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I'm on Goodreads and LibraryThing, but these are some of the books that hold special meaning for me. These are books that I highly recommend.

CDB! by Steig
This is a book that I remember very fondly from my childhood. I remember the excitement of figuring out the meanings.

Children Solve Problems by De Bono
I loved this book as a kid. When I think back, it is this book that really triggered in me the idea that there were fantastic solutions to problems in life that involved creativity and a sense of wonder.

Bury Me Standing by Fonseca
This book was a wonderful read and gave me a beautiful "Aha!" moment when it reveals the probable reason for the presence of the Gypsy in Europe and compares the experience of the Gypsy, as a feared outsider, to the experience of the African-Americans in the United States.

The Scientification of Love by Odent
This is one of those books, like several on this list, that make things make sense. There's just something really special about a book that can flip you around and make things clear. The contents of this book helped me to really start to understand how unnatural the birthing process is in the modern world. I think I was scared of reading this book and having my romanticism wounded, but that didn't happen. If anything, this book filled me with even more wonder and joy with the idea of family and love.

Real Magic by Bonewits
At some point in the 70s, I can't quite remember exacty when, I saw this book on the shelves at the University of Washington Bookstore. This book is a wonderful, serious and scholarly examination of the principles of magic. Neither a new age flight of fancy, nor a cynically dismissive work, this book filled my need for honest information about the subject.

One Human Minute by Lem
This book is a collection of short stories. These short stories are reviews of books from the future. It's a fantastic device to create the impression in the mind of the reader without having to trip over all the details and spoiling the illusion. The title story was wonderful. It has the quality of unsticking the mind in time and taking a new view on something that seems mundane. It's similar to movies like Baraka in this sense, but it's on the written page.

The Mind Parasites by Wilson
I found this book toward the end of a period when I was very interested in Lovecraft and stories in his mythos. This is a wonderful example of the kind of plot that develops in layers, revealing new facets at each level. Oddly, it's very similar to another Wilson book called The Philosopher's Stone, but this one I can whole-heartedly recommend.

 

 

 

 

 

John Griogair Bell - Arlecchino Malbenvolio

“Clown with a Bad Attitude”

Original material is Copyright © 1995 – 2019 J G Bell
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