@Matthewnh I never knew Aurelius was a published philosopher (even if that wasn't his attention). I'm usually wary of philosophical works, as I typically find them too heady, but as he, apparently, shares my worldview in that if you expect the worst you will never be disappointed, I shall just have to give it a read at some point. On the reading list it went
I think that “Meditations” was something more like his own private journal. It would never have occurred to Marcus that other people would one day read his journal. He would never have intended that to happen.
Certainly not 1900 years after his death. But if I am honest, he probably would not have cared either way.
But the way the book is written is very straightforward, and down-to-earth. It is like his own dialogue with himself. Not really heavy, weighty philosophy. Just good advice for life.
But I read it regularly, because it helps me to focus, to put things into perspective. To focus upon the things that I can control, and not to worry about those things I cannot control.
That is what stoicism is basically - mastering your emotions, so that your emotions do not control you.
@Matthewnh Yeah, I was intrigued when I discovered it wasn't written to be published. Glad to hear that it's a straightforward read; add that to the fact that it is fairly short and it stands a good chance it might get bumped up on a reading list that is ridiculously long
Was able to get the ARC of "I'm afraid you've got Dragons" by Peter S. Beagle. I'm excited to read it as I enjoyed "The Last Unicorn" by him quite some time ago.
Just started The Portable Mark Twain, a Penguin Classic. It's an excellent book so far, and I believe it has all his best bits. I think Twain, besides Henry Miller, is one of the most amusing writers that America has ever produced. I had previously read A Tramp Abroad by him, highly recommend that as well, but I believe that The Portable Mark Twain could be the essential collection of his work.
Recently finished books are 12 more rules for life by Jordan Peterson, Meat space by Nikesh Shukla and Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. 12 rules, I found to be unnecessarily wordy but still an insightful read, with Meat space I got several laughs with the characters antics. Dark Matter was excellent, a real page turner. Finished it in 3 evenings, probably would have read it in a day if I didn't need sleep or to go to work!
I considered jumping straight into Upgrade but decided to go with The Geography of Power as my next read.
@Matthewnh I’ve always wanted to read Meditations, I do feel I’ve absorbed a lot of the fundamentals via osmosis over the years. You’ve definitely inspired me to seek out a copy, to keep the worlds bs at bay.
@MightyDemon82 Happy to hear that you enjoyed Dark Matter! Aside from the Wayward Pines trilogy, it is probably my favourite Crouch novel. And it's not long until the adaptation with Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly hits Apple TV+ (May 8th). Really excited about that one.
In addition to Upgrade, you should also consider putting Recursion on your reading list, if it's not already on there. That was another I really enjoyed.
@FuriousMachine It is now added. It's definitely a book that will be a great T.V. show, that's top actors as well. Is connelly playing Daniela or Amanda?
Just finished Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer's saga with Andrzej Sapkowski's Lady of the Lake (Goodreads page) and I must say I was a tiny bit disappointed.
While the book offers a satisfying conclusion to the series, I found the novel to be... I don't know, unfocused, I guess? I often felt like skipping parts of it in order to get back to the story I wanted to read. For me, the weakest book in the series, but I would still say the series has been a satisfying read and absolutely worthwhile. Also, the book was good enough to earn three stars in my Goodreads review, so it was by no means bad, nor did it dissuade me from reading the (currently) last book about the Witcher either.
Before that, though, I'm going to read A Gentleman in Moscow (Goodreads page) by Amor Towles, a book that came so highly recommended that it went straight to the top of my reading list, which is very rare, if not entirely unprecedented. So, not exactly low expectations, then. Let's see if it delivers
I finished Slow Productivity by Cal Newport there the other day. I like the idea behind the book but I feel like he could have summarized the whole thing into an article rather than padding it out into a full book. I also think he needs to branch out in the topics he covers as I'd be interested to hear his thoughts on other things besides work and productivity.
I am still reading The Portable Mark Twain by Penguin Classics, and enjoying it greatly thus far, I think I am in the final third of the book, or thereabouts, and currently re-reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (the entire novel is contained within the 'Portable' book along with selections of his other writings) I find it's social critique of certain aspects of American Culture of the day fascinating.
@MightyDemon82
if you liked that one you should add The Grapes of Wrath to your for fire list, in my opinion it's easily the best he's written, at least that I have read. Again though be warned it may upset you as it's a pretty grim downbeat tale.
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
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