Except for watching my feet and ignoring outdoors, I'm in a reasonable frame of mind. I'm within ten pages of finishing Sapiens, Yuval Harari, a brief history of human kind. It will be a while before I open the next volume, Homo Deus. It's as thick as Sapiens, which five hundred pages were a "brief" history of our world.
That said, I have read all the pages over the last month and not tossed it aside for anther read. It is fascinating. In the beginning, there were all of us. Homo erectus, habilis, Neanderthal, Denisovan,and so on through nine identified Homo species, plus dinosaurs, Dodos, saber toothed cats, extinct trees, fish, insects. We outlasted them all, and not by war or forced marches.
I think next I will move on to another Alexandra Fuller. I first read Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, the story of her childhood as the daughter of eccentric post revolutionary parents in Africa. It was interesting and sympathetic and compelling. I could have recommended it, but my own life kept interfering. I decided to read another, and got Travel Light, Move Fast.
It was the same sort of good reading, recommended book, until right there at the end. It was a clap to the head. There in the stack you can see how many more Alexandra Fuller's there now are to read.
And Keith Richardson is upside down in there. His bare chest is too much to look at at breakfast. There's one called Maphead, an alternate name for my sister. That sounded interesting, and probably will break up some other reading.
So that's Sunday in a rainy Ohio lock down. I am interested to see if that rain is raining.
No rain. Some white streaks must inflame your imagination. I should learn how to do videos, but it's 4:30, and I'm ready to make supper. Have a good week. Our sun will shine on Tuesday.
No rain here. It is almost midnight and i am still reading Travels in Siberia.I wish you many sunny days to come Joanne.
ReplyDeleteLet us know how long it takes you to get through it. I'm not sorry I made it.
DeleteNo rain here either. Some was predicted yesterday but only fell as incontinent pigeon rain, splat, splat and it was gone.
ReplyDeleteHooray for books. Education, comfort and escape - sometimes in the same volume.
Your books sound like heavy reading? Lately, my reading has been slow. Our weather is hot. Hard to say if that will break or not.
ReplyDeletesounds like you got the rain we had yesterday... so if things follow as expected, Monday will be a glorious sunny day!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't had the focus, strength, or desire for much reading the last couple of weeks. it took me over a week to read short story that wasn't even 200 pages long. I'd blame it on the library being closed but I think the real culprit is a fence.
ReplyDeleteThat fence sucked all the juice out of you. E.v.e.r.y.l.a.s.t.d.r.o.p!
DeleteWe're in the period between summer and winter...so some days we get thunderstorms and terrential rain...others, like today, hot sunshine.
ReplyDeleteLeo is stuck at home, to his great displeasure...we may be used to it thanks to his vulnerabilty to any bug - but it doesn't mean we like it!
We had your rain yesterday. I hope you get our beautiful sunny day tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteOne sunny day yesterday, then back to cold, rainy. My reading is audiobooks, largely light fare, Georgette Heyers.
ReplyDeleteI like Georgette. My friend Ann has uncounted numbers of Georgette.
DeleteRain and or snow in the forecast for the next two days! Ugh to the snow!
ReplyDeleteDuring undergrad at UO, I took a class called 'Homo Ludens'. The book for the class had the same name, written by a Czech author I think, before the war.
ReplyDeleteYou like to read. Give Sapiens a try. It is well reasoned, and you know you could argue with him, but that would take too much research.
Delete😀
ReplyDeleteI'm reading my way through the Maigret books. There are about 70! They transport me to seedy last century Paris. I can only do light reading as I keep switching to Covid19 news.
ReplyDeleteYou can't go wrong with Alexandra Fuller. But god yes- the ending to that last book. Heart stopper.
ReplyDeleteI think I've already given up on "Guns, Germs, and Steel." I do not have the focus. As I listened I kept going in and out. But I'm not sending it back yet. There were parts that absolutely grabbed me.
KEITH! I'd look at his bare chest any time. Even though he's a bit of a scrawny old thing. I love him because of that and despite that. Blitz baby.
There were two deaths in my family that prostrated me; my brother at 28 and the young man, 21 or 22, I took in as a boarder. And that one took me just as unawares. My god, she's a fine writer.
DeleteNo rain here today, but it was a gloomy, gray day.
ReplyDeleteOur early history/prehistory is so interesting and trying to figure out how we got here I haven’t read Sapiens but I have done some reading in the past.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in several of the books in your reading pile. I will add them to my list and see if I can find them in the digital library.
ReplyDeleteI'd look for digital Sapiens. It certainly isn't boring, just a lot to follow. But worth the effort.
DeleteWe are known in our area for passing showers. It drives my mom crazy since she's always wanting to hang laundry out.
ReplyDeleteYou are able to read more challenging books than I can at the moment...But those Alexandra Fuller books sound interesting. The sun WILL come out, soon. I am hoping sooner than Tuesday. But who knows.
ReplyDeleteFuller has been fascinating so far. It's simply about how she perceives her family and they her.
DeleteYour cat probably thinks you control the sun.
ReplyDeleteHearing rain as I type, and it sounds rather apologetic.
I think our rain is finished for a few days. It's only been intermittent so we really haven't had much.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh about the cat being underfoot. My reflexes have increased greatly since we got the dog. He too is always underfoot. 102 degrees today here and bright and sunny. Your books are too deep for me these days. I tend to like light and fluffy.
ReplyDeleteBetty
He's usually nonobtrusive, but today I thought he was going to kill me.
DeleteSunny, warm and beautiful day here. Last night we slept with one of the bedroom windows open for the first time in ages. Today, we fell into our Summertime routine--get up, open the sliding glass doors, put on the morning coffee, fetch the newspaper...
ReplyDeleteJoanne. I just wanted to let you know how much I love your blog. I read you every morning from lock down England......sunny days at present. Sending lots of admiration , love and best wishes. Jean x
ReplyDeleteYou have quite an assorted collection of reading there. I have trouble getting into the heavier reading these days but then it does depend on the subject. I understand those rainy, miserable days you describe. We had several this past week and it is like they are trying to pull you down sometimes, especially if it is very dark. Today however, we were rewarded with an absolutely beautiful, sunny day. I hope your reward comes soon.
ReplyDeleteWe also had a very rainy Sunday and most of us were happy to see it. We don't get enough of the wet stuff down here. We did also get sunshine so I could go for my two daily walks, so altogether a great day was had.
ReplyDeleteSapiens sounds interesting, I might have to track down a copy and the sequel.
When you need rain, it's another matter. We don't need it right now.
Delete"Sapiens" sounds like a very interesting read. Do let us know if you start on the next volume too. The mere title, "Homo Deus" piques my interest already!
ReplyDeleteThen just do it. Sapiens just moves along, and then drops you off. Deus is another book. I think he didn't want to scare off a publisher with a thousand pages.
DeleteIt is rain, rain and more rain here with a possibility of one day a week of sun. It is spring and that’s what happens in my neck of the woods.
ReplyDeleteI have to be careful with cat underfoot also. They just want attention, but there is danger in those sweet green eyes. This is not a time to need a doctor.
You're into some good books there. My reading has slowed right down as I work on other stuff. But it waits and my unread bookshelf delights me :)
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Hi Joanne, It was gray, cold and rainy here also. I have Sapiens on audio. I started listening to it but must have tossed it aside for something else a few chapters in. I'm pretty sure I got it after I got my 23 & me results back showing I had Neanderthal DNA. I did not realize that there were different kinds of humans-I thought we all developed from the same starting point. I got the book to help me sort all that out. I'm still ignorant, though. I'll have to go back and put more effort in. Right now, I'm listening to one called, "Born to Run" about an ancient tribe in Mexico that produces some of the world's best distance runners.
ReplyDeleteNine "pre-humans" have been identified. Perhaps they all today could be living in harmony. But Sapiens harnessed fire, learned to stay warm and cook food, grew bigger brains, moved from hunting=gathering to agricultural societies, and so on and so forth. Sapiens did not annihilate the rest, more like out survived them.
DeleteI salute your choices in reading material. I have devolved back in to science fiction which is pretty much like jelly sandwiches for the brain.
ReplyDeleteYes, Home on Thursday. Pack on Wednesday. Yes, that's a thick book.
ReplyDeleteI just read Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, which was a great read. Now I'm enjoying City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. I did consider Sapiens briefly but it looked like a bit of a daunting prospect.
ReplyDelete"Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight" is a wonderful title, and I'll look out for the book on the basis of the title alone! Hope you are basking in sun tomorrow!
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