Everyone is welcome,
but PLEASE come prepared:
but PLEASE come prepared:
- Read the selection for that week.
- Bring three discussion questions. Questions should be open ended and debatable, yet specific enough to foster a focused discussion. Submission of written questions will count towards earning a voting right in the (soon to be democratic) book selection process.
- Discussion starts promptly at 6:15.
| The Art of War - Sun Tzu Description:Twenty-Five Hundred years ago, Sun Tzu wrote this classic book of military strategy based on Chinese warfare and military thought. Since that time, all levels of military have used the teaching on Sun Tzu to warfare and cilivzation have adapted these teachings for use in politics, business and everyday life. The Art of War is a book which should be used to gain advantage of opponents in the boardroom and battlefield alike. Should also apply to Valentines Day. |
Feb 17 in toto | Podcast |
| Life of Pi - Yann Martel Description:"A perusal of online booksellers reveals that this book can be categorized as a survival story, a tall tale, an action piece, a work about human/animal relationships, and a fiction about (1) India, (2) adolescence, (3) zoos and zoology, and (4) the Pacific Ocean, which indicates to this reviewer that book dealers are grasping at anything they can find to define what essentially defies definition. The book is about all of these things -- and about none of these things, really." |
Feb 10 Chap 71-fin | Podcast | Feb 3 Chap 37-70 | Podcast | Jan 27 Chap 1-36 | Podcast |
| Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole Description:"This book is quite simply a comic masterpiece, a novel brimming with original characters, absurd situations, and at its heart a blustery, vulnerable mama's boy named Ignatius J. Reilly. He is one of the most startlingly original characters in modern fiction, and his efforts at hitting the job market after his mother smashes their car will leave you in stitches." |
Jan 20 Chap 11-fin | Podcast | Jan 13 Chap 6-10 | Podcast | Jan 6 Chap 1-5 | Podcast |
| Small is Beautiful - E.F. Schumacher Description:"Small is Beautiful created a humanistic economics movement. It's a holistic approach containing ethical, ecological, and metaphysical components that are missing from the statistical models that solely measure GNP. Schumacher sounded the alarm regarding globalization when asking "how much further 'growth' will be possible, since infinite growth in a finite environment is an obvious impossibility". He was critical of a society that generates unbounded materialism, and motivated by greed and envy." |
Dec 16 Part 3&4 | Podcast | Dec 9 Part 1&2 | Podcast |
| The History of God - Karen Armstrong Description:""Armstrong, a British journalist and former nun, guides us along one of the most elusive and fascinating quests of all time--the search for God. Armstrong also shows us how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have overlapped and influenced one another, gently challenging the secularist history of each of these religions." |
Dec 2 Chap 6-fin | Podcast | Nov 25 Chap 5-7 | Podcast | Nov 18 Chap 1-4 | Podcast |
| Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein Description:"Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you." |
Nov 11 Chap 16-fin | Podcast | Nov 4 Chap 12-15 | Podcast | Oct 28 Chap 6-11 | Podcast | Oct 21 Chap 1-5 | Podcast |
| The Unfolding of Language - Guy Deutscher Description:"As entertaining as it is erudite, The Unfolding of Language moves nimbly from ancient Babylonian to American idiom, from the central role of metaphor to the staggering triumph of design that is the Semitic verb, to tell the dramatic story and explain the genius behind a uniquely human faculty." |
Oct 14 Chap 7-fin | Podcast | Oct 7 Chap 4-6 | Podcast | Sept 30 Chap 1-3 | Podcast |
| Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein Description:"This is the story of Valentine Michael Smith, born during, and the only survivor of, the first manned mission to Mars. Michael is raised by Martians, and he arrives on Earth as a true innocent: he has never seen a woman and has no knowledge of Earth's cultures or religions . . . Michael explores human morality and the meanings of love. He founds his own church, preaching free love and disseminating the psychic talents taught him by the Martians." This book nearly started a movement. |
Sept 23 Parts 4&5 | Podcast | Sept 16 Part 3 | Podcast | Sept 9 Part 2 | Podcast | Sept 2 Part 1 | Podcast |
| Man's Search For Meaning - Victor Frankl Description:"Based on his own experience wihtin Nazi deathcamps and the stories of his many patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory holds that our primary drive in life the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful." This book could change your life. |
Aug 26 Part 2 | Podcast | Aug 19 Part 1 | Podcast |
| The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho Description:The charming tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who sets out to discover his "personal legend". This book will help put you back in touch with your personal legend. Very stirring. |
Aug 12 Chap 1-fin | Podcast |
| The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell Description:"The Tipping Point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate." |
Aug 5 Chap 6-fin | Podcast | July 29 Chap 3-5 | Podcast | July 22 Chap 1-2 | Podcast |
| Still Life with Woodpecker - Tom Robbins Description:"a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. It reveals the purpose of the moon, explains the difference between criminals and outlaws, examines the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism, and paints a portrait of contemporary society that includes powerful Arabs, exiled royalty, and pregnant cheerleaders. It also deals with the problem of redheads." |
July 15 Chap 46-fin | Podcast | July 8 Chap 1-45 | Podcast |
| Collapse - Jared Diamond Description:"How Societies choose to Fail or Succeed." Collapse deals with "societal collapses involving an environmental component, and in some cases also contributions of climate change, hostile neighbors, and trade partners, plus questions of societal responses." Fascinating stuff. |
July 1 Chap 13-16 | Podcast | June 24 Chap 9-12 | Podcast | June 17 Chap 4-8 | Podcast | June 10 Chap 1-3 | Podcast |
| Emergence - Steven Johnson Description:A truly captivating description of the nature and behavior of self-organizing organisms. How order emerges from chaos; bottom-up style. "The connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software." |
June 3 Chap 4-7 | Podcast | May 27 Chap 1-3 | Podcast |
| 1984 - George Orwell Description:Timeless classic of life in the authoritarian state; chillingly relevant. As a society we are all due for a re-read. |
May 20 Part 3 | Podcast | May 13 Part 2 | Podcast | May 6 Part 1 | Podcast |