by chrissy 26 Replies latest jw friends
LOL! Well there goes most of MY list...
lol...sorry odrade!! just the sci-fi fantasy ones though... hehe.. the others seem of interest. thanks!! Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Society...
with three nods of approval.. sounds like I can't go wrong with this one.
if you're into biology, i would also recommend anything from Stephen J. Gould or E.O. Wilson
also, regarding physics (super string theory, 11 dimensional hyper-space), Michio Kaku is my favorite popularizer...
Okay, well along the lines of a more philosophical bent you may find Wei Wu Wei to be of interest. I'm not as into it as I was, mainly because it essentially talks about the same kind of non-dual perspective over and over, (don't worry, most people who like it don't find it repetitive) but I can see where this kind of presentation might be more intellectually stimulating. And he does explain the eastern stuff if you're at all interested in that. Two titles I have are Ask the Awakened and Open Secret. OS may be hard to find but AA has been republished I think..
In my defense, the Sci-fi stuff I posted is not really along the lines of dragons and robots. First Immortal deals with cryogenics, and DNA manipulation, work that is being done now. Truth Machine is about using science to build a 100% effective lie detector, and the possible impact that would have on the near future in the science and political realm. Pastwatch, I admit, is straight sci-fi, based on possibility and probability as it relates to the implications of history on the present. Good story, nevertheless.
And yes, Dune is hard-core sci-fi, but in its defense, is the grand-father of other-worlds sci-fi. Star Wars, fully developed. It is as influential to Science Fiction as Tolkein was to Fantasy Fiction. Philosophy, religion, politics, theory of ecology, and speculation all rolled into one... with some great fight scenes too! Hmmm, that just about hits all the things you don't want to read! Haha!
Not saying you HAVE to read them, LOL! but Sci-Fi is not always dancing green women and genetically enhanced humans ripping off their shirts... ;)
You could start here with electronic reading. Nothing to buy, just take your laptop to bed with you! tod http://reference.bahai.org/en/
The book by Udo Erasmus "Fats that heal and fats that kill" he believes that the really bad fats are not saturated animal fats as claimed by orthodox medicine for 40 years but the processed vegetable oils which contain large amounts of noxious trans fats and these are found in many foodstuffs, biscuits, cooking margarines, cakes, salad dressings etc
markfromcali- Coincidently, I am interested in eastern philosophy a bit. And if I am thinking of the correct book and author, actually opened up Wei Wu Wei’s OS and tried reading a few passages but found it so extremely intense at the time…I put it down and sort of forgot about it. A good friend of mine (philosophy grad student) had a copy but we are no longer in touch, and yes...I think it would be hard to find at the local library across the street form me. Haha. You have me wanting to revisit it. I may check out AA or some of his other work. Thanks.
Try Patricia Cornwell's "Portrait of a Killer" about Jack the Ripper. Good read.
I read this last year after seeing a documentary on her theory. Very fascinating.
I love reading science as the closest thing to truth humanity can get. I suppose I like the stuff that tries to explain everything, theory of everything. I have read science, cosmology, superstring, quantum theory, chaos M theory etc. In a past life I also read the Bible & religious history. But I neglected anything to do with mysticism, which as a confirmed sceptic, was similar to superstitious religion, like JWs. I looked at the Tao of Physics recently but have not got past the second chapter yet - the jury's out. I also avoided theology like the plague.
However, I bought a book recently to get ideas to help get my friend out of the JWs. Instead I found something that combined some of my gut feelings about science, spirituality etc. It unites my thoughts on all the above. The problem is it is written by a theologian and has the Bible in its title which is a real turn off for many, which is a shame. It is not what I expected. Its not what you think! But it is a fresh perspective for me.
Hi Chrissy Here are some of the non fiction books I have read recently that I have enjoyed. WISH YOU WERE HERE... The biography of Douglas Adams by Nick Web. If you are a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fan you will enjoy this on on Douglas, the author of Hitchhikers and a friend of Richard Dawkin who's book was mention in an earlier post. Soul Surf...The story of Bethany Hamilton, the young girl in Hawaii who had her arm bitten off by a shark. She is such a possitive person even after what happened to her. Enjoyable read. If you like science: GOD TIME & STEPHEN HAWKING by David Wilkinson. Also BELIEF IN GOD IN AN AGE OF SCIENCE by John Polkinghorne Oh and BONO in conversation with Michka Assayas. If you like U2 you may enjoy this book. On finance: START LATE, FINISH RICH by David Bach. Good ideas on how to get a finacial plan going.
I'm reading "Under the Banner of Heaven" by John Krakauer (sp?) It's non-fiction about Mormon history and polygamy, and murder, and it's very eerie. Too, too similar to JW's.
Several in my family have read "Night Fall" by Nelson DeMille, and really like it. It's next on my list.
I'm also reading "Founding Mothers", by Cokie Roberts, another non-fiction about the women behind the men who founded America. I bought it because one of the women is an ancestor of mine, Mercy (Otis) Warren. Very, very good about how they lived in the 1700's, and how little they saw their husbands, but still had powerful influence on them through letters that still exist.
