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Book Talk

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Book discussions
  1. What's new in this club
  2. “Has it ever struck you that all of life is all memory, aside from the present moment which that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?” - Tennessee Williams x
  3. “While the rest of the species is descended from apes, redheads are descended from cats.” -Mark Twain ———- “Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are God. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are God.” - Christopher Hitchings ———- “She was a woman with red hair and green eyes— the traits which Satan supposedly relished most in mortal females.” -Robert Shea, The Eye in the Pyramid ———- “You can sleep with a blonde, you can sleep with a brunette, but you’ll never get any sleep with a redhead!” -Jamie Luner ——— “You’d find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair. People who haven’t red hair don’t know what trouble is!” -Anne of Green Gables ———
  4. ‘“I always like to learn, but I don’t always like to be taught.” ——- “Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice.” ——- “There but for the grace of God, goes God.” ——— “If you want me to speak for two minutes, it will take me three weeks of preparation. If you want me to speak for thirty minutes, it will take me a week to prepare. If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready now.” ——- “I have benefited greatly from criticism, and at no time have I suffered a lack thereof.” ——— “It is my belief, you cannot deal with the most serious things in the world unless you understand the most amusing.” ——- “Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him to the public.” ——- “My ideal of a good dinner] is to discuss good food, and, after this good food has been discussed, to discuss a good topic – with myself the chief conversationalist.” ——— “I have in my life concentrated more on self-expression than self-denial.” ——- “Any idiot can see something wrong. But can you see what is right?” ——- - Sir Winston Churchill
  5. Howl by Allen Ginsberg. Hoping to figuring him out, lol.
  6. I’m probably talking to myself here, typing this out, but I feel compelled. Talk to myself all the time anyway, but it’s not strange, right? Because I do it *inside* my head, so, that makes me normal, surely? Ha! Doesn’t everyone have a running commentary? For someone who loves to read, I don’t get through the volume of books you would think. I have a bad habit of starting a lot, but nothing holds my attention much so they get left dog eared halfway through and that’s that. Back on the shelf, and a regretful buy. But sometimes, a rare, lovely time, I get smacked across the face by an author and then, beautifully! I go into full obsessive mode and will read everything they ever wrote, scribbled or scribed and I will stalk and fan girl and read cover to cover until it’s 4am and I am finished, front to back, one sitting. I just go mad. And I went mad for Robert Beck. Aka Iceberg Slim. The guy, he is a literal genius. No surprise to me, but his IQ was huge, I think over 140. He was a real life Pimp from the Chicago black ghettos, 1920s through to the 60s and 70s. His most famous book, ‘Pimp’ - I have read it now about 5 times. So good, that you feel like you must have actually lived through it yourself, and by some weird fluke of reality, woke up in another body and it was all a dream. But you were there, in some way. That’s how good Beck is. I just devoured everything he has every published and it’s not enough, of course, and like all extraordinary talent, he was looked over, penniless, but massively influential to anyone half creative or a well known name, director or rapper or actor today. I just can’t get over his books, they blow me away. I finished ‘Mama Black Widow’ - I feel like I have been to hell and back and again with him. Unbelievable book. Heavy, tragic. Eye opener. I could hardly eat after reading it. Now there’s a book. If it leaves you floored when you are not even standing - holy mother, the guy can write, and what stories. The street language is pure poetry and all the more exquisite because it is real. Anyway, just had to put it out there. Iceberg Slim. Me and my weak and emotional constitution shouldn’t have gone there but, kinda horrified, mystified and simply amazed by that book. Might be years until I come across anything that will get me like his writing gets me. Book lovers feel free to bomb in anything that has bowled you over, recently or forever ago. Always appreciate a suggestion. Lo x (book worm who goes on sprees and sabbaticals!)
  7. “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” - Oscar Wilde
  8. Jordan Peterson always makes interesting points! I agree with a lot of what he says, some not. Reading his ‘12 Rules For Life’ at the mo - know I’m coming to the game a little late here LaHermes! I have been reading it on and off over the past year - HA! I keep starting up other things. What are you reading at the moment LaHermes? Lo x
  9. "Don't argue with crazy people You will lose because while you are using facts, rules and logic, they can rewrite their entire universe in a split second." (QuickMeme)
  10. And now something different: "Lust in Translation: Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee " by Pamela Druckerman
  11. "It's easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled". Often credited to Mark Twain, but he didn't exactly write that. Love it, nonetheless.
  12. "“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” ― Mark Twain "“The best fighter is never angry.” ― Lao Tzu
  13. For the day that's in it: "“Sanity is not about confrontation. It's about filtering. Having a stable and happy life is about saying "no" to crazy people, not about inviting them in and then hoping that confrontations are going to make them sane.” ― Stefan Molyneux "In a free society, one does not have to deal with those who are irrational. One is free to avoid them." Ayn Rand
  14. Anxiety and Avoidance: A Universal Treatment for Anxiety, Panic and Fear by Michael A. Tompkins "psychologist and anxiety disorder expert Michael Tompkins presents a universal protocol to help you cope with anxiety, panic, and fear, "
  15. "I think the scariest person in the world is the person with no sense of humor. Michael J. Fox It's good to be able to laugh at yourself and the problems you face in life. Sense of humor can save you. Margaret Cho
  16. hi LH! This sounds like an author my mum would love. But I also jus finished a book set in WWII. It's called "The Paris Apartment" by Kelly Bowen. Really good read. It's her first book. It starts out in 2017 and goes back to 1940 -1943. Very interesting. Now I am starting "The Age of Witches" by Louisa Morgan. It's set in the guilded age in NYC. Pretty good so far. She has some other titles that seem similar-- fiction based on witchcraft families.
  17. “If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.” ― Brené Brown
  18. Been reading again "Darkness Falls from the Air" by Nigel Balchin. Have read most of his books. Set in WWII and post-war years. http://www.nigelmarlinbalchin.co.uk/
  19. “Brains! Are you kidding? She hasn’t got any goddam brains! She’s an animal!” The gray-haired man, his nostrils dilating, appeared to take a fairy deep breath. “We’re all animals,” he said. “Basically, we’re all animals.” “Like hell we are. I’m no goddam animal. I may be a stupid, fouled-up twentieth-century son of a b***h, but I’m no animal. Don’t gimme that. I’m no animal.” J.D.Salinger - Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes
  20. “It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.” Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
  21. "Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you do with what happens to you." Aldous Huxley
  22. Facing Love Addiction. By Pia Mellody So very apt. Mellody clearly outlines the 'toxic' patterns played out by Love Addicts and the unresponsive Avoidance Addicts to whom they are painfully and repeatedly drawn. She shares personal experience and real case histories that • Clarify the distinctions between codependence (how our relationship with our self fails) and co-addiction (how our relations with others become unhealthy entanglements) • Describe how 'love at first sight' can be the first step in the addictive cycle of attraction, fantasy, denial, and obsession • Show how childhood experiences of abandonment or engulfment influence our choice of romantic partners, friends, and associates • Detail the tango-like way that addicts activate one another's primary fears and literally 'bring out the worst in each other' • Hopefully, compassionately, and realistically outline the recovery process"
  23. Instant New York Times Bestseller! The book we need NOW to avoid a social recession, Murthy’s prescient message is about the importance of human connection, the hidden impact of loneliness on our health, and the social power of community. Humans are social creatures: In this simple and obvious fact lies both the problem and the solution to the current crisis of loneliness. In his groundbreaking book, the 19th surgeon general of the United States Dr. Vivek Murthy makes a case for loneliness as a public health concern: a root cause and contributor to many of the epidemics sweeping the world today from alcohol and drug addiction to violence to depression and anxiety. Loneliness, he argues, is affecting not only our health, but also how our children experience school, how we perform in the workplace, and the sense of division and polarization in our society. But, at the center of our loneliness is our innate desire to connect. We have evolved to participate in community, to forge lasting bonds with others, to help one another, and to share life experiences. We are, simply, better together. The lessons in Together have immediate relevance and application. These four key strategies will help us not only to weather this crisis, but also to heal our social world far into the future.
  24. Great for New Year's Resolutions: Dr. Uma Naidoo is a board-certified psychiatrist, nutrition specialist, and professionally trained chef. In This Is Your Brain on Food, she draws on cutting-edge research to explain the many ways in which food contributes to our mental health, and shows how a sound diet can help treat and prevent a wide range of psychological and cognitive health issues. Packed with fascinating science, actionable nutritional recommendations, and delicious, brain-healthy recipes, This Is Your Brain on Food is the go-to guide to optimizing your mental health with food.
  25. "“His soul swooned softly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.” ― James Joyce, The Dead" The story is set in the festive season and makes a great read at this time of year.
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