Books Read
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The God Delusion
The God Delusion (audio) by Richard Dawkins Published: 2006 Narration: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward I remember discussing Dawkins and Hitchens with a friend a few years ago, and he felt that all of these pro-atheism books were a bit silly and pointless, as they were really just preaching to the choir (so to speak). It is preaching to the choir, but that choir is filled with a lot of people who benefit from hearing this side of the discussion. There is quite a bit of hate and distrust towards atheists out there, and anything gaining popularity that might support those who are feeling alone is a good thing. I live…
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The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by
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A Year in Provence
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle Published: 1989 Peter Mayle and his wife decided to make the move from London to Provence, to buy and renovate a 200-year-old house, and this book chronicles their first year. Each chapter covers a month of that year as they eat, meet the locals, deal with visitors, and find their way in their new homeland. This is not an exciting book. They aren’t risking their necks, traveling through the Amazon, and fighting off snakes. They’re just living out their lives as anyone would in a new country. As such, it’s a bit of a slow burn and possibly not that interesting if you…
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The High Window
The High Window by Raymond Chandler Published: 1942 I read The Lady in the Lake and Farewell, My Lovely in university and always meant to read more of Chandler’s work. The High Window was actually assigned reading in that same class, but I wasn’t able to get to it. I really enjoyed the other two books, but that enjoyment mostly came out of the atmosphere and wit and imagery in the writing. The plots felt to me like something you hung on to and let drag you through the prose. They were a little too convoluted to really focus on or care too much about, so you just let it…
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I Am Legend
I Am Legend (audio) by Richard Matheson Published: 1954 Firstly, I didn’t think the movie as was quite as bad as everyone made it out to be, but I can see where they’re coming from if they had read the book first. While it feels similar in atmosphere, it does differ in ways that reek somewhat of Hollywood tampering, and it ends up completely disregarding a fairly key point to the story. Robert Neville is a lone and immune survivor of a disease that turns people to vampires. His life is a tedious cycle of keeping the vampires at bay during the night and hunting them during the day. At…
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The Day of The Triffids
The Day of The Triffids (audio) by John Wyndham Published: 1951 Narration: Samuel West The Chrysalids was one of my favourite books as a teenager. It was assigned reading in one of my classes, and I expected it to be dull, but it really took me by surprise. For some odd reason, though, I never looked into any of Wyndham’s other books and eventually just forgot about him. I knew of The Day of the Triffids purely because I had heard it was an inspiration for both The Walking Dead and 28 Days Later. I watched the old BBC series when I first got Netflix (holds up quite well actually…
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Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men (audio) by John Steinbeck Published: 1937 Narration: Mark Hammer I’ve always associated Steinbeck with overly descriptive, boring storytelling, but having not read anything by him, that opinion was formed from listening to people bitch about reading him in high school. I know that most teenagers will hate any book their teachers assign them, no matter its merit, so I feel a bit stupid for having essentially listened to high school students over the Nobel prize committee. The central characters are George Milton, a quick-witted man, and Lennie Small, a large mentally disabled man (and possibly the original huge guy to be ironically named Small?). They’re close…
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The Minority Report
The Minority Report (audio) by Philip K. Dick Published: 1956 Narration: Keir Dullea I’ve been meaning to read some Philip K. Dick for years, but I never quite got to it. A friend of mine at work had this audio file kicking around on his computer, though, so I figured I might as well start here with one of his most famous works. I can’t remember if I enjoyed the film adaptation of Minority Report or not. I never could stand Tom Cruise (even before everyone else caught on), so that may have tarnished my experience, but all I really remember from the movie was the awesome, but probably impractical,…
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The Subtle Knife
The Subtle Knife (audio) by Philip Pullman Published: 1997 Narration:Philip Pullman, Full Cast This was my first full cast audiobook, and I didn’t think I’d like it at all, but it really worked. The voice acting was all great, apart from the guy voicing Lee Scoresby sounding like he was trying to do a bad impression of John Wayne. The also started each chapter with ear-piercingly bad music, which I assumed was BBC stock music from the 70s, but it was apparently composed just for this book. Those are minor gripes, though, in what was otherwise a great production. The story starts with a new character – Will, a boy…
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Cat’s Cradle
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Published: 1963 My third Vonnegut book, and a strong contender for my favourite. Of the three, this is his most straight-forward book as far as the plot is concerned – straight-forward for Vonnegut at least. The story begins with the narrator, John, setting off to write a book on what important Americans did the day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He focuses on Felix Hoenikker, a fictional physicist who developed the bomb, and while interviewing his co-workers and children, he learns that the scientist may have left behind a substance that could threaten life on earth. Cat’s Cradle centres around the juxtaposition…