Happy Atheist Forum

And Man Created God: A History of the World at the Time of Jesus, by Selina O'Grady.
To explore the power that religious belief has had over societies through the ages, Selina O'Grady takes the reader on a dazzling journey across the empires of the ancient world and introduces us to rulers, merchants, messiahs, priests, and holy men. Throughout, she seeks to answer why, amongst the countless religious options available, the empires at the time of Jesus "chose" the religions they did.

Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani
Inspired by James Baldwin's 1963 classic The Fire Next Time, Ta-Nehisi Coates's new book, Between the World and Me, is a searing meditation on what it means to be black in America today...[a] powerful and passionate book...  [written as a letter from father to son]

Crazy From the Heat, by David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth recounts with trademark showmanship and canny self-awareness the antics of the feverishly bacchanalian entertainment world. In the same gleefully honest and delightfully discursive voice his many fans have come to relish, Roth gives readers a backstage pass to his long strange trip from obscurity to rock stardom, his ups and downs with the Van Halens, and much more that will raise the eyebrows of even the most jaded music industry afficionado.

Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origin, by Robert M. Hazen
Life on Earth arose nearly 4 billion years ago, bursting forth from air, water, and rock. Though the process obeyed all the rules of chemistry and physics, the details of that original event pose as deep a mystery as any facing science. How did non-living chemicals become alive? While the question is (deceivingly) simple, the answers are unquestionably complex. Science inevitably plays a key role in any discussion of life's origins, dealing less with the question of why life appeared on Earth than with where, when, and how it emerged on the blasted, barren face of our primitive planet.

The Invention of Nature, by Andrea Wulf
The acclaimed author of Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world—and in the process created modern environmentalism.

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, by Robert M. Sapolsky
Combining cutting-edge research with a healthy dose of good humor and practical advice, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers explains how prolonged stress causes or intensifies a range of physical and mental afflictions, including depression, ulcers, colitis, heart disease, and more. It also provides essential guidance to controlling our stress responses. This new edition promises to be the most comprehensive and engaging one yet.

Looks like it's going to be another tie.

Quote from: Davin on August 27, 2018, 05:58:20 PM
Looks like it's going to be another tie.

Oh crap.  Well, if Bruno voted it's his turn to be tie-breaker.  If not, anybody else want to do it?

Bruno hasn't logged in since May.  :-\

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on August 28, 2018, 03:15:45 PM
Bruno hasn't logged in since May.  :-\

That makes me sad. 

Well, Davin and I have already been tie-breakers plenty of times.  Anyone else want to give it a go?  I know there are two more of you hiding out there.

Quote from: Sandra Craft on August 28, 2018, 11:20:46 PM

Quote from: xSilverPhinx on August 28, 2018, 03:15:45 PM
Bruno hasn't logged in since May.  :-\

That makes me sad. 

Well, Davin and I have already been tie-breakers plenty of times.  Anyone else want to give it a go?  I know there are two more of you hiding out there.

I voted this time as well, as I've already started reading the book I voted for. If nobody else wants to be the tie-breaker I guess I can do it.

Genesis

Silver responded first, so go for it -- what are we reading?

Quote from: Sandra Craft on August 29, 2018, 08:44:35 AM
Silver responded first, so go for it -- what are we reading?

Genesis sounds really interesting and all, but I'm loving Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. :grin: Let's read that first! :smilenod:

I'll admit it, I was hoping for Zebras.  That's our September book then.

Sweet, I'll get that book then.

I didn't have as much reading time as I wanted, so I'm only 70% through the book. So far, I think it's a great book. But chapter eight where the author was talking about those cancer cure charlatan assholes got me angry, not at the author, but there is an anger that swells up inside me whenever I hear about people like that.

Quote from: Davin on September 10, 2018, 03:16:53 PM
I didn't have as much reading time as I wanted, so I'm only 70% through the book. So far, I think it's a great book. But chapter eight where the author was talking about those cancer cure charlatan assholes got me angry, not at the author, but there is an anger that swells up inside me whenever I hear about people like that.

Understandable.  I haven't even found a copy yet. 

I've started reading my copy but not at the speed I initially had planned, so I'm a little behind. Too much stress in my life, ironically. I will try and pick up the pace. :smilenod:

I just finished it last night.

I think it was a good read and had all the sources to back things up. I only looked at a few of the sources though, just the ones I was very interested in. About a quarter half the book is the citations. Another quarter are some interesting chapter reading things that I only skimmed through.

Because of this book, there are some behavior changes I will be making to try to make life better. I don't currently have time, but I'll write up one of my small (I think I prefer the term "concise"), reviews sometime soon.

Finally got a copy.  This is the most fascinating book on a boring topic I've ever read.

Finished this the other day, and I don't mind admitting that when I started this book I wasn't at all sure I'd be able to finish it.  It was much meatier than I expected.  But I did finish and while I don't think I understood more than half of it, I really enjoyed it.  Marked it up to within an inch of its life.

And I can say with confidence that I totally understand why zebras don't get ulcers and we do.  As well as a few other things, like how and when stress contributes to disease and depression, and about learned helplessness, a concept I found both fascinating and clarifying.  Even tho it's not a self-help book, I think Sapolsky has helped me to identify ways to stop derailing myself, particularly my tendency to magnify a problem to unrealistic proportions.  I can see myself thinking in the future, when I'm stressing about something, "You're doing it again, that thing the zebra man wrote about -- this isn't that big/permanent a problem.  So knock it off."

But aside from that, Sapolsky was just fun to read.  I loved his funny, and sometimes twisted, little stories and examples -- I got a huge kick out of the one about Type A personalities and furniture upholstering.  Not that he couldn't be just as engaging when he was serious (my goodness, he doesn't like Bernie Siegel at all) but the humor really helped get me thru what was often over my head.

I've already ordered his The Primate's Memoir and am eagerly waiting to get into that one.

Quote from: Sandra Craft on October 03, 2018, 06:21:28 PM
And I can say with confidence that I totally understand why zebras don't get ulcers and we do.  As well as a few other things, like how and when stress contributes to disease and depression, and about learned helplessness, a concept I found both fascinating and clarifying.  Even tho it's not a self-help book, I think Sapolsky has helped me to identify ways to stop derailing myself, particularly my tendency to magnify a problem to unrealistic proportions.  I can see myself thinking in the future, when I'm stressing about something, "You're doing it again, that thing the zebra man wrote about -- this isn't that big/permanent a problem.  So knock it off."

But aside from that, Sapolsky was just fun to read.  I loved his funny, and sometimes twisted, little stories and examples -- I got a huge kick out of the one about Type A personalities and furniture upholstering.  Not that he couldn't be just as engaging when he was serious (my goodness, he doesn't like Bernie Siegel at all) but the humor really helped get me thru what was often over my head.

That's about what I got out of the book too.

I should finish the book in a couple of days. :grin:

(Always late to the party)