What book are you currently reading?

[Sugarlump]

RE: The Handmaids Tale
It's a sobering thought. At first you read it thinking how extreme it is...
and then, as you say, there are elements of the book, despite written 35/40 years ago that are here now...
and suddenly it isn't so extreme ...
and yes it does make you think we have to stop the slide towards women as second class citizens driving in from the Middle East
before it happens 

[kristina]

For thinking…Daniel Kahnemans Thinking Fast and Slow   Nobel Prize winer..he shows how our embedded brain choices  of thinking in just 2 stages, can cause prejudice and skew decisions while we mean well.. and misread what others say or mean.  this is a DENSE read..whew….

Hello MuddyGurl, this book sounds very interesting and I would like to know more about it,
because I was always under the impression that our decisions and choices are the result of our very own experiences?
What are the author's toughts  ?
Does prejudice not stem from individual experiences, especially after being grown up ?
Is it not the distance to our upbringing which allows us to make up our own mind about our future choices
which are often also based on our very own experiences ?
Thanks from Kristina.

[MooseMom]

My husband recently bought for me 9 of the top-rated crime novels of the year, so I am currently reading "My Sunshine Away" by M.O. Walsh, set in the author's hometown of Baton Rouge, a city with which I am somewhat familiar.

I'm halfway through the 44 Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall Smith.

I've just finished "Neverhome" which is possibly the most lyrical novel I've read in a long time.  It is set during the Civil War, and the narrative is quite similar in some ways to British English.  I find that fascinating.

[Sugarlump]

I have developed a liking for Linwood Barclay books ... just read his latest Escape. Great read.
(Others include Tap on the window and The Accident.
They are all fast paced crime thrillers.

[MuddyGurl]

Kristina…THINKING FAST & SLOW….I may not get to finish it was a one week loan, and I started late…sigh..but will do a quick review and see what it says so far.

If you like 'thinking ' books I will send you a list of a couple other mind blowers!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=thinking+fast+and+slow
Here's my quick trick..when I hear or ANY book..I go to Amazon and do the LOOK IINSIDE..and then the Surprise me and get to read 2x as much… and then decide to buy or borrow it.

FIRST-- the author met a man who became  LIFELONG friend and mental study partner, how I envy a life time of someone else to talk to deeply!! and his brilliant brain was supported by the thoughts of this other scientist Mr. Tversky ..I am so glad they had decades together to learn, but  Tversky  died so he could not
to contribute to this book.

REVIEWs:

….an exploration of what influences thought example by example…...  System 1 and System 2, the fast and slow types of thinking, become characters that illustrate the psychology behind things we think we understand but really don't, such as intuition. [an example I read in the book:  a fireman using 20 years of experience to KNOW when to leave a room with NO clear tips, but an 'intuition; something is very wrong…not knowing exactly what….and leaving the room before  the floor collapsed and saving 5  firemen's lives. 

Kahneman's book is a must read for anyone interested in either human behavior or investing. He clearly shows that while we like to think of ourselves as rational in our decision making, the truth is we are subject to many biases. At least being aware of them will give you a better chance of avoiding them, or at least making fewer of them

A sweeping, compelling tale of just how easily our brains are bamboozled, bringing in both his own research and that of numerous psychologists, economists, and other experts...Kahneman has a remarkable ability to take decades worth of research and distill from it what would be important and interesting for a lay audience...Thinking, Fast and Slow is an immensely important book. Many science books are uneven, with a useful or interesting chapter too often followed by a dull one. Not so here. With rare exceptions, the entire span of this weighty book is fascinating and applicable to day-to-day life. Everyone should read Thinking, Fast and Slow. (Jesse Singal, Boston Globe)

We must be grateful to Kahneman for giving us in this book a joyful understanding of the practical side of our personalities. (Freeman Dyson, The New York Review of Books)

It is an astonishingly rich book: lucid, profound, full of intellectual surprises and self-help value. It is consistently entertaining and frequently touching, especially when Kahneman is recounting his collaboration with Tversky . . . So impressive is its vision of flawed human reason that the

[kristina]

Thank you MuddyGurl for your kind explanation.
This book sounds most interesting and fascinating and I shall look into it.
I was always curious to learn more about "instinct" etc.
and it is most interesting to learn what makes us sometimes react in a way which explains itself only later...
Arthur Schopenhauer discusses a lot about "instinct" etc. in his book "Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life"
and he also explains "behaviour" as a result of "instinct" and it is most interesting how other thinkers went from there...
Thanks again for your wonderful short summary with the main points about the book, which are very thought-provoking.
Kind regards from Kristina.

[frankswife]

I have started (AGAIN!) A Game Of Thrones. I dont know, it's kind of weird and confusing, but my son says it's worth it to stick with it. So I'm trying. I just hate how the author introduces new characters and creatures and places with no (so far) explanation. Maybe the fantasy genre is just not for me.

[Rerun]

Boys' In The Boat by Brown.

About the boys from University of Washington who were in the 1936 Olympics.  Just started it and I hope it is a page turner.

 

[kristina]

Hidden Agenda by Martin Allen
Subtitle: How the Duke of Windsor Betrayed the Allies...
Evidence unearthed in European archives, from the FBI and interviews with key individuals has thrown new light into the abdication ...
Hidden Agenda provides a fresh perspective on the true causes of the abdication-crisis and tells the astonishing story of the ex-king
who not only betrayed his own country but also assisted to alter the course of the Second World Disaster...
... worth reading... this book not only takes away romantic-fairy-tale-thoughts about "the king who abdicated for love" ...
 but this book also explains why such a fairy-tale was necessary to be told in the first place and the very political reasons behind it all...
... Please be warned: This book is a very unromantic and extremely sobering study  ...

[kristina]

The Rabbi's Daughter- by Reva Mann ...  a book about sex, drugs and faith ...
Reva Mann has caused scandal in the Orthodox community with her shocking account
of a life that veered (and continues to veer?) between pious and promiscuous.
The book leaves the reader in a bit of a quandery about the motives of the author ...

[Charlie B53]

This one is sort of out of character for me.

The Lost Books of the Bible.  Books of the Bible that have been left out of our more 'common' editions.  The editors have gathered texts of the old manuscript, english translations, documented, footnoted, all references noted, etc..

Chapters include Gospel of the Birth of Mary, lots of detail I've never heard or seen anywhere.

The First Gospel of the Infancy of Christ.

A great many more.  Kind of a slow read, but quite interesting, revealing passages that most are unaware of, yet have a very real 'ring' of truth to them.  If one believes, this can be most enlightening.

Somewhere out there are similar books.  I haven't found them, yet.  I am very confident that the King James Edition was heavily edited, altered to reflect some else interpetation of the original scriptures.  There may be many things that could be better understood if we knew the old languages and had true copies of original texts.

Nuff said.

[kristina]

This one is sort of out of character for me.

The Lost Books of the Bible.  Books of the Bible that have been left out of our more 'common' editions.  The editors have gathered texts of the old manuscript, english translations, documented, footnoted, all references noted, etc..

Chapters include Gospel of the Birth of Mary, lots of detail I've never heard or seen anywhere.

The First Gospel of the Infancy of Christ.

A great many more.  Kind of a slow read, but quite interesting, revealing passages that most are unaware of, yet have a very real 'ring' of truth to them.  If one believes, this can be most enlightening.

Somewhere out there are similar books.  I haven't found them, yet.  I am very confident that the King James Edition was heavily edited, altered to reflect some else interpetation of the original scriptures.  There may be many things that could be better understood if we knew the old languages and had true copies of original texts.

Nuff said.

Hello Charlie,
It is most interesting what you write and I have heard about these "lost books" many years ago
but I have never come across any  ...
... Where did you find these "lost books" ? And how reliable is it that these books are in fact the true "lost books" ?
Thanks for the information and many thanks from Kristina.

[Charlie B53]

A local charity run used clothing store also has a book section.  I get a LOT of books there.  Paperbacks  fifty cents, hard-bound 75

I donate all the books I gather and read to the VA Hospital that I go to.

Unless I find someone very interested in a book.  Then I may give it away.

This one, I'm not sure what to do with it.  On one hand I may want to keep it so I can go back and re-read sections and compare to another source.

I would consider loaning it to you for as long as you need.  PM me a mailing address, it can't cost that much.


from the inside flap of the paper cover:

The documents in this book were written soon after Christ's Crucification, during the early spread of Christianity.  But when the Bible was compiled in the end of the fourth century, these texts were not amoung those chosen.  They were suppressed by the Church, and for over 1500 years were shrouded in secrecy.

These writings are by and about many of the important figures in the New Testament.  They express much the same zeal and earnestness about their subject as do the pieces in the New Testament.  And yet, until they were first translated in this century, they were the peculiar esoteric property of the clergy and other learned people, available only in the original tongues.

We can now judge these texts for ourselves.  We see much more here of Jesus as a child than we do in the New Testament.  Peter and Nicodemus, who were close to Jesus, give us their versions of His life.  There is an account of Mary's life before Christ's birth, and there are several letters that supplement our knowledge about the early Christians and the spread of Christianity.

There is no doubt that, whatever else we may find in these texts, we cannot help enjoying them for their beauty and directness.  They also significantly increase our understanding of the first century A.D. in Judea, the world where Jesus lived.  For those who want to know more about this crucial period in our history, this book is a major event.

(end of back flap)



from the page facing the 'Contents' page,


Bell Publishing Company,  distributed by Crown Publishers, Inc

BELL 1979 EDITION
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Date
Bible.  N.T.  Apocryphal books.  English.  Jjones-Wake.
  1979
  The lost books of the Bible
  Reprint of the 1926 ed. published by World Pub. Co.,
Cleveland
  William Hone's collection first published in 1829
under title "The Apocryphal New Testament", incorporating the translations of Jeriah Jones for the Apocryyphal books and of Archbishop Wake for the Apostolic Fathers. cf. M.R. James.  The Apocryphal New Testament, p. xv.
  I. Hone, William, 1780 - 1842.   II  Jones. Jeremiah, 1693 - 1724.   III.  Wake, William, Abp of Canterbury, 1657 - 1737.   IV.  Title
BS2832.A2  1979     229'.9    79-4043
ISBN: 0-517-277956

[kristina]

Thank you very much Charlie for this comprehensive information,
it is very much appreciated and gives me a good chance to study it as well ...
Many thanks again from Kristina.

[kristina]

The Good Spy by Kai Bird ...  a book about the life and death of Robert Ames.
The American spy Robert Ames tried ever so hard to achieve a valid peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians ...
...  This is a rather sad biography about a spy who turned into a peace-envoy and lost his life when the American Embassy was bombed...
... The very sad part comes along, when one reads that the suspected terrorist of this attack on the American Embassy became a political refugee
who lived happily ever after in - yes you have guessed it -  America ...
... If anyone should have any doubts about the "murky business of spying", this is the book to read ...

[Charlie B53]

After reading the Lost Books of the Bible  I had more questions than I had before, so I started looking.  Googled the same and ended up at the site Reluctant-Messenger.com

From there I went to their section on Lost and Forgotten Books and Ancient and Sacred Texts
http://reluctant-messenger.com/lost_forgotten_books.htm

So far I'm almost a quarter way down the list,  Book of Jubilees.

I may be the rest of this year just getting through this list, and there is so much more.  I now realize how much that I do NOT know.

Those two bags full of novels from the resale shop may have to just sit, and wait, as a LOT of what I am learning here is far different from what I saw, heard, and read, in Sunday School.

I do have one serious problem which I hope to find the true answer.  That is the sections pertaining to 'unclean meats' and the ban on pork.

I was raised eating pork.  Chops, sausage, bacon, ham, ribs, roast, hocks and beans.  You name it, I've ate it.  And LIKED it! 

Things like this are why I am so interested in the 'original' texts.  Throughout time so much has been re-written by man, meaning the authorities of the time changed the texts to suit THEIR own ends, changing the meaning of the texts.

I would hate to be condemned sole for my diet.  It would be hard to change, but if I must.......  I want to document it.

EDIT:
Forgot to mention that I actually ORDERED a book.  'The Other Bible'   It has many of the Lost Books that I have seen plus so very much more.  I'l be a while getting through this.  I has sections relating to the ancient Jews, Gnostics, and Early Christians.  Differences and similarities.  This may prove quite enlightening, at least I am hoping so, that I can learn a BUNCH.  As you can probably tell from my above statement to my attitude to the mid-East.  I could maybe use a little 'attitude adjustment'.

[kristina]

Hello Charlie B53,
many thanks for the link http://reluctant-messenger.com/lost_forgotten_books.htm, which is greatly appreciated.
Best wishes form Kristina.

[kristina]

Dennis Wheatley: “Old Rowley” is about King Charles II and his travels, his exile and his return to England. 
He appears to be a very human man, a good-natured man who, owing to his constant habit of jesting
(which always served the purpose of easing difficult situations) has been underestimated and underrated.
He was undoubtedly the cleverest Monarch who ever sat on the English throne
and he led the people out of darkness, anarchy and persecution into the Great Prosperity of the Georgian Century...

[kristina]

The Mystery of Princess Louise by Lucinda Hawksley, a book about Queen Victoria’s rebellious daughter Louise, who was an artist, sculptor, painter
and friend of the Pre-Raphaelites, she was also a feminist and advocate for health-reform, care for children, social reform and health-care for sex-workers  ...
... It is also a portrait of a daughter battling against a controlling and overbearing mother   
and the portrait of a royal who was desperate to escape not only her mother but also her inheritance...
...and it explains about Queen Victoria in the context of : research the life of the children and find out what sort of person their mother was ...

[Charlie B53]

Since reading 'Lost Books of the Bible' I read a LOT available on line.  Enoch, The Essenses, Clement, The Jubalees. Ordered/bought 'The Other Bible'.

I must be Blessed as today I found another book at the resale shop, 35 cents!

'The Bible Through the Ages'  Hardbound, from Readers Digest.  A complete narrative of the History of the Bible and the multiple religions of the mid-East following the timeline beginning about 4000BC through 1900 or so.

Describes the peoples, the places, the stories of each and how these stories were handed down throughout the times until becoming written, and which 'Books' were chosen to form which  each of the Religions Bibles.

This really helps put into perspective most of my readings so far.

I am impressed.

[kristina]

Since reading 'Lost Books of the Bible' I read a LOT available on line.  Enoch, The Essenses, Clement, The Jubalees. Ordered/bought 'The Other Bible'.

I must be Blessed as today I found another book at the resale shop, 35 cents!

'The Bible Through the Ages'  Hardbound, from Readers Digest.  A complete narrative of the History of the Bible and the multiple religions of the mid-East following the timeline beginning about 4000BC through 1900 or so.

Describes the peoples, the places, the stories of each and how these stories were handed down throughout the times until becoming written, and which 'Books' were chosen to form which  each of the Religions Bibles.

This really helps put into perspective most of my readings so far.

I am impressed.

... That is very impressive indeed and please let us know your conclusions...
... when I read through different Bibles, I was very much put-off by the fact that religions don't treat females very kindly...
... being a female myself, it turned out to be a very dissappointing reading-experience  ...
... and then I turned to Philosophy (Plato, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche) and had much more good luck ...
Best wishes from Kristina.

[MooseMom]

The Mystery of Princess Louise by Lucinda Hawksley, a book about Queen Victoria’s rebellious daughter Louise, who was an artist, sculptor, painter
and friend of the Pre-Raphaelites, she was also a feminist and advocate for health-reform, care for children, social reform and health-care for sex-workers  ...
... It is also a portrait of a daughter battling against a controlling and overbearing mother   
and the portrait of a royal who was desperate to escape not only her mother but also her inheritance...
...and it explains about Queen Victoria in the context of : research the life of the children and find out what sort of person their mother was ...

We have been watching a documentary about Queen Victoria on our local Public Broadcasting Station; it is in 3 parts, and the second part is about the Queen and her daughters.  Lucinda Hawksley was interviewed for the documentary.  It has been very educational, not to mention downright interesting!

[kristina]

The Mystery of Princess Louise by Lucinda Hawksley, a book about Queen Victoria’s rebellious daughter Louise, who was an artist, sculptor, painter
and friend of the Pre-Raphaelites, she was also a feminist and advocate for health-reform, care for children, social reform and health-care for sex-workers  ...
... It is also a portrait of a daughter battling against a controlling and overbearing mother   
and the portrait of a royal who was desperate to escape not only her mother but also her inheritance...
...and it explains about Queen Victoria in the context of : research the life of the children and find out what sort of person their mother was ...

We have been watching a documentary about Queen Victoria on our local Public Broadcasting Station; it is in 3 parts, and the second part is about the Queen and her daughters.  Lucinda Hawksley was interviewed for the documentary.  It has been very educational, not to mention downright interesting!

Hello MooseMom,
Could you please tell me the name of this documentary? I then shall try to find and watch it on youtube ...
... Since Lucinda Hawksley was interviewed for this documentary, it should be most interesting to watch ...
Thanks again from Kristina.

[MooseMom]

Kristina, it's called "Queen Victoria's Children".

[KarenInWA]

I just finished Part 1 of The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. I am so glad I bought it, and can't wait to see how it ends. Rerun - did you enjoy it?

KarenInWA