What are You Reading Now?
- Thread starter jpmcwjr
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The Empire of the Steppes, a History of Central Asia by Rene' Grousset. The stories of the Mongol horse warriors are a wild read.
The Philosophy of Social Ecology, by Murray Bookchin - @MisterBadger as our resident philosopher I'd be interested for you to read this one 
I'm sure I could find a lot to disagree with Bookchin on (a starting point being , perhaps, whether social hierarchies are a solely human construct), and I'll admit that my views on communalism may have become somewhat jaded after 3 years on the committee of a local allotments association - but I'll have a go.
It's where some social ecologists and myself disagree with Bookchin too - the point for me isn't whether social hierarchy originates in nature (obviously it does) but that it is not the only form of ecological organisation found in nature. Excited to hear more of your thoughts as you disect it!
I'm about to order a copy. I have to write a review for something else first which is about to arrive, so don't hold your breath
Meanwhile, all animal behaviour (including humans) that we can generalize as typical of a specie, seems to be genetically transmitted, and since certain closely related social primates, such as baboons (and to a lesser extent, chimpanzees), do demostrably hierarchize, it leaves me wondering about what we call 'human nature'.
Arrived yesterday and starting immediately. My readings rarely take me to the gentrified neighborhoods of NYT bestsellers (likely due to my natural curmudgeonliness), but this one looks interesting.
Having finished the last volume of Umineko When They Cry the other day, I needed something new to read while smoking.
...Y'know, Higurashi is technically a prequel to Umineko and I'd only watched the anime before. Time to fix that.
Higurashi When They Cry, book one, Onikakushi.
A horror-mystery about a gang of elementary and middle schoolers in rural Japan in 1983, whose worlds are turned upside down by a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances as those around them go mad.
Maybe it's aliens. Maybe the village's old families still run their old demon cult behind the scenes. Maybe they'll get it out of June 1983 alive.
...Y'know, Higurashi is technically a prequel to Umineko and I'd only watched the anime before. Time to fix that.
Higurashi When They Cry, book one, Onikakushi.
A horror-mystery about a gang of elementary and middle schoolers in rural Japan in 1983, whose worlds are turned upside down by a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances as those around them go mad.
Maybe it's aliens. Maybe the village's old families still run their old demon cult behind the scenes. Maybe they'll get it out of June 1983 alive.
I might consider trading a couple of decent pipes for one of those Martain Princess's.
Currently rereading Lord of the Rings. What a rich world Tolkien created. Amazing how many new things you discover, even on subsequent readings.