Currently Reading

Mistborn The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton

I added Britain Begins to my "to-read" list on Goodreads; looks interesting!

My GF and I are currently watching the Last Kingdom on Netflix which is based on a series of books by Bernard Cornwell(one of my all time favorites) and it deals with the Danish/Saxon era around the time of Alfred the Great and the beginnings of England as a single kingdom.

Now, I'll be the first to admit my understanding of England's history is only slightly better than a journeyman's, at best -but with a degree in history and a passion for both Roman and Medieval history I've long found the subject interesting and done plenty of independent reading to round myself out.

So completely unsolicited, I begin rambling to my gf about how fascinating the history of the British Isles is. From the mysterious pre-historic origins of its "original" inhabitants to the successive waves of peoples who alternatively invaded the lands only to in time find themselves invaded and amalgamated into newer and more robust societies.

Long story short it reminded me about how fascinating the history of a place, that so many take for granted, can be and how that history never really fades, even if written records don't exist, as each successive generation leaves it's mark on the next. It's awesome to me how so many cultures have risen and fallen in the territory that now makes up the UK and how the experiences of all of them have come to shape the subconscious culture of it's modern inhabitants. From the Britons & Celts, to the Romans, Saxons, Danes, Normans, even unto the foibles and wars of Protestantism, Succession, Cornwellism, and the Anarchy- all these seemingly disconnected peoples and events can bridge time to have a direct impact on how people think and act today.

So cheers to this book and your reading it, I look forward to doing the same!

Read some interesting reviews on this. How do/did you like it? Are you going to be a Champion now?

I've had Sanderson's Way of Kings on my to-read shelf for a few years now. He's come highly recommended but I've yet to find the time to read anything of his. Everything I've heard has the Mistborn saga as a modern fantasy classic but I wanted to read the Stormlight Archive books first as I read a really good review of them by a friend of mine and author Mark Lawrence. Interested on your thoughts any of Sanderson's books for someone who wants to read them but hasn't yet.

I read one of Thomas Merton's books in college, No Man is an Island, and enjoyed it, although I can't say it changed my life. He seems like a fascinating individual though and I'd love to read his autobiography. Hope you enjoy(ed) it!

So, I guess it's been a while since I posted what I've been reading lately. This doesn't count a few books I've re-read in the meantime(World War Z, a few Star Wars Novels, 3 of the Malazan Books of the Fallen, & someone on here inspired me to re-read some Shakespeare) but below you can see most of the new books I've read lately.

[image: s9.postimg.org]

Actually, I haven't read it yet haha. I was about to start reading it back then but I never got to for different reasons. I was planning on checking out the Stormlight Archive books too but I decided to play conservative and settle with Mistborn for now.

Yeah you should. I'm about 25+ pages in and it's pretty interesting so far. I have yet to get to the meat of the story, his conversion, but I'm sure that it's only going to get better. It's spiritual classic that has been recommended to me by a lot of people. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time for reading these days thanks to school. The plan for now is to read The Seven Story Mountain little by little and save Sanderson's book for the next long holiday.

Confessions of a Sociopath by M.E. Thomas

"Last Kingdom" does sound good, I may have to give it a go.

Your existing knowledge of history may make the book less interesting for you than I find it, although it does cover a lot. I'm definitely glad I made use of the local library though.

I just finished Language Arts by Stephanie Kallos >> themes are literature, handwriting, and intellectual disability. A weird combination but couldn't put it down. Next comes one I've been wanting to read for a long time "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot.

i enjoyed the Mistborn series a lot ... imo the world building is unusual and well done and the plot is very good

A book by Jonas Gardell based on real events, called "Älä koskaan pyyhi kyyneleitä paljain käsin", which would translate to "Never wipe tears away with bare hands". It's so heartbreaking and tragic, but also very beautiful.

The book of Saladin by Tariq Ali ... i'm about 1/3rd in and so far so good

I'm afraid that my life keeps me from reading much recreational material, and I'm afraid that if I were to post the titles of all that I'm reading now it would simply be pretentious and unhelpful as a recommendation. Please, bear with me, and I'll mention one of the books that I've recently found to be more worthwhile than many other things that I must read: Count de Montalembert's The Monks of the West.

This is a broad yet exactingly precise history of Christian monasticism that is not only one of the most encyclopedic histories compiled, but it has some of the most beautiful of prose. In fact, the prose is almost heroic. Let me give a small sample:

"The first time that I saw the dress of a monk--must I confess it ?-- was on the boards of a theatre, in one of those ignoble parodies which hold, too often among modern nations, the place of the pomps and solemnities of religion. Some years later I encountered, for the first time, a real monk ; it was at the foot of the Grande Chartreuse, at the entrance of that wild gorge, on the brink of that bounding torrent, which no one can ever forget who has once visited that celebrated solitude. I knew nothing then of the services or of the glories which that despised cowl ought to have recalled to the least instructed Christian ; but I remember still the surprise and emotion into which that image of a vanished world threw my heart. To-day, even, after so many other emotions, so many different contests, so many labours which have revealed to me the immortal grandeur of the part taken by the religious orders in the Church, this recollection survives, and steals over me with infinite sweetness. How much I wish that this book may leave a similar impression upon those who encounter it on their way, and inspire some not only with respect for that vanquished grandeur, but with the desire to study it, and the duty of rendering to it justice !" vol. 1., p. 8.

"They [the religious orders] were not satisfied simply to solace poverty ; they honoured it, consecrated it, adopted, espoused it, as that which was greatest and most royal here below. 'The friendship of the poor,' says St. Bernard, 'consistutes us the friends of kings, but the love of poverty makes kings of us.' 'We are the poor of Christ.' Pauperes Christi is the enviable distinction of the monks . . . " vol. 1., p 40.

These are lovely lines.

Just finished reading another Andy McNab book- I so love Nick Stone

Now I'm reading Smoked by Leon Bing- not enjoying it as much as Do or Die or Monster Kody's biography but its still good

Welfare Wifeys - a Hood Rat Novel- K'Wan

Seven Brief Lessons of Physics by Carlo Rovelli

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick - has anyone read the book and watched the tv show? I plan on watching it after

Game of Thrones

Shithead- Van Tenterhosen

http://marobanovels.com

Utopia by Thomas More