The Hibernator starts one last thread for the year

Hi, my name's Rachel (the_hibernator), and I work in the healthcare industry. In my spare time, I volunteer for a rehabilitative justice program with the Minnesota DOC. I'm passionate about reducing stigma about mental illness. I have bipolar disorder and talk about it a lot because I think more people need to know that mental illness is something that you don't have to be ashamed of. I have three cats: Myra, Hero, and Puck.

If you want to follow me on other media:

Twitter: @hibernatorslibr
Litsy: @the_hibernator
blog: http://hibernatorslibrary.blogspot.com

Top 5 of 2015:



Books Read in 2016

1. Curio, by Evangeline Denmark
2. Something Rotten, by Jasper Fforde
3. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, by Jung Chang
4. Rolling Stones, Robert A. Heinlein
5. The Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland boys, and the Dawn of a New America, by Gilbert King
6. The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells
7. Little House in the Big Woods, by H. G. Wells
8. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford
9. Burning Midnight, by Will McIntosh
10. The Little Book of Circle Processes, by Kay Pranis
11. War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells
12. The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs, by Cylin Busby
13. Among Murderers, by Sabine Heinlein
14. You Were Here, by Cori McCarthy
15. The Aeronaut's Windlass, by Jim Butcher
16. Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf
17. Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder
18. The Reivers, by William Faulkner
19. A Passage to India, by E. M. Forster
20. The Serpent King, by Jeff Zentner
21. A Midsummer Night #nofilter, by Brett Wright
22. Moon Over Soho, by Ben Aaronovich
23. The Last Week, by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
24. Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood, by Liesl Shurtliff
25. Shadow Magic, by Joshua Kahn
26. Persuasion, by Jane Austen
27. Unfair, by Adam Benforado
28. Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic, by David J. Schwartz
29. Holding Smoke, by Elle Cosimano
30. Death Weavers, by Brandon Mull
31. The Corinthian, by Georgette Heyer
32. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
33. Silver Linings Playbook, by Matthew Quick
34. Just Mercy, by Brian Stevenson
35. Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher
36. Bullet Catcher's Daughter, by Rod Duncan
37. The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud
38. Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard
39. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, by Nancy Farmer
40. Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, by Robert Sapolsky
41. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
42. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling
43. The Fifth Child, by Doris Lessing
44. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 3, by Kanata Konami
45. Stiletto, by Daniel O'Malley
46. Death Note Volume 10, by Tsugumi Ohba
47. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 4, by Kanata Konami
48. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 5, by Kanata Konami
49. Men We Reaped, by Jesmyn Ward
50. Gods Behaving Badly, by Marie Phillips
51. Death Note Volume 11, by Tsugumi Ohba
52. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 6, by Kanata Konami
53. Death Note Volume 12, by Tsugumi Ohba
54. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 7, by Kanata Konami
55. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 8, by Kanata Konami
56. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 9, by Kanata Konami
57. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 10, by Kanata Konami
58. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 11, by Kanata Konami
59. Chi's Sweet Home Volume 12, by Kanata Konami
60. Bone: Volume 2 The Great Cow Race, by Jeff Smith
61: Bone: Volume 3 Eyes of the Storm, by Jeff Smith
62: Dino Bites, by Algy Craig Hall
63: Bone: Volume 4, by Jeff Smith
64. A Confusion of Princes, by Garth Nix
65. Economist: The Trump Era
66. Stress and Your Body, by Robert Sapolsky
67. The Price of Silence, by Liza Long
68. Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman
69. The Righteous Mind, by Jonathan Haidt
70. Chaos, by DJ Schuette
71. Hope in the Dark, by Rebecca Solnit
72. North and Sounth, by Elizabeth Gaskell

Well, I have solidified my reading goals for next year:




Plus room for book club and spontaneous selections. Looking forward! The clock is ticking!

Does anyone live in the Orlando area? I'll be down there for a conference in February.

Sadly, no.

Love the penguins! Happy new thread.

>4 The_Hibernator: Also not close enough to stop by. Happy new thread, Rachel and congratulations for passing 1,000 posts again this year.

*Waves* Hi Rachel! :)

I love your reading goals. I'll see how many of those first 12 I can read as well.

Happy new thread, Rachel! I hope you had a good weekend.

It looks like you have some heavy reading ahead of you. The New Jim Crow has been recommended to me, but we'll see if i can get it in next year.

Happy new thread, Rachel! Glad to see all that promising NF on your agenda, for next year. I love Thomas Frank and may join on that one. Hillbilly Elegy is a very good memoir and Evicted is one of the top books I have read this year. It might even take the cake.

Happy New Thread, Rachel!

Hi Rachel.

I'm visiting because (a) it has been too long, and (b) I want to join you and Darryl (and others, perhaps!) in reading the six recommended books from the New York Times article. I don't know if you are thinking of setting up a thread or group challenge page or what, but I'd love to help. I don't own any of the six yet but I will acquire them. :-)

Hmm, several of your links/pictures seem to be "broken."

Happy new thread Rachel. Your book plans for 2017 look really interesting. I also have The Underground Railroad in mind for next year and I may also join you in reading some of the books from the NYT article (it may depend on their availability in the UK).

>3 The_Hibernator: Happy new thread. I wanted to remind you to be sure and check out Packer's New Yorker article from last month when you read The Unwinding. It is basically an update to the book.

Happy New Thread, Rachel!

I'll be following along and reading some if not all of your NYT "how we got here" challenge. I have several others that I would like to read that probably fit into that category.

I've taken part in two read through the Bible groups here on LT. The first was a challenge in the Christianity group which attracted so many haters that it had to go underground to a private group. The second was an amazing commentary on the Jewish Bible (OT) in Club Read that had its thread titles carefully disguised.

Just sayin'. It may become a challenge in more ways than one. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. I'll be following along that thread, too.

I love your plans for writing. I think whichever path you choose is not as important as the fact that you are making a commitment and outlining a path for yourself.

I'm thinking of joining a local writers' group to push me into writing on a regular basis.

>4 The_Hibernator: My mom's in Orlando. I'm sure she'd be happy to give local advice or meet you for a meal. She's not a reader though. She is, however, a great conversationalist.

>5 charl08: >6 PaulCranswick: Thanks Charlotte and Paul! Looks like I'm going elsewhere than Orlando, though I haven't decided where yet. I'll have to look at the choices again.

>7 Ape: Hi Stephen!

>8 _Zoe_: That would be fun Zoe. A couple of people over in the category challenge want to read New Jim Crow and maybe Evicted as well.

>9 brodiew2: Hi Brodie! As I said to Zoe, there COULD be a group read of The New Jim Crow coming up, I'll keep you updated.

>10 msf59: Hi Mark! I'm glad to hear more good news about Hillbilly Elegy and Evicted.

>11 ronincats: Thanks Roni!

>12 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! I don't know why my pictures and links are broken. They don't appear broken on either of my computers or phone. Weird. Maybe it was just a temporary snafu. I will be setting up a thread for each book as the allotted date comes along. Shouldn't be too much hassle. I've got to wait until Jim sets up a new group before I make the thread for Unwinding, though I'll be sure to put a link on both my thread and the group read thread when it's up.

>13 souloftherose: Hi Heather! I'm really looking forward to reading Underground Railroad. I've heard so many great things about it.

>14 Oberon: Thanks Erik, I'll be sure to check it out. Should I read it before or after reading the book?

>15 streamsong: Hi Janet! Thanks for the advice on the Bible group. I'm hoping people will stay civil. I'm not sure why haters start in! *sigh I'll probably go for the HR route in 2018. I know Katherine gave me some good advice in focusing on what I want to write instead of practice, but I don't feel ready yet. I'll probably join a local club, as well.

>16 Morphidae: Hi Morphy! I'll not be going to Orlando after all.

So, as I said in the above I won't be going to Orlando. I was originally going to be going for a conference for work, and had a choice of several locations. All three of us wanted to go to Orlando, but my boss was worried about only having two employees during that time-frame. He wanted us to split up. So I offered to choose another date/location if he would give me three days off after Christmas so that I could go on a mini-vacation with my sister and nephew. It should be a lot of fun. We'll be going to a lodge in Northern Minnesota for a couple of days. They'll have sleigh rides and dog-sled rides and snowshoeing and a bonfire. They have a water park, and we have our own fireplace in our room. I'm pretty excited. Now I just need to figure out where to go for the conference (all on my lonesome).

>17 The_Hibernator: Read the New Yorker article after you finish the book. It is an update of sorts.

>18 The_Hibernator: Well, if one of the choices happens to be in the DC area, I'm sure we could get a few folks together for a meetup!

Hi Rachel or howdy as I usually say. Thought I would pop in over here. I look forward to your reading next year and a few shared reads.

>17 The_Hibernator: I have a copy of Evicted already sitting on my shelf, so that one's definitely way up there on my TBR list. I haven't yet purchased The New Jim Crow because something about its physical appearance doesn't appeal to me (possibly the font seems too small?), but I've been meaning to read it for ages.

I wish I were a faster reader.

>18 The_Hibernator: "So I offered to choose another date/location if he would give me three days off after Christmas so that I could go on a mini-vacation with my sister and nephew."
Sounds like an excellent compromise!

>18 The_Hibernator: Yeah, sounds like you made a great deal.

I think you should tell us the locations then see who can gather up the most people for a meet-up!

Great choice for a holiday. Sounds wonderful.

What are your choices for the conference venue? Anywhere leading the pack just now?

>19 Oberon: Will do, Erik.

>20 drneutron: Unfortunately, I don't recall any on the East Coast at all, but I could be wrong. I'll double check.

>21 luvamystery65: Me too Roberta!

>22 _Zoe_: Yeah, I think The New Jim Crow is pretty much a must-read if you're interested in social justice. It seems that way, anyway.

>23 EBT1002: Yeah, I'm pretty proud of it. My boss didn't want to tell any one of us no, and I knew the other two wouldn't back off, so it would have been me backing off in the end, anyway. This way he saves a little pride by making it a compromise, and I totally win because I'll get to go on a conference anyway.

>24 Morphidae: >25 charl08: Denver in March, Detroit in May, Dallas in June, Atlanta in July (I know Darryl's out there), Denver in August, Philly in September, and Indianapolis in October.

Philly's pretty close!

Oh, that's true. Hadn't thought about it that way, but you're right. lol

ETA: It's only 2.5 hours away, it looks. That's certainly manageable. I'll consider that as one of my top options then.

The Price of Silence, by Liza Long

When, in December 2012, Adam Lanza rampaged Sandy Hook Elementary, killing 20 children and 6 adult staff members, people blamed the mother for not taking proper care of her child. But how was she supposed to care for her mentally ill son when the mental health system is so broken, argues Liza Long. Ms Long is also the mother of an unstable, mentally ill child who has violent outbursts. She can relate to Adam Lanza's mother's quandary.

In The Price of Silence, Ms. Long outlines the problems with the mental healthcare system, focusing primarily on how it fails our children. It's nearly impossible to find a school that will educate children prone to outbursts, and impossible to afford mental health care as a home-schooler. Parents often have to divorce and quit their jobs in order to apply for state assistance. Even when they have state assistance, there are very few safe residential facilities for minors who need more focused care. Thus, the children end up bursting into rages that get them arrested. Most minors in juvenile detention are mentally ill, in fact. Such minors cycle in and out of juvenile detention, where they get only minimal education or treatment for their mental disorders. The price we pay for housing these minors in juvenile detention is much higher than we would pay to house them in residential facilities, and is much less effective, argues Ms. Long.

This was a very interesting book which will unfortunately only be read by people who already appreciate how broken our mental health system is. It provides a lot of information, while staying personal because of Ms. Long's biographical sections. It's a very readable book. That said, I think she overstated her case a bit. This overstatement is probably partly due to her passion for the subject, and also because she lives in Idaho, a state which is less likely to provide social programs to care for the disabled.

Despite the overstatments, however, I think this book is well-worth reading. It was a good supplement to The Fifth Child, which I read in October, and I plan on supplementing it further with We Need to Talk about Kevin soon.

>26 The_Hibernator: Philly in September
This one looks good.

I am late to your newest thread, Rachel. Happy new one. Sounds like you made an excellent deal concerning the conference - your mini-vacation plans sound fun. And I'm impressed with your plans for next year. My plan is to have no plan. Heh.

>29 The_Hibernator: That looks very interesting if very depressing.

>3 The_Hibernator: I was thinking of your book club (which I wasn't planning on joining since I have read many of the titles already). If you have time and inclination there is one more that I would suggest you consider -Our Kids by Robert Putnam. Putnam's book is excellent overview on the decline in social mobility in the United States and addresses a lot of the issues that several of the other books deal with. Furthermore, it offers some suggestions for responding to the changes which I found a bit more uplifting than some of the others.

>33 Oberon: I'm glad to hear that; I started reading Our Kids and put it down almost immediately because it was too depressing for the moment.

Hmm, I may struggle with this book club....

>29 The_Hibernator: Sounds worthwhile. I have been considering a read of We Need to Talk About Kevin for some time now. There is much to learn and understand about how things end up going the direction they go....

I was thinking Atlanta sounded good to see kidzdoc but Atlanta in July?! *shudders*

>26 The_Hibernator: Philly is about an hour south of me. Just sayin'

>30 qebo: Yeah Katherine, Philly seems to be the consensus.

>31 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! Sometimes it's best to have no plan. :)

>32 Oberon: >33 Oberon: Yeah, it was pretty depressing Erik. But I knew it would be, and I have a specific interest in the mental health system. As for Our Kids, I'll put it on my list, though I'm not sure whether I'll find time for it next year or not. I'll try to squeeze it in if I can make it through the 12 I have planned. :) Uplifting suggestions for this time of crisis are most welcome.

>34 _Zoe_: I think we'll all struggle a little with this book club, Zoe. But we can pull through together!

>35 EBT1002: Hopefully you get to read We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ellen. It's supposed to be fantastic. And you're right, it's good to understand how things can go so terribly wrong. There are two few books out there that approach this subject in a sympathetic manner.

>36 Morphidae: Yeah, Morphy, I was thinking the same thing. :) I'll probably go to Philly.

>37 weird_O: It looks like there are several people in that area that may be able to pull off a meet-up. I'll put myself down for Philly.

A Confusion of Princes, by Garth Nix, Read by Michael Goldstrom

17yo Khemri has just become a prince of an intergalactic empire. But being a prince isn't at all what he expected. There's no cruising around the empire in his shiny new ship, having adventures and making his fortune. No, the Emperor will be retiring soon, and Khemri must prepare to compete for the status of new Emperor.

I got this book because I loved the other Garth Nix books I've read, and I wanted a book my nephew would enjoy for a road trip. I was a little disappointed in this book. First of all, it wasn't really age-appropriate for my nephew, who's 12. I think it would be more appropriate for a 14 or 15 year old. Second, it was a bit boring. The plot had great potential, but it just fell flat for me. I enjoyed the world building, and thought so much more could have been done with it. He was limiting himself with the age range, I think. If he tried the same universe with a target audience of older teens to adults, then it would have been a splendid book.

Hi Rachel! Happy newish thread!

I love both Denver and Philly so I'd pick one of those!

>40 cbl_tn: I've been to both and enjoyed, Carrie. But I think I'll pick Philly.

Went to the new Barnes and Noble concept store that sells beer and wine. Pretty cool, but disappointed that I couldn't use my gift card at the bar. Nor could I buy my book there. 😝 Still....Books and booze.

>42 The_Hibernator: Hopefully they'll get that glitch sorted out soon... :-)

Have a great weekend Rachel.

Happy Saturday, Rachel! Good review of The Price of Silence. Sounds like an important read.

Enjoy your weekend.

Happy new thread, Rachel! I am all in for the six books about the past election, and I also plan to read Evicted, and I'll join you in reading The New Jim Crow in July. One of my physician colleagues is eager to borrow my copy of The Underground Railroad, so I'll read it next week so that I can give it to Matt before Hanukah.

My religious reading will include books about and by the Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and I think I have an LTER book by Cornel West that I have yet to read. Sometime this spring or summer I'll probably start reading The Quran, as a young North African man who works in a local fish & chips shop that I go to frequently gave me a copy of it a couple of years ago.

Regarding meetups I would not recommend Atlanta, as I don't know of any active LTers in the city, and the two who did have a presence in Club Read or 75 Books rebuffed my attempts at meeting up, so I've given up on them. July is also not a great month to come here, unless you enjoy sweltering and humid weather. Atlanta in March or April is delightful, though, and October and November are very nice here.

Nice review of The Price of Silence; I've added it to my wish list. The hyperlinks in your review go to a similarly named but infinitely less interesting book by Kate Wilhelm, though.

>43 charl08: Hi Charlotte! A Litsy person suggested that the restaurant isn't run by Barnes and Noble, but instead a separate company. That's why we can't buy books there. :(

>44 msf59: Thanks Mark!

>45 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl! Your message is too intense to answer on my cell phone. I'll have to log on to a computer.

>45 kidzdoc: Ok. Here I am. Sometimes I find it easier to use my phone if I'm typing short messages because my computer takes so long to turn on. :)

I'm glad you'll be joining me in my challenge - though I don't think the books are specifically about this election...I think they're about the rise of populism. I guess we'll see. There are a few people (Zoe, and some category people) who are going to read Evicted next year, I think. Perhaps we could do that together, too, though I need to be careful not to set up too many group reads! But it seems a good book for discussion.

I read the Quran several years ago. It was interesting from a cultural standpoint, though it had some rather dense sections. But so does the Bible.

Well, I'd pretty much decided that I was going to go to Philly because it seems like there's a good number of people in the general area. Hopefully some day we'll make it to the same meet-up!

I've fixed my touchstones. :)

Winter has come! It's cold and windy outside, and supposed to drop even lower next week. I've gotten out my winter jacket, and still need to figure out what happened to my gloves. Nothing much happened this week worth noting. Hero has recovered splendidly from her surgery and everything is calm here at Casa Hibernator.

Currently Reading: Same as last week.



Completed: Finished this weeks The Week, and the indie novel Chaos, by Julian Kincaid (review and author interview upcoming)



Acquired: My copy of We Need to Talk About Kevin has arrived!

"Winter has come!" you sure have that right, Rachel! Good day to curl up with the books. That is my plan anyway!

I'm kind of surprised that B&N don't own the bar - so profitable!

Impressed by all the serious reading plans going on here. I've just read an article about Wolfgang Streeck and it has kind of convinced me that I should read How will Capitalism End?. They quote an academic saying he is 'the most interesting person around today on the subject of the relationship between democracy and capitalism'...
Wolfgang Streeck: the German economist calling time on capitalism

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/09/wolfgang-streeck-the-german-econom...

>49 msf59: Yes, mine too as soon as I get back from a meeting at work.

>50 charl08: Hmmmm. Just looked up the article and the book, Charlotte. His thesis is a little unsettling to me, but I haven't read the article yet, just glanced at it. I'll read it at my leisure in a bit. Probably on my phone curled up under a blanket.

If I find the article as intriguing as it seems, I might also find time to read How Will Capitalism End?.

ETA: It appears to be a very short book. Maybe I'll pick it up for February.

Looks like I'll be reading Evicted as a group read in January, and The Unwinding as a group read in January and February. And I'll listen to Swann's Way in Jan as well. So I guess my schedule is pretty full with heavy books! Luckily I'll have the Oz books and maybe some Harry Potter to lighten things up.

Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman

Silberman explores the history of autism by weaving stories / case histories of autistic people in with stories of psychological and ideological leaps in the understanding of autism. He reveals a lot of details I didn't know about researchers like Hans Asperger and the making of the movie Rainman. It was information that I was intrigued by, though I found his writing style to be a bit winding at times. In the end, I felt a little lost about what the thesis of Silberman's book was - or if he had one at all. Before reading the book I expected to get a history of autism research with a lot of current information on the neurodiversity movement. But because there were so many stories of autistic people woven into the book, I didn't really get what I expected. The information seemed a bit scattered. Not that I didn't enjoy the book - I did. It was interesting reading about all those case histories - it gave the book a personal air. I just expected a more A-to-B-to-C historical account of the history of autism and the neurodiversity movement.

I love the Tana French series! I have The Secret Place up next. I have North and South on queue for next month. I hope to have time to listen to it. My big read is going to Moby Dick and I'll do that by reading/listening. I have been wanting to get to N&S for a while now. I absolutely love Juliet Stevenson as a narrator.

I enjoyed NeuroTribes as well, but I wasn't blown away by it; I think I gave it 4 stars as well.

I'll probably start reading Evicted in the first week of January, just after I finish my Christmas and New Year's work stretch, and I'll plan to read The Unwinding in February.

I've requested Evicted through ILL, but there seems to be a line, so hopefully I'll get it in sometime January-ish.

I'm having fun figuring out my next year's reading. Yes, I know I could start it right this minute, but January 1st seems so clean and fresh~

>54 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta! I'm enjoying In the Woods a lot. 🙂 I'm reading North and South using the Serial Reader app. It gives a daily issue of about 10 pages and I just read that much each day. It's a lot of fun, but next year I'll be reading daily bits of Bible and of Oz book all year, so I won't have time for Serial Reader.

I hope you enjoy North and South. I certainly am. And Stevenson is a great narrator.

>55 kidzdoc: Evicted and The Unwinding are both long books so I won't be reading The Unwinding till Feb either, most likely. Glad you'll be joining on both group reads. I'm looking forward to the discussion.

>56 streamsong: Figuring out next year's reading is so much fun!

I hope you are able to get Evicted in a timely manner! There's no way I'd get it from my library on time for January. But if you're a little late, it'll still be good for you to join the discussion at the end...

Ugh. So I'm at the doctor waiting for my dad. He fell down the stairs last night. Thinks he broke his knee. We'll see!

>59 The_Hibernator: Oh no! Sending wellness vibes your way.

Hope he's OK. That sounds really painful.

>59 The_Hibernator: Oh yikes, I hope things end up all right. I agree with >61 charl08:, that sounds incredibly painful.

Sounds like he's in a lot of pain. He should really have gone to the ER last night, but you know how stubborn some people can be. He's been in the doctor's office for a while now, though. Hopefully not much longer.

I hope he heals quickly, and becomes less stubborn. I have more hope for the first one.

He's fine. Didn't actually break anything. Just badly bruised. So all's well that ends well.

Just saying hello. I enjoyed the first two Tana French novels and keep saying I'm going to dig into the third "sometime soon."

I'm looking forward to reading The Unwinding with you and others in February.

>65 The_Hibernator: What a relief! :)
I hope the bruises will heal quickly.

Yes, stubborn dads. Mine own one refused twice in the past 3 weeks going to ER for something (because he's never been to ER) and now he's got quite the health crisis.

Glad it's not broken. That must be a relief for you both.

>18 The_Hibernator: 'sleigh rides and dog-sled rides and snowshoeing and a bonfire'

Your mini-break sounds like a lot of fun!

>53 The_Hibernator: I think I agree with you about Neurotribes - really interesting subject but the author's writing style and structure of the book I thought left something to be desired.

>65 The_Hibernator: Oh no! Glad to hear it wasn't a break in the end.

>66 EBT1002: I'm really enjoying the Tana French book, so I'm sure I'll "eventually" get to the rest of the series too, Ellen. I'm bad about actually getting to "eventually" with a lot of series, though! :(

>67 Deern: Oh no Nathalie! I hope he'll turn out ok in the end!

>68 charl08: Yes, it really is Charlotte. I was worried he'd have to have another orthopedic surgery! And mom doesn't drive, so...all me. That's what happened after his hip broke a couple years ago.

>69 souloftherose: Hi Heather! Yeah, I'm excited for my mini-vacation! :) :) :)

I've only read the Bible through once before, and that was a rushed reading in my youth to say been-there-done-that. I've been wanting to study its literary, historical, and spiritual content more closely for a long time, and in the year 2017 I'll start with a literary group reading. Everyone is welcome to join me for some or all of this project.

I have several books to help me through this project. The most important is my Bible-of-Choice, The Literary Study Bible, ed. by Leland Ryken and Philip Graham Ryken. It is a "reader's Bible" with reasonable print size and concise literary annotations. So far I'm pleased with it, though I'm holding back judgement until I delve deeper into reading it.



I already started reading How to Read the Bible by James Kugel and am enjoying it quite a bit, though its focus is on critical / historical interpretation and not literary per se.



The Literary Guide to the Bible ed. by Robert Alter and Frank Kermode is also a fantastic resource. It has an essay on each separate book (or group of books at times), and I will read the essays as I progress through the Bible. I found the introduction to be very dense, though, and from reading reviews it appears that Robert Alter's writing is brilliant but dense. I'm hoping the rest of the essays will be more approachable.



The Literary Guide to the Bible suggests reading the first two chapters of Erich Auerbach's Mimesis, since they revolutionized literary interpretation of the Bible. I just happen to have Mimesis on my shelf, so I'll read through those chapters.



That leaves the question, do I stop there or do I find one more book to read to help me better understand literary analysis of the Bible? Another promising selection is The Art of Biblical Narrative, which I've read is worth slogging through the dense writing to get to the crux. After reading the introduction to The Literary Guide to the Bible, I'm skeptical that I really want to slog through that, though. It was on my Christmas list, so if I get it I'll read it. I'll let Christmas be my guide.



Another option is The Bible as Literature: An Introduction by John B. Gabel, Charles B. Wheeler, Anthony D. York, David Citino, and Nicola Denzey. It's a textbook and is apparently pretty clear, though not as brilliant as The Art of Biblical Narrative.



Has anybody read good books on the subject of reading the Bible from a literary perspective? Any ideas?

So I readily confess that this is not my area but my sister spent a big chunk of her academic career on biblical studies. She is a big fan of the author Elaine Pagels. I have read one or two of her books and would commend them for the historical perspective.

Good morning, Rachel! I hope all is well with you.

It looks like you are gearing up for the big read through.

My mum is another one with theological study under her belt. She says John Drane was a favourite for accessibility, but more general context than specifically literary. Sounds like you've got plenty to keep you busy above though...

>72 Oberon: Thanks Erik! I've also read a couple of books by Pagels and found them very interesting. I plan on rereading from an historical point of view at some point in the future - that time at a much slower pace - so I'll save the supplementary history books for then. There are a LOT more historical ones than literary ones. I promised myself a literary reading and then discovered I didn't know how to approach the Bible from that direction. :)

>73 brodiew2: I am, Brodie!

>74 charl08: Hi Charlotte. You're right, I really do have plenty. But it's good to know if I'm missing anything. It'll be hard balancing this with my other big project this year, but I have already made a plan that I'll read 5 pages of the Bible every day, and supplementary Bible reading goes on Sundays. So hopefully I manage to pull through my over-booked year in-tact.

I loved your post on Darryl's thread about fluff-shame. (And I plan to shamelessly steal that phrase!) But I thought I'd comment over here since Darryl is not too fluff-y. :-)

My own fluff-shame happens when I go to my profile page and look at the 5 'Random Books From Streamsong's Library' . There's usually an 'oh no' in every batch. Each time you hit refresh you get a new list, and I can go through 5 or 6 refreshes before I don't hit an 'oh, no not that one'.

Lol Janet. I can just see you sitting there pressing "refresh " over and over with a look of abject horror on your face.

I did think twice before making the fluff-shame comment on Darryl's thread, but decided he's tough and can handle it. 🙂 All doctors need to have a tough skin.

Hmmm. From my profile:

The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World by David Jaher

I led 3 lives; citizen, "Communist," counterspy by Herbert Arthur Philbrick

Zone One: A Novel by Colson Whitehead

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

The Thief's Gamble (Tale of Einarinn) by Juliet E. McKenna

The Time Roads by Beth Bernobich

Mainspring by Jay Lake

Yeah, so no major shame, but some serious sf/f weighting. You'd think that's all I read. Oh, wait...

I'm glad to hear your dad's knee wasn't broken and I hope it heals quickly.

71: Well, this is just great. Now I risk bursting into flames every time I visit your thread.

>78 drneutron: lol! I'm glad you're not ashamed of your reading habits! It's counterproductive. 🙂

>79 Morphidae: He's much better today, Morphy.

>80 Ape: at first I thought you meant because of the alarming amount of exposed flesh on Adam and Eve.

Hi, Rachel! Hope you are staying warm & cozy! I should call in sick tomorrow but of course, I won't...

>71 The_Hibernator: Meier devotes much of the first book of this series to an explanation of methodology.

I was at my son's house Sunday for his wife's birthday. On a window sill, I saw a stack of books with familiar titles. "So you're going to read the liberal book list?" I asked. She saw the reviews in The NY Times, she said, and just said, WTH! Bought 'em all. I do believe they'll be available for borrowing as she reads them, one by one. I read The Unwinding when it was first published. And as I told my DIL, I have Rules for Radicals in hardcover; it's due for a re-read, I guess.

Rachel, your bible study plan is so adventurous! Are you doing the whole range from Genesis to the end of the New Testament? I confess I've never read the Old Testament right through, although I've read a lot of it while attending Temple classes, and I've never read the New Testament at all.

In fact, when my mother saw a copy of the King James bible on my shelves she got really worried, but I explained to her that it holds too many literary references to be ignored - and then I didn't read it.

I'm going to take your commentary titles as book suggestions for myself. Maybe in the coming year I'll be organized enough to follow your example.

81: That usually causes a different kind of bursting.

>82 msf59: Hi Mark! Staying warm and cozy as I can. I worked yesterday, so I had to venture out, but not far. And today I have the day off (I work three 14-16 hour days a week), though I need to go to the bank and to the vet. Not looking forward to that for several reasons. But I'll survive. *Gasp!* I was planning on making both runs at one time, but I just realized I can't leave my cat in the car in subzero weather to run into the bank! lol

>83 ronincats: Thank Roni, I'll check those out.

>84 weird_O: It's surprising to me how many people have made a project of political reading after this election season. I'm seeing it all over the blogosphere, here, on Litsy... I wonder how long the trend will last before people forget about it and move on to other projects? I'm committed to my project, of course, because I have other people reading with me. Which is a good thing. :)

>85 ffortsa: Hi Judy! Yes, I'm reading it all the way through at about 5 pages per day. This Bible reading is something I wanted to do for a long time. I was going to do it last year because I guy in the blogosphere was hosting a literary read-along, but then he backed out. :( He's going to be doing it in 2018. I wouldn't mind doing a historical read-along, too. But one thing at a time.

>86 Ape: And here I thought you had an angelic aversion to partial nudity, Stephen.

Special Agent Nicholas Keegan would like to spend more time with his wife, but he just can't lay off his work as a forensic criminologist for the FBI. When he spearheads an update in the ineffective national criminal database ViCAP, collating previously unentered data, patterns start emerging and Keegan realizes that a brutal crime he's investigating is really just one in a series of murders.

I don't read a lot of police procedurals, but when I do I like them to keep me glued to the book, worried about what happens next. Chaos didn't disappoint. I was totally invested in what would happen when Keegan and his psychopathic adversary Zorin finally met. Keegan was an engaging character, and I cared about his troubles, but the real attention-winning character for me was Zorin. I wanted to know more about him, why he was the way he was, what he was going to do next. I admit to spending a lot of time reading Zorin's blog posts on EnterTheMaelstrom.com before ever reading Chaos, so I already knew some of what Keegan was going to discover. But that just made the discoveries all that more exciting. I love Schuette's idea of making a real-life blog for a fictional character. It gives potential readers a taste of what's to come, or it can be left as a treat at the end for readers who worry about spoilers. It also gave the serial killer Zorin a life of his own - it showed both sides of the bloody quarter.

87: It's more of a deranged inferiority complex...

>90 The_Hibernator: SNAP OUT OF IT! *slaps Steven's face*

Does that make you feel less inferior?

So Polar Vortex 2017 has hit Minnesota. And on top of that Winter Storm Decima is coming! We're supposed to be pelted ice and snow tonight and then have temperatures down to -23 degree Fahrenheit tomorrow. Mmmm. I look forward to going to work at 4:30am. At least I don't have to drive far!

My New Year Resolution is to start exercising more often. So in January I'm hoping I'll have a lot more time to listen to audiobooks while I'm slaving away in the gym. I do better when I have a goal in mind, so I've decided to train for the Itascatur. It's a 100 mile bike ride around Lake Itasca State Park (that's where the headwaters to the Mississippi are). It's in September, so that gives me plenty of time to get rid of the extra chubbiness and figure out how to train for the hills. Distance I can do. It's the hills that kill me. I wish I had someone to accompany me on the ride, though!

Currently Reading: (Yup, same as last week)



Completed:

DUDE EVERYONE! If you have an Audible Account you can get Trevor Noah's Born a Crime and Other Third World Problems (read by himself) for free with the coupon code ACRIME1

90: Not exactly... o.o

>93 Ape: I thought maybe some righteous indignation would help

>91 The_Hibernator: We are getting tons of snow, but not the crazy low temps of MN and surrounding states. I saw that we got 11 inches in 18 hours yesterday.

I'm a big fan of audio books while exercising. A few years ago they became my exclusive listening for running. Your goal sounds great - maybe you'll find someone to accompany you on it, although I found with the race I did here, I ended up talking to a few strangers who were just on about the same pace as me. I guess that's a little harder with cycling, but commiseration and friendly faces should be possible and create some camaraderie. :)

>95 ursula: Well, I'm sure there will be people to talk to on the trail, you're right. Though it would be nice to have someone hold me accountable for my training - especially hill training. I might join a cycling group with Meetup, if I can find one. I was looking around a bit today, but they're not very active in the winter. :)

Hsppy Friday, Rachel! i really like your current reading list, although I have yet to read the Gaskell. Bad Mark?

I managed to snag the audio of Born a Crime a couple weeks ago. I have hear good things.

Great to see your thread whizzing along so merrily what with all the fluff and all!

Have a great weekend, Rachel. xx

Yay for New Year's resolutions!

Would general strength training (e.g., squats) help with hills? And can you sign up for a spin class to get some bicycle-like activity in the winter?

>96 The_Hibernator: Ah yeah, I wasn't sure if you meant for the training or the literal ride. Maybe you'll find a like-minded person at the gym?

Trying to catch up with you. We've been hit by the cold too, but not quite as bad as yours - just -11 or so this morning. But some crazy wind too. It's moderating now, thank goodness!

Rachel, thanks for visiting my thread. I'm definitely interested in both group reads you're doing, so I'll watch here for updates. I'm looking around for other books on approaching the Bible as literature, but it looks like you've chosen two good ones - one for literature, and one that is more historical/critical.

Ardene

My ears are burning for some reason...

>76 streamsong: since Darryl is not too fluff-y. :-)

Ha! Guilty as charged.

>77 The_Hibernator: I did think twice before making the fluff-shame comment on Darryl's thread, but decided he's tough and can handle it. 🙂 All doctors need to have a tough skin.

True. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. *sniff*

I'm glad to hear that your father is doing better.

I'm also glad that you'll be joining us in Club Read in 2017. IIRC Dan (@dchaikin) read the New Testament in detail last year, so he, myself and I'm sure many others will follow your thread with interest.

>97 msf59: I've heard good things, too, Mark. I love Trevor Noah.

>98 PaulCranswick: Well, I've been fluff-free for about a month now, Paul. Unless In the Woods counts as fluff. I guess it could. :)

>99 _Zoe_: Squats. That's probably a good idea, Zoe. I hadn't thought of that. Because I need to think of a winter-friendly way to train for hills. I should probably find a personal trainer to help me with toning / weight exercises, but they're so expensive!

>100 ursula: We'll see Ursula. I'm not going to worry about it too much. I'll have my audiobooks, anyway. :) I've gone on / trained for races alone before and it's never hurt me. One of my friends offered to train with me, but he doesn't have a bike and no money to buy one. lol

>101 sibylline: Hi Lucy! We should be back up to 20 Fahrenheit tomorrow.

>102 markon: Thanks for stopping by Ardene! Good to hear that you're interested in both challenges. They should both be very educational. I'll definitely post the thread here when I get it set up.

>103 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl! I knew Dan had read the Bible recently, so I already asked him if he had any suggestions for further reading. Though I imagine I've found the "important" ones.

So the Red Cross just sent me an email asking me to donate platelets on Christmas! Why are they open on Christmas?! I'm tempted to do, it, though. Maybe. I'll see. Or maybe New Year. They asked for New Year, too. I'm not doing anything on New Year. Hmmm.

Do you think they give you a free ham if you donate on Christmas? They give you a free turkey if you donate on Thanksgiving.

>91 The_Hibernator: I can be with you in spirit, Rachel. I'm a walker not a biker but I am making an effort to get more exercise in my life. My goals aren't as ambitious as yours. I'm surprised at how easy it is to get my 10,000 steps in every day. Perhaps I need to step it up (groan) next year.

>106 Donna828: We take a lot of steps in our work, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on my weight. Probably would help if I brought lunch instead of buying, but making lunch in the morning is tough for me because food makes me nauseous. Then I get hungry and go get fries frim McDonalds.

4:00 am is not a good time for going to work! I could pack the night before, but I'll have to find something that is healthy, requires minimal effort, and doesn't get soggy overnight.

Well, I tried to sign up for a NASA bedrest study after hearing how much they pay in Packing for Mars, but neither the phone number nor the website in the advert works! 🙁

Morning Rachel! Bummer about the bedrest study. LOL. At least, you gave it a shot. I loved Packing!! My favorite Roach.

>109 msf59: I'm enjoying it too! And then Packing for Mars actually had some quotes from an interview with my dissertation advisor about how bears don't lose bone mass during hibernation. So cool! It's fun to every once in a while come across people I've known or met in nonfiction.

Also, I took a poll on Twitter and Litsy asking if I should read Handmaid's Tale or We Need to Talk About Kevin in January. 13 votes for Handmaid's Tale and 3 for We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Good morning, Rachel! I hope all is well with you.

>110 The_Hibernator: Packing for Mars sounds interesting. I'm not familiar with this author. I'll have to check her out.

Hi Brodie! Roach is quirky, irreverent, and sometimes a little gross. But totally in a funny way. Her books are hilarious and educational.

Listened to one of Lawson's (audio book) and made it about 3/4 of the way and her manic style began to wear on me.

Really? I have Furiously Happy on Audible. Does she have bipolar? She could actually be manic. I wouldn't call Roach manic.

I enjoyed most of Lawson's book, Let's Pretend this Never Happened, which she narrated herself. It just wore on me over time.

I've heard other people say the same thing.

>77 The_Hibernator: Hee, hee it might not be quite that bad.

Personally I need fluff as a palate cleanser while reading more heavy-duty stuff. And December is made for fluff. But ... I have a lot of New Age and self-help books that I picked up and haven't read and those darn things show up on my homepage all the time for some reason.

I just finished one of Jan Karon's Mitford books, and I'm now starting Cursed Child. But I also just finished Between the World and Me and am working on finishing Shock Doctrine which is one of the toughest books I think I've ever read. I'm afraid we'll see more and more of this nasty brand of capitalism under the new regime.

Good morning, Rachel! I hope all is well with you.

>117 streamsong: I read some of the early Mitford books and enjoyed them greatly. I've listened to a couple of the recently ones on audio. Still good.

>117 streamsong: Hi Janet! Fluff is an excellent palate cleanser! That's exactly why I need it.

>118 brodiew2: Hi Brodie! I've never read the Mitford books, but I've heard they're great.

As I said in my update this weekend, I have decided to get healthy again by training for a 100 mile bike ride in September. Part of that choice is just enjoyment in the accomplishment, but part of it is because I want to lose weight. Ever since I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and went on medications, I have been gaining weight. I would like to lose that weight again and be back to the person I was. So I will eat healthier, exercise more, and mostly give up diet soda (not altogether - failed attempts in the past have taught me that giving up soda altogether only leads to relapse later). I'm giving up the diet soda because I've heard rumor that it negatively affects one's metabolism so that people gain weight when drinking it.

In case you're interested, I have no shame: here's a graph of my weight over the past few years:



Impressive amount of weight gain, eh? The data starts shortly after I went on medications.

Today I headed over to the fitness center try my first workout (yeah, I made it a whole 15 minutes of cycling - 4 miles) and to ask about a personal trainer. The PT would be a lot of money, which I expected, but I didn't expect the 6 month contract. I'm going to have to think about whether the PT is worth it. But I might need one. We'll see. I'll Keep you updated.

I'm joining you on the NY Times challenge; read Listen, Liberal after the list came out last month and it was amazing. I'm maybe doing the Bible challenge. I need an 800+ page book for the Popsugar challenge, so we'll see if I can do this for that.

>120 The_Hibernator: Sometimes personal trainers will give you a free half-hour session or something like that since that can convince people it's worth it. It can be good to get some ideas and baselines, and also to see if that particular trainer might be a fit for you. I did it twice, with two different trainers. And I was so glad it was a trial basis with the first one, he was absolutely awful. He ended up leaving that gym not too long afterwards because other people complained about him too, in fact.

>122 ursula: That makes sense to me. Some of the gym induction classes I've been on have made me wonder why someone went into the job.

Good luck with your fitness plans. I would maybe try and avoid the gym for January, when it will be full of people, and then sign up in Feb, when lots of people will have already fallen off the wagon. But that comes as someone who lives in a relatively mild climate and can go for a walk outside for most of the year relatively easily (or at least, without feet of snow). Also quite anti-crowds (I cannot stand waiting for a fitness machine I don't *really* want to be on in the first place!).

Do you have health insurance yet? Some insurances cover PT.

>120 The_Hibernator: Thanks for posting that weight graph; it's always encouraging to see other people working to reach their goals. I've also been gaining weight over the past few years (from just under 130 at my lowest, to about 170 now), and I'm hoping that this year I might be able to get rid of some of it. I don't have any firm achievement targets, but I want to focus on steady small progress: just reaching my 10,000 step goal or going to the gym on a regular basis.

I set up the thread for The Unwinding Group Read https://www.librarything.com/topic/243872

>121 amandaea129: Hi Amanda! I'm excited to hear that you'll be joining us for the reading of the 6 books, and possibly for the Bible. I'm looking forward to your thoughts. Good that you liked Listen, Liberal. It sounds like most of these books are supposed to be pretty good.

>122 ursula: Thanks Ursula, I'll check that out. I don't know if LA Fitness does that because they actually give a free personal training session when you first sign up for a membership. I skipped it because I knew that I didn't want to do it at that time in my life. Perhaps it's something that can be worked out in private with the personal trainers. I'll definitely look into it. They do give a choice between "Master Trainers" vs. just Personal Trainers. The MT is someone who's been around for more than a year and is therefore, I assume, a seasoned trainer which people are pleased with. I'll probably end up doing that for an extra $20 a month. I don't want a bad trainer!

>123 charl08: Hi Charlotte! I totally know what you're saying about the crowds during January, and I thought about it. But luckily I'll be working out while most people are at work. If I find the crowds are too much, then I'll lay off till Feb.

>124 Morphidae: Hi Morphy! I have health insurance, but it doesn't cover PTs. Good idea though.

>125 _Zoe_: You're welcome Zoe. Glad you liked it. Baby steps is a good way of doing it. I tend to make my goals way too big and it's a toss-up if I make it or not. If I got a personal trainer I guess I would be more likely to make my goal because I'd feel financially invested.

Started the thread for the group read of Evicted!

https://www.librarything.com/topic/243885

Forgot to mention that I started a thread for the group read of the Bible.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/243886

On a side note, there's a weird gassy smell in my parent's house. It doesn't smell like natural gas, and I've looked around and checked pilot lights to make sure. I know carbon monoxide doesn't have a smell. It also doesn't smell like dead animal. Does anyone know of a gas that might kill my parents while I'm away at work? This is kind of concerning because it's been around for an hour now.

>129 The_Hibernator: Don't speculate. Call the gas company.

Yeah, I called poison control and they were supremely unhelpful and told me to call 911. I feel silly calling them because you know if I actually bother with it the smell will be gone by the time they get here. It's been around for an hour, though. :(

Sigh, that's so embarrassing. They could barely smell it by the time they got here, and they actually put the siren on to get here! From two blocks away! I heard it the instant they turned it on and I'm like "oh no, was that necessary? Maybe there's actually a real emergency they're headed to." But alas.

Now they're on the roof cleaning snow off the stack in the kitchen.

ETA: Now they scolded me for waiting an hour. :|

It could also be sewer gas. Is there a drain that isn't used very often where the water trapped in the gooseneck can dry out? Perhaps a floor drain in a laundry room or garage? You can add water to the drain to refill the gooseneck and form a block for the sewer gas.

OK, that stack could be venting sewer gas, and yeah, it can be deadly. Better safe than sorry! It's good you didn't go to work without checking it out!

>132 The_Hibernator: Now they scolded me for waiting an hour.
Emergency people have seen what can happen when people wait. There was a fire in my neighborhood early this week; homeowner apparently went into the garage, found a bag of leaves burning, called 911. Wasn't soon enough; the house is toast.

I once called 911 because sparks were flying out of an electrical outlet. Turned out that I had a stack of rags on the floor nearby and one of the cats had peed on it and overshot the target. Awkward. The firemen were completely nice about it, said this is their job and they want people to call at the first sign of trouble.

Glad you're OK Rachel! That sounds rather a dramatic pre-work moment. Glad the emergency services could come so quickly.

Working out off peak sounds like a great solution to the January crowds - a definite benefit to shifts. I'm not looking forward to having to fit my swimming around a 9-5.

>133 streamsong: >134 streamsong: Yes, it was certainly nice of them to clean off that stack! I guess it could have been sewer gas. It was an unfamiliar smell.

>135 qebo: I feel like I call 911 for "gas smell" once a year, though. Of course, it's only been about 4 times in a lifetime. The last time was about a year ago. My boyfriend and I both smelled it outside his house, so we called, and the firemen came and checked and found nothing. My boyfriend said that he'd NEVER called 911 before! I've called it maybe 4 times for gas, once for a branch on a power line, 3 times for an ambulance, and once on a suspicious guy who came to our house pretending to be a police officer (turned out he was a bounty hunter looking for my sister's ex, and he was NOT happy to be pulled over).

>136 charl08: Yeah, off peak really is best. And it's wonderful having 4 days a week off (even if I have to work 16 hour days for the other three) because that feels like it's enough exercise.

Morning Rachel! Sweet Thursday! Hooray for Evicted. It may end up being the best book I have read this year. Why it is not at the top of all best NF lists of the year, is baffling to me.

It was number one in NF in The Week magazine. Underground Railroad was number one in fiction. Not that The Week is known for its literary discernment, but it made me smile to see that the two number one books were on my definite-to-read list for the year.

The Righteous Mind explores the polarization of American politics with a focus on the different moral foundations of conservatives versus liberals. He explores the question of why both conservatives and liberals tend to think they are morally in the right and that the other side is morally wrong. Haidt spends the first two chapters providing experimental evidence of why Hume was right to say that reason is the slave of passion. He suggests that you can't make reasoned decisions without emotional backing. Haidt uses Damasio's findings, presented in his book Descartes' Error, to back this up. Damasio found that people who do not feel emotion due to brain damage are flummoxed by even small decisions like what brand of milk to buy or what order to perform a set of tasks. Haidt then references studies that suggest that people will use emotional intuition to come up with a point of view, and then look specifically at evidence that supports this intuition, ignoring evidence that contradicts their own views.

In his own studies (see figure below), Haidt breaks down people's morals into categories: care about others, fairness, loyalty, authority, and sanctity. According to Haidt's studies, liberals value caring about others and fairness much more than loyalty, authority, and sanctity. Conservatives value loyalty, authority, and sanctity more, and value care and fairness to a lesser degree. The interesting bit is that conservatives have a broader (more diverse) range of what they care about than liberals do. They care about their less important values more than liberals care about their less important values. Haidt suggests that this is why Republican candidates purposely apply to the emotional side of people more than Democrats do. And since people's rational decisions are based on emotion, the Republican candidates have an advantage with moderate voters.



Haidt goes on to answer the question: "Why do poor, rural, white folk vote against their economic best interests?" He suggests that they're voting for their moral interests - loyalty, authority, and sanctity.

The next part of the book is about evolutionary group selection. Many people believe that groupish behavior evolved in our species because a group of individuals was more successful at producing offspring than single individuals. But Haidt asks the question: how can such behavior evolve when selfish individuals within a group can take advantage of the group to be even more successful than the altruistic group members? Wouldn't evolution then favor the selfish ones? He answers this question describing a situation breeding chickens. If the chickens who produce the most eggs are inbred, then the offspring end up laying more eggs. But they also end up more aggressive, which is a trait linked to high production of eggs. Because the chickens are more aggressive, they attack and kill each other, leading to lower egg production per cage. If you, instead, breed the cage that produces the most eggs compared to the other cages, the cages of offspring end up with more eggs. Thus, evolutionary group selection is about selecting an entire group, and not about breeding individuals within a group. Haidt suggests that this is why humans tend to break into groups.

Haidt goes on to suggest that religious belief evolved as group selection (groups of religious people survive better than groups of nonreligious people) rather than as an evolutionary trait of individuals. So people not only have a tendency to break into groups, but to have a formal set of values within each group. In the end, we follow our values and tend not to understand that another group's values may be founded in truth as well.

The Righteous Mind sounds very interesting . I've read that conservatives tend to value authority more so than liberals etc - here is one study - http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/02/studies-conservatives-are-fr... . It is an interesting thought that perhaps we are " wired " to think one way or another. Personally I'm a liberal. But then again, I'm Canadian and I live in very left leaning city. I suppose that does inform one's way of thinking, especially if you lean that way .

Great book review, Rachel! Good for you with the fitness plans. A PT scares me! I like to just do my own thing. Maybe a physiotherapist might be an idea for me, as I have osteoporosis and that has forced me to be much more careful than when I was young ( like 45). I got a compression fracture in one of my vertebrate back when I was 47 or 48 and no one could figure out what was causing the pain I had. Finally I insisted on a spine x- ray and yes, I had fractured a vertebrae by doing curl ups at the gym - which I did 3 x a week. So now I am 55 and I am much more careful about what I do. No more curl ups / sit ups for yours truly. I walk, but I should learn more about what is safe for me to do stretching wise. And to think I used to be a " gym rat." " sighs"

>140 The_Hibernator: That sounds like a very interesting book.

>140 The_Hibernator: How does he define liberal and conservative?

group selection
Aaaaagh! I read Does Altruism Exist for a local discussion group early this year, and it convinced me against the concept of group selection because its argument was so poor. The author confused group selection (selection of one group vs another) with social selection (selection of individuals for their socially cooperative behaviors). I haven't read Haidt.

>141 vancouverdeb: See? That back-breaking story is exactly why I want to get a PT. So I don't do things the wrong way. But what if I get one that doesn't know what he's talking about, and he messes me up by pushing me too hard? *sigh*

I've also heard that conservatives have a more distinct disgust reflex than liberals - people have done studies on reactions to disgusting smells and images. lol

>142 souloftherose: For the sake of his study he defined liberals and conservatives by self-identification. "What do you identify as?" (With other choices, too, like libertarian). And "How strongly do you identify this way?"

I think there are some good arguments for group selection and some good for altruism. The argument could go on forever. :)

So. Instead of reading and exercising, which is what I'm supposed to be doing, I put together a list for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge, which I will certainly not have time to complete. But wouldn't it be fun?

1. A book recommended by a librarian Walking Drum, by Louis L'Amour - this is my bf's favorite book. Morphy refused to read it for book club though! :p

2. A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long In the Woods, by Tana French

3. A book of letters We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver

4. An audio book The Stand, by Stephen King

5. A book by a person of color The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander

6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title Winter's Tale, by William Shakespeare

7. A book that is a story within a story The Unwinding, by George Packer

8. A book with multiple authors The Bible

9. An espionage thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre

10. A book with a cat on the cover The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym 10 Days in a Madhouse, by Nellie Bly

12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance

13. A book by or about a person who has a disability The Psychopath Test, by Jon Ronson

14. A book involving travel Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario

15. A book with a subtitle Evicted, by Matthew Desmond

16. A book published in 2017 Dragonwatch, by Brandon Mull

17. A book involving a mythical creature Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J. K. Rowling

18. A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J. K. Rowling

19. A book about food Omnivore's Dilema, by Michael Pollan

20. A book with career advice How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

21. A book from a nonhuman perspective Paradise Lost, by John Milton

22. A steampunk Novel First Men in the Moon, by HG Wells

23. A book with a red spine The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead

24. A book set in the wilderness Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

25. A book you loved as a child Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White

26. A book by an author from a country you never visited Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah

27. A book with a title that's a character's name Swann's Way, by Marcel Proust

28. A novel set during wartime Catch-22, by Joseph Heller

29. A book with an unreliable narrator Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

30. A book with pictures The Marvelous Land of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you Roots by Alex Haley

32. A book about an interesting woman Furiously Happy, by Jenny Lawson

33. A book set in two different time periods Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler

34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title Mister Monday, by Garth Nix

35. A book set in a hotel A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles

36. A book written by someone you admire The Autistic Brain, by Temple Grandin

37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017 Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas The Legend of Sleepy Hallow, by Washington Irving

39. The first book in a series you haven't read before Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor

40. A book you bought while traveling White Trash, by Nancy Isenberg

>140 The_Hibernator: Fascinating!! Thank you for that excellent summary, Rachel. I was struck by the proposition that Conservatives care about their less-important values more than liberals care about their less-important values. It rings true for me (and no one who knows me would call me anything other than "liberal") --- thinking from that other perspective, that liberals are deeply invested in a smaller number of core values while conservatives hold a broader set of (related?) valued more deeply. I'm still trying to think about the implications of this. And trying not to fall into what I think would be a false assumption: that each person gets only a set amount of value-points (I'm making that up) to dedicate to any number of values. So, if we each get 100 value points to divvy up among things we care about..... but I don't know that it works that way.

Anyway, perhaps I should read the book. Heh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think it's great that you're planning to train for a century bike ride. Having a goal like that has always provided me with more motivation. When I trained for my first-and-last marathon back in 2008, I joined a training group. We met every Saturday morning and the organizers had laid out routes for us, with increasing distance of course. I didn't know a soul but connected nicely with a handful of other women. We tended to start each run together and then would spread out a bit based on our varying speeds. It made the whole thing much more enjoyable!

And....

Still procrastinating from reading, exercising, and shopping for groceries.

Last year, Book Riot published a list of books entitled Around the World in 80 Books, a Global Reading List. I was thinking today about what I'm missing out in my reading habits, and I decided I need to read about other places / cultures more often. So I think I'll make a 5 year project out of this. Here is my modified list. The books in bold are the ones I already own and will start with - though I can't promise much this year.

I couldn't find one for Spain. :(


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Afghanistan – A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Algeria – Algerian White by Assia Djebar
Angola – Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki
Argentina – He Who Searches by Luisa Valenzuela
Australia – The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Bangladesh – A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam
Belarus - Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich
Belgium – Wonder by Hugo Claus
Botswana - The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Brazil – Symphony in White by Adriana Lisboa
Burkina Faso – The Parachute Drop by Norbert Zongo
Cambodia – First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
Cameroon – Houseboy by Ferdinand Oyono
Canada – The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Chad – Told by Starlight in Chad by Joseph Brahim Seid
Chile – Ten Women by Marcela Serrano
China – Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
Columbia – Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Congo – Full Circle by Frederick Yamusangie
Cuba – Farewell to the Sea by Reinaldo Arenas
Egypt – Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
Ethiopia – Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
France – Gigi by Colette
Germany – The Quest for Christa T. by Christa Wolf
Ghana – Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo
Guatemala – The President by Miguel Ángel Asturias
Guinea – The Dark Child by Camara Laye
Haiti – Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
India – The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Indonesia – Saman by Ayu Utami
Iraq – Dreaming of Baghdad by Haifa Zangana
Italy – The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) – Allah Is Not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma
Japan – Woman on the Other Shore by Mitsuyo Kakuta
Kazakhstan – The Silent Steppe by Mukhamet Shayakhmetov
Kenya – The River and the Source by Margaret A. Ogola
Madagascar – Voices from Madagascar, Edited by Jacques Bourgeacq & Liliane Ramarosoa
Malawi – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
Malaysia – The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka
Mali – The Fortunes of Wangrin by Amadou Hampaté Bâ
Mexico – Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Morocco – Secret Son by Laila Lalami
Mozambique – Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto
Myanmar – Smile as they Bow by Nu Nu Yi
Nepal – Arresting God in Kathmandu by Samrat Upadhyay
Netherlands – The Dinner by Herman Koch
Niger – The Epic of Askia Mohammed, Recounted by Nouhou Malio
Nigeria – There Was a Country by Chinua Achebe
North Korea – In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park
Pakistan – The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
Peru – Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa
Philippines – State of War by Ninotchka Rosca
Poland – House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk
Romania – The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller
Russia – The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Rwanda – Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga
Saudi Arabia – Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Senegal – So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ
Somalia – Links by Nuruddin Farah
South Africa – The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer
South Korea – The Future of Silence, Translated by Ju-Chan & Bruce Fulton
South Sudan – God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau
Spain –
Sri Lanka – The Legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka
Sudan – Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih
Syria – Sabriya by Ulfat Idilbi
Taiwan – Notes of a Desolate Man by T’ien-wen Chu
Tanzania – Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Thailand – Four Reigns by Kukrit Pramoj
Turkey – My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Uganda – Abyssinian Chronicles by Moses Isegawa
Ukraine – Wave of Terror by Theodore Odrach
Uzbekistan – A Collection of Uzbek Short Stories by Mahmuda Saydumarova
Venezuela – Doña Barbara by Rómulo Gallegos
Vietnam – The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Yemen – I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali
Zambia – Bitterness by Malama Katulwende
Zimbabwe – Without a Name and Under Tongue by Yvonne Vera

>146 EBT1002: >147 EBT1002: Yeah, I don't think we get a certain number of caring points that are separated among the things we care about. Some people simply care more than others. And some people care a lot less. And I imagine that has less to do with politics than with temperament. :) I can certainly say that I care about loyalty, authority, and sanctity much less than caring for others and fairness. So this fits me pretty well.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the training, though I didn't do anything today. I should have, but I'm in one of those don't do whatever it is you've planned to do all day moods. I planned to read all day! With short breaks for shopping and exercising.

>148 The_Hibernator: Wonderful list! I may borrow and adjust, too.

"I can certainly say that I care about loyalty, authority, and sanctity much less than caring for others and fairness." Yep, me too. By a long shot.

>148 The_Hibernator: Depends on how you feel about mysteries, especially hard-boiled. These weren't to my taste but they could work for you for your Spain book.

Blood on the Saddle by Rafael Reig 5/10 stars (Ignore the review. It's not for this book.)
Water-Blue Eyes by Domingo Villar 6/10 stars

Merry Christmas Rachel! Thank you for your time, your kind words and the books we enjoy together. However you celebrate, I wish for it to be full of joy.

Ah, as fate has it, my friend, I'm joining a literature seminar whose January book is The Time of the Doves by Merce Rodoreda. (Yay! for retirement!)

I'd also recommend The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

In case you'd like a place to list your reads by country, try here: http://www.librarything.com/groups/theglobalchallenge This is pretty much a list-only group as opposed to the Reading Globally group which is active and has quarterly challenges.

If I get five new countries added to my list this year, I'll be happy. :-) I especially need to work on African and South American reading.

I applaud your weight loss journey, especially as I am one of my own.

I read The Time of the Doves (it has a different title here) and thought it worthwhile but the Spanish book I loved from reading last year was Books Burn Badly about censorship and families during the dictatorship. I feel like I should know books to recommend aside from McCall Smith about Botswana, but I had to go to a goodreads list. Ha!

Actually, Rachel, I was doing everything right with my sit- ups or as I call them, curl ups. I had done 75 most every day since I was about? 18 years old. It just happened that I developed osteoporosis, where you start to lose bone . After that , I had to re -think what I was doing. I did see a physiotherapist after it was realized that I had compression fracture, but now I need to know what I should and shouldn't do. Actually I have a pretty good idea of what I should not do . I need to find out what stretching exercises are okay for me know .

But yes, whenever you are embarking on a new fitness regimen, it's a good idea to get some ideas

>156 vancouverdeb: Sorry! Just re-read what I wrote. I didn't mean to say you don't know what you're doing, but it's certainly how it sounded! I'm afraid that I don't know what I'm doing with the machines, free weights, and squats. Afraid I'm going to injure myself if I push too hard.

Just impulsively bought The Underground Railroad while waiting for mom to finish her mall-walk. Now that I've read the first few pages, it might have pushed aside Handmaid's Tale. Oops!

And Colson Whitehead is so handsome! Whew! And so is Carl Hart. They look kinda similar with the dreadlocks...But I've talked to Hart in person, so he wins.

ETA: Aww. Hart doesn't have his picture on the author page. You'll have to trust me for now, because I am on my phone and don't have mad HTML-phone skillz.

Oh dear. I can't decide. They're both so adorable.

(Carl Hart is on the left, Colson Whitehead on the right...)

Hello, Rachel. I am following you on Itsy now and I am going to star your pages here at LT. I am a fellow Minnesotan. I love your plans, very inspiring. I see your bike trip that you have planned, that sounds cool.

Hi Kristel! How cool that you're in MN! There are a few of us LTers around here. Thanks for saying my plans are inspiring. :)

Wouldn't it be nice if 2017 was a year of peace and goodwill.
A year where people set aside their religious and racial differences.
A year where intolerance is given short shrift.
A year where hatred is replaced by, at the very least, respect.
A year where those in need are not looked upon as a burden but as a blessing.
A year where the commonality of man and woman rises up against those who would seek to subvert and divide.
A year without bombs, or shootings, or beheadings, or rape, or abuse, or spite.

2017.

Festive Greetings and a few wishes from Malaysia!

>148 The_Hibernator: I love that idea, Rachel and I am definitely going to copy it!

For Spain

Javier Cercas
Juan Marse
Enrique Vilas-Matas
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Camilo Jose Cela
and of course
Cervantes

I was so excited about how adorbs Colson Whitehead and Carl Hart are that I forgot to answer everyone!!

>150 EBT1002: >151 EBT1002: Hi Ellen! Borrow away. It's a great list, isn't it?

>152 Morphidae: Thanks Morphy! I'll check them out.

>153 nittnut: Thanks so much Jenn! You too.

>154 streamsong: Thanks Janet! I'll check out the book and the group. Shadow of the Wind is what was on the Book Riot list. I read and loved it already.

>155 charl08: Thanks for the suggestions Charlotte. I'll check them out. The Book Riot list didn't include Botswanna or Belarus. I stuck them in to replace UK and US, for which I'd already read the books.

>161 PaulCranswick: >162 PaulCranswick: Thanks so much Paul. I hope you have happy holidays too. I hadn't thought if Cervantes!

For Spain, have you read Roberto Bolaño. And is it a Spanish author from Spain or a book set in Spain? Hemingway has a couple set in Spain.

Merry Christmas, Rachel!

Happy Holidays, Rachel!

This is the Christmas tree at the end of the Pacific Beach Pier here in San Diego, a Christmas tradition.

To all my friends here at Library Thing, I want you to know how much I value you and how much I wish you a very happy holiday, whatever one you celebrate, and the very best of New Years!

Merry Christmas, Rachel.

>164 Kristelh: A book that takes place in Spain, hopefully by a native. Thanks! I hadn't thought of Roberto Bolaño.

>165 Crazymamie: >166 sibylline: >167 ronincats: >167 ronincats: I hope you all have happy holidays too Mamie, Lucy, Roni, and Barb!

For everyone else, I'm busy for the next few days, so I won't be able to drop by everyone's threads and wish you this week, but I'll have some free time on New Year. Hopefully you'll all have shiny new threads by then!

Happy holidays to everyone! Personally, I celebrate Christmas as my seasonal holiday, and it happens to be Christmas, so Merry Christmas to all!

I had a pretty average week here leading up to Christmas. Nothing exciting to report except that I went to dinner with my parents and boyfriend last night (steak!) and then he and I went to Rogue One. Which was awesome. And later today I will be headed out to celebrate Christmas with my boyfriend's family. But first Christmas Mass with my parents.

It's a freezing drizzly Christmas here, with wind and rain all day long, followed by snow on Monday. Lovely driving weather for me, my sister, and my nephew who are planning on going up north to a lodge tomorrow to celebrate her 40th birthday. Hopefully everything will work out as planned!

Currently Reading: Same books as last week. But I'm nearing the end of two of them. :)



Completed: It's been an uneventful week for reading, so I haven't actually completed ANYTHING to report this week.

Acquired: I haven't opened all my presents yet, so this isn't my complete Christmas haul. I managed to get free copies of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime and Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man from Audible. Stephanie (for Christmas swap) sent me two books I hadn't heard of before: The Hakawati, by Rabith Alameddine and Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor. I'll report the rest of my Christmas Haul next week. :)

Merry Christmas, Rachel! I hope you had a good one. I love the image in >170 The_Hibernator:. Very cute.

I've got Hakawati - let me know when you pick it up and I'll read along. It's been sad sadly on my shelf for too long...

I hope you are enjoying the holiday season, Rachel. Good luck with getting in shape in the coming year.

>148 The_Hibernator: For your Spain book I would recommend you consider Miguel de Unamuno, specifically Abel Sanchez and Other Stories. I particularly enjoyed a Saint Manuel, the Good Martyr in that collection. There are a number of excellent books that should meet your criteria if that one doesn't strike your fancy.

Hi Rachel, I didn't read all the missed posts, but of course I saw the weight chart. I'd also like to lose weight in 2017 (those cake kilos I put on after my breakup and that now won't go away) , but above all continue on the path of healthy eating because I feel it gives me so much more energy - and compared to everyone else in my family who was ill over Christmas, I got through the flu much quicker.

As for the sodas - we drink less of them in Europe, but for a while in my 20s I was totally addicted to a German brand of diet lemonade and to Diet Pepsi (don't ask why, I just never liked the taste of sugared Colas or Diet Coke). Then in the early 2000s I read something about the fattening effects of artificial sweeteners and that they are used in intensive farming to make the animals eat more (!), and something I already forgot about phosphor and the brain that applied to the Diet Colas, and I managed to switch to mineral waters and from there to still water. I found that aromatizing mineral water (sparkling or still) with some slices of ginger, with lemon/lime, mint leaves, sometimes berries helps me on those days when "just water" doesn't have enough taste. Or thinning the sodas with water, so you slowly get used to a less intense taste.

I wish you all the best with your health plans and a Safe Slide into 2017!!

Morning Rachel! Sweet Thursday! I have Born a Crime on audio, so maybe I will join you on that one. I have heard good things.

>171 brodiew2: Thanks Brodie! Hope you had a Merry Christmas too!

>172 charl08: I sure will! Hopefully I'll get to it soon, though definitely not in January!

>173 Familyhistorian: Thanks Meg!

>174 Oberon: Thanks Erik! That sounds like an excellent suggestion. I'll put it down for Spain.

>175 Deern: Yes, Nathalie, there are so many reasons to give up diet soda. It's just so hard because it's an addiction. Good luck on losing those extra kilos. I know how hard that can be. Eating healthy is a great way to do so, as you well know. :)

>176 msf59: That sounds fantastic Mark! I probably won't get to it till April, though. Have to juggle book club books, and I'm in three of them! Can you wait that long? If not, we can still discuss it when I finally get to it. :)

Hope in the Dark is a short book of essays about the importance of recognizing small victories in the face of what seems insurmountable challenge. Solnit is a radical activist who passionately protests many issues such as NAFTA, the destruction of the environment, and war. The book was beautifully written - Solnit surely knows how to compose a sentence.

The reviews of this book seem overwhelmingly positive, and I, too, thought the book had an important point. However, I was not moved by the book as other people are. I think part of the problem is that many of the issues were older - it was originally published in 2004 and republished in 2016 with a new forward and afterward which address more timely issues. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on a 2016 copy since I was trying to get it read in time for the Social Justice bookclub (still time to sign up!) which will read it in January. (I have too many other books in January to be able to fit it in then.)

Another issue I had with the book is it assumed prior knowledge of the issues such as why NAFTA is bad. I've never thought about NAFTA in the past - in fact, I only became aware of it being a controversial issue when Trump recently suggested nixing it. Perhaps that's a lack of awareness on my part, but I would have appreciated more information. But explaining the issues was not what this book was about. This book was about hope, not about education. Because of this "flaw," I found the book very boring in parts - I'm a fan of educational books more so than uplifting ones.

That said, I totally understand why people are moved by this book, and I appreciate the timeliness of preaching hope in the appearances of failure.

Good morning, Rachel! I hope all is well with you.

Thanks Brodie! You too!

Belated Merry Christmas and happy New Year, Rachel!

Thanks Heather! And I hope you had a merry Christmas too!

Packing for Mars is a hilarious and informative book about the difficulties astronauts face in outer space. It covers most bodily functions, eating, and what happens to food (and bodily fluids) in zero gravity. However, it has very little to do with visiting Mars.

I admit that I found this book a bit slow at the beginning, but it perked up around the time she started talking about the sleep studies NASA is performing. I want $7000 to lie around in bed all day for 3 months! I even called up the number provided on the NASA website to volunteer, but the number didn't work. *sigh* Oh well, I really didn't want to ruin my bones. Having studied bones for my dissertation, I recognize the long-term effects of a study like that. I was also thrilled when Roach quoted my dissertation adviser on the effects of hibernation on bear bones. How funny!

I definitely recommend this quirky book to anyone who enjoys knowledge for the sake of knowledge and isn't easily grossed out.

I know it's the 31st and not the 1st, but I'm switching over to my 2017 thread now.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/243837

Looking forward to your continued company in 2017.
Happy New Year, Rachel