This Month's Book.

God's Mum's bookshelves are interesting. One book with a review from LibraryThing is selected every month. God's Mum hopes you find them and read them all. 😎

God's Mum: Book of the Month ~ January. 2022 💙

The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe…
Richard Dawkins (Author) https://www.librarything.com/work/1576656/book/207857771

Reading Dawkins seems somehow more relevant and refreshing {now} than it probably was in the 80's when The Blind Watchmaker & The Selfish Gene were written. In a world where vaccines cause autism, climate change is a hoax and the Earth is still somehow f'ing flat (!), reading the thoughts of a purely rational & smart person is the brains equivalent of taking a big gulp of cold, spring water when you're dying of thirst.

The Selfish Gene is one of my favourite books and this one is not straying far from it in terms of it being a "pillar of belief" for my own conceptions of science and critical thinking.

💙💙💙💙💙 (5 stars)
_{Credit: flagparzivalTheVirtual}

God's Mum: Book of the Month. ~ February. 2022 💙

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl Sagan.
https://www.librarything.com/work/57246/reviews/211194871

Yet another great book by Carl Sagan.
Carl Sagan's writing gives that sense of awe about the wonders of our world, that you could have never imagined while preoccupied with your daily grind.
It makes you feel like a child again, when you first had those science classes and you'd be fascinated by all the planets, stars and galaxies.
The experience is truly humbling and rewarding.
What would I give to get an updated version of this book by the same author; sad he's no more. He'd have been amazed by the new discoveries made by Cassini, Voyager, Curiosity and various other missions.

💙💙💙💙💙 (5 stars)

Credit: Govindap11 LibraryThing.

God's Mum: Book of the Month. ~ March 2022. 💙

Letters from the Earth by Mark Twain
https://www.librarything.com/work/3381/reviews

There's nothing quite like reading Mark Twain that helps one to remember what American literature could and should be, but, unfortunately, isn't.

Mark Twain was the best America has ever produced. Satire as a literary genre might as well not exist today when compared with that of Twain. This particular book is a collection of perhaps simultaneously some of the funniest, most insightful, most uncomfortably true, and most challenging short stories and essays that Twain wrote.

Forget Colbert and Stewart; if you want real satire of the absurdities of the modern world and of the American people and government (still relevant, even if written a hundred and more years ago), this is the place to go. Forget Hitchens and Dawkins; if you want a critique of Christian faith and practice that is really relevant, challenging, and insightful, this, again, is the place to go. I recommend this book for those with a good sense of humor, a decent head on their shoulders, and a little intestinal fortitude.

💙💙💙💙 (4 Stars)

_{Credit: davidpwithun Sep 16, 2011}

God's Mum: Book of the Month. ~ April 2022. 💙

Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment.
by Phil Zuckerman (Author)

In his book Society without God, Phil Zuckerman challenges an assertion made by religious fundamentalists: that religion is the only thing that keeps humanity from falling into moral and ethical bankruptcy. Zuckerman takes a job teaching for a year in Denmark, one of the most secular nations on the planet, and finds that rather than being rife with moral depravity, corruption, crime and instability, its citizens actually rank among the happiest and most peaceful according to a variety of UN statistics.

I took copious notes while reading, as there are many quotes and anecdotes worth remembering -- an excellent and refreshing read.
💙💙💙💙💙 (5 stars)

_{Credit: ryner May 29, 2009}

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💙God's Mum ~ Book of the Month ~ May 2022 💙

Why Evolution is True. Jerry A. Coyne.

I initially didn't want to pick this book up for its aggressive title. But once you start reading, it doesn't take long to realize that the title is not intended to be aggressive; it's simply the most appropriate. 'Why Evolution Is True' is actually a very pleasant book about the overwhelming evidence FOR evolution, rather than a point by point deconstruction of creationism. Coyne is not in any way bitter or towards religion. He is simply interested in showing why evolution is true. By 'true', he means scientifically proven.

With his explanation of how scientific theories are tested, the argument that evolution is "just a theory" is kicked for touch in the first chapter. Then it's down to business looking at the evidence. Coyne's approach is to say, in effect, 'here is what the evidence shows, here is how we test it, and this is why everything points to evolution being true.' The weight of evidence is astounding. As he says in the closing sections, "Despite a million chances to be wrong, evolution always comes up right. That is as close as we can get to a scientific truth."

It is a fast, simple and devastatingly convincing read. For me, evolution has always been a topic out on the periphery in which I have never had much specific interest. This book got me interested. As a user friendly introduction to what can often be an unnecessarily contentious topic, 'Why Evolution Is True' is highly, highly recommended.

💙💙💙💙💙 (Five stars)

flagmadcurrin~ LibraryThing.
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💙God's Mum: Book Choice of the Month. ~ June 2022💙

https://www.librarything.com/work/5977/reviews/217747736

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
by Carl Sagan (Author), Ann Druyan (Author)

Second reading done on 12.11.19 - Because of the current political climate, especially in America, this book is more important now than ever. The relevancy of some passages about the dangers of not thinking critically during political theatrics was striking. The fact that this was written in 1997 and some issues that Sagan brings to light are still current means that the darkness of ignorance is ever enveloping around us, and so we must do our best to keep the candles lit.

It has been almost a year since I've read this wonderful book and whenever I hear false or misleading information being spread on television or online, I refer back to this gem. This was my first jump into the superb works of Carl Sagan and it was one I will never forget. This book opened my eyes to the amazing world of science and has helped me stop and think about how things work and why things are before believing something to be truthful. It has helped me analyze situations differently and has made me a more critical person.

The main theme is the importance of critical thinking. Sagan explains that asking questions leads down the wonderful path of knowledge. Simply accepting a statement at face value can be dangerous and can lead down slippery slope. Science is about experimentation and making observations, recording the results of those tests, coming to a theory or hypothesis and then releasing the information of the research so that other scientists can analyze your work and come to their own conclusions.

Nothing is ever definite in science and the results of one test can be overturned completely by another. The learning process is constant. That is what I find wonderful about the sciences; it is an expansive field that is constantly changing and flipping theories upside down or straight out the window!

Sagan warns about the dangers of religion and pseudo-science and their inability to accept any type of scrutinizing or examination. That leads to blind acceptance. Society should be constantly on its collective toes and be wary of the information being spread. We should all be asking more questions. Question your government. Question your religious institutions.

The chapter titled The Dragon in My Garage was one of my favorites. Definitely eye-opening.

I highly recommend this great book to EVERYONE.

ProfessorEX 💙💙💙💙💙 (Five stars)

💙 God's Mum: Book Choice of the Month. ~ July 2022 💙

https://www.librarything.com/work/135676

Father Ted: The Complete Scripts
by Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews

Is this the funniest TV series ever made? That would be an ecumenical question - but the scripts are every bit as head-spinningly funny as the shows themselves.
Includes dialogue cut from the actual broadcasts, and brief but entertaining commentaries from the writers. I particularly liked their observation that you could add the word 'priest' to any adjective (or other descriptor) and get a new character: thus 'the dancing priest', 'the monkey priest', 'the laughing priest' and so on (all of these actually appeared in the series, too...)

flagandyx LibraryThing. 💙💙💙💙💙 (Five stars)

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(2) Howlingly funny scripts from the Channel Four cult comedy series. To quote Amazon.com, "Exiled to remote Craggy Island, Father Ted Crilly shares a house with the breathtakingly stupid Father Dougal and the constantly inebriated Father Jack, who has a small vocabulary and a taste for furniture polish. Their housekeeper, Mrs. Doyle, takes care of them with a never-ending supply of tea and sandwiches." Tragically, the series star (Dermott Morgan) died shortly after the third series concluded filming. But what a comic legacy.

flagchamekke LibraryThing.💙💙💙💙💙 (Five stars)

💙God's Mum: Book Choice of the Month. ~ August 2022💙

Darwin And The Beagle. . by Alan Moorhead (Author) The Arcadia Press. (1970)

https://www.librarything.com/work/86941/book/222424631

Perhaps the average reader would not be too inclined to jump in and read Charles Darwin’s own accounts of this famous journey of discovery, his master work On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (http://www.librarything.com/work/23533) or his more accessible trip narrative The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin's Journal of Researches (http://www.librarything.com/work/3427) are both splendid works, but Alan Moorehead’s approach was to create a book, mainly from Darwin’s own words, then richly illustrate it to entice a general readership to delve into the originals. In this objective Moorehead was successful and the book, first published in 1969 was still being re-printed in 2000.

The book details not only the actual voyage and the theory that developed from Darwin’s discoveries, but his torturous and complicated relationship with the famous Captain Fitzroy who struggled between his deeply held religious belief and acceptance of the obvious logical conclusions of Evolution.

The author was an Australian who became a newspaper journalist in England, and during World War II had won an international reputation for his coverage of campaigns in the Middle East and Asia, he was ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’ (a formal military recognition just short of a medal) and was awarded the OBE. The deserts he fought over drew him back and he began to write history, choosing as one of his earlier themes, the great river Nile that waters those same deserts.

While touring Australia to conclude the research for this book, in December 1966, he began suffering from the headaches that eventually precipitated a major stroke. Tragically during the heart surgery, further attacks inflicted brain damage that affected his communicating nerves … subsequently at just 56 years old this great communicator could no longer speak, read, or write.

Only through the efforts of his wife, Lucy, was Darwin and the Beagle still concluded and published.

John_Vaughan | Feb 26, 2012 LibraryThing.

PinkSeeSaw: Wonderful. 💙💙💙💙💙 (Five stars)

💙God's Mum: Book Choice of the Month. ~ September 2022💙

https://www.librarything.com/work/8090232/book/218693147
Monty Python's Life of Brian, The (of Nazareth): Screenplay
by Graham Chapman (Author)

No subject is too sacred for the Monty Python gang as shown by their previous movie on King Arthur and the grail. So doing a film on the Messiah was the next logical step. We follow the life of Brian Cohen, who is constantly mistaken for Jesus of Nazareth. This book includes the script and still shots from the movie. The other half of the book (in tete-e-beche style) is a mishmash of zany Python humor with illustrations by Terry Gilliam along with scenes cut from the movie. The section about the author of the book is in Latin. And it’s all downhill from there, with sections on how to accept a Granny, excerpts from Brian’s sermons, and sections of the diaries of Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The section about Michael sharing a caravan with John Cleese is hysterical!

If you are easily offended, this book is not for you. Also, seeing the movie first as well as the DVD of the oratorio, Not the Messiah, he’s a naughty boy, makes the book more enjoyable. Then you can sing “The bright side of life” along with the Python gang!

flagfdholt 💙💙💙💙 (4 stars) LibraryThing.

💙God's Mum: Book Choice of the Month. ~ September 2023💙

https://www.librarything.com/work/314459/reviews

Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine.
by Thomas Paine

https://www.librarything.com/pic/9423313

An excellent book. The foundations of the American political structure and two hundred years later a call to come back to basics. A call to expose how America is edging closer to ALL things that it set out NOT to be. More than a voice of the past but a herald, like a prophet in the desert, saying "You have strayed away from something that was so clearly laid out for you, Come back." Come back NOT to a system of the wealthiest man or woman dominates the poor but one where ALL MEN AND WOMEN are equal in the eyes of the law and are allowed to seek out what it is that makes them happy and prosperous.

Come back not to a time where one set of religious moralities dominates outside of said religious institutions but one where one is FREE to practice their own religion WITHOUT fear that another religious code would be made law

Come back to a time where Kings, Queens, Generals, members of a Aristocracy or Corporation did not and could not Rule over the lives of the common man and give cause and make law for doing so.

When you read through you might think as I did, "Things of 200 years ago are still going on today. Have we made any progress? Yes some here, some there, but when it comes to the basics: If we knew what we were trying to get away from, trying to avoid. Why then is it still here?"

💙💙💙💙💙 (Five stars) flaga1abwriter, LibraryThing.
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