Summer Reading

I am not artistically or musically inclined. I cannot paint you a beautiful picture, or write an amazing poem. For a while I have struggled with what I excel in, and to be honest I still don't know. The only thing I can think of is that I read very well. What does that mean? Well, to me it means I can finish 6 novels in 2 weeks. I can remember plot lines and intricate details. Fictional worlds become realities in my mind where anything is possible. To put things simply, my hobby is reading. It is the only thing I am extremely passionate about. I am particularly particular about the books I read. I don't like mysteries, crime novels, romances, or fluff stories. I want something with substance. Something that will make me think. I love contemporary literature. I have a soft spot for Canadian authors who can conjure up images of a time before I was born. Any novels set in the late 1800s to early 1900s take to me a place that is familiar. I have lived in that time in a past life I know it!

I made a list today of 24 books that I would like to read this summer. It was actually very simple. If you search for books on amazon.com they provide suggestions for other novels that you may also like.

I can't wait to start reading again for hours on end. I get lost in it. I will be one of those people with a room filled with books. Floor to ceiling. I can't get another, and I cannot wait until the day I retire. I will move to a small cottage in the mountains, and read my days away. Nothing seems more relaxing than this.

Terence McKenna

In short, Terence McKenna believed that the evolution of human language and culture was the result of our primate ancestors partaking in psilocybin-containing mushrooms. AKA "The Stoned Ape Theory". Interesting stuff, yet he also engaged himself in other subjects such as philosophy and shamanism. I was able to find find some of his quotes on the internet, and I thought I would share one worthy of some thought..

"“The apocalypse is not something which is coming. The apocalypse has arrived in major portions of the planet and it's only because we live within a bubble of incredible privilege and social insulation that we still have the luxury of anticipating the apocalypse. If you go to Bosnia or Somalia or Peru or much of the third-world then it appears that the apocalypse has already arrived.”