Books like They Flew

I decided to treat myself to re-reading one of the best Sci-fi books I had ever read. Many years had passed. So much so that I had only a vague recollection that the book was excellent. A thought process interceded, "The Odyssey" was released as a film and so I thought to renew my aquaintance with Homers epic poem. I then thought of "Illium" Dan Simmons scifi take on the Trojan war which in turn led me to remember how good "Hyperion" was.
I viewed the novel with both trepidation and exceitment; I was much younger when I first read the novel, was I now jaded and would not enjoy it? Was it not all that I remembered it to be?
My worries were foolish, the novel and it's sequel (The Fall of Hyperion) were all that I had remembered. One of the greatest works of speculative fiction ever produced.… show more.

Continuing my nonfiction theme, I read this book because I wanted to find out about "A Visit from St. Nicholas," or "Twas the Night before Christmas." The poem is attributed to Clement Moore, but Foster, who is a master sleuth of writing, shows why it almost certainly wasn't written by Moore. This case comes late in the book, however, and Foster expertly draws the reader in with his involvement in the Unabomber case, as well as other writers who wanted to hide their identities for various reasons. After he establishes how an English professor came to be consulted by the FBI, he turns his attention to a favorite Christmas poem. Very well done indeed.

We have become mired in the morass of believing mind and brain are the same thing. The mind, consciousness—whatever you want to call it—isn't just electrochemical signals in the brain. And our minds can change our bodies. Robson is a science writer with the goods. He demonstrates across several cases that a person's mind can make physical changes in their body by the power of "expectation" alone. This is not "woo-woo," but scientifically backed information. A mind-blowing book that could change your life.

I did not want this book to end. Every so often a book thrills me because I can never look at the world again the same way. This is one of them. Also, aside from the substance, al-Gharbi can write, which is by no means a given in academic writing.

As a nonmainstream symbolic capitalist, the argument was easy for me to accept. But it bit down on me as well, challenging me and my wife to make practical changes in how we live.