I seem to be temporarily (I hope) out of the mood for science fiction. So when I finished rereading Diogenes Laertius, I set aside the Strugatsky collection, even though the first story was pretty good. Instead I picked up Stephen Leacock’s most famous book, Nonsense Novels, fun parodies of 10 genres. My father was fond of Leacock, and I intend to explore more of his 10 Leacock volumes on my shelf (one, Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich, was my last Christmas present to my father). First, however, I am sampling the work of E.V. Lucas, Giving and Receiving and Luck of the Year, which contain short, light essays and stories—trifles really, but enticing. Lucas was a prolific and well-known author and editor in the early 20th century, but entirely forgotten today because what he wrote is out of fashion, now and forever I expect. I would never have discovered him, but my father had a knack for finding worthwhile obscurities, and rummaging through his books is an ongoing adventure.
Finishing the Lord of the rings series, I might probably watch the entire series again later. yesss even the HOBBIT
Recently read The Priory of The Orange Tree, which was moderately engaging, and Radical Candour, which was very good if you have to manage people.
I’m currently reading “How Emotions Are Made” by L. Feldman Barrett, and can highly recommend it. Modern science challenges the classical views of human perception and emotions – it apparently all works in a very different way than what I thought (and what the dominant cultural beliefs are).
Excellent series which I still have yet to finish.
Very interesting. Lately, I have been more interested in a lot of psychology, which is something I never thought that I would get into. Basically, this last a year or so has been more challenging for me because I think (though I am not certain), that I am struggling with a form of OCD that is religious, known typically as scrupulosity. The onset was fairly sudden but apparently I am in one of the most common age ranges to experience it. The first couple of months after it started to show were brutal for me (I know think I see how serious mental health issues can be; in the past I thought it was something you could sort of toughen out and shake off), yet I seem to be a bit better now. I certainly would not say I am on the serious end of the “disease” if that is in fact what I have, as my obsessions are mainly mental without strange behaviors outside of that “like obsessive handwashing.” But it greatly impacted my life on the educational and social spectrums, as I am still catching up with time lost regarding school. Ultimately, I will be okay and a lot of people definitely have it worse, but we will just say I have a new found respect for people of all mental illnesses.
As far as reading goes, I am just now starting A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt. St. Thomas More is an especially interesting historical figure in my opinion and I have wanted to learn more about him for about a year now, so this will be a good introduction to satisfying that goal.
Oh, I’m sorry. This sounds very distressing. 
I hope you’re getting good support.
I am very sorry to hear of your struggles, as I have a high regard for you based on what you have written in the Forums. About a dozen years ago I read a book by the doctor who pioneered modern medical approaches to OCD (her work was initially ignored due to prejudice). Unfortunately I can’t remember her name or the book title (I had checked it out from the library). OCD appears to be on the increase, apparently because our modern environment induces quite a bit of anxiety generally. I have confidence that you will come out of this okay.
I have never read A Man for All Seasons, but I did like the movie.
You have to experience it to appreciate how much this is not the case eh!
Thank you all for you kindness as always. I think there are some genetic factors in play with me because a great deal of my family has experienced anxiety issues, and when I was considerably younger, I did too. I typically worried about my physical health despite being perfectly healthy, and I have pretty much “outgrown” that for now. I did not have any noticeable mental issues from about 5th grade to now (11th grade), and I was expecting that everything was fine until now. The more I think about though, there have been some potential “indicators” beforehand. I have had a tendency to hate serious changes throughout my life, regardless of how unimportant and inevitable they were and in recent times especially I would obsess over getting various projects and, especially, school assignments just perfect (I am notorious for spending close to an hour sometimes working on a single math problem on a test that I have forgotten how to solve and likely won’t remember how to do at all). These details were just too subtle though and many people without OCD are similar with those characteristics.
That being said, after reading some of the symptoms and difficulties others have, I can certainly say I am on the comparably milder end and am at least grateful that I am not suffering even close to as much as the worst of the worst.
There are a lot of books out there that can be read. There are genres that can be talked about with the non-fiction books that are out there that can help us learn more. However, fiction books are still out there that can serve as solid books which can be solid books that can be read. I know that there are people who will not have any problems with this because there are some compelling plots. I hope that people get to read books that are underrated by the ratings but are actually life-changing when it comes to their impact.
I rarely buy books as soon as they’re released, and these days try to buy few books in general since my apartment is filling up and I’m out of shelf space… but I made an exception for Michelle Zauner’s memoir Crying in H Mart (she is better known by her band: Japanese Breakfast)
The New Yorker essay that is the first chapter of the memoir was extremely affecting to me when I read it at the time, although I have a different background than the author (she is Korean American, I’m Japanese American) and I haven’t experienced the loss of a parent like she did (it’s not much of a spoiler to say it’s about her mother), I strongly related to her description of cultural disconnect and reconnection through food. So I’ve been anticipating the book’s release, and now that I’m reading it, I can confirm that is really moving, from what I’ve read so far. It feels honest and painful but the prose also has a song writer’s feel and pacing.
Reading Dick Harrison’s De geschiedenis van slavernij (The history of slavery).
As far as I know not (yet?) translated into English.
I finished Dick Harrison and started with another book: Cuba and its music by Ned Sublette.
There is something infinitely comforting if a 600 page book about Cuban music starts a millennium before Christ and steadily works up to contemporary times.
I’m thinking of reading Tales of Old Japan, the 1871 collection of Japanese folklore by the English author A. B. Mitford.
I have that book, but haven’t read it yet. I have a large collection of folklore, legends, and mythology—several hundred volumes—but I have read only about half of them. Reading the rest is one of my fondest hopes for retirement.
Just completed reading short story Kindness to Kin
Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote it incognito. Later he told about it.
Story is similar to Three Worlds Collide . Alien contact of species with very different motivations.
Sold
Very highly recommended.
If you like Pliny’s Natural History (Naturalis Historia) then you’d probably be interested in the book called Polyhistor (Multidescriptive), De Mirabilibus Mundi (Wonders of The World), or Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium (Collection of Curiosities).
It seems to be a sort of “pocket Pliny”, a smaller and later (3rd C.) derivative with some extra material.
Wikipedia has info and links to public domain texts in its article on the author, Gaius Julius Solinus.
“On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals” by Turid Rugaas (but the German translation)
I like dogs. They’re very honest: they always tell you if they don’t want to be friends.