Karius og Baktus - av Thorbjørn Egner (2005)

 Another valuable gift from much more than a friend that I must also surrender due to the five-book-limit for BOP prisoners regardless of the deeply sentimental value it has for me. It is a "children's book" written in Norwegian, which I am translating to help me learn the language. So in a way it is my "first book" (in Norwegian) and as such has special meaning to me; not to mention that the fact that it was also a gift from the love of my life.

Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy - Alejandro Jodorowsky (2004) Translation by: Rachael LeValley (2010)

Another gift from a good friend in Germany. This book strikes home in a lot of very "synchronistic" ways. It has not only shed light on the nature of my dreams, but it has also reinvigorated my hope in a better and enlightened future for us all.

Norwegian Folktales: From the Collection of Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe (1812-1885) (Translated by: Pat Shaw and Carl Norman; Pantheon Books, N.Y. 1960)

A valuable gift from much more than a close friend. It breaks my heart that I must surrender this book from my possession because of the five-book-limit for U.S. Federal prisoners. It was a pleasure to read made fleeting by the whimsical delusions of "power" and "control" in the minds of those who know nothing about such things.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – by Haruki Murakami (translated from Japanese by Jay Rubin, 1997)

Three books in one, a deeply “spiritual” or synchronistic and metaphorical story about a man's struggle within himself to find his lost wife. I took my time reading this book as it was a savory feast that saddened me to finish. Murakami is brilliant, and clearly “sees” what few people can “behind the scenes” of reality. Every character was “real” and well fleshed out. A very enjoyable read.

The Pigeon – by: Patrick Suskind (translated from French by John E. Woods, 1988)

This book was another gift from a philosophically-minded friend of mine. It was a very short day-in-the-life sort of story with Kafkaesque undertones. An enjoyable light read.

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.