Making our history one step at a time
Murder! Intrigue! Romance! (OK, not too much of that) But "July 1914" is a very engaging re-evaluation of the events leading up to WWI, centering on diplomatic relations in July. What happened before the Guns of August?
I took @trent_clegg 's book recommendation and read this beautiful interpretation of the story of Joseph in Egypt. I had some philosophical differences of opinion, but this reflection on forgiveness is a worthy one.
Mason's book is a kind of taking stock of our religion (companionship inventory, anyone?). It isn't apologetics, but it isn't polemics either. It is an honest reflection on where we have been and where we are going.
Elie Wiesel has said that to forget a holocaust is to kill twice. Iris Chang unpacks what she refers to as "the forgotten holocaust of World War II" in her book "The Rape of Nanking." This refers to the mass slaughter of civilians in the then-capital of China by the Japanese army.
Stormlight Archives has spoiled my taste in fiction in that I now expect a profound engagement of philosophical or moral issues. The Cruel Prince didn't engage the reader at quite that level, and I found the protagonist distasteful as she freely uses others as a means to an end.
As a religious person, "The Faith of a Heretic" was hard to read because many if its criticisms were so accurate. But I think such criticisms can only be good as they help us identify the faults that may be invisible to us.
A few quick thoughts on book 2 in Kingkiller Chronicles.
Writing this down while it's fresh on my mind-- read this when Kingkiller 3 comes out
Read some of my reflections on Rhythm of War! I go on tangents about Mormon doctrine, The Santa Clause, and COVID!
Following the storming of the Capitol this week, I chose to pull out Hoffer's "True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements." Definitely has a lot of explanatory power, but Hoffer strikes me as a pessimist. It left me with the impression all mass movements, regardless of their ideals, are inherently evil.
