Dr Daniel Amen
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Making-Good-Brain-Great-ebook/dp/B000FCKGIY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1338937252&sr=8-4]Amazon.com: Making a Good Brain Great: The Amen Clinic Program for Achieving and Sustaining Optimal Mental Performance eBook: Daniel G. Amen Md: Kindle Store[/url]

[I]Head Games[/I], about sports concussions
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Head-Games-ebook/dp/B005J7MSG8/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338938573&sr=1-1-spell]Head Games: Christopher Nowinski: Amazon.com: Kindle Store[/url]

I just finished [I]Papersurfer[/I], which is short, but I like it. A Brits thoughts on beginning surfing:
[URL="http://www.amazon.com/Papersurfer-ebook/dp/B003EO8TCA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338938462&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.com/Papersurfer-ebook/dp/B003EO8TCA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338938462&sr=1-1[/URL]

I'd like to go back and read [I]Island of the Blue Dolphins[/I], which I read to the kids years ago, so I downloaded that:
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Island-Blue-Dolphins-ebook/dp/B0038AUY8M/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338938387&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: Island of the Blue Dolphins eBook: Scott O'Dell: Kindle Store[/url]

Also in the cue are [I]Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey [/I]which is funny as hell but not for everyone:
[URL="http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Freelance-Penmonkey-ebook/dp/B0051JTOLQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338938148&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Freelance-Penmonkey-ebook/dp/B0051JTOLQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338938148&sr=1-1[/URL]

and [I]The Devil in the White City[/I] about a serial killer during the 1893 World's Fair:
[URL="http://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-White-City-ebook/dp/B000FC0ZIA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid= 1338938180&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-White-City-ebook/dp/B000FC0ZIA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338938180&sr=1-1[/URL]

MS Access 2010 for Dummies and The NYT Sunday Crossword Puzzles, which doesn't really qualify as reading, but hey, it's in book form. We like to lay in bed and do them.

At home, I am reading "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," by Harriet Jacobs. Away from home, I take my Kindle, on which I am reading "The Real Crash," by Peter Schiff. Next up on the Kindle are "For a New Liberty" and "Anatomy of the State" by Murray Rothbard.

I just finished "Let's Pretend this Never Happened," by Jenny Lawson. It is hysterical! It won't bring you closer to God, as it is crude and full of naughty words, but if you need a good, pee in your pants, laugh...this is your book.

I am in the middle of a couple of books. The first is "The Name of the Wind" by patrick rothfuss and the second is "The Last American Man" by Elizabeth Gilbert.

a book about building a straw bale house - hoping to make it reality someday!

[url=http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=straw+bale+house&hl=en&prmd=imvnsb&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=848&wrapid=tlif133900311201510&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7703601115679981748&sa=X&ei=9JDPT9GmCseX6QGa0_WWDA&ved=0CFwQ8wIwAA]The Straw Bale House [Book][/url]

just started "ishmael" by daniel quinn

once i finish that, i plan on reading the "a song of fire and ice" books (game of thrones)

then it's "the wayfinders" by wade davis (author of "the serpent and the rainbow")

and then "a hunter's heart" by david peterson

after that, i'm open to suggestions

I am reading "Clutter Busting". A book about how to rid your life of clutter inside and out. Loving it!!

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Clutter-Busting-Letting-Whats-Holding/dp/1577316592/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339003587&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What's Holding You Back (9781577316596): Brooks Palmer: Books[/url]

One of my biggest complaints is that there is seemingly never enough time to read. But I do try to keep two in rotation at all times, usually one fiction, one non-fiction. After a brief tear on [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruki_Murakami"]Murakami[/URL], I'm reading [URL="http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339004501&sr=8-1"]House of Leaves[/URL], but will likely return to Murakami for [URL="http://www.amazon.com/The-Wind-Up-Bird-Chronicle-Novel/dp/0679775439/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339004632&sr=1-1"]The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle [/URL]as my next fiction read.

Bill Bryson's [URL="http://www.amazon.com/The-Mother-Tongue-English-That/dp/0380715430/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1339004674&sr=1-1"]The Mother Tongue[/URL] is the NF in rotation. Not sure what's next: have to peel through the stacks.