Now reading With or without God by Gretta Vosper, a Minister of the West Hill United Church. Her critics called for her removal from the church because of not believing in a traditional God, to her God is a verb eg: Love, caring etc.

Right up my alley.

@Former Member posted:

Finished reading "THE GREAT DERANGEMENT: Climate Change and the Unthinkable" by Amitav Ghosh. It's an assessment of the state of global warming caused chiefly by unrelenting human polluting activities. The steady increase and devastating power of cyclones, typhoons, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes etc. The failure of governments and environmental movements alike to curb the trend. A thought-provoking read. This book was published in 2016. Amitav Ghosh is an award-winning Indian writer and academic.

Finished re-reading A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway - a biographical informative exposition of the life of popular writers and artistes in Paris during the 1920s.

Finished Stories On The Go: 101 Very Short Stories By 101 Authors. An excellent compilation of a wide variety of short stories.

Finished Deathworld by Harry Harrison. An intriguing SciFi story that highlights the natural tendency of humans for violence and conflict. The storyline is excellent. 

As I had no book I just read the toothpaste box while in the toilet, very informative.

@cain posted:

As I had no book I just read the toothpaste box while in the toilet, very informative.

More appropriate for a separate TOOTHPASTE BOX READING thread. 😁

@cain, you're not alone. Sometimes, while sitting on the toilet bowl, I would stretch for a deodorant or hair conditioner or liquid soap and read the fine print. By the time I'm ready to put them back on the counter, I am relieved of my daily bread. No dread. 🙂

https://www.amazon.com/This-Ho...-ebook/dp/B08BVXM59K

This is how I fight my battles

I was told that Allison Skeete was Dove on GNI.

Finished reading GERMINAL by Emile Zola, a prolific 19th century French writer. This novel is Zola's masterpiece and one of the most significant novels in the French language. First published in 1885, GERMINAL is a harsh and realistic portrayal of coalminers' appalling working and living conditions in northern France in the 1860s. The miners' struggles against their exploiting bosses climaxed with a protracted strike and destruction of one mine through sabotage. The rebellion was suppressed violently.

Finished reading CHESS, a novella by Stefan Zweig. The author was born in Austria. In the late 1930s, after Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Zweig fled from his homeland, lived briefly in the United Kingdom and United States, and finally settled in Brazil where he died in 1942 at age 60. CHESS was published later that year in Argentina. The action takes place in a passenger steamship sailing from New York to Buenos Aires with a stop in Rio de Janeiro. Reigning world chess champion is travelling. Some passengers request a chess match with him. He agrees condescendingly and demands a fee. He wins easily. His opponents request another match during which they get unexpected help from a stranger who happens to be passing by. The stranger helps them to win against the champion. It turns out that the stranger, Dr B, has left his native Austria after being severely persecuted by pro-Nazi forces and is on the verge of mental insanity.

I started reading "Critical" by Robin Cook author of Coma and each time I read after a few pages I start zzzz. I should be done by August monthend.

Finished reading "WORDS TO LIVE BY: Daily Inspiration for Spiritual Living", compiled by Eknath Easwaran. It consists of 365 passages from various religions traditions and from the writings of literary and scientific figures, with commentary by Easwaran.

Jesus Christ, Lord Krishna, the Buddha, Sri Ramakrishna, Saint Augustine, Saint Teresa of Avila, Thomas á Kempis, Jalaluddin Rumi, William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Albert Einstein etc.

For the past year I've started my day reading and meditating on a passage in this book.

I learnt today that Reading can seriously injure your ignorance.

@cain posted:

I learnt today that Reading can seriously injure your ignorance.

Reading impaired my ignorance severely. Beneficial injury though. Like Johnny Nash I can see clearly now...I can see obstacles in my way....🙂

Finished reading "BOOK ROW" by Marvin Mondlin and Roy Meador. Book Row refers to a stretch of Fourth Avenue and intersecting streets in Manhattan NY USA. From the 1890s to the 1980s there was a proliferation of used bookshops in Book Row, from 14th Street in the north to Astor Place in the south and from Third Avenue in the east to Broadway in the west. Those bookshops sold secondhand books, rare first edition books, antiquarian books, manuscripts etc. Their customers consisted of book lovers and collectors, students and teachers and college professors, researchers, general readers etc. The booksellers also built and replenished university libraries, public libraries, as well as the personal libraries of millionaires and influential people like JP Morgan, Franklin D Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy and Steven Spielberg. From the 1950s to the 1980s Book Row shrank one shop at a time until only one giant was left standing, the Strand Bookshop. Rising rent, aging booksellers, higher operating costs and redevelopment caused the demise of Book Row.

Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now, Maya Angelou. Profound autobiographical essays that address sociological and personal issues.

Pronto, Elmore Leonard. An installment from the "Justified" series. Excellent plot, characters, dialog, and flow.

The Virginian, Owen Wister. A truly pioneering contribution to literature that introduced many character types and events that became mainstream in stories of the west.

Confessions of a Curious Bookseller, Elizabeth Green. An enjoyable, well-written, funny with serious undertones account of Fawn's bumbling business venture, produced in a unique structure and story line.

O Pioneers!, Willa Cather - 5/25/2021. A powerful tale, truly worthy of its place as a classic in American literature. Willa Cather dramatizes mundane pioneer life, presenting emotional extremities to captivate the reader, and embracing reality with the strong presence of female lead characters.

The Law at Randado, Elmore Leonard. In only the second of his published novels, we see the beginning of Leonard's unique style as he strays from western stereotypes to weave the story of Kirby Frye's inexperienced but determined attempt at law enforcement.

The Lone Star Ranger, Zane Grey. Although the story line is intriguing and the action scenes compelling, I think the descriptions are over-written and overly sentimental, and the dialog seems forced, often trying to fit a stereotype.

The Mysterious Rider, Zane Grey. Great plot and story line with intriguing twist. The characters are diverse and well developed. Written 100 years ago, Grey does a great job with the action and dialog. For me, the descriptions are too drawn out but that reflects the style of the time. A good read.

@cain posted:

Now reading With or without God by Gretta Vosper, a Minister of the West Hill United Church. Her critics called for her removal from the church because of not believing in a traditional God, to her God is a verb eg: Love, caring etc.

Right up my alley.

I still reading this one since last July an I still cyan done it.

@cain posted:

I still reading this one since last July an I still cyan done it.

Don't read dem God book, budday. Read a nice Guyanese short story.

You know of any?

@cain posted:

I still reading this one since last July an I still cyan done it.

I have a huge stack ordered from Amazon over the years: Shameful Flight (the last years of the British Empire in India) by Stanley Wolpert; New Homelands (Hindu communities in Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad, South Africa, Fiji, and East Africa) by Paul Younger; etc. Maybe I'll start reading next week. 

@Former Member posted:

I have a huge stack ordered from Amazon over the years: Shameful Flight (the last years of the British Empire in India) by Stanley Wolpert; New Homelands (Hindu communities in Mauritius, Guyana, Trinidad, South Africa, Fiji, and East Africa) by Paul Younger; etc. Maybe I'll start reading next week.

You wanna race me and see who finishes their book last?

Gunman's Reckoning, Max Brand. One of those tales I could not stop reading. Excellent story line, great dialog, well written with fascinating characters that drive the story. Railroad tramp and feared combatant, Donnegan, abandons his mysterious quest and transforms himself in a few days, acquiring the means in the most intriguing manner to best serve the young lady who has entered his life. Hiding his innermost thoughts and emotions with superior competence, Donnegan seems well-equipped to master both the environment and people around him, and sets out to do just so.

Sounds like Donnegan is a soor man.

@cain posted:

Sounds like Donnegan is a soor man.

De man got nuff lyrics.

The Untamed, Max Brand. An intriguing story pitting the supernatural strength and resilience of untamed Whistling Dan Barry against the vicious outlaws led by Jim Silent. Both Dan's naivete and superhuman strength and senses depict him as other-worldly. Moreso, his lack of interest in material possessions, his unconcern for consequences, and his fearlessness in the face of danger. An excellent novel, concluding the sixth and final story in Classic Westerns.

Bacchanal, Veronica G. Henry. I picked up this novel because of the name which is popular in Guyana and the Caribbean for referring to a party, fair, or carnival. I was delighted to discover a character named Obeah in the beginning, although his presence was short-lived, because obeah is also prominent in Guyana as the English term for voodoo. An intriguing story, relating the ancient superstitions and mystical beliefs of Africa. The story line, dialog, and narrative are fairly well-written. I enjoyed it.

Song of the Forever Rains, E.J. Mellow. A fantasy tale that incorporates enough of the ordinary to tell an excellent story of love, hate, and greed for power. While Larkyra and her sisters enjoy their magic, they also employ it in service of good, helping those in need. She soon discovers her magic does not make her immune to normal human emotions.