Published on 12, July, 2020
Looking at other people's bookshelves is fascinating!
Do share a favourite book, or a book you would like to read one day.
There's stuff on the bookcase, in the garage, and the loft. In that order, they are ranked. The stuff on the bookcase either hasn't been read yet, or has a place in my heart. The garage is limbo, either stuff that is useful, stuff that is kind of good or interesting. It's easy to grab there. The loft is the ninth circle of hell. Full of drivel.
Fiction-wise Dune, all of it. I have quite a bit of fiction, but I find that the world built inside Dune is amazing. It's been copied by Star Wars, Terminator, Game of Thrones, and it still is. Speaking of Game of Thrones, I have all the Song of Ice and Fire novels. I like Clive Barker's earlier work immensely. Weaveworld is one of the greatest fantasy novels ever written, quite unique. There's lots of other fiction stuff there, too much to name.
Non-fiction wise. Lots of books about things like marketing, economics, psychology, journalism, and so on and so on. I find that reading about the subtexts behind behaviours and trends really interesting.
Theology, philosophy, and ideology sort of fall into neither of the above. Psychology can sometimes fall into this category. I have The New Testament, The Tanakh, The Bhagavad Gita, The Mahabharata, The Qu'ran, The Tripitaka, and The Tao Te Ching. Some Occult stuff like The Kabbalah, Hermetica, Thrice-greatest Hermes, and so on and so on. Lots of political stuff, also the philosophical basis for most of it. It's amazing how many things are all down to manipulation or people creating a whole train of thought around their neurosis, then calling it a "philosophical", "political", or "religious" concept. I'm not saying everything I've read there is complete nonsense, I enjoy reading the good and bad.
My bookcase has a lot of comics too. Mostly old Marvel runs, Chris Clairmont's run on X-Men is a favourite. A few autobigraphies too.
If I had to pick three books I'd pick:
God Emperor of Dune. You have to have read the three previous books, but it's unique. Set in the far future and in a unique universe. The inner monologuing of a 3500 year old half-man, half-alien sand worm, who can live all his ancestors memories, and make sense of it, preparing humanity for a war that will kill hundreds of billions. I won't put any more spoilers, but it's amazing. Quote filled too. “Small souls who seek power over others first destroy the faith those others might have in themselves.” is one that stands out. It's full of nuggets of wisdom, in my opinion anyway, despite just being a Sci-Fi novel.
The Tao Te Ching. Some call it a religious book, some philosophical. It's neither in my opinion. Whatever it is it's a beautifully written classic text, that encourages freedom and independent thought, in my opinion.
My guilty pleasure is Maradona's autobiography. El Diego. It's barmy, and the addendum at the back is hilarious. I'm not that much of a football fan. It's just the absurdity, cocksure arrogance, and frankness in there. It's got an underdog story, success, a downfall, and lots of weird incidents. It's told hilariously too.