AMT's Book Recommendations

[riotgrl]

So I've mentioned this a couple of times before and thought that maybe now was the time to start this thread. No ideas about how this should work or if anyone even wants to participate but I thought that it might give a different direction to our discussions this year. And I always believe that being well-read is a fabulous thing

Currently I am reading Hitchens "God is not Great" - anyone else read this before? This has been really hard for me to read because of some of his assertions about the three main monotheistic religions. Not too bore you but a little about my background - I was raised in a super strict Southern Baptist household in which we were at church almost as much as we were at school. I have read extensive portions of the Bible and feel pretty familiar with the beliefs of Christianity. I won't go into detail but I've definitely struggled with attending church and it has been even more difficult since having children - religion is insidious and really gets into your head - I've often felt like a delinquent parent because I have not taken my children. So anyway, reading this book is really hard for me to process especially since Hitchens is very unapologetic about his disdain for religion.

Here's one of the first sections that was really difficult to digest. The basic gist of this section of the book was talking about how the Bible (and the Torah and the Koran but he was mostly referencing the Bible) exhorts parents to protect our children and take them to church and raise them in the Christian way and, to be blunt, indoctrinate children in the way of God. Well, Hitchens calls bullshit on this "morality" that is quoted in the 10 Commandments and in numerous other sections of the Bible. He goes on to discuss the many abuses of children by the church. Yes, he cites the typical Catholic Church abuse by priests but also mentins the genital mutilation of female circumcision and Jehovah's Witness parents refusing medical care for their children but it was one passage in particular that really struck me. He questioned the sanity of Abraham being willing to kill his own child based on the direction of God (or as Hitchens states maybe Abraham was hearing voices in his own head that were directing him to do this not some divine deity) and that this goes against the Bible's assertions to care and protect our children. Harsh and hard to read but definitely thought provoking. I'll leave you with a quote that came at the end of this section that stayed with me:

"Since religion has proved itself uniquely delinquent on the one subject where moral and ethical authority might be counted as universal and absolute, I think we are entitled to at least three provisional conclusions. ....The third is that religion is - because it claims a special divine exemption for its practices and beliefs - not just amoral but immoral.

[catefrances]

i too have questioned abrahams actions... what kind of parent would be willing to sacrifice their child at the behest of anyone...

[MotoDC]

I can't tell if this is a book-recommendation thread or (another) debate-religion thread. I understand the thread title, but not much in your post speaks to it.

I'm going to assume the former.

I read with great interest the various and sundry Palestine/Israel threads here on our beloved AMT, but tend not to participate due to ignorance regarding the history that has developed the region. Frustrated with that, I set about finding literature from a variety of perspectives to rectify the situation. I tried a few, but the most readable and interesting and (almost) balanced that I could find was No god but God by Reza Aslan. He certainly errs on the favorable view of Islamic history, but you're still left with a very informed and balanced feeling afterward.

[riotgrl]

I can't tell if this is a book-recommendation thread or (another) debate-religion thread. I understand the thread title, but not much in your post speaks to it.

I'm going to assume the former.

I read with great interest the various and sundry Palestine/Israel threads here on our beloved AMT, but tend not to participate due to ignorance regarding the history that has developed the region. Frustrated with that, I set about finding literature from a variety of perspectives to rectify the situation. I tried a few, but the most readable and interesting and (almost) balanced that I could find was No god but God by Reza Aslan. He certainly errs on the favorable view of Islamic history, but you're still left with a very informed and balanced feeling afterward.

Yes, I wasn't sure how to title it because I was afraid that if it was a book club then the mods would move it to AET and I wanted this to be a thread about the events that we discuss here. As far as the rest of my post, I do not want it to be a debate about religion but about the book itself and any thoughts people had about their experiences with that book or perhaps another recommendation about a similar book.

Thanks for your recommendation about books to read about Israel/Palestine. I will put it on my list as I too don't participate in those threads because my knowledge is so limited.

[riotgrl]

I can't tell if this is a book-recommendation thread or (another) debate-religion thread. I understand the thread title, but not much in your post speaks to it.

I'm going to assume the former.

I read with great interest the various and sundry Palestine/Israel threads here on our beloved AMT, but tend not to participate due to ignorance regarding the history that has developed the region. Frustrated with that, I set about finding literature from a variety of perspectives to rectify the situation. I tried a few, but the most readable and interesting and (almost) balanced that I could find was No god but God by Reza Aslan. He certainly errs on the favorable view of Islamic history, but you're still left with a very informed and balanced feeling afterward.

After reading the synopsis of this book (from Amazon) it seems to be a wide ranging book about Islam rather than the specific events surrounding Israel and Palestine - am I reading that correctly? I found this list of books about the conflict - have you read any of them?

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/reading-list-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/

[MotoDC]

Yes, you're exactly right. I really don't trust anyone to write objectively about a topic so current and alive. So instead of looking for books on Israel/Palestine I began by trying to learn something of the history of the region as a whole. Islam being a singularly defining piece of the region's history...well you can see where I ended up.

[Jason P]

I recommend Tasteful Nudes: ...and Other Misguided Attempts at Personal Growth and Validation by Dave Hill.

It's a collection of stories told with a great sense of humor. It's not particularly political .... but it will bring a smile to your face throughout reading it.

And I think will could all use some more smiles. Happy New Year.

[brianlux]

Great thread, riotgrl!

I've often made reference on AMT to books by Richard Manning, James Howard Kunstler, Bill McKibben, Richard Heinberd, Daniel Quinn, Edward Abbey, Terry Tempest Williams, E. O. Wilson among others. I'd recommend just about anything by any of these writers.

I just started Neil Young's autobiography. Neil is a great activist as well as one of our great song writer/guitarist/ singers and as much as he has some great ideas for peace and getting off our oil dependence, I think his greatest accomplishement outside music will be his current efforts to bring rich sound back into music. Check out the first four or five short chapters of his book to see what I mean. His work this way is phenomenal.

About 15 years ago I came up with the motto, "Analog love songs will change the world." I credit much of that thinking to Neil clear back to an early '90's article he wrote on the significant loss of sound in CD's at the time. In his recent book, he stated that MP3's only contain about 5% of the data found on original masters and even some vinyl records. I think Neil is on to something and I think history will prove this out. When we learn to hear again, I think the world will start becoming a better place again. (I'm quite serious about this.)

(p.s. Greeting all, from the road and Happy New Year!)

[fear4freedom]

AGENDA 21 would be a very thought provoking read. After I finish GOSPEL, I will begin that. Some great theories and maybe even consipiracies.....depending on how reality plays out. Truth has no agenda!

[fear4freedom]

How about we offer a few new great ideas here on the train this year....and I like the book club for sure!! The Caboose is a great place to be "just friends". After we read the books on here....we can store them on the shelf in the Caboose? Come and get hot bowl of split-pea soup! We talk about how we can help each other on the Caboose, in a personal way. We have coffee and tea talk! Great for everyone

[dancepartner]

1) God is not Great. Question the basis for religion in general.
2) No god but God by Reza Aslan. He certainly errs on the favorable view of Islamic history, but you're still left with a very informed and balanced feeling afterward.
3) Brian's list. McKibben is on my read list.
4) another book suggested; a humorous one.
5)

I love the idea but I hope someone keeps a list going. riotgirl; I see the quandary -- how to keep this thread here and not moved elsewhere. Well I never woulda thunk mods would do such! so, does this mean we must narrow the genre's?

Leon Uris introduced me to the treats of historical fiction, sparked from a powerful book about civil war in Africa, something called Uharrah (sp. can't find it). Of Uris, probably Ireland and the Haj were my favorites. It's been a long and mostly enjoyable reading road since then; one that encompasses nearly every genre but least of which includes autobiographies. As for popular (I guess, as it was made into a movie) & current religious/political, I found The Reluctant Fundamentalist a rarity in style. A long way gone by Ismael Beah (a boy soldier's memoir) and the Rwanda genocide account, Left to tell (a Cristian bent) as 3 more recent reads addressing the inseparable complexities of religion & politics.

[MotoDC]

1) God is not Great. Question the basis for religion in general.
2) No god but God by Reza Aslan. He certainly errs on the favorable view of Islamic history, but you're still left with a very informed and balanced feeling afterward.
3) Brian's list. McKibben is on my read list.
4) another book suggested; a humorous one.
5)

I love the idea but I hope someone keeps a list going. riotgirl; I see the quandary -- how to keep this thread here and not moved elsewhere. Well I never woulda thunk mods would do such! so, does this mean we must narrow the genre's?

Leon Uris introduced me to the treats of historical fiction, sparked from a powerful book about civil war in Africa, something called Uharrah (sp. can't find it). Of Uris, probably Ireland and the Haj were my favorites. It's been a long and mostly enjoyable reading road since then; one that encompasses nearly every genre but least of which includes autobiographies. As for popular (I guess, as it was made into a movie) & current religious/political, I found The Reluctant Fundamentalist a rarity in style. A long way gone by Ismael Beah (a boy soldier's memoir) and the Rwanda genocide account, Left to tell (a Cristian bent) as 3 more recent reads addressing the inseparable complexities of religion & politics.

Good idea, dancepartner. Keeping a running list will make this thread more usable.

[Thirty Bills Unpaid]

1) God is not Great. Question the basis for religion in general.
2) No god but God by Reza Aslan. He certainly errs on the favorable view of Islamic history, but you're still left with a very informed and balanced feeling afterward.
3) Brian's list. McKibben is on my read list.
4) another book suggested; a humorous one.
5)

I love the idea but I hope someone keeps a list going. riotgirl; I see the quandary -- how to keep this thread here and not moved elsewhere. Well I never woulda thunk mods would do such! so, does this mean we must narrow the genre's?

Leon Uris introduced me to the treats of historical fiction, sparked from a powerful book about civil war in Africa, something called Uharrah (sp. can't find it). Of Uris, probably Ireland and the Haj were my favorites. It's been a long and mostly enjoyable reading road since then; one that encompasses nearly every genre but least of which includes autobiographies. As for popular (I guess, as it was made into a movie) & current religious/political, I found The Reluctant Fundamentalist a rarity in style. A long way gone by Ismael Beah (a boy soldier's memoir) and the Rwanda genocide account, Left to tell (a Cristian bent) as 3 more recent reads addressing the inseparable complexities of religion & politics.

I have another suggestion... start this running list by categorizing books by genre.

This book was brought up on another thread:
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families- by Philip Gourevitch (a good read on the Rwanda genocide).

Here are some othe rclassics from 30 Bills' perspective:
Into Thin Air- by John Krakauer was one of the best books I've ever read describing the Mt. Everest incident when climbers got stuck near the top of Everest during a storm.

Lone Survivor- by Marcus Luttrell was another great book detailing Navy Seal training and a disastrous mission.

Heavier Than Heaven- by Charles R Cross was a brilliant biography of Kurt Cobain.

last one (for now):
The Bandido Massacre: A True Story of Bikers, Brotherhood and Betrayal - by Peter Edwards was a smooth true crime read detailing the Ontario Bandido ambush.

OK... one more... and that's it:
On The Farm- by Stevie Cameron was a 'can't put it down read' regarding Robert Picton and his role reagarding many of Vancouver's missing women. It also details the ineffective and dysfunctional Vancouver Police Force which failed to deal with the situation for a number of reasons- one being indifference towards the women of the night.

[riotgrl]

Awesome suggestions! How about I re-do my OP to keep a running list of books organized by genre. I am open to most genres including historical fiction but lets keep away from 50 Shades of Grey and other mindless reads.

Also, if you have a book suggestion maybe we can list book and author then a short review as some have already done. Any other suggestions would be great!

[dancepartner]

I think we can get brain back to visit us if we keep this thread going!
Yes riotgirl; please do a list. maybe we can evolve it from there into a reading type club? Politcal bent of course! (just to keep it here as I don't have time to check in here and elsewhere) I tried to keep up with goodreads for awhile but it seemed more often than, downer books kept popping up (1000 acres, Tender to the Bone, Stone from the River etc..)
Maybe rather than genre, we could do favorite books we had read by year and year before etc? Last year, City of Thieves was my favorite. Also, maybe a category of the books we should probably read but don't really want to? this thought popped into my head as I sit staring at the unopened 'Automate this'....

Maybe authors?
Thirty bills said; "Into Thin Air- by John Krakauer was one of the best books I've ever read describing the Mt. Everest incident when climbers got stuck near the top of Everest during a storm." My favorite one here is "Under the banner of Heaven". This remains one of my all-time favorites.

Okay, in keeping with thirty bills -- that's all for now!