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The 2021 Book Club (Reading Group)

Discussion in 'Self Improvement' started by StoicContemplation, Jan 15, 2021.

  1. StoicContemplation

    StoicContemplation Fapstronaut

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    I think some of you may resonate with my situation/behavior of having books in mind I really want to read (or even buying them) but then lacking the discipline to actually make some time to read them and failing to establish a habit of reading regularly.

    I have read books in 2020 and the years before and some books did leave an impression on me and changed my mindset but I do feel that I could (have) read more (especially in 2020 given the lockdown situation).

    Reading books is a great way to make something productive out of your free time. You can learn new things from non-fiction books (or even fiction for that matter), it relaxes you, it trains concentration, it stimulates imagination, you learn new words, it provides in a rich potential of topics of conversation (thus making you more interesting), etc.

    So the rationale of this thread is pretty self-explanatory. Other accountability threads in the self-improvement section have already helped me to establish good habits. This thread encompasses these key elements:

    - what are you reading?
    - which books have you finished in 2021 (or previous years, see the next question)?
    - which books would you recommend?

    So my approach to this 'challenge' is twofold: I will update this OP with a list of books I have finished in 2021 and a list of book(s) that I am currently reading. In separate posts I will update if I have finished a book or have started a new one. Discussion and reviews of books are encouraged.

    You guys are more than welcome to do the same. It would be cool to have a thread at the end 2021 where you have a list that displays all the books you have finished this year (I recommend making an initial post and editing your 'dual list' but feel free to do it as you like). This thread can also enable discovering some good books.

    Books I finished in 2021:

    - Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451
    - Michel Houellebecq - Submission
    - Quinten François - The Bitcoin Revolution
    - Alan Garner - Conversationally Speaking
    - Cal Newport - Digitital Minimalism
    - Michael Ende - The Neverending Story
    - Michel Houellebecq - Whatever
    - Gary Wilson - Your Brain on Porn
    - Cal Newport - Deep Work

    Books I finsihed in 2022:

    - Amy Johnson - The Little Book of Big Change
    - Stefan van der Stigchel - Concentration
    - Henk Schulte Nordholt - Is China Unstoppable?
    - Philip Zimbardo - Man, Interrupted
    - Willem Elsschot - Cheese
    - Neil Postman - Amusing Ourselves To Death
    - John Bodi - Death By A Thousand S**** [Part One]
    - Nicholas Carr - The Shallows
    - David Perlmutter - Grain Brain
    - Roald Dahl - Matilda
    - André Klein - Des Spielers Tot
    - Tom Torero - Street Hustle

    Books I finished in 2023:

    - Vera Tarman - Food Junkies
    - David Burns - Feeling Good
    - Don Pendleton - War Against the Mafia [The Executioner]
    - Robert L. Moore and Douglas Gillette - King, Warrior, Magician, Lover
    - Albert Ellis and Robert A. Harper - A Guide to Rational Living
    - David Burns - Intimate Connections
    - Anna Lembke - Dopamine Nation
    - Stephen Cherniske - Caffeine Blues
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2023
  2. onceaking

    onceaking Fapstronaut

    Currently Reading:

    Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Steven Hawkins
    If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
    American God's by Neil Gaiman
     
    StoicContemplation likes this.
  3. Renect

    Renect Fapstronaut

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    Hey dude. Very good forum post! Since starting nofap i've started reading "History of Western Philsophy - Bertrand Russell" (this book has 700 pages haha) I've read "A guide to the good life - William Irvine" & would highly recommend. I also have "Universal by Prof Brian Cox" ready to start reading. All areas of interest of mine i want to expand!
     
    StoicContemplation likes this.
  4. Slimjimjones

    Slimjimjones Fapstronaut

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    I'll skip the what I'm reading for it is mostly school and skill stuff. But I would highly recommend The Way Of Men trilogy by jack donovan, really helped me develop into a man.
     
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  5. HE^MAN

    HE^MAN Distinguished Fapstronaut

    I finished curse of haedes
    Reading mark of athena
    The way of a superior man - recommend
     
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  6. finished Pitagoric Life of Iamblicus
    reading Timeo of Platon
     
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  7. I am currently reading: Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday
    Why? Speech is silver, but silence is golden.

    What I want to learn from this book, is how to have a calm mind that is not stressed with this all-day bullshit and stimulation, such as games, Netflix, social media, etc...

    I used to read hours a day, until the point I got a laptop and started to play games... I want to replace games and Netflix with books, so I can calm my mind and so I can learn something about topics of my interest.
     
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  8. Anti-Hero

    Anti-Hero Fapstronaut

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    I don't know about any trilogy, I just read one work called "the way of men" by donovan. The only thing I can remember about that book is not being impressed at all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
     
  9. Slimjimjones

    Slimjimjones Fapstronaut

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    To each his own. He had two following books called 'becoming a barbarian' and 'a more complete beast'
     
  10. Anti-Hero

    Anti-Hero Fapstronaut

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    Currently reading Cyropaedia by Xenophon.
     
  11. Anti-Hero

    Anti-Hero Fapstronaut

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    Back to a classic from my childhood: Magician by Feist.
     
  12. StoicContemplation

    StoicContemplation Fapstronaut

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    I'm now reading Dostojevski's 'The Double'. First time I'm getting into Russian literature.

    Edited my initial post.
     
  13. Another great thread I'd love to be a part of! While a physical book club is currently unavailable, it's great we at least have a digital one; looking forward to seeing what everyone likes to read! :)

    Books finished in 2021:
    • A Billion Wicked Thoughts - by Ogi Odas and Sai Gaddam;
    • The Practicing Stoic - by Ward Farnsworth;
    • Epicurus: The Principle Doctrines - by Epicurus;
    • Travels with Epicurus - by Daniel Klein;
    • Essays by Seneca: Of Providence, On the Shortness of Life, On the Firmness of the Wise Man - by Seneca;
    • How to Make Friends and Influence People - by Dale Carnegie;
    • On Friendship - by Montaigne;
    • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - by Benjamin Franklin;
    • The War 1939-1945 - by Louis Snyder.
    Currently reading:
    • Our Mutual Friend - by Charles Dickens;
    • Solving the Procrastination Puzzle - by Timothy A. Pychyl.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 2, 2021
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  14. StoicContemplation

    StoicContemplation Fapstronaut

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    Good job. You're definitely taking action.
     
  15. WHMvsPMO

    WHMvsPMO Fapstronaut

    Bout half way through Aleph by Paulo Coelho.
     
  16. WHMvsPMO

    WHMvsPMO Fapstronaut

    After getting through a couple of novels in a surprisingly short period of time considering I'm working, I'm looking at some non-fictional titles including a collection of poetry by David Whyte and Karma by Traleg Kyabgon, which is written for the general public.
     
  17. Today I finished: How to Make Friends and Influence People - by Dale Carnegie.

    Today I started: On Friendship - by Montaigne.
     
    RaXaZ likes this.
  18. Antimatteromega

    Antimatteromega Fapstronaut

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    Hello
    Thought I might join.
    I've had a lot of free time recently so I've been able to read a bunch of Books.

    Books Finished:
    The Stoic Challenge by William Irvine
    How to be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci
    The Complete Book of Urban Combatives by Lee Morrison
    The Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison
    If only, how to turn regret into opportunity by Neal Roese
    Elysium Fire by Alistair Reynolds
    Rational Recovery from Alcohol by Jack Trimpley
    The Porn Trap by Wendy Maltz and Larry Maltz
    The Tower of Nero by Rick Riordan
    The Charwoman's Shadow by Lord Dunsany
    The Art of Lucid Dreaming by Clare Johnson
    Fear The Friend of exceptional People by Geoff Thompson
    Lucid Dreaming: Plain and Simple by Robert Waggoner and Caroline McCready
    Never Binge again by Glenn Livingston
    Redirect: The surprising new science of psychological change by Timothy Wilson
    The Last Days of the Edge of the World by Brian Stableford
    Forerunner by Andre Norton
    The Only Skill That matters by Jonathan A Levi
    The Procrastination equation by Dr Piers Steel
    Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey
    Atomic Habits by James Clear
    Excession by Ian M Banks
    The art of the impossible by Steven Koteler
    The broken sword by Poul Anderson
    Surface Detail by Ian M Banks
    Waylander by David Gemmell
    Happiness by design by Paul Dolan
    Feersum Endjinn by Ian M Banks
    The Cynic philosophers from Diogenes to Julian translated by Robert Dobbin
    Finding Happiness by Christopher Jamison
    Against a Dark Background by Iam M Banks
    Poseidon's Wake by Alistair Reynolds
    On the nature of the universe by Lucretius
    Be who you want by Christian Barrett
    The Rediscovery of Man by Cordwainer Smith
    Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
    Of the city of the saved by Phillip Purser-Hallard
    Focused and Fearless by Shaila Catherine
    The Scar by China Miéville
    Gridlinked by Neal Asher
    The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
    Naked Satistics by Charles Wheelan
    Dragonquest by Anne Mcaffrey
    A Time of changes by Robert Silverberg
    The Brakespeare Voyage by Jonathan Dennis and Simon Bucher-Jones
    Three men in a boat by Jerome K Jerome
    Shardik by Richard Adams
    Sagittarius Whorl by Julian May
    Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 minutes a Day by Amishi p. Jha


    Books Finished in 2022
    The Werewolves of London By Brian Stableford
    7 and a half lessons about the brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett
    The Art of Lucid Dreaming by Clare Johnson
    Everyday Quantum reality by David Grandy
    Absolution Gap by Alistair Reynolds
    The Craving Mind by Judson Brewer
    Dream Therapy by Clare Johnson
    Jesus the Great Philosopher by Jonathon Pennington
    The Angel of Pain by Brian Stableford
    The Carnival of Destruction by Brian Stableford
    Krieg by Steve Lyons
    The Revelations by Erik Hoel
    The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
    Chasm City by Alistar Reynolds
    Dopamine nation by Anna Lembke
    Kraken by China Mieville
    Queen of Angels by Greg Bear
    Lorgar: Bearer of the Word by Gav Thorpe
    Head first statistics by Dawn Grffiths
    The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley
    Fist of the Imperium by Andy Clark
    Summerland by Hannu Rajaniemi
    Inhibitor Phase by Alistair Reynolds
    Vulkan Lives by Nick Kyme
    The well at the worlds end by William Morris
    Celestine by Andy Clark
    Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
    Day of Ascension by Adrian Tchaikovsky
    Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
    Flesh and Steel by Guy Hayley
    Belisarius Cawl the great work by Guy Hayley
    Soul Drinker by Ben Counter
    The Power of Unwavering focus by Dandipani
    The Bleeding Chalice by Ben Counter
    Crimson Tears by Ben Counter
    Chapter War by Ben counter
    Hellforged by Ben Counter
    Your best year ever by Michael Hyatt
    Phalanx by Ben Counter


    Currently Reading:
    Enter the Kettlebell by Pavel Tsatsouline
    The Art of Memory by Frances Yates
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2023
  19. Finished in 2021:
    The Easy_Peasy Way to Quit Porn

    Currently Reading:
    The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
    Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill
     
  20. Hey man,
    Nice to see you also read "the easy_peasy way to quit porn". I found it to have a really interesting new insight on how to stop pornography, how did you experience it?
     
    Chakra_Serpent likes this.

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