Andy's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 11 Dec 2024 15:34:09 -0800 60 Andy's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Minority Report and Other Stories]]> 534004 Viewed by many as the greatest science fiction writer on any planet, Philip K. Dick has written some of the most intriguing, original and thought-provoking fiction of our time. This collection includes stories that will make you laugh, cringe...and stop and think.

The Minority Report: a special unit that employs those with the power of precognition to prevent crimes proves itself less than reliable...
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale: an everyguy's yearning for more exciting "memories" places him in a danger he never could have imagined (basis of the feature film Total Recall)...
Paycheck: a mechanic who has no memory of the previous two years of his life finds that a bag of seemingly worthless and unrelated objects can actually unlock the secret of his recent past � and insure that he has a future...
Second Variety: the UN's technological advances to win a global war veer out of control, threatening to destroy all of humankind (basis of the movie Screamers)...
The Eyes Have It: a whimsical, laugh-out-loud play on the words of the title.

]]> 6 Philip K. Dick 0060095261 Andy 0 to-read 3.94 1987 Minority Report and Other Stories
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Andy
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christianity and the Occult Mysteries of Antiquity]]> 36653301 241 Rudolf Steiner 0833417193 Andy 0 to-read 3.00 Christianity and the Occult Mysteries of Antiquity
author: Rudolf Steiner
name: Andy
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Sheep Look Up 41074 352 John Brunner 1932100016 Andy 0 to-read 3.92 1972 The Sheep Look Up
author: John Brunner
name: Andy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Human Identity in the Urban Environment]]> 4569265 656 Gwen Bell 0140213643 Andy 0 to-read 3.33 1972 Human Identity in the Urban Environment
author: Gwen Bell
name: Andy
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Meaning of Beauty (Pelican Books)]]> 6327658 212 Eric Newton Andy 0 to-read 3.43 1962 The Meaning of Beauty (Pelican Books)
author: Eric Newton
name: Andy
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[1001 Ways to Live Without Working]]> 2533208 Tuli Kupferberg Andy 0 to-read 3.84 1961 1001 Ways to Live Without Working
author: Tuli Kupferberg
name: Andy
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1961
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Falsification of History: Our Distorted Reality]]> 18857399 736 John Hamer Andy 0 to-read 4.29 2012 The Falsification of History: Our Distorted Reality
author: John Hamer
name: Andy
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Evil in Mind: The Psychology of Harming Others]]> 60462008 many.

This book offers readers an accessible, social-scientific definition and analysis of evil in its various incarnations to foster a sophisticated and self-reflective understanding of the phenomenon, departing from ghoulish or self-righteous generalizations. Part 1 explores why most of us want to be
seen as good, when and why we deem something evil, and what psychological and environmental factors increase our propensity for harming others in spite of our drive for social acceptance. Part 2 presents illustrative examples of how Part 1's insights can be applied, specifically examining hate,
sadism, serial killers, group-based atrocities, organizational offenses, and familial abuse. The concluding chapter amplifies and integrates the book's big themes to foster a more mindful, informed confrontation of the elusive problem we call evil.

Evil in Mind delivers a systematic, research-based psychological understanding of evil that is compact, digestible, and potentially transformative for academics, students, and educated lay readers.
]]> Christopher T. Burris 0197637213 Andy 0 to-read 4.00 2022 Evil in Mind: The Psychology of Harming Others
author: Christopher T. Burris
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life]]> 37860033 'A gripping new drama in science ... if you want to understand how the concept of life is changing, read this' Professor Andrew Briggs, University of Oxford

When Darwin set out to explain the origin of species, he made no attempt to answer the deeper question: what is life?

For generations, scientists have struggled to make sense of this fundamental question. Life really does look like magic: even a humble bacterium accomplishes things so dazzling that no human engineer can match it. And yet, huge advances in molecular biology over the past few decades have served only to deepen the mystery. So can life be explained by known physics and chemistry, or do we need something fundamentally new?

In this penetrating and wide-ranging new analysis, world-renowned physicist and science communicator Paul Davies searches for answers in a field so new and fast-moving that it lacks a name, a domain where computing, chemistry, quantum physics and nanotechnology intersect. At the heart of these diverse fields, Davies explains, is the concept of information: a quantity with the power to unify biology with physics, transform technology and medicine, and even to illuminate the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe.

From life's murky origins to the microscopic engines that run the cells of our bodies, The Demon in the Machine is a breath-taking journey across the landscape of physics, biology, logic and computing. Weaving together cancer and consciousness, two-headed worms and bird navigation, Davies reveals how biological organisms garner and process information to conjure order out of chaos, opening a window on the secret of life itself.]]> 320 Paul C.W. Davies 024130959X Andy 0 to-read 4.04 2020 The Demon in the Machine: How Hidden Webs of Information Are Solving the Mystery of Life
author: Paul C.W. Davies
name: Andy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Teachings of the Mystics Being Selections from the Great Mystics and Mystical Writings of the World]]> 150032420 240 Walter T. Stace Andy 0 to-read 4.67 The Teachings of the Mystics Being Selections from the Great Mystics and Mystical Writings of the World
author: Walter T. Stace
name: Andy
average rating: 4.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy]]> 25406 Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print.

One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning--but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.]]> 518 Jostein Gaarder 0374530718 Andy 0 to-read 3.75 1991 Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
author: Jostein Gaarder
name: Andy
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Ages of Discord 32452040
Seventy percent of Americans (and counting) think so. The inflation-adjusted wage of a US worker today is less than 40 years ago—but there are four times as many multimillionaires. As inequality grows, the infrastructure frays and the politics become more poisonous. Every year, more and more Americans go on shooting sprees, killing strangers and passers-by—and now, increasingly, the representatives of the state.

Troubling trends of this kind are endlessly discussed by politicians, public intellectuals, and social scientists. But mostly, they talk about only a small slice of the overall problem. After all, how on earth can yet another murderous rampage have anything to do with polarization in Congress? And is there really a connection between too many multimillionaires and government gridlock?

Historical analysis shows that long spells of equitable prosperity and internal peace are succeeded by protracted periods of inequity, increasing misery, and political instability. These crisis periods—“Ages of Discord”—tend to share characteristic features, identifiable in many societies throughout history. Modern Americans, for example, may be disconcerted to learn that the US right now has much in common with the Antebellum 1850s and, even more surprisingly, with ancien régime France on the eve of the French Revolution. Can it really be true that our troubled age is nothing new, and that it arises periodically for similar underlying reasons? It can. Ages of Discord marshals a cohesive theory and detailed historical data to show that this is, indeed, the case. The book takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride through American history, from the Era of Good Feelings of the 1820s to our first Age of Discord, which culminated in the American Civil War, to post-WW2 prosperity and, finally, to our present, second Age of Discord.

Unlike societies in the past, however, we are in a unique position to take steps to escape the worst. Societal breakdown and the ensuing wave of violence can be avoided by taking collective, cooperative action. The structural-demographic theory, explained in this book, helps us understand why demographic, social, and political trends changed direction from favorable to unfavorable in America around the 1970s. Such understanding is the key to developing reforms that would reverse these negative trends and move us to a more equitable, prosperous, and peaceful society.]]> 274 Peter Turchin 0996139540 Andy 0 to-read 4.10 2016 Ages of Discord
author: Peter Turchin
name: Andy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History]]> 32082
Now, in The Great Wave, Fischer has done it again, marshaling an astonishing array of historical facts in lucid and compelling prose to outline a history of prices--"the history of change," as Fischer puts it--covering the dazzling sweep of Western history from the medieval glory of Chartres to the modern day.

Going far beyond the economic data, Fischer writes a powerful history of the people of the Western world: the economic patterns they lived in, and the politics, culture, and society that they created as a result. As he did in Albion's Seed and Paul Revere's Ride, two of the most talked-about history books in recent years, Fischer combines extensive research and meticulous scholarship with wonderfully evocative writing to create a book for scholars and general readers alike.

Records of prices are more abundant than any other quantifiable data, and span the entire range of history, from tables of medieval grain prices to the overabundance of modern statistics. Fischer studies this wealth of data, creating a narrative that encompasses all of Western culture.

He describes four waves of price revolutions, each beginning in a period of equilibrium: the High Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and finally the Victorian Age. Each revolution is marked by continuing inflation, a widening gap between rich and poor, increasing instability, and finally a crisis at the crest of the wave that is characterized by demographic contraction, social and political upheaval, and economic collapse.

The most violent of these climaxes was the catastrophic fourteenth century, in which war, famine, and the Black Death devastated the continent--the only time in Europe's history that the population actually declined.

Fischer also brilliantly illuminates how these long economic waves are closely intertwined with social and political events, affecting the very mindset of the people caught in them. The long periods of equilibrium are marked by cultural and intellectual movements--such as the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Victorian Age-- based on a belief in order and harmony and in the triumph of progress and reason. By contrast, the years of price revolution created a melancholy culture of despair.

Fischer suggests that we are living now in the last stages of a price revolution that has been building since the turn of the century. The destabilizing price surges and declines and the diminished expectations the United States has suffered in recent years--and the famines and wars of other areas of the globe--are typical of the crest of a price revolution.

He does not attempt to predict what will happen, noting that "uncertainty about the future is an inexorable fact of our condition." Rather, he ends with a brilliant analysis of where we might go from here and what our choices are now. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the state of the world today.]]> 536 David Hackett Fischer 019512121X Andy 0 to-read 4.09 1996 The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History
author: David Hackett Fischer
name: Andy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Tyranny of Words 2343374
In 1938, Stuart Chase revolutionized the study of semantics with his classic text, The Tyranny of Words. Decades later, this eminently useful analysis of the way we use words continues to resonate. A contemporary of the economist Thorstein Veblen and the author Upton Sinclair, Chase was a social theorist and writer who despised the imprecision of contemporary communication. Wide-ranging and erudite, this iconic volume was one of the first to condemn the overuse of abstract words and to exhort language users to employ words that make their ideas accurate, complete, and readily understood.

“[A] thoroughly scholarly study of the science of the meaning of words.� —Kirkus Reviews

“When thinking about words, I think about Stuart Chase’s The Tyranny of Words. It is one of those books that never lose its message.� —CounterPunch]]> 420 Stuart Chase 0156923947 Andy 0 to-read 4.33 1938 The Tyranny of Words
author: Stuart Chase
name: Andy
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1938
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Human Drift 7977381 This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

]]> 96 King Camp Gillette 0217390307 Andy 0 to-read 3.20 1894 The Human Drift
author: King Camp Gillette
name: Andy
average rating: 3.20
book published: 1894
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Minority Report 581125 112 Philip K. Dick 0375421874 Andy 0 to-read 3.85 1956 The Minority Report
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Andy
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Giver (The Giver, #1) 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 Andy 0 to-read 4.12 1993 The Giver (The Giver, #1)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Andy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Simulacra and Simulation 22613 Simulacra et Simulation in 1981 marked Jean Baudrillard's first important step toward theorizing the postmodern. Moving away from the Marxist/Freudian approaches that had concerned him earlier, Baudrillard developed in this book a theory of contemporary culture that relies on displacing economic notions of cultural production with notions of cultural expenditure.

Baudrillard uses the concepts of the simulacra—the copy without an original—and simulation. These terms are crucial to an understanding of the postmodern, to the extent that they address the concept of mass reproduction and reproduceability that characterizes our electronic media culture.

Baudrillard's book represents a unique and original effort to rethink cultural theory from the perspective of a new concept of cultural materialism, one that radically redefines postmodern formulations of the body.

Sheila Glaser is an editor at Artforum magazine.]]> 164 Jean Baudrillard 0472065211 Andy 0 to-read 4.01 1981 Simulacra and Simulation
author: Jean Baudrillard
name: Andy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]> 17125 The only English translation authorized by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich stands as a classic of contemporary literature. The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's forced work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary documents to have emerged from the Soviet Union and confirms Solzhenitsyn's stature as "a literary genius whose talent matches that of Dosotevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy"--Harrison Salisbury

This unexpurgated 1991 translation by H. T. Willetts is the only authorized edition available, and fully captures the power and beauty of the original Russian.]]> 182 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Andy 0 to-read 3.98 1962 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
name: Andy
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pyrrho's Way: The Ancient Greek Version of Buddhism]]> 54005231
In ancient Greece, a group of philosophers developed highly effective techniques to change our thoughts for the better, allowing practitioners to achieve inner peace. They called their philosophy "Pyrrhonism" after the founder of their school, Pyrrho. Pyrrho traveled to India and brought back with him ideas from Buddhism, reshaping them to fit into Greek philosophy. Pyrrho agreed with the Buddha that delusion was the cause of suffering, but instead of using meditation to end delusion, Pyrrho applied Greek philosophical rationalism.

Pyrrho's Way lays out the Pyrrhonist path for modern readers, giving clear guidance on how to apply Pyrrhonist practice to everyday life to achieve inner peace. If Buddhist wisdom has ever appealed to you, but you found Buddhism's paradoxes and endless hours of meditation to be a barrier, Pyrrhonism is for you.

"... succeeds in making a difficult and obscure philosophy not only intelligible but, more to the point, something to be practiced in a way that can make a difference to your life here and now." -- STEPHEN BATCHELOR, author of The Art of Solitude.

"... an intelligent, readable book that succeeds in its goal of introducing Pyrrhonism as practice." --CHRISTOPHER BECKWITH, author of Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia]]> 322 Douglas C. Bates 1896559565 Andy 0 to-read 3.22 Pyrrho's Way: The Ancient Greek Version of Buddhism
author: Douglas C. Bates
name: Andy
average rating: 3.22
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia]]> 23528934
"Greek Buddha" shows how Buddhism shaped the philosophy of Pyrrho, the famous founder of Pyrrhonian scepticism in ancient Greece. Identifying Pyrrho's basic teachings with those of Early Buddhism, Christopher I. Beckwith traces the origins of a major tradition in Greek philosophy to Gandh?ra, a country in Central Asia and northwestern India.
Pyrrho of Elis accompanied Alexander the Great to Central Asia and India during the Graeco-Macedonian invasion and conquest of the Persian Empire in 334-324 BC, and while there met with teachers of Early Buddhism, a philosophy that Beckwith analyzes in depth. Using a range of primary sources, he systematically looks at the teachings and practices of Pyrrho and of Early Buddhism, including those preserved in testimonies by and about Pyrrho, in the report on Indian philosophy two decades later by the Seleucid ambassador Megasthenes, in the first-person edicts by the Indian king Dev?n priya Priyadar?i referring to a popular variety of the Dharma in the early third century BC, and in Taoist echoes of Gautama's Dharma in Warring States China. Beckwith demonstrates how the teachings of Pyrrho agree closely with those of the Buddha kyamuni, "the Scythian Sage." In the process, he identifies eight distinct attested philosophical schools in ancient northwestern India and Central Asia, including Early Zoroastrianism, Early Brahmanism, and several forms of Early Buddhism. Beckwith then shows the influence that Pyrrho's brand of scepticism had on the evolution of Western thought, first in Antiquity, and later, during the Enlightenment, on the great philosopher and self-proclaimed "Pyrrhonian," David Hume.

"Greek Buddha" demonstrates that through Pyrrho, Early Buddhist thought had a significant impact on Western philosophy.
]]> 304 Christopher I. Beckwith 0691166447 Andy 0 to-read 3.90 2015 Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia
author: Christopher I. Beckwith
name: Andy
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> God: An Anatomy 57282028 An astonishing and revelatory history that re-presents God as he was originally envisioned by ancient worshippers--with a distinctly male body, and with superhuman powers, earthly passions, and a penchant for the fantastic and monstrous.

[A] rollicking journey through every aspect of Yahweh's body, from top to bottom (yes, that too) and from inside out ... Ms. Stavrakopoulou has almost too much fun."--The Economist

The scholarship of theology and religion teaches us that the God of the Bible was without a body, only revealing himself in the Old Testament in words mysteriously uttered through his prophets, and in the New Testament in the body of Christ. The portrayal of God as corporeal and masculine is seen as merely metaphorical, figurative, or poetic. But, in this revelatory study, Francesca Stavrakopoulou presents a vividly corporeal image of God: a human-shaped deity who walks and talks and weeps and laughs, who eats, sleeps, feels, and breathes, and who is undeniably male.

Here is a portrait--arrived at through the author's close examination of and research into the Bible--of a god in ancient myths and rituals who was a product of a particular society, at a particular time, made in the image of the people who lived then, shaped by their own circumstances and experience of the world. From head to toe--and every part of the body in between--this is a god of stunning surprise and complexity, one we have never encountered before.]]> 608 Francesca Stavrakopoulou 0525520457 Andy 0 to-read 4.27 2021 God: An Anatomy
author: Francesca Stavrakopoulou
name: Andy
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Two Hundred Years Together 28008677
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who first exposed the horrors of the Stalinist gulag, is now attempting to tackle one of the most sensitive topics of his writing career - the role of the Jews in the Bolshevik revolution and Soviet purges.
In his latest book Solzhenitsyn, 84, deals with one of the last taboos of the communist revolution: that Jews were as much perpetrators of the repression as its victims. Two Hundred Years Together - a reference to the 1772 partial annexation of Poland and Russia which greatly increased the Russian Jewish population - contains three chapters discussing the Jewish role in the revolutionary genocide and secret police purges of Soviet Russia.]]> 539 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Andy 0 to-read 4.30 2002 Two Hundred Years Together
author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
name: Andy
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction]]> 11558697 336 Craig G. Bartholomew 0830838961 Andy 0 to-read 4.03 2011 Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction
author: Craig G. Bartholomew
name: Andy
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots and Anglo Saxons Discovered by Phoenician and Sumerian Inscriptions in Britain by Pre-Roman Briton Coins]]> 451752 480 Laurence Austine Waddell 0766182363 Andy 0 to-read 4.00 1924 The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots and Anglo Saxons Discovered by Phoenician and Sumerian Inscriptions in Britain by Pre-Roman Briton Coins
author: Laurence Austine Waddell
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1924
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Words to the Wise: A Practical Guide to the Esoteric Sciences]]> 479696 162 Manly P. Hall 0893148148 Andy 0 to-read 4.30 2008 Words to the Wise: A Practical Guide to the Esoteric Sciences
author: Manly P. Hall
name: Andy
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors Or, Christianity Before Christ]]> 19419427 469 Kersey Graves Andy 0 to-read 3.44 1992 The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors Or, Christianity Before Christ
author: Kersey Graves
name: Andy
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[World Revolution Or the Plot Against Civilization]]> 19677952 344 Nesta H. Webster 0766142507 Andy 0 to-read 4.00 2000 World Revolution Or the Plot Against Civilization
author: Nesta H. Webster
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Journals of Captain Cook 19228673 This unique edition of The Journals of Captain Cook from Dead Dodo Vintage includes the full original text as well as exclusive features not available in other editions.


Captain James Cook, FRS, RN (7 November 1728[NB 1] � 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.


Cook's Journals contain remarkable accounts of his many discoveries and he became something of a hero among the scientific community. Cook wrote each journal entry on large unbound sheets folded so that they formed booklets with two equally sized leaves. At sea the left hand leaves were ruled into a series of columns and rows into which he entered the dates of journal entries, recorded the direction of winds and other navigational information, as well as noting things pertaining to the good order of the ship. On the right hand leaves, Cook recorded what thought worthy of remark about each day of his command. The record of Cook’s voyages was to become popular reading. Louis XVI ordered it translated into French.

]]> 545 James Cook Andy 0 to-read 4.16 1825 The Journals of Captain Cook
author: James Cook
name: Andy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1825
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> None Dare Call It Treason 85793 None dare call it Treason is a careful compilation of facts from hundreds of Congressional investigations of communism and dozens of authoritative books on the communist-socialist conspiracy to enslave America.
It dissects the failures of the Eisenhower Administration just as effectively as it details the blunders of Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson. It documents the concurrent decay in America's schools, churches, and press which has conditioned the American people to accept 20 years of retreat in the face of the communist enemy. You won't finish None Dare Call It Treason without concluding that America is in serious trouble.]]> 255 John A. Stormer 0848814746 Andy 0 to-read 3.58 1964 None Dare Call It Treason
author: John A. Stormer
name: Andy
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings]]> 98875
Including:
Angels and Demons; The Mothman; Dinosaurs that still roam the earth; Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman, and other hairy monsters; A real-life land of the giants;
The Loch Ness monster, the Silver Lake Sea Serpent, and other lake creatures; Dragons;
Giant Flying Snakes; Carnivorous Plants from outer space; Unidentified submarine objects;
Aliens, bedroom invaders, and cattle rustlers from the skies; The Grinning Man; Green men, Leprechauns, and other little people;Vampires and Werewolves and much more....]]> 352 John A. Keel 0765345862 Andy 0 to-read 3.90 1970 The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings
author: John A. Keel
name: Andy
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Our Haunted Planet 98874 Book by John A. Keel 206 John A. Keel 1880090163 Andy 0 to-read 3.80 1971 Our Haunted Planet
author: John A. Keel
name: Andy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1971
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Complete Books of Charles Fort * The Book of the Damned * Lo! * Wild Talents * New Lands]]> 20739725 This scholarly exploration of the borderlands between science and fantasy features four complete works by the redoubtable Charle Fort (1874-1932): The Book of the Damned, Lo!, Wild Talents, and New Lands. All concern the bizarre phenomena unexplained by traditional science: flying saucers, telekinesis, sudden showers of fish from the sky, stigmata, poltergeists, and spontaneous combustion.
]]> 1062 Charles Fort Andy 0 to-read 0.0 1941 The Complete Books of Charles Fort * The Book of the Damned * Lo! * Wild Talents * New Lands
author: Charles Fort
name: Andy
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1941
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Journey from Eden: The Peopling of Our World]]> 249705 256 Brian M. Fagan 0500050570 Andy 0 to-read 3.61 1990 Journey from Eden: The Peopling of Our World
author: Brian M. Fagan
name: Andy
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rulers of Evil: Useful Knowledge about Governing Bodies]]> 298345 328 F. Tupper Saussy 0066210836 Andy 0 to-read 4.33 2001 Rulers of Evil: Useful Knowledge about Governing Bodies
author: F. Tupper Saussy
name: Andy
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ancient Egypt The Light of the World: Vol. 1 and 2]]> 19327506 598 Gerald Massey 1461189497 Andy 0 to-read 4.50 1907 Ancient Egypt The Light of the World: Vol. 1 and 2
author: Gerald Massey
name: Andy
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1907
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Gerald Massey's Lectures 1005958 287 Gerald Massey 1881316203 Andy 0 to-read 4.50 1900 Gerald Massey's Lectures
author: Gerald Massey
name: Andy
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1900
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To Eliminate the Opiate: Volume 2]]> 19934398 297 Rabbi Marvin S. Antelman 9657186056 Andy 0 to-read 3.83 2002 To Eliminate the Opiate: Volume 2
author: Rabbi Marvin S. Antelman
name: Andy
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mythology's Last Gods: Yahweh and Jesus]]> 1146020 420 William Harwood 0879757426 Andy 0 to-read 4.16 1992 Mythology's Last Gods: Yahweh and Jesus
author: William Harwood
name: Andy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith]]> 32338
The theater was Europe of the industrial era; the main stage was the journalistic offices within great cities such as Paris, Berlin, London, and St. Petersburg. Billington claims with considerable evidence that revolutionary ideologies were shaped as much by the occultism and proto-romanticism of Germany as the critical rationalism of the French Enlightenment. The conversion of social theory to political practice was essentially the work of three Russian revolutions: in 1905, March 1917, and November 1917.

Events in the outer rim of the European world brought discussions about revolution out of the school rooms and press rooms of Paris and Berlin into the halls of power.

Despite his hard realism about the adverse practical consequences of revolutionary dogma, Billington appreciates the identity of its best sponsors, people who preached social justice transcending traditional national, ethnic, and gender boundaries. When this book originally appeared The New Republic hailed it as "remarkable, learned and lively," while The New Yorker noted that Billington "pays great attention to the lives and emotions of individuals and this makes his book absorbing." It is an invaluable work of history and contribution to our understanding of political life.]]> 677 James H. Billington 0765804719 Andy 0 to-read 4.56 1980 Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith
author: James H. Billington
name: Andy
average rating: 4.56
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spear of Destiny: The Occult Power Behind the Spear Which Pierced the Side of Christ]]> 1345891
He records the legend and its continuing fulfillment in the decline of the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, and the 20th century. His account tells the story of the chain of men who possessed the Spear, from Herod the Great to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, and how they sought to change the face of history by wielding its occult powers for good or evil.

The Spear is also identified as the Lance of the Holy Grail mentioned in the sagas of the Dark Ages.

The final chapters of the book describe a Manichean battle of worlds behind the changing scene of the 20th century. Also claimed by Ravenscroft are the Satanic occult faculties developed by of Adolf Hitler during his early desperate years in Austria, describing how he furthered his aims and his attempted conquest of Europe through the use of black magic practices.]]> 384 Trevor Ravenscroft 0747405131 Andy 0 to-read 3.62 1972 Spear of Destiny: The Occult Power Behind the Spear Which Pierced the Side of Christ
author: Trevor Ravenscroft
name: Andy
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (Verso Classsics, 26)]]> 492109 228 Michele Wallace 1859842968 Andy 0 to-read 4.09 1978 Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (Verso Classsics, 26)
author: Michele Wallace
name: Andy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Alphabet of Inner Demons and How to Tame Them (Full Color Version)]]> 10191306 60 Jenifer Zurick 0557530725 Andy 0 to-read 5.00 2010 The Alphabet of Inner Demons and How to Tame Them (Full Color Version)
author: Jenifer Zurick
name: Andy
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Project: Soul Catcher: Secrets of Cyber and Cybernetic Warfare Revealed]]> 10066126 332 Robert Duncan 1452804087 Andy 0 to-read 4.52 2010 Project: Soul Catcher: Secrets of Cyber and Cybernetic Warfare Revealed
author: Robert Duncan
name: Andy
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Tame a Demon: A short guide to organized intimidation stalking, electronic torture, and mind control.]]> 24286366 112 Robert Duncan Andy 0 to-read 4.00 2014 How to Tame a Demon: A short guide to organized intimidation stalking, electronic torture, and mind control.
author: Robert Duncan
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Plot Against America 703
For one boy growing up in Newark, Lindbergh's election is the first in a series of ruptures that threatens to destroy his small, safe corner of America - and with it, his mother, his father, and his older brother.]]> 391 Philip Roth 1400079497 Andy 0 to-read 3.79 2004 The Plot Against America
author: Philip Roth
name: Andy
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty]]> 11044200
In The Science of Evil Simon Baron-Cohen, an award-winning British researcher who has investigated psychology and autism for decades, develops a new brain-based theory of human cruelty. A true psychologist, however, he examines social and environmental factors that can erode empathy, including neglect and abuse.

Based largely on Baron-Cohen's own research, The Science of Evil will change the way we understand and treat human cruelty.]]> 256 Simon Baron-Cohen Andy 0 to-read 3.74 2011 The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty
author: Simon Baron-Cohen
name: Andy
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy]]> 224127 484 John J. Mearsheimer 0374177724 Andy 0 to-read 4.06 2006 The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
author: John J. Mearsheimer
name: Andy
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Jewish Strategy 19925148 74 Revilo P. Oliver 1291209948 Andy 0 to-read 3.52 2001 The Jewish Strategy
author: Revilo P. Oliver
name: Andy
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fascism: The Career of a Concept]]> 25779931 256 Paul Edward Gottfried 0875804934 Andy 0 to-read 3.99 2015 Fascism: The Career of a Concept
author: Paul Edward Gottfried
name: Andy
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism]]> 38240519 The first comprehensive account of the evolution and exploitation of the Judeo-Bolshevik myth, from its origins to the present day.

For much of the twentieth century, Europe was haunted by a threat of its own imagining: Judeo-Bolshevism. This myth—that Communism was a Jewish plot to destroy the nations of Europe—was a paranoid fantasy, and yet fears of a Jewish Bolshevik conspiracy took hold during the Russian Revolution and spread across Europe. During World War II, these fears sparked genocide.

Paul Hanebrink's history begins with the counterrevolutionary movements that roiled Europe at the end of World War I. Fascists, Nazis, conservative Christians, and other Europeans, terrified by Communism, imagined Jewish Bolsheviks as enemies who crossed borders to subvert order from within and bring destructive ideas from abroad. In the years that followed, Judeo-Bolshevism was an accessible and potent political weapon.

After the Holocaust, the specter of Judeo-Bolshevism did not die. Instead, it adapted to, and became a part of, the Cold War world. Transformed yet again, it persists today on both sides of the Atlantic in the toxic politics of revitalized right-wing nationalism. Drawing a worrisome parallel across one hundred years, Hanebrink argues that Europeans and Americans continue to imagine a transnational ethno-religious threat to national ways of life, this time from Muslims rather than Jews.]]> 368 Paul A. Hanebrink 0674047680 Andy 0 to-read 3.35 2018 A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism
author: Paul A. Hanebrink
name: Andy
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt]]> 21964522
Carrier re-examines the whole question and finds compelling reasons to suspect the more daring assumption is correct. He lays out extensive research on the evidence for Jesus and the origins of Christianity and poses the key questions that must now be answered if the historicity of Jesus is to survive as a dominant paradigm.

Carrier contrasts the most credible reconstruction of a historical Jesus with the most credible theory of Christian origins if a historical Jesus did not exist. Such a theory would posit that the Jesus figure was originally conceived of as a celestial being known only through private revelations and hidden messages in scripture; then stories placing this being in earth history were crafted to communicate the claims of the gospel allegorically; such stories eventually came to be believed or promoted in the struggle for control of the Christian churches that survived the tribulations of the first century.

Carrier finds the latter theory more credible than has been previously imagined. He explains why it offers a better explanation for all the disparate evidence surviving from the first two centuries of the Christian era. He argues that we need a more careful and robust theory of cultural syncretism between Jewish theology and politics of the second-temple period and the most popular features of pagan religion and philosophy of the time.

For anyone intent on defending a historical Jesus, this is the book to challenge.]]> 712 Richard C. Carrier 1909697354 Andy 0 to-read 4.28 2014 On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt
author: Richard C. Carrier
name: Andy
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American]]> 42193976
In today’s contentious political climate, understanding religion’s role in American government is more important than ever. Christian nationalists assert that our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and advocate an agenda based on this popular historical claim. But is this belief true? The Founding Myth answers the question once and for all. Andrew L. Seidel, a constitutional attorney at the Freedom from Religion Foundation, builds his case point by point, comparing the Ten Commandments to the Constitution and contrasting biblical doctrine with America’s founding philosophy, showing that the Bible contradicts the Declaration of Independence’s central tenets. Thoroughly researched, this persuasively argued and fascinating book proves that America was not built on the Bible and that Christian nationalism is, in fact, un-American.Trim x 9 Inches]]> 352 Andrew L. Seidel 1454933275 Andy 0 to-read 4.39 2019 The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American
author: Andrew L. Seidel
name: Andy
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Story of Human Language 3328218
* How did different languages come to be?
* Why isn’t there just a single language?
* How does a language change, and when it does, is that change indicative of decay or growth?
* How does a language become extinct?

Dr. John McWhorter, one of America’s leading linguists and a frequent commentator on network television and National Public Radio, addresses these and other questions as he takes you on an in-depth, 36-lecture tour of the development of human language, showing how a single tongue spoken 150,000 years ago has evolved into the estimated 6,000 languages used around the world today.

An accomplished scholar, Professor McWhorter is also a skilled popularizer, whose book The Power of Babel was called "startling, provocative, and remarkably entertaining," by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The London Times called him "a born teacher." And Steven Pinker, best known as the author of The Language Instinct, offered this praise for the book: "McWhorter’s arguments are sharply reasoned, refreshingly honest, and thoroughly original."

Course Lecture Titles
1. What Is Language?
2. When Language Began
3. How Language Changes—Sound Change
4. How Language Changes—Building New Material
5. How Language Changes—Meaning and Order
6. How Language Changes—Many Directions
7. How Language Changes—Modern English
8. Language Families—Indo-European
9. Language Families—Tracing Indo-European
10. Language Families—Diversity of Structures
11. Language Families—Clues to the Past
12. The Case Against the World’s First Language
13. The Case For the World’s First Language
14. Dialects—Subspecies of Species
15. Dialects—Where Do You Draw the Line?
16. Dialects—Two Tongues in One Mouth
17. Dialects—The Standard as Token of the Past
18. Dialects—Spoken Style, Written Style
19. Dialects—The Fallacy of Blackboard Grammar
20. Language Mixture—Words
21. Language Mixture—Grammar
22. Language Mixture—Language Areas
23. Language Develops Beyond the Call of Duty
24. Language Interrupted
25. A New Perspective on the Story of English
26. Does Culture Drive Language Change?
27. Language Starts Over—Pidgins
28. Language Starts Over—Creoles I
29. Language Starts Over—Creoles II
30. Language Starts Over—Signs of the New
31. Language Starts Over—The Creole Continuum
32. What Is Black English?
33. Language Death—The Problem
34. Language Death—Prognosis
35. Artificial Languages
36. Finale—Master Class]]> 19 John McWhorter 1565859472 Andy 0 to-read 4.41 2004 The Story of Human Language
author: John McWhorter
name: Andy
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ten Things Christians Wish Jesus Hadn't Taught: And Other Reasons to Question His Words (Ten Tough Problems in Christian Belief Book 2)]]> 58843130
But the problem won’t go away, even if many of the faithful file these troublesome texts in a mental drawer marked “Too uncomfortable to think about.� In fact, the problem is much larger than many people suppose. In this book, you’ll find “things Christians wish Jesus hadn’t taught� categorized in ten chapters.

How can this not be food for thought? What are the implications of this major downside of the gospels? It takes a certain level of bravery—frankly, curiosity and courage are required—to examine everything that Jesus taught. This book is designed to help with that adventure.]]> 149 David Madison 1733352090 Andy 0 to-read 4.26 Ten Things Christians Wish Jesus Hadn't Taught: And Other Reasons to Question His Words (Ten Tough Problems in Christian Belief Book 2)
author: David Madison
name: Andy
average rating: 4.26
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All That's Wrong with the Bible: Contradictions, Absurdities, and More]]> 36257900 127 Jonah David Conner Andy 0 to-read 4.05 All That's Wrong with the Bible: Contradictions, Absurdities, and More
author: Jonah David Conner
name: Andy
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All]]> 9618553 248 David Fitzgerald 0557709911 Andy 0 to-read 3.98 2010 Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All
author: David Fitzgerald
name: Andy
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Breaking the Mirror of Heaven: The Conspiracy to Suppress the Voice of Ancient Egypt]]> 14459128
� Details the vandalism of Egyptian antiquities and suppression of ancient knowledge under foreign rulers who sought to cleanse Egypt of its “pagan� past

� Reveals the real reason behind Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt: Freemasonry

� Shows how the censorship of nonofficial Egyptology as well as new archaeological discoveries continued under Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass

Called the “Mirror of Heaven� by Hermes-Thoth and regarded as the birthplace of civilization, science, religion, and magic, Egypt has ignited the imagination of all who come in contact with it since ancient times--from Pythagoras and Plato to Alexander the Great and Napoleon to modern Egyptologists the world over. Yet, despite this preeminence in the collective mind, Egypt has suffered considerable destruction over the centuries. Even before the burning of the Great Library at Alexandria, the land of the pharaohs was pillaged by its own people. With the arrival of foreign rulers, both Arabic and European, the destruction and thievery continued along with suppression of ancient knowledge as some rulers sought to cleanse Egypt of its “pagan� past.

Exploring the many cycles of destruction and suppression in Egypt as well as moments of salvation, such as the first registered excavations by Auguste Mariette, Robert Bauval and Ahmed Osman investigate the many conquerors of Egypt through the millennia as well as what has happened to famous artifacts such as the Rosetta Stone. They show how Napoleon, through his invasion, wanted to revive ancient Egyptian wisdom and art because of its many connections to Freemasonry. They reveal how the degradation of monuments, theft of relics, and censorship of ancient teachings continue to this day. Exposing recent cover-ups during the tenure of Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass, they explain how new discoveries at Giza were closed to further research.

Clearing cultural and historical distortions, the authors reveal the long-hidden and persecuted voice of ancient Egypt and call for the return of Egypt to its rightful place as “the Mother of Nations� and “the Mirror of Heaven.”]]> 384 Robert Bauval 1591431565 Andy 0 to-read 4.02 2012 Breaking the Mirror of Heaven: The Conspiracy to Suppress the Voice of Ancient Egypt
author: Robert Bauval
name: Andy
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jewish Magic Before the Rise of Kabbalah]]> 28766626 Jewish Magic Before the Rise of Kabbalah is a comprehensive study of early Jewish magic focusing on three major topics: Jewish magic inventiveness, the conflict with the culture it reflects, and the scientific study of both.

The first part of the book analyzes the essence of magic in general and Jewish magic in particular. The book begins with theories addressing the relationship of magic and religion in fields like comparative study of religion, sociology of religion, history, and cultural anthropology, and considers the implications of the paradigm shift in the interdisciplinary understanding of magic for the study of Jewish magic. The second part of the book focuses on Jewish magic culture in late antiquity and in the early Islamic period. This section highlights the artifacts left behind by the magic practitioners-amulets, bowls, precious stones, and human skulls-as well as manuals that include hundreds of recipes. Jewish Magic before the Rise of Kabbalah also reports on the culture that is reflected in the magic evidence from the perspective of external non-magic contemporary Jewish sources.

Issues of magic and religion, magical mysticism, and magic and social power are dealt with in length in this thorough investigation. Scholars interested in early Jewish history and comparative religions will find great value in this text.]]> 604 Yuval Harari 0814336302 Andy 0 to-read 4.10 Jewish Magic Before the Rise of Kabbalah
author: Yuval Harari
name: Andy
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Gospel According to Acharya S]]> 6775726 204 D.M. Murdock 0979963125 Andy 0 to-read 3.95 2009 The Gospel According to Acharya S
author: D.M. Murdock
name: Andy
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics]]> 34964949 The definitive firsthand account of the movement that permanently broke the American political consensus.

What do internet trolls, economic populists, white nationalists, techno-anarchists and Alex Jones have in common? Nothing, except for an unremitting hatred of evangelical progressivism and the so-called "Cathedral" from whence it pours forth.

Contrary to the dissembling explanations from the corporate press, this movement did not emerge overnight--nor are its varied subgroups in any sense interchangeable with one another. As united by their opposition as they are divided by their goals, the members of the New Right are willfully suspicious of those in the mainstream who would seek to tell their story. Fortunately, author Michael Malice was there from the very inception, and in The New Right recounts their tale from the beginning.

Malice provides an authoritative and unbiased portrait of the New Right as a movement of ideas--ideas that he traces to surprisingly diverse ideological roots. From the heterodox right wing of the 1940s to the Buchanan/Rothbard alliance of 1992 and all the way through to what he witnessed personally in Charlottesville, The New Right is a thorough firsthand accounting of the concepts, characters and chronology of this widely misunderstood sociopolitical phenomenon.

Today's fringe is tomorrow's orthodoxy. As entertaining as it is informative, The New Right is required reading for every American across the spectrum who would like to learn more about the past, present and future of our divided political culture.]]> 307 Michael Malice 1250154669 Andy 0 to-read 4.24 2019 The New Right: A Journey to the Fringe of American Politics
author: Michael Malice
name: Andy
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Black Rednecks and White Liberals]]> 3040 372 Thomas Sowell 1594030863 Andy 0 to-read 4.34 2005 Black Rednecks and White Liberals
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Andy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion]]> 11324722 An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780307377906 can be found here.

Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding.

His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.]]> 419 Jonathan Haidt Andy 0 to-read 4.18 2012 The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Andy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America]]> 58133534 People of good will on both the left and the right are secretly asking themselves the same question: how has the conversation on race gone so crazy?

Bestselling author and acclaimed linguist John McWhorter argues that an illiberal neoracism, disguised as antiracism, is hurting black communities and weakening the social fabric.

We're told to read books and listen to music by people of colour but that wearing certain clothes is 'appropriation.' We hear that being white automatically gives you privilege and that being black makes you a victim. We want to speak up but fear we'll be seen as unwoke, or worse, labelled a racist. According to John McWhorter, the problem is that a well-meaning but pernicious form of antiracism has become, not a progressive ideology, but a religion - and one that's illogical, unreachable, and unintentionally neoracist.

In Woke Racism, McWhorter reveals the workings of this new religion, from the original sin of 'white privilege' and the weaponization of cancel culture to ban heretics, to the evangelical fervour of the 'woke mob.' He shows how this religion that claims to 'dismantle racist structures' is actually harming his fellow black Americans by infantilizing black people, setting black students up for failure, and passing policies that disproportionately damage black communities. The new religion might be called 'antiracism, ' but it features a racial essentialism that's barely distinguishable from racist arguments of the past.

Fortunately, for all of us, it's not too late to push back against woke racism. McWhorter shares scripts and encouragement with those trying to deprogramme friends and family. And most importantly, he offers a roadmap to justice that actually will help, not hurt, black people.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER]]> 224 John McWhorter 0593423062 Andy 0 to-read 3.87 2021 Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America
author: John McWhorter
name: Andy
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Free Speech And Why It Matters]]> 56962255
Since then, the victories of Political Correctness have formed the basis for a new intolerant mindset, one that seeks to move beyond simply reassessing the social contract of shared discourse to actively policing speech that is deemed offensive or controversial. Rather than confront bad ideas through discussion, it has now become common to intimidate one's detractors into silence through 'cancel culture', a ritual of public humiliation and boycotting which can often lead to the target losing his or her means of income.

Free Speech is a defence of our right to express ourselves as we see fit, and takes the form of a letter to those who are unpersuaded. Taking on board legitimate concerns about how speech can be harmful, Andrew Doyle argues that the alternative - an authoritarian world in which our freedoms are surrendered to those in power - has far worse consequences.]]> 128 Andrew Doyle Andy 0 to-read 4.23 2021 Free Speech And Why It Matters
author: Andrew Doyle
name: Andy
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure]]> 36556202
First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt show how the new problems on campus have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths are incompatible with basic psychological principles, as well as ancient wisdom from many cultures. They interfere with healthy development. Anyone who embraces these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—is less likely to become an autonomous adult able to navigate the bumpy road of life.

Lukianoff and Haidt investigate the many social trends that have intersected to produce these untruths. They situate the conflicts on campus in the context of America’s rapidly rising political polarization, including a rise in hate crimes and off-campus provocation. They explore changes in childhood including the rise of fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised play, and the new world of social media that has engulfed teenagers in the last decade.

This is a book for anyone who is confused by what is happening on college campuses today, or has children, or is concerned about the growing inability of Americans to live, work, and cooperate across party lines.]]> 352 Jonathan Haidt 0735224900 Andy 0 to-read 4.23 2018 The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Andy
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense]]> 49680197
Dr. Gad Saad, the host of the YouTube show THE SAAD TRUTH, exposes the bad ideas—what he calls “idea pathogens”—that are killing common sense and rational debate. Incubated in our universities and spread through the tyranny of political correctness, these ideas are endangering our most basic freedoms—including freedom of thought and speech.

The danger is grave, but as Dr. Saad shows, politically correct dogma is riddled with logical fallacies. We have powerful weapons to fight back with—if we have the courage to use them.

A provocative guide to defending reason and intellectual freedom and a battle cry for the preservation of our fundamental rights.]]> 264 Gad Saad 162157959X Andy 0 to-read 3.87 2020 Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense
author: Gad Saad
name: Andy
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody]]> 53052177
In this probing and intrepid volume, Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay document the evolution of the dogma that informs these ideas, from its coarse origins in French postmodernism to its refinement within activist academic fields.

Today this dogma is recognizable as much by its effects, such as cancel culture and social-media dogpiles, as by its tenets, which are all too often embraced as axiomatic in mainstream media: knowledge is a social construct; science and reason are tools of oppression; all human interactions are sites of oppressive power play; and language is dangerous.

As Pluckrose and Lindsay warn, the unchecked proliferation of these anti-Enlightenment beliefs present a threat not only to liberal democracy but also to modernity itself. While acknowledging the need to challenge the complacency of those who think a just society has been fully achieved, Pluckrose and Lindsay break down how this often-radical activist scholarship does far more harm than good, not least to those marginalized communities it claims to champion. They also detail its alarmingly inconsistent and illiberal ethics.

Only through a proper understanding of the evolution of these ideas, they conclude, can those who value science, reason, and consistently liberal ethics successfully challenge this harmful and authoritarian orthodoxy—in the academy, in culture, and beyond.]]> 348 Helen Pluckrose 1634312023 Andy 0 to-read 4.08 2020 Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody
author: Helen Pluckrose
name: Andy
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity]]> 44667183
We are living through a postmodern era in which the grand narratives of religion and political ideology have collapsed. In their place have emerged a crusading desire to right perceived wrongs and a weaponization of identity, both accelerated by the new forms of social and news media. Narrow sets of interests now dominate the agenda as society becomes more and more tribal--and, as Murray shows, the casualties are mounting.]]> 293 Douglas Murray 1635579988 Andy 0 to-read 4.18 2019 The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity
author: Douglas Murray
name: Andy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Politics and the English Language]]> 6324725 20 George Orwell Andy 0 to-read 4.31 1946 Politics and the English Language
author: George Orwell
name: Andy
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1946
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Journeys Out of the Body: The Classic Work on Out-Of-Body Experience]]> 347918 280 Robert A. Monroe 0385008619 Andy 0 to-read 4.07 1971 Journeys Out of the Body: The Classic Work on Out-Of-Body Experience
author: Robert A. Monroe
name: Andy
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1971
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Astrotheology for Life: Unlocking the Esoteric Wisdom of Ancient Myth]]> 34963922 334 David Warner Mathisen 0996059040 Andy 0 to-read 4.75 Astrotheology for Life: Unlocking the Esoteric Wisdom of Ancient Myth
author: David Warner Mathisen
name: Andy
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Montségur and the Mystery of the Cathars]]> 399534
� Demonstrates that Catharism is not simply a heretical Christian cult as it is often portrayed

� Examines the evidence for the existence of a lost Cathar treasure and its possible connection to the Holy Grail

On March 16, 1244, over 200 Cathars were captured in their fortress stronghold of Montségur and were burned alive by troops of the Inquisition. While some Cathar enclaves survived into the next century, this was the death blow to a religion that had been a powerful symbol of Occitain sovereignty against the designs of the French monarchy and the papacy. History has recorded that four high-ranking Cathar perfecti carried a great treasure out of Montségur the night before its fall, a fact that led rebel Huguenots of the 17th century and members of Hitler’s S.S. to believe that an enormous treasure or weapon of awesome spiritual power lay hidden somewhere nearby the ruins of the former Cathar stronghold.

Seeking to untangle the true from the false, Celtic and medieval scholar Jean Markale meticulously searches through the obscure history of the Cathars, tracing their roots back to the ancient Zoroastrian religion of Persia. He examines what earned the Cathars--who practiced vegetarianism, non-violence, and tolerance--the ruthless persecution of both the Church and the state. He explores their doctrine, their place in medieval Occitain culture, and their secret pact with the Knights Templar. Most important, he uses all available documentation to reveal the nature of the treasure the Cathars spirited away from their fortress at Montségur the night before its surrender to French troops.

]]> 312 Jean Markale 0892810904 Andy 0 to-read 3.78 1986 Montségur and the Mystery of the Cathars
author: Jean Markale
name: Andy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Sitra Achra: A Grimoire of the Dragons of the Other Side]]> 18789833
The Tradition outlined in this Grimoire is in some of its aspects pertaining to the symbolism employed based on certain for us fundamental concepts derived from the Heresy of Sabbatai Zevi, as transmitted by the prophet Nathan of Gaza, such as the dichotomy between the Cosmic Light of Creation and the Anti-Cosmic Light of the Qliphothic Impulse. While this most important concept imbues the whole Work, the Tradition presented within this book takes the matter far deeper towards the Side of Qliphoth than what the Sabbatian traditions ever had or would, until a Gnostic form of Anti-cosmic Satanism/Luciferianism emerged perfectly suited for the Embodiment of the Current 218, not with the goal of separation and isolation from the True Divinity, like what most other forms of the so called "satanic" or "Left Hand Path" traditions seem to advocate and strive for, but instead setting as the highest goal to indeed merge and become as one with the Unbound Essence of Divinity in the Fullness of the Emptiness of Ain, beyond all limitations, illusions and finite duality.

The Book of Sitra Achra - A Grimoire of the Dragons of the Other Side provides in an unapologetic manner insight into one of the most maligned and vilified traditions, in order to shed the Light of Truth on the most controversial aspects of the Current 218 in order to both guide the sincere seekers of the Black Light and at the same time dispel those misguided and/or misguiding individuals who in a profane manner have or would approach the Anti-Cosmic Tradition for all the wrong reasons, mistaking it for all those things that it in actuality opposes and serves to eliminate.

The Qliphothic Path outlined in this Grimoire is not to be connected to any other system that has been made public so far and is in its approach and essence a totally unique form of Initiatic Ceremonial Magic, stretching from this to the Other Side, establishing the pathways and gates through which the adept may strive to become as one with the Eleven-Headed Ruler of the Tree of Wisdom, Unfated Death and Liberation from all cosmic limitation.

May each Spirit belonging to the Other Divinity find within this Grimoire the Black Light that shall guide each step through this world of White Darkness towards the Kelim-Shattering Illumination of the Thoughtless Crown of the Dragon.]]> 309 N.A-A.218 Andy 0 to-read 4.27 2013 The Book of Sitra Achra: A Grimoire of the Dragons of the Other Side
author: N.A-A.218
name: Andy
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Living Reality: My Extraordinary Summer With "Sailor" Bob Adamson]]> 975883 322 James Braha 0935895108 Andy 0 to-read 4.21 2001 Living Reality: My Extraordinary Summer With "Sailor" Bob Adamson
author: James Braha
name: Andy
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blueprints of Mind Control 44020603 This book reveals the controlling effects of the psychology behind false flags and educational propaganda. Picture yourself trapped in an eternally shrinking vacuum of space where no one can hear you. You are freak pond scum that fornicated yourself into a mutant fish-monkey. You live in fear of tumbling asteroids, your own footprints, and the magic of E=MC2. Our media and Hollywood are licensed fear porn agents here to keep you impotent. They hide the truth. We are living in a world of human slavery and sacrifice.
It is time to unlock your magic and liberate your psychology. There is a technology to our thoughts. The Jungian archetypes are sigils of magic and you are a creator responsible for this power. Your mind can be baptized in a single question. You can return the assemblage point of your awareness back to your center. All you have to do is ask the question, "Is that true." We remain as defenseless as a baby when we give them blind trust. It's time to wake up now. Wake up.
]]> 149 James True Andy 0 to-read 4.45 Blueprints of Mind Control
author: James True
name: Andy
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians]]> 223886

� Because they portray Jesus and Mary Magdalene as mythic figures based on the Pagan Godman and Goddess
� Because they show that the gospel story is a spiritual allegory encapsulating a profound philosophy that leads to mythical enlightenment
� Because they have the power to turn the world inside out and transform life into an exploration of consciousness

Drawing on modern scholarship, the authors of the international bestseller The Jesus Mysteries decode the secret teachings of the original Christians for the first time in almost two millennia and theorize about who the original Christians really were and what they actually taught. In addition, the book explores the many myths of Jesus and the Goddess and unlocks the lost secret teachings of Christian mysticism, which promise happiness and immortality to those who attain the state of Gnosis, or enlightenment. This daring and controversial book recovers the ancient wisdom of the original Christians and demonstrates its relevance to us today.]]> 336 Tim Freke 1400045940 Andy 0 to-read 4.01 2001 Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians
author: Tim Freke
name: Andy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tavistock Institute: Social Engineering the Masses]]> 25073714
The Tavistock Institute, in Sussex, England, describes itself as a nonprofit charity that applies social science to contemporary issues and problems. But this book posits that it is the world’s center for mass brainwashing and social engineering activities. It grew from a somewhat crude beginning at Wellington House into a sophisticated organization that was to shape the destiny of the entire planet, and in the process, change the paradigm of modern society. In this eye-opening work, both the Tavistock network and the methods of brainwashing and psychological warfare are uncovered. With connections to U.S. research institutes, think tanks, and the drug industry, the Tavistock has a large reach, and Tavistock Institute attempts to show that the conspiracy is real, who is behind it, what its final long term objectives are, and how we the people can stop them.]]> 240 Daniel Estulin 163424043X Andy 0 to-read 3.83 2011 Tavistock Institute: Social Engineering the Masses
author: Daniel Estulin
name: Andy
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mystique of Enlightenment: The Radical Ideas of U.G. Krishnamurti]]> 53526 159 U.G. Krishnamurti 0971078610 Andy 0 to-read 4.27 2002 The Mystique of Enlightenment: The Radical Ideas of U.G. Krishnamurti
author: U.G. Krishnamurti
name: Andy
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rise Above the Gods Who Hate Us Third Edition]]> 60807306 570 Christopher Jon Bjerknes Andy 0 to-read 3.00 Rise Above the Gods Who Hate Us Third Edition
author: Christopher Jon Bjerknes
name: Andy
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Satanic Secrets of Jesus Christ Volume II Jesus Is Satan]]> 61374417 Apocalypse of Abraham and Gospel of Judas reveal the fact that Jesus intended to lead Christians astray and completely exterminate them. Jesus was the Messiah Son of Joseph, who is also known as the "Messiah Anointed for War". In this guise, Jesus became the Avenging Sword, the Smiting Stone, the Foundation Stone and the Stumbling Stone. He treads the winepress of blood and is an analogous god to the Egyptian demon Shezmu who slays the other gods together with their worshipers. Jesus fulfilled a plan that was thoroughly worked out in the Septuagint hundreds of years before the authors of Gnosticism and St. Paul brought him to life in their manuscripts. The authors of the Gospels conceded that they based their claims of the divinity of Christ on this preexistent plan. They did not openly reveal their true intentions. Christopher Jon Bjerknes has thoroughly decoded the Bible's dark secret that Jesus is Satan and unites its cryptic passages in unique and revealing ways which unmask Jesus Christ and serve as a warning to the world about what devilish Jesus plans to do to us next.]]> 654 Christopher Jon Bjerknes Andy 0 to-read 0.0 Satanic Secrets of Jesus Christ Volume II Jesus Is Satan
author: Christopher Jon Bjerknes
name: Andy
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Satanic Secrets of Jesus Christ Volume I War Curses and Cacodaemons]]> 60536395
Yom Kippur is one of these War Curses uttered to the Cacodæmons Yahweh and Samael. The Christian gospels are a War Curse against the Christians written in coded language which conceals the authors' true intentions. By following the tenets and commandments of the Christian faith, Christians curse themselves and draw the wrath of Yahweh and Samael. The legend of Jesus Christ is based on the ritual sacrifice of scapegoats which the second temple Israelites made to Samael on the Day of Atonement. Jesus' blood was a ransom paid to Satan, that was then compounded with the blood of every Christian who bears his cross.

The Old Testament testifies to the fact that the ancient Israelites wanted nothing more than to rid themselves of the hated Cacodæmon Yahweh in favor of tender, loving and benevolent gods like the Golden Calf and Asherah. Whenever given the chance, they rejected Yahweh and worshiped gods of love, laughter and life, which made Yahweh so angry that he nearly slaughtered them all.]]> 394 Christopher Jon Bjerknes Andy 0 to-read 0.0 Satanic Secrets of Jesus Christ Volume I War Curses and Cacodaemons
author: Christopher Jon Bjerknes
name: Andy
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Beware the World to Come 55883640 276 Christopher Jon Bjerknes 1716515939 Andy 0 to-read 3.71 2020 Beware the World to Come
author: Christopher Jon Bjerknes
name: Andy
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A People That Shall Dwell Alone: Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy, with Diaspora Peoples]]> 182135 598 Kevin B. MacDonald 0595228380 Andy 0 to-read 4.04 1994 A People That Shall Dwell Alone: Judaism as a Group Evolutionary Strategy, with Diaspora Peoples
author: Kevin B. MacDonald
name: Andy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Kybalion: A Study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece]]> 1363427 223 Three Initiates 0911662251 Andy 0 to-read 4.17 1912 Kybalion: A Study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece
author: Three Initiates
name: Andy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1912
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart]]> 36739770 It wasn’t supposed to be this hard. If America could send a man to the moon, shouldn’t the best surgeons in the world be able to build an artificial heart? In Ticker, Texas Monthly executive editor and two time National Magazine Award winner Mimi Swartz shows just how complex and difficult it can be to replicate one of nature’s greatest creations.

Part investigative journalism, part medical mystery, Ticker is a dazzling story of modern innovation, recounting fifty years of false starts, abysmal failures and miraculous triumphs, as experienced by one the world’s foremost heart surgeons, O.H. “Bud� Frazier, who has given his life to saving the un-savable.

His journey takes him from a small town in west Texas to one of the country’s most prestigious medical institutions, The Texas Heart Institute, from the halls of Congress to the animal laboratories where calves are fitted with new heart designs. The roadblocks to success —medical setbacks, technological shortcomings, government regulations � are immense. Still, Bud and his associates persist, finding inspiration in the unlikeliest of places. A field beside the Nile irrigated by an Archimedes screw. A hardware store in Brisbane, Australia. A seedy bar on the wrong side of Houston.

Until post WWII, heart surgery did not exist. Ticker provides a riveting history of the pioneers who gave their all to the courageous process of cutting into the only organ humans cannot live without. Heart surgeons Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley, whose feud dominated the dramatic beginnings of heart surgery. Christian Barnaard, who changed the world overnight by performing the first heart transplant. Inventor Robert Jarvik, whose artificial heart made patient Barney Clark a worldwide symbol of both the brilliant promise of technology and the devastating evils of experimentation run amuck.

Rich in supporting players, Ticker introduces us to Bud’s brilliant colleagues in his quixotic quest to develop an artificial heart: Billy Cohn, the heart surgeon and inventor who devotes his spare time to the pursuit of magic and music; Daniel Timms, the Brisbane biomedical engineer whose design of a lightweight, pulseless heart with but a single moving part offers a new way forward. And, as government money dries up, the unlikeliest of backers, Houston’s furniture king, Mattress Mack.

In a sweeping narrative of one man’s obsession, Swartz raises some of the hardest questions of the human condition. What are the tradeoffs of medical progress? What is the cost, in suffering and resources, of offering patients a few more months, or years of life? Must science do harm to do good? Ticker takes us on an unforgettable journey into the power and mystery of the human heart.]]> 336 Mimi Swartz 0804138001 Andy 0 to-read 3.78 2018 Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart
author: Mimi Swartz
name: Andy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason]]> 51933 Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found here.

Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 � from the late Middle Ages, when insanity was still considered part of everyday life and fools and lunatics walked the streets freely, to the time when such people began to be considered a threat, asylums were first built, and walls were erected between the “insane� and the rest of humanity.]]> 299 Michel Foucault 067972110X Andy 5 to-read 4.08 1961 Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason
author: Michel Foucault
name: Andy
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1961
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Tyranny of Choice 25849604
Drawing on diverse examples from popular culture - spanning dating sites and self-help books, to our obsession with celebrities' lifestyles - and fusing sociology, psychoanalysis and philosophy, Salecl shows that choice is rarely based on a simple rational decision with a predictable outcome.]]> 224 Renata Salecl Andy 4 to-read 3.53 2010 The Tyranny of Choice
author: Renata Salecl
name: Andy
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Season in Hell 168499 95 Arthur Rimbaud 0821224581 Andy 0 to-read 4.18 1873 A Season in Hell
author: Arthur Rimbaud
name: Andy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1873
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> An Essay On Criticism 250278 48 Alexander Pope 1419106406 Andy 0 to-read 3.76 1711 An Essay On Criticism
author: Alexander Pope
name: Andy
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1711
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Prometheus Unbound 80577
It depicts its philanthropist hero's ultimate triumph over the superstition and bigotry of the gods. As Shelley himself stated in his Defence of Poetry, Prometheus Unbound awakens and enlarges the mind.]]> 112 Percy Bysshe Shelley 1419143239 Andy 0 to-read 3.78 1820 Prometheus Unbound
author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
name: Andy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1820
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cain A Mystery 5461665 128 Lord Byron 1425314910 Andy 0 to-read 4.00 1821 Cain A Mystery
author: Lord Byron
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1821
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Lyrical Ballads 112110
For Wordsworth, as he so clearly stated in his celebrated preface to the 1800 edition (also reproduced here), the important thing was the emotion aroused by the poem, and not the poem itself. This acclaimed Routledge Classics edition offers the reader the opportunity to study the poems in their original contexts as they appeared to Coleridge's and Wordsworth's contemporaries, and includes some of their most famous poems, including Coleridge's Rime of the Ancyent Marinere.]]> 118 William Wordsworth 0140424628 Andy 0 to-read 3.95 1798 Lyrical Ballads
author: William Wordsworth
name: Andy
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1798
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Prelude 865350 704 William Wordsworth 039309071X Andy 0 to-read 3.89 1850 The Prelude
author: William Wordsworth
name: Andy
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1850
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Emerald Tablet Of Hermes & The Kybalion: Two Classic Books on Hermetic Philosophy]]> 4305493 122 Hermes Trismegistus 1438235720 Andy 0 to-read 4.43 2008 The Emerald Tablet Of Hermes & The Kybalion: Two Classic Books on Hermetic Philosophy
author: Hermes Trismegistus
name: Andy
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Prison for the Mind: Reflections of a Disappointed Fundamentalist]]> 49003805
Adrian Charles Smith entered adulthood as a minister in a fundamentalist Christian sect, a loyal follower of a man he now calls the Wizard. But as with the Wizard of Oz, all was revealed to be a sham and his questioning of authority led to excommunication and life in the secular world. Yet, once away from the church, he observed fundamentalism in unexpected places � in the corporate world, in science and economics, in political ideologies, New Age movements and in postmodern philosophy. Different contexts, yes, but the same underlying phenomenon, the same adherence to ‘one truth�.

In these adventurous essays, Smith, with equal amounts of erudition, humour and insight, examines why we are drawn to these fundamentalist approaches. His search ranges from the caves of Nag Hammadi to the hallways of Ivy League universities, from communist Romania to Sedona Arizona. He discovers his potential for unconscious relapse to one all-knowing ‘Wizard� but eventually realizes that fundamentalists live in isolated camps, the truly free have genuine community, and unity in the midst of disagreement is possible.

This is a book about fundamentalism in all its pervasive, insidious manifestations]]> 337 Adrian Charles Smith 199925550X Andy 0 to-read 3.75 A Prison for the Mind: Reflections of a Disappointed Fundamentalist
author: Adrian Charles Smith
name: Andy
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason]]> 16436503
This book helps to give an inside-out look at the protestant Christian culture in the United States, and it will hopefully encourage others as they deal with the difficult questions in their own journeys toward truth.]]> 183 Seth Andrews Andy 0 to-read 4.29 2012 Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason
author: Seth Andrews
name: Andy
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/10/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Sex and the Failed Absolute 44105287
In forging this new materialism, Zizek critiques and challenges not only the work of Alain Badiou, Robert Brandom, Joan Copjec, Quentin Meillassoux, and Julia Kristeva (to name but a few), but everything from popular science and quantum mechanics to sexual difference and analytic philosophy. Alongside striking images of the M�bius strip, the cross-cap, and the Klein bottle, Zizek brings alive the Hegelian triad of being-essence-notion. Radical new readings of Hegel, and Kant, sit side by side with characteristically lively commentaries on film, politics, and culture.

Here is Zizek at his interrogative best.]]> 496 Slavoj Žižek 1350043788 Andy 0 to-read 4.12 2019 Sex and the Failed Absolute
author: Slavoj Žižek
name: Andy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/09/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles]]> 3047 304 Thomas Sowell 0465081428 Andy 0 to-read 4.31 1986 A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Andy
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/09/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis]]> 41716904 Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in his third book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crises while adopting selective changes -- a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises.

Diamond compares how six countries have survived recent upheavals -- ranging from the forced opening of Japan by U.S. Commodore Perry's fleet, to the Soviet Union's attack on Finland, to a murderous coup or countercoup in Chile and Indonesia, to the transformations of Germany and Australia after World War Two. Because Diamond has lived and spoken the language in five of these six countries, he can present gut-wrenching histories experienced firsthand. These nations coped, to varying degrees, through mechanisms such as acknowledgment of responsibility, painfully honest self-appraisal, and learning from models of other nations. Looking to the future, Diamond examines whether the United States, Japan, and the whole world are successfully coping with the grave crises they currently face. Can we learn from lessons of the past?

Adding a psychological dimension to the in-depth history, geography, biology, and anthropology that mark all of Diamond's books, Upheaval reveals factors influencing how both whole nations and individual people can respond to big challenges. The result is a book epic in scope, but also his most personal book yet.]]> 512 Jared Diamond Andy 0 to-read 3.87 2019 Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis
author: Jared Diamond
name: Andy
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>