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A Good Read: Book Suggestions & Recommendations

Book Bub has suggested to me a book from the 'Forbidden Bookshelf' series. There are 27 in the series which may interest some people.

The one Book Bub advertised is 'Blowback: America's Recruitment Of Nazis and It's Destructive Impact on our Domestic & Foreign Policy' by Christopher Simpson. It is currently £1.89 on Kindle.

The link is to the 27 book series:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/kindle/series/B07D5HPPWZ?ie=UTF8&ref_=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_tkin
 
Previously mentioned as a seminal publication, the following is now available to download:

The Rough Guide to Unexplained Phenomena

Bob Rickard & John Michell. 2nd. Edition ... Many of the pictures in this book first appeared in Phenomena (1977) and Living Wonders (1982), both published by Thames and Hudson. ... John Michell and Bob Rickard, 2007 ... Tudor Pole, in his book, The Silent Road (1962): ... the torrent of an incalculable number of strange.

468 pages: 43 MB

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://avalonlibrary.net/ebooks/John%20Michell%2C%20Bob%20Rickard%20-%20The%20Rough%20Guide%20to%20Unexplained%20Phenomena.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjDi6DXpd7xAhWYi1wKHa4GAJEQFjAAegQIAxAC&usg=AOvVaw1gceaiwgKo8x2ic6K2bDKb

Excellent book !
ive been reading it for the past 2 days, a must for fortean types.
 
Just finished John Rackham's Brighton Ghosts and Hove Hauntings, as recommended to me in another thread.

This is a chunky old book, much bigger than the usual slim volumes of local ghostly tales. The interest for me here though didn't turn out to be the paranormal, it was the detailed history of the buildings that preceded each collection of tales. I know more about the history of Brighton pubs than I ever thought possible! Also discovered some real surprises, such as an entire hospital I never new existed.

If you can track down a copy and you live in or near Brighton & Hove I highly recommend giving this a go. Or even if you're just interested in the place.

And I discovered that there's a haunting not a stone's throw from my house! I can see the building from here.
 
Spooked: The Secret Rise of Private Spies
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57754088-spooked?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=tcAwhvFtRE&rank=2

I agree with this commenter:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3989511764

There is a lot about the Steele dossier, and that is well known. Most surprising is how shoddy and sleazy the whole private spy industry is. And how litigious they are amongst themselves. A relaxed read for falling asleep by and to be happy I'm not one of the players.

Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...d?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=gcBim4XjyP&rank=1

I agree with this commenter:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3809199339?book_show_action=true

Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
A relatively solid introduction to the ideas of Rene Girard. A bit American in style, but tolerable.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show...arch=true&from_srp=true&qid=3Fxus7Pyit&rank=1
 
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The most translated book from every nation?
https://i.redd.it/av1w6eog76j71.jpg

This is from that list:
"My name? Listen then: you have spent the night with
Khoja Nasreddin. I am Khoja Nasreddin, the Disturber
of the Peace and the Sower of Discord, a man with a high
price on his head: every day town-criers announce it in
public places and bazaars. Yesterday they were offering
three thousand tomans, and I was tempted to sell my own
head at such a good price. You laugh, my little star?
Well, give me your lips for the last time. I wish I could
give you an emerald, but as I have no emerald take this
little white pebble to remember me by."
http://annabel.ru/books/soloviev_the_beggar_in_the_harem.pdf
 
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Just bought Sam's sandwich for my ....grand niece....great niece....my niece's daughter, tis truly one of the greatest books ever.
 
Hopefully self explanatory:

Post in thread 'Aleister Crowley'

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/aleister-crowley.2345/post-2104265

Aside from Charles Fort's books, which are available, had a cursory search for anything 'Forteana' related and this instantly resulted:

Screenshot_20210909-103729.jpg


Although it's free to download, seems like you might have to agree a 30-day trial account first.

More about same explained in link.

At 634 pages, this book is an absolute revelation to myself and within a minute, had already bookmarked around 20 articles. :)
 
More about same explained in link.
As noted, in addition to books, there are related 'documents' which are available and seem to have been uploaded by subscribers.

One such is the first issue of 'Fortean News' - from a straightforward search, "Charles Fort".

Naturally, the last thing I wish is to invoke copyright issues, so, if of interest, this is the original cover and first two pages only, deemed by myself as 'fair use'.

www.forteanmedia.com/FT01_01.jpg

www.forteanmedia.com/FT01_02.jpg

www.forteanmedia.com/FT01_03.jpg

Again, just to highlight the wealth of material available from this website.

It also recognises specific searches such as, say, re the 1955 Kelly-Hopkinsville case and primary witness Elmer 'Lucky' Sutton... "Sutton Hopkinsville" brings up loads of related material - much of which, under 'documents', is completely new to myself.

One other point, searches recognise what also might be related. For example, soon as you type in "Hopkinsville 1955", etc., expect recommendations about 'cryptoids'. :)
 
As noted, in addition to books, there are related 'documents' which are available and seem to have been uploaded by subscribers.

One such is the first issue of 'Fortean News' - from a straightforward search, "Charles Fort".

Naturally, the last thing I wish is to invoke copyright issues, so, if of interest, this is the original cover and first two pages only, deemed by myself as 'fair use'.

www.forteanmedia.com/FT01_01.jpg

www.forteanmedia.com/FT01_02.jpg

www.forteanmedia.com/FT01_03.jpg

Again, just to highlight the wealth of material available from this website.

It also recognises specific searches such as, say, re the 1955 Kelly-Hopkinsville case and primary witness Elmer 'Lucky' Sutton... "Sutton Hopkinsville" brings up loads of related material - much of which, under 'documents', is completely new to myself.

One other point, searches recognise what also might be related. For example, soon as you type in "Hopkinsville 1955", etc., expect recommendations about 'cryptoids'. :)
£1.80 for a years subscription, them were the days
 
Hopefully self explanatory:

Post in thread 'Aleister Crowley'

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/aleister-crowley.2345/post-2104265

Aside from Charles Fort's books, which are available, had a cursory search for anything 'Forteana' related and this instantly resulted:

View attachment 44779

Although it's free to download, seems like you might have to agree a 30-day trial account first.

More about same explained in link.

At 634 pages, this book is an absolute revelation to myself and within a minute, had already bookmarked around 20 articles. :)

Great cover, individual issues are available for free on Archive.com

https://archive.org/details/Journal_of_the_Fortean_Research_Center_Vol_5_No_2
 
I’ve been fascinated by the Great War for the last few years. l’m just coming to the end of chain-reading several of Lyn Macdonald’s excellent books on that ghastly conflict. Having devoured:

1914: The Days of Hope
1915: The Death of Innocence
Somme
They Called It Passchendaele

l’ve just started The Roses of No Man's Land

l can’t recommend these works too highly. Macdonald has a talent for explaining the macro, then involving one in the micro, as most of her books consist in large part of reminiscences from surviving soldiers. Their accounts of their time in the trenches leave one shaking one’s head ruefully as one tries to imagine how men could survive, let alone fight, under such conditions.

She also knocks on the head the idea - fashionable since the Sixties - of braying, Melchett-type, officers condemning thousands of men to pointless deaths in between their soup and nuts at five-star restaurants.

Superb.

maximus otter
 
The Gospel of the Eels by Patrik Svensson.

It’s a fantastic bit of nature writing that was a surprise bestseller in Sweden and has recently been translated into English.

The book tracks the migratory habits of the European eel, and considers why we’re so fascinated with the species. A terrific read.
 
I recently 'read' Wilding Hall by Elizabeth Hand on Audible (it's free if you have a membership).

Good spooky tale about a folk band recording their new album in an old hall. It is a bit marmite because of the lack of explanation of exactly what "it" is, but I didn't mind that. After all, you don't necessarily get answers for "real life" hauntings.

Currently reading Bob Mortimer's autobiography "...And Away" - I don't normally go for celeb autobiographies, but love the man. As you'd probably expect, it's funny and has some great tales of capers, but is also touching and sad in places, as he talks about the death of his dad when he was just a kid, and his battles with depression and crippling shyness.
 
Currently reading Bob Mortimer's autobiography "...And Away" - I don't normally go for celeb autobiographies, but love the man. As you'd probably expect, it's funny and has some great tales of capers, but is also touching and sad in places, as he talks about the death of his dad when he was just a kid, and his battles with depression and crippling shyness.

I have that pencilled in on my Christmas list (assuming anyone gets any presents this year). Also have my eye on Miriam Margolyes' autobiography. Hope she mentions The Apple!
 
The Gospel of the Eels by Patrik Svensson.

It’s a fantastic bit of nature writing that was a surprise bestseller in Sweden and has recently been translated into English.

The book tracks the migratory habits of the European eel, and considers why we’re so fascinated with the species. A terrific read.

Sounds decidedly interesting; am reckoning on looking out for it. I can recommend an (originally) English-language, seeming quite close equivalent: The Book of Eels by Tom Fort, published 2002. About the European eel and its natural history (one understands from the book, said natural history remarkably little-known / -understood, until surprisingly late-on) and particulars of fishing for said species, and its present-day threatened status, and attempts at its conservation -- such "encounters" by the author, in the British Isles; also further afield. Indeed -- as above -- a creature that fascinates.
 
Sounds decidedly interesting; am reckoning on looking out for it. I can recommend an (originally) English-language, seeming quite close equivalent: The Book of Eels by Tom Fort, published 2002. About the European eel and its natural history (one understands from the book, said natural history remarkably little-known / -understood, until surprisingly late-on) and particulars of fishing for said species, and its present-day threatened status, and attempts at its conservation -- such "encounters" by the author, in the British Isles; also further afield. Indeed -- as above -- a creature that fascinates.
I noticed there is a programme starting soon on DMAX about elver fishermen.

Cold river cash

https://www.discoveryuk.com/series/cold-river-cash/
 
Free to download, from:

https://archive.org/details/b29826433/mode/2up

The Diary of a Drug Fiend
Aleister Crowley

Although written as 'fiction', it is accepted as being based on Crowley's own experiences.

As with many of my then contemporaries, it was a founding book of nascent years, back in the 70s and I have began to read this again.

It's a fusion between Crowley's experimentation with drugs and core philosophy regarding 'Thelema' and his conception of 'True Will'.

A fascinating and challenging read; I find Crowley has a talent for being exceptionally evocative...

Resize_20211026_054256_6652.jpg
 
I noticed there is a programme starting soon on DMAX about elver fishermen.

Cold river cash

https://www.discoveryuk.com/series/cold-river-cash/

Good grief ! The pictures as per link, had me thinking, "a far cry from John Moore's gentle recounting of harvesting elvers on the Severn in Gloucestershire, almost a century ago" -- though of course, it could be that while these guys as pictured, look like something out of nightmare; in actual fact, they're all big softies...
 
Has anyone read Adam Buxton's autobiography?

If so, is it any good?

Have had a look at it and can't decide if it looks like an interesting and thoughtful read or trivial fluff. Or a bit of both.
 
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