The Little Prince --- by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943, 2010)

This is a "children's book" for adults. It was ordered for me as a gift from a thoughtful friend. Most adults would do well to let a book like this remind them of the important lessons only their inner child can teach.

The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge --- by: Matt Ridley (2015)

This is one of the most interesting books I've read in a while. Ridley has derived many of the same insights and conclusions I have regarding the importance and power of the evolutionary process to not only shape our world, but our very thoughts and ideas, even art. Well-researched and well-written; a critical read for anyone interested in where human thought is going (i.e. what our general understanding will be about our world and our experiences in the near future). Ridley calls evolution one of the «most corrosive concepts in all philosophy», which is interesting, and very true. It corrodes the ignorance of relgion and superstitions like acid. I really like this book.

Love and Math: The Heart of Hidden Reality --- by: Edward Frenkel (2013)

This is the last of three books that I'd asked my attorney, and friend, Joe, to order for me from amazon recently because I've been getting excessively bored with the T.V. in my cell lately and wanted something intellectually stimulating to read. I consider reading books like this --- that challenge me mentally --- as good entertainment. And while I was indeed entertained, as this book provides a look at what you might call the "intimate side of mathematics", I was also frustrated throughout most of it, and on occassion even outrightly insulted for my lack of ability to grasp what Frenkel was talking about as he discusses his advanced research and theories in the relationship between various "continents of science" (as Frenkel calls them) such as theoretical math and quantum physics. At one point he sums up the basic principles of differential equations (i.e. Calculus) in just a few paragraphs, as if this should be obvious to anyone who thinks about it.

But, I was entertained nonetheless by his roundabout expression of math as something that not only exists in its own right as a kind of non-material reality of pure relationships, but that it is in itself infinitely more complex and "alive" than what we commonly experience here in the material and even intellectual worlds we call reality. I suspect Frenkel is alluding to none other than my own realizations that consciousness itself is somehow the product of infinite probability, which I have attempted to write about elsewhere in this blog.

The Synchronicity Key: The Hidden Intelligence Guiding the Universe and You --- by David Wilcock (2013)

I first learned about synchronicity directly from the writings of Carl Jung. So I never really understood how it has been adopted by mystics, spiritualists, and others as a way to try to explain things that it was never meant to explain. The “Synchronicity Key” is one of those books.

I understand now why Jung is so often accused of being a mystic (he wasn't, he was an intellectually rigid scientist who followed the scientific evidence even when it contradicted common sense, as any true scientist should). This book makes a lot of far-fetched claims that most would consider pseudoscience at best. And it claims outright that synchronicity is “the key that unlocks the greatest mystery of all time”. Jung himself was very adamant about not trying to explain synchronicity, or suggesting that it could be used to explain anything. He simply and meticulously documented what it was, and the evidence of its existence.

Nonetheless, I found this book interesting, even though Jung humself would probably wince at the title alone. It strongly supports my own beliefs in a single Universal Intelligence that is the source of all being, and a coming “Golden Age”. Though I didn't come to these beliefs in anything like the way Wilcock does (i.e. through intellectual analysis of patterns in history). I don't completely dismiss Wilcock's discussion; but I don't think it is as convincing as a simple honest look within ourselves can be.

Waking, Dreaming, Being: self and consciousness in neuroscience, meditation, and philosophy --- by Evan Thompson (2015

I found out about this book from a book review. It appeared to be exactly the kind of book I have been hoping to find for a long time, and it turned out to be better than I hoped. Thompson does an excellent and thorough job of analyzing, comparing, and contrasting modern science with (mostly Eastern) philosophy. He brings out numerous subtle points that will --- I believe --- have a profound impact some day (as more people come to realize the significance of this understanding, and hence "waking up" from the "dream" of self-ish existence) on all aspects of our culture, from crime to politics.

[J.D. Nov. 18, 2015]

The Cider House Rules – by: John Irving

A friend of mine sent me this book as a gift, knowing how much I enjoy reading an intelligently written story. I was familiar, of course, with Irving, and had read and enjoyed at least a couple of his books before (i.e. The World According To Garp, and The Hotel New Hampshire – both excellent stories). Irving is a good storyteller, and anyone interested in the art of telling a good story would be well advised to read his books to see how it should be done. And since so many people have been suggesting to me lately that I should write a «story», I was glad for Irving's example of how it should be done.

A Clockwork Orange – by: Anthony Burgess (1962, 1986)

I read this book in tandem with my girlfriend, one chapter a day over the course of twenty-one days. My girl had seen the movie, but never read the book; and I had never heard much of either until my lawyer mentioned that some of my own ideas about the importance of our «freedom to choose» seemed to be reflected in this story. My lawyer had only seen the movie himself, but since I can't just get the movies that I want to see for any reason in here I asked my girlfriend if she wanted to read the book with me (something we like to do on occassion as a way to share an experience together even though we're thousands of kilometers apart --- kind of like dating).

Burgess, the author, comes close to my idea about the importance of free choice (as opposed to a system of oppressive laws that restrict our choices). But, he only does so on his way to making another point about free will itself (i.e. personal volition). Definitely a thought-provoking book, and my girl says the book makes more sense than the movie did; but, I still would of liked to have seen the movie myself. I think it could help me better understand the «tone» of the book that I suspect is so crucial to the artistic intention.