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#1 The mind and beyond by Time Life books.
this is one of those books i had when i was a kid and never read. It was interesting, particularly chapter 4 which was about mental illness. glad i picked it up. A nice easy read
PAGE COUNT = 137
this is one of those books i had when i was a kid and never read. It was interesting, particularly chapter 4 which was about mental illness. glad i picked it up. A nice easy read
PAGE COUNT = 137
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#2 Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami.
really, really fantastic. I read a few of his books last year and this was a great way to start O'Ten. it was interesting to see aspects from his surreal fiction used in a more mundane setting. Not that the story itself was mundane. i laughed during it, cried once or twice and felt that sorrow at its ending that i only get from the best books
PAGE COUNT = 526
really, really fantastic. I read a few of his books last year and this was a great way to start O'Ten. it was interesting to see aspects from his surreal fiction used in a more mundane setting. Not that the story itself was mundane. i laughed during it, cried once or twice and felt that sorrow at its ending that i only get from the best books
PAGE COUNT = 526
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i haven't been able to finish a book in ages. but i think i'm over the worst of it now.
#3 Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley.
very odd. Crowley claims to have received the contents of this book in 1904 from an entity named Aiswass. (just go with it). Honestly, i found the text difficult, but what i did understand was interesting. In many ways I think it sets Thelema up as a modernist religion. I could easily imagine an impressionable person perceiving revelations from the text and it messing them up seriously, but if you can just take it as an oddity of literature (as opposed to a religious text) it's great. I'd pick it up again
Page count: 684
#3 Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley.
very odd. Crowley claims to have received the contents of this book in 1904 from an entity named Aiswass. (just go with it). Honestly, i found the text difficult, but what i did understand was interesting. In many ways I think it sets Thelema up as a modernist religion. I could easily imagine an impressionable person perceiving revelations from the text and it messing them up seriously, but if you can just take it as an oddity of literature (as opposed to a religious text) it's great. I'd pick it up again
Page count: 684
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#4 Book Finds: how to find, Buy and sell used and Rare Books by Ian C. Ellis
Fantastic. The writer has a real passion for his subject and the book is full of valuable information: it made me want to hit the shops. my only problem with it is that it's written solely for the American market and doesn't offer much help to collectors this side of the Atlantic. It would have been nice to have known this before buying. That said it's still a great starting point for learning about the American market and the principles of book trading it advocates are universal
Page Count: 991
Fantastic. The writer has a real passion for his subject and the book is full of valuable information: it made me want to hit the shops. my only problem with it is that it's written solely for the American market and doesn't offer much help to collectors this side of the Atlantic. It would have been nice to have known this before buying. That said it's still a great starting point for learning about the American market and the principles of book trading it advocates are universal
Page Count: 991
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#5 Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Wolf Sacks
at times the amount of chemistry in this book nearly fried by brains. I probably would have liked it more if i understood the subject better, but i picked up a lot along the way. What i really liked about it was the strong fellings which Sacks wrote about his family and his childhood.
Page Count: 1,311
at times the amount of chemistry in this book nearly fried by brains. I probably would have liked it more if i understood the subject better, but i picked up a lot along the way. What i really liked about it was the strong fellings which Sacks wrote about his family and his childhood.
Page Count: 1,311
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#6 Sane Occultism and Practical Occultism in Daily Life by Dion Fortune.
interesting. she is definitely a unique voice within the subject. she discards a lot of the mythos and uses psychology as her basis for understanding.
Page Count: 1,482
interesting. she is definitely a unique voice within the subject. she discards a lot of the mythos and uses psychology as her basis for understanding.
Page Count: 1,482
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#7 The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe.
I liked it. I don't know how much i would have done if i'd not read other books by kesey and Kerouac. Downbeat ending but Still a nice testament to the Pranksters.
Page Count: 1,850
I liked it. I don't know how much i would have done if i'd not read other books by kesey and Kerouac. Downbeat ending but Still a nice testament to the Pranksters.
Page Count: 1,850
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#8 The Flowering of Ireland by Katharine Scherman
This is my favorite history book. This was my third time reading it and i loved it more than ever. It's mainly about the Celtic church between the 5th and 11th century. i picked up a book of Irish myth while reading it and found it strange to think those stories were first written over a thousand years ago by a monk in a monastery. great book
Page Count: 2,196
This is my favorite history book. This was my third time reading it and i loved it more than ever. It's mainly about the Celtic church between the 5th and 11th century. i picked up a book of Irish myth while reading it and found it strange to think those stories were first written over a thousand years ago by a monk in a monastery. great book
Page Count: 2,196
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#10 John the Revelator by Peter Murphy.
I was blown away by this. best book I've read in years. damn near perfect irish novel, though it hasn't helped my fears regarding stomach parasites.
Page Count: 2,596
I was blown away by this. best book I've read in years. damn near perfect irish novel, though it hasn't helped my fears regarding stomach parasites.
Page Count: 2,596
12rocketjk
#8> I remember reading the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test in the mid or late 70s. My mind and heart ached at having been born just a few years too late to take part in the "real deal" counter culture. As a college student in Boston in the mid-70s, I was a "hippy," but by then we were fighting a rear-guard action and deep down we knew it.
#9> The Flowering of Ireland sounds like a very fascinating book. I remember reading Yeats' collection of Irish folk tales, and in his introduction he discusses the theory that the Leprechauns were basically the ancient Irish heroes and gods shrunk down, the point being that, while the incoming Christian clergy couldn't banish these heroes entirely from the hearts and minds of the population, they could diminish them in size and rob them of their epic status. Some solo wandering around the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry about 15 years back (holy cats!) brought the point home. Sitting in the tiny "beehive" stone huts that Christian pilgrims lived in hundreds and hundreds of years ago, even for a few minutes, was an amazing experience.
#9> The Flowering of Ireland sounds like a very fascinating book. I remember reading Yeats' collection of Irish folk tales, and in his introduction he discusses the theory that the Leprechauns were basically the ancient Irish heroes and gods shrunk down, the point being that, while the incoming Christian clergy couldn't banish these heroes entirely from the hearts and minds of the population, they could diminish them in size and rob them of their epic status. Some solo wandering around the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry about 15 years back (holy cats!) brought the point home. Sitting in the tiny "beehive" stone huts that Christian pilgrims lived in hundreds and hundreds of years ago, even for a few minutes, was an amazing experience.
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Thanks for the message, rocketjk. that's an interesting theory about the leprechauns. reminds me of the argument concerning saint Brigid and the pagan god brigid.
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#11 Description by Monica wood
#12 Setting by Jack M. Bickham
#13 Plot by Ansen Dibell
Page count: 3,096
#12 Setting by Jack M. Bickham
#13 Plot by Ansen Dibell
Page count: 3,096
15rocketjk
#13> You're welcome. Similarly, I remember taking a guided tour of the Carrowmore tombs. The guide, an archaeologist, looked up at Maeve's Tomb atop Knocknarea and said that the tomb is thought to predate Queen Maeve by hundreds (if not thousands, my memory is now fuzzy on that point) of years. The theory he espoused was that the mound was originally a giant shrine to a Gaia-like earth goddess and that the early Christian priests had changed the story to make the tomb a shrine to an historic figure (Maeve) rather than a "pagan" religious figure. That was the tale this fellow told, at any rate.
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14 Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez.
I needed something short to get me back reading: this was it. I have two more novels by Márquez and i'm mad to start the next. it was really gripping and i tore through the book in one day. starting the next tonight. (who knows, i might make 50 yet)
Page Count: 3,218
I needed something short to get me back reading: this was it. I have two more novels by Márquez and i'm mad to start the next. it was really gripping and i tore through the book in one day. starting the next tonight. (who knows, i might make 50 yet)
Page Count: 3,218
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15 Leaf storm by Gabriel García Márquez
Not as good as the last one; still bloody impressive though. left me feeling perplexed in a nice way.
page count: 3,337
Not as good as the last one; still bloody impressive though. left me feeling perplexed in a nice way.
page count: 3,337
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16 Solomon's Seal by Molly McCloskey
A nice collection. All the stories were downbeat but they still dragged me in. To be honest it's probably a little dated now but still worth a look. a nice book for dipping in and out of.
Page count: 3,473
A nice collection. All the stories were downbeat but they still dragged me in. To be honest it's probably a little dated now but still worth a look. a nice book for dipping in and out of.
Page count: 3,473
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17 The Drought by J. G. Ballard
It took me a few pages to get into this; i kinda thought it was the same old Ballard hat, but once it got going i absolutely loved it. It was written in 1965 yet still feels very contemporary and relevant. It's set in a future where the coastal seas have developed a toxic layer that prevents evaporation and hence it stops raining over the earth's landmasses. the story follows doctor Richard ransom and his travels in the arid future in search of a source of water. great book.
Page Count: 3,717
It took me a few pages to get into this; i kinda thought it was the same old Ballard hat, but once it got going i absolutely loved it. It was written in 1965 yet still feels very contemporary and relevant. It's set in a future where the coastal seas have developed a toxic layer that prevents evaporation and hence it stops raining over the earth's landmasses. the story follows doctor Richard ransom and his travels in the arid future in search of a source of water. great book.
Page Count: 3,717
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#18 Life in the Universe by Michael J. Farrell
a good collection. Some of the stories really struck home.
Page Count: 3,886
a good collection. Some of the stories really struck home.
Page Count: 3,886
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#19 The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker
took me a while to get into it, but when i did i enjoyed it.
page count: 4,169
took me a while to get into it, but when i did i enjoyed it.
page count: 4,169
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#20 Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
i really enjoyed this; although, it was very sad. i can't wait to read more márquez.
page count: 4,329
i really enjoyed this; although, it was very sad. i can't wait to read more márquez.
page count: 4,329
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#22 The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
i first read this when i was a teenager and decided to have another go. Still a great book but it didn't have the same impact on me as it did back in the mid 90s. But it has spurred me on to read more discworld novels soon.
Page Count: 4,993
i first read this when i was a teenager and decided to have another go. Still a great book but it didn't have the same impact on me as it did back in the mid 90s. But it has spurred me on to read more discworld novels soon.
Page Count: 4,993
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#23 The Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
This is the last in the trilogy, a trilogy which i really enjoyed. But i'm not sure what i think of this book. i probably should have read them together. I think i was expecting a big conclusion, but there wasn't one.
Page Count: 5,433
This is the last in the trilogy, a trilogy which i really enjoyed. But i'm not sure what i think of this book. i probably should have read them together. I think i was expecting a big conclusion, but there wasn't one.
Page Count: 5,433
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#25 Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
i took my time with this. 'Twas good, but it made me feel old.
Page Count: 5,996
i took my time with this. 'Twas good, but it made me feel old.
Page Count: 5,996
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#26 Reading like a Writer by Francine Prose
this teaches the 'close reading' technique. it was a tough read, but worth getting through.
Page count: 6,299
this teaches the 'close reading' technique. it was a tough read, but worth getting through.
Page count: 6,299
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#27 The Man in the High Castle by Philip k Dick.
I Didn't really pay enough attention to this. I just had no idea where it was going; i'm not even sure what happened at the end. but i'll read it again and try figure it out.
Page Count: 6,478
I Didn't really pay enough attention to this. I just had no idea where it was going; i'm not even sure what happened at the end. but i'll read it again and try figure it out.
Page Count: 6,478
