91–100 of 532 posts
It's not a novel, but a reference guide to mushrooms. It's phenomenal, is small, it's funny, and is a really good starter reference for mushroom foraging. 10/10 just for the cover, 20/10 for the content.
(https://www.amazon.com/All-That-Rain-Promises-More/dp/089815...)
"The Chip", second edition. Starts with the invention of the vacuum tube, ends with the US-China chip war. In between, you learn that the first semiconductors were hand-make, using a clay mud on bulk substrate to protect areas to be etched. Fair warning, he leaves out as much interesting material as he left in.
I read through most of PG Wodehouse this year. 'Ukridge' is perhaps the funniest collection of stories ever written, it's magic. I love all the books set in Blandings. While the Jeeves books were not my favorite when I was younger, I really really enjoy them now.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. He passed away in June 2023 and I read this shortly after for the first time. A powerful work that, despite the world building, focuses on the love between a father and son. It's a shocking novel in many ways, but ultimately I found it profoundly hopeful. Even in the direst of circumstances love gives strength to endure.
But who I can only make contact with once every couple of years, and only with preparation. He's just so, so bleak.
The Road put me in a bad place mentally for two or three years. Outer Dark still fucks with me when I think about it. Blood Meridian. Just that. Just the title.
He's the kind of author that I want to recommend to everyone, but also have to add an asterisk of what to be careful of.
Stop Reading the News. Hook that in with The Subtle Art of Not giving a fuck, and finish with Turning the Mind into an Ally, and I find reflecting on all three has helped me to focus on what's important. I no longer waste so much time on trivial unimportant nonsense. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stop-Reading-News-information-overl... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuit... https://www.amazon.co.uk…
Stop Reading the News. Hook that in with The Subtle Art of Not giving a fuck, and finish with Turning the Mind into an Ally, and I find reflecting on all three has helped me to focus on what's important. I no longer waste so much time on trivial unimportant nonsense. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stop-Reading-News-information-overl... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuit... https://www.amazon.co.uk…
I'm a person that struggles with boundary-setting and have spent numerous years in relationships that have left me as less-than I was before. Imagine people-pleasing to an absolute fault, and being more of a chameleon that adapts to avoid conflicts. This has led to problems of identity, and deriving my sense of worth through others which isn't healthy.
Fortunately, I do not have the same problems professionally and part of my people-pleasing skills have been put to good use there.
However, history continued and continues to repeat itself to this day. I'm more than half-way into this book and am not only seeing patterns from my childhood, my relationships with my parents, and my early relationships (platonic & romantic)
It's been eye-opening, and I consider it my first step in breaking this trend.
A Jungian dissection of the tale of a man that transforms into a donkey, and his journey of self discovery and redemption.
It gave me a whole new way of reading books (a "superpower" of sorts, lol).
Going back and reading stories I used to write as a child/teenager, I can now read between the lines and study my subconscious in ways I wasn't able to before.
Really helped with my own journey of self-discovery. Most impactful book I've read, by far.
I'm currently reading The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita[3].
In my mind, the nutrition books could be shorter so it might not be the best use of your time. But the 2nd one contains chapter for each common disorder so you could check the ones that (might) apply to you. The Dictator's Handbook is very interesting and it got me interested in politics more. I'll read Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson and The Invention of Power, another book by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita.
[1]: https://www.worldcat.org/title/607975714