What are you currently reading?

[Wander]

Been reading a lot of good books recently.
Finished 'The Spanish Civil War' by Paul Preston (a good one-volume history), then 'Ethan Frome' by Edith Wharton (no, I'm not turning into an old spinster aunt), then 'To Kill A Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee (I know, I can't believe I'd not read it before either), and now on to 'Wide Sargasso Sea' by Jean Rhys.

 

[Toddy]

What a serious lot you are!

I admit to enjoying reading philosophy but it’s interspersed with all sorts of light reading. Much of it would be called “chick lit”. When it’s good it’s descriptive, engaging and I enjoy reading about affection. Soppy, probably but after a long dose of Nietzsche it is restorative. I need a holiday away somewhere sunny after exploring Existentialism - I really don’t know why I persisted!
I’m also very slowly getting through Pepys diaries. We haven’t learned a thing about politics since then!

Terry Pratchett brilliant, and always another 'ah' on re-reading too

Today I'm reading, "Sit Strong; everyday exercises to stretch and strengthen your posture", but Harriet Griffey.
Very clear, easy to absorb and pay heed

 

[Chris]

Hardcore Histories?

Listening to British Woodland by Ray Mears for the second time. I think I should point out that after the first time I just started it again really good and interesting.

It’s a combo of The Rest is History and their sister podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk.

I’ll give Hardcore Histories and British Woodland a go. Both sound right up my street.

 

[Minotaur]

It’s a combo of The Rest is History and their sister podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk.

I’ll give Hardcore Histories and British Woodland a go. Both sound right up my street.

Hardcore Histories is really good however often very long. They also have another podcast called Hardcore Histories addendum which is good as well.
The First World War series is brilliant and it really makes you think.
To add another book to the list Memory Code by Dr Lynne Kelly which would be worth reading before British Woodland as a lot of what Ray is saying Memory Code gives the ground work on.

 

[Brizzlebush]

I've nearly finished Simon Reeve's book about his travels and tv shows he's made around the world.
A really fascinating read that makes you think, funny too.

Next up I saw Will Millard at the weekend. Lovely man, talking about his latest book, a memoir about a hermit, Ken, in Scotland, again fascinating.

 

[Pokem28]

One Man’s Wilderness-An Alaskan Odyssey by Sam Keith from the journals and photographs of Dick Proenneke

 

[ManFriday4]

Reading Brading Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer.

The Author is a conservation biologist & academic of Native American dissent.

"Traditional Ecological Knowledge, also called by other names including Indigenous Knowledge or Native Science, (hereafter, TEK) refers to the evolving knowledge acquired by indigenous and local peoples over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment. This knowledge is specific to a location and includes the relationships between plants, animals, natural phenomena, landscapes and timing of events that are used for lifeways, including but not limited to hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, and forestry"

It is my firm belief that if humans are to have any real future on the planet it would be through stronger links with land and naturre, how we get there is another matter.

 

[Minotaur]

Reading Brading Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer.

The Author is a conservation biologist & academic of Native American dissent.

"Traditional Ecological Knowledge, also called by other names including Indigenous Knowledge or Native Science, (hereafter, TEK) refers to the evolving knowledge acquired by indigenous and local peoples over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment. This knowledge is specific to a location and includes the relationships between plants, animals, natural phenomena, landscapes and timing of events that are used for lifeways, including but not limited to hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, and forestry"

It is my firm belief that if humans are to have any real future on the planet it would be through stronger links with land and naturre, how we get there is another matter.

British Woodland and Memory Code are really worth a read in this regard.

 

[Toddy]

Tom Ready, the much missed TomBear, recommended, "Traditional Food in Northumbria" by Peter Brears.
It's an interesting read; it's full of not just anecodotes and quotes of peoples of the past, but recipes too. Practical recipes, full of detail of how to use food that actually grows here, in season and without waste.
Like the recipe for meat roll....which is then given three ways to cook it. All very do-able, all very sensible, all very low tech.
Very much of the day when folks had a kettle, a big pot /cauldron, a frying pan and a girdle/bakestone, and that was pretty much it for the kitchen.
Lots of the recipes are very campfire friendly and suitable too.

I love this kind of stuff, I thoroughly enjoy the pick up and put down nature of the book.
A few pages, and the information just slowly settles happily into the mind

He does others in the same vein too.

If you liked things like the wartime kitchen garden and the like, then this book is a quiet contented read.

Pardon our interruption...

 

[Tony]

Peter Atilla's 'Outlive'. It's very good if your'e interested in living longer more healthily/abley (sp)

Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity - New Book by Peter Attia

A groundbreaking manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health, from a visionary physician and leading longevity expert.

peterattiamd.com

 

[TeeDee]

Peter Atilla's 'Outlive'. It's very good if your'e interested in living longer more healthily/abley (sp)

Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity - New Book by Peter Attia

A groundbreaking manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health, from a visionary physician and leading longevity expert.

peterattiamd.com

I found the more pertinent perspective to not to necessarily live LONGER but BETTER even when elderly - no point in living as Methuselah if you can't still partake of life. Keep the engine and the bodywork of the car well maintained.

 

[Toddy]

A Doctor said to me that health is a matter of percentages.
80% is your genetics, 10% is how you behave, eat, exercise, etc., and 10% is just luck.

I commented that he exercised religiously, was seen running every day, was obviously fit and healthy, and he said that his Father had died in his mid fifties and he was trying to beat the odds.
My fit and healthy Doctor dropped dead in his mid fifties.
It was a great loss to both his family and his community.

The older I get the more I realise that balance is important.
We need good sleep, we really do. We need good food and we need to move about.
The brain needs to be kept active, I think anything else is genetics.

M

 

[TeeDee]

A Doctor said to me that health is a matter of percentages.
80% is your genetics, 10% is how you behave, eat, exercise, etc., and 10% is just luck.

I commented that he exercised religiously, was seen running every day, was obviously fit and healthy, and he said that his Father had died in his mid fifties and he was trying to beat the odds.
My fit and healthy Doctor dropped dead in his mid fifties.
It was a great loss to both his family and his community.

The older I get the more I realise that balance is important.
We need good sleep, we really do. We need good food and we need to move about.
The brain needs to be kept active, I think anything else is genetics.

M

True - but what is Genetics if not a chance of Luck in the first place?

I'm not a fan of fatalism and predeterminism for most things in life and do ( want to ) believe you can make a poorly dealt starting hand in life better if one applied oneself and makes wise ( i.e not stupid decisions ) - Genetical flaws and inherited weaknesses seem to be the one single truth you can't change to a larger degree.

 

[Toddy]

Like my Doctor said, 10% you can change, 10% is luck...whether that's in where you live, what you do, the company you keep, the habits you have, well, that's 'mostly' up to you.
A bit of flex in it

I too think you can take a poor hand and make a much better life, but I don't think it's easy, not for most folks.

 

[Minotaur]

There is some research saying that your actions can change your DNA.
That said check out Dr Rhonda Patrick for the latest in what works or does not.
Did you see the news article about Blue Zone Okinawa and how they might fall out of that status. The reason.... they built a McDonalds on the island.

 

[Pattree]

@Minotaur There is some research saying that your actions can change your DNA.

That’s interesting.
Could you point me to a reference or somewhere I could look for one. I am re-reading about origins of species: both Darwin and Leaky and your information could be very significant.

Ed: don’t mean to side track OP.

 

[Minotaur]

That’s interesting.
Could you point me to a reference or somewhere I could look for one. I am re-reading about origins of species: both Darwin and Leaky and your information could be very significant.

Ed: don’t mean to side track OP.

Six months of cycling classes produce changes in DNA methylation patterns of adipose tissue relevant for type 2 diabetes and obesity

When mothers were more interactive with their infant during a play activity, epigenetic changes occurred in the infant's DNA.

Changing Our DNA through Mind Control?

As I said if you are interested in this stuff Doctor Rhonda Patrick is your woman.

 

[Nice65]

A Doctor said to me that health is a matter of percentages.
80% is your genetics, 10% is how you behave, eat, exercise, etc., and 10% is just luck.

This is right off topic, but the recent Netflix documentary about blue zones is interesting and worth a watch. Here’s a link to Bluezones:

Explore the Blue Zones in the 4-Part Netflix Docu-Series

This Netflix 4-part docu-series follows Blue Zones founder and National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner as he explores the original blue zones and visits communities around the United States working to make it easier to live a better, longer life.

www.bluezones.com

 

[Pattree]

@Minotaur Thank you.

 

[SaraR]

I’m currently reading “Llyfr Glas Nebo” by Manon Steffan Ros, about a boy and his mum and baby sister who are trying to survive on their own in North Wales after a global disaster. It’s has recently come out in an English version (The Blue Book of Nebo; it’s more of an adaptation than a translation, it seems) and is well worth a read.