Adam
Spiegelman's rendition of his Fathers holocaust story through a graphic novel form. The use of imagery in some mundane scenes really struck me. (Like the holocaust tattoo on his fathers arm in the first panel.) The characters are mice, which plays into the jewish narrative of needing to hide and and only going out at night. If you enjoy history AND comic art, then you'll want to read Maus.
Was Franz Kafka writing about his own life when he wrote this? A Hunger Artist is his last work and he died shortly after editing it.
This is a story of a man who lives his life in the moment through suffering. While he suffers he's given great attention. While he physically starves himself, the world feeds his ego. Until they don't, and he has forgotten how to stop suffering.
A classic and must read by any standard. Walt Whitman portrays life through his perception. Often flowery and sometimes verbose, this is a classic poet.
An essay about Socrates, from Plato's point of view about temperance, wisdom, and mans ability to know thyself.
In short, how can man know himself when a man can not know what he doesn't know. Men are good at showing what they know (wisdom) and a man can seem very wise until a situation arises in which the man doesn't have knowledge, and worse, doesn't see a problem because he is ignorant of what he doesn't know.
An epic poem by the latin authorist Virgil. For the uninitiated, this can be a hard read but worth it.
This is actually the first novella of five in the Licensed to Thrill saga that Diane Capri wrote about author Lee Childs' character Jack Reacher. I've read all five of them in a package download on Amazon and they total the approximate length of a full novel. Apparently, Diane and Lee were haveing a conversation and she asked Lee “Where do you think Jack is, in between the adventures in your book?”
This is her attempt to tell Reachers story between Childs books. Her books are more about the team of FBI agents looking for him than it is about Reacher himself.
If you're looking for a Lee Child type of writing, this is not it.
Based on his time staying at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. King was living and teaching in Boulder, Co. and he and Tabitha decided to spend a week at the historical hotel “up the hill” from Boulder. Trail Ridge Road was closed for the season and the Stanley (at that point in time) shut down for the winter. The Kings were the last ones staying in the hotel and Stephen roamed the halls and rooms while coming up with the story for The Shining.
The Canterbury Tales are a series of ancient stories that are written as if the author were on a journey. A good look into ancient history.
The inspiration for this book came to Stephen when he and Tabitha were staying at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. The Stanley was also the inspiration for his novel The Shining. There is a small pet cemetery behind the Stanley, and yes, it's a creepy place.
Knew it was going to be bad, and it was. Sometimes bad is good. This wasn't one of those times.
Good intermediate primer on Stoicism. From my notes:
Virtue (Is the highest and only good)
• Wisdom
• Justice
• Courage
• Moderation
Vice (Is the lowest and only evil)
• Folly
• Intemperance
• Cowardice
• Injustice
Logic
• Rhetoric
• Dialectic
Ethics
• Passion
o Delight
o Grief
o Desire
o Fear
Physic
• Active
o Reason
• Passive
o Matter
♣ That out of which anything is produced
Good primer that lays out the main tenants of Stoicism as well as the history and teachings of Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
Excellent biography about the 10 years that Earnest spent in Key West while writing 7 of his novels.
A highly rated, and worth it, children's book. With watercolor art. Thanks to some caring humans, this little elephant turns out okay.
If you're new to Stoicism, or even philosophy in general, this is a great place to start. Discourses is a condensed version of the sum of his writing. A quick and easy read packed full of wisdom.
An interesting but slow read. Buffalo Bill was a bit on the self-effacing side and didn't give himself enough credit. An interesting look at lore versus reality.
An entertaining and educational book of essays on how challenges are solved and questions answered. Just about every topic is covered here in funny and ingenius ways. What this is really about though, is human inspiration.
If you're into travel writing, this is a good one. Keith Foskett has done a lot of it, making it his life's work. He come's across a little too sanctimonious at times but otherwise, a good read.
Euthydemus is supposedly one of Plato's “comedies” but I found it a bit trite and taxing. Socrates has a dialogue with two sophist brothers who claim to teach virtue but are in fact, masters of word play and euphemisms.
In which Socrates goes head to head with Protagoras about being a Sophist, and a foreigner and for charging money to the youth of Athens for sharing his wisdom. A good dialogue but Socrates is on the offense.