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DemonKia -> RE: Member's fav books... (6/25/2009 4:02:36 AM)
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FR, after read thru
I'm a news junky & most of my day-to-day reading is online newspapers, news compilers, & that sorta thing; I read the New York Times at least a coupla times a week as my basic & supplement it with all kinds of other sources.
I'm a book-fetishist; they are sacred objects of which I own too many. I mostly don't collect things, but books are a big exception. I think I'm currently up in the 3,000 books range . . . . . . Thank the universe I've got adequate bookcases & a stable place to live, lol. There was a long time when I had boxes of books stacked up around wherever I was living, & I don't even like to think about all the money I've spent storing my books over the last 3 decades . . . . .
Some of the big life-changers have been:
General Non-Fiction:
Emotional Life Of Nations, by Lloyd DeMause; much of this one is available online at http://www.psychohistory.com/ along with a lot of other related essays & material . . . . . I believe that DeMause is the Freud of our times, a visionary who has figured out some very important basics of humans; the details may get refined with time, but the outline he presents truly changed how I viewed the world (& for the better, at that) . . . . . .
Killing Hope, by William Blum; this & 'Emotional Life of Nations' are far & away the most painful books I've ever read. 'Killing Hope' is, to me, a must read for anyone who wants to discuss the US place in global politics in the second half of the 20th century . . . . .
How The Mind Works, by Steven Pinker; a definitive intro (fairly technical) to what the neurosciences have discovered about the brain & how it creates this thing called 'mind' . . . . . .
Hubble, by Robin Kerrod; this is what I use in place of a 'bible', tho' I mostly just look at the pictures. To me, these kinds of images are snapshots of bits of "God's" mind . . . . . .
Non-Fiction Sex Stuff:
Post-Porn Modernist, by Annie Sprinkle; this was the book that helped me 'come out' as a sexual being & helped start me on my path to being the kinkster I am today. I love her positive, loving attitude, her activism, her focus on self-growth -- she's definitely one of my top heroes.
Anal Pleasure & Health, by Jack Morin; in addition to helping me have a healthier relationship with my gastrointestinal track, bootie, et alia, it also introduced me to the concept of 'Nice Person Syndrome', which was a life-changer all on its own .. . .
Exhibitionism For The Shy, by Carol Queen; I know some may be surprised, even shocked, but I'm a 'recovering shy person', & was cripplingly shy when I was younger. Carol's book has been a boon to me on that front . . . . .
Science Fiction:
The following are my favorite scifi books. Rereading them is always a sure pleasure, something I do every few years . . . . .. . In general I'm way more into reading non-fiction, & it's rare for me to be reading fiction . . . .
Titan (trilogy), by John Varley;
The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester;
Voyage From Yesteryear, James P. Hogan;
Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
Spiritual Sources:
When it comes to spiritual sources I rarely make it thru the whole book, usually I can only read a few pages at a time before I have to go digest for weeks or months. I like the authors Thich Nhat Hanh & the Dalai Lama in particular, alongside various translations of the Tao . . . . . .
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