From my earliest years, books have been a key part of my life, shaping my personality and worldview. In my case, the Bible was nowhere near the most important of these -- I only began reading it seriously in early adulthood, when the basic outline of who I am had long since formed. I tried to make myself believe it -- made all the right confessions of faith -- but in the end, too many of its basic premises did not match the reality I saw. Instead, I have to admit that the keystone book in my formative years was The Wonders of Life on Earth, by Life Magazine. It is a big, colorful, "coffee-table" type book, with photos and paintings illustrating the grand themes in natural history and biology. Even before I started school I had learned to read, and I read this book again and again -- first the picture captions only, later the full text. That book became an integral part of me, and has determined most of my interests, hobbies, and life choices since then.
That is the power of a book. This page reveals some select few of the many other books I have read; these are chosen for their complementarity to the themes of the rest of this website. They do not appear in any particular order. You will find no discount-store paperbacks here, none of the trendy self-help books, nor the novels which seem to be the bulk of proletarian reading. No, these are books of substance -- which does not mean they must be difficult to read, merely that they are, in my estimation, WORTH reading.
Days of War, Nights of Love: Crimethink for Beginners by CrimethInc. Collective Perhaps the best explanation is the statement in lieu of the usual copyright notice: "English language (and all applications thereof) used without permission from its inventors, writers, or copyrighters. No rights reserved. All parts of this book may be reproduced and transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, especially including photocopying if done at the expense of some unsuspecting corporation. Other recommended methods include broadcasting readings over pirate radio, reprinting tracts in unwary newspapers, and just signing your name to this and publishing it as your own work. Any claim to copyright infringement, advocation of illegal activities, defamation of character, incitement to riot, treason, etc. should be addressed directly to your Congressperson as a military rather than civil issue." Rather than quote extensively from it, as I am constantly tempted to do, I will say only that once I belatedly discovered this book, it became as life-transforming for me as some people say the Bible is to them.
Plant and Planet by Anthony Huxley. Some have called this book "kooky," but that is not fair; it is true there is one chapter which examines some of the paranormal claims that have been made, but Huxley is skeptical and in the end he does not accept such claims. To the person wishing to understand plant ecology deeply, this book makes it understandable. We see the plant kingdom's role in the large-scale processes of the biosphere. We see that plants are vital to the life of the planet in more ways than just as suppliers of oxygen. We see how mulifarious plant life really is; from the most exotic jungle trees with their weird ways, to the commonest weeds, every plant has something fascinating about it. And in very real ways, plants power the planet. They drive ecosystems.
The Malay Archipelago by Alfred R. Wallace Wallace was a contemporary of Darwin, who, without having read any of Darwin's writings, independently drew the same conclusions. Like Darwin, he, too, was inspired by islands, and the series of slightly different forms he saw as he island-hopped down the chain. His account of travels in the Malay Archipelago was for a long time out of print, but has now reappeared. What else can I say? This is an excellent example of the Victorian travel narrative, the genre of book that has inspired Vagabonds and would-be Vagabonds for generations, even though that kind of adventure is now a thing of the past.
Formosa: a Study in Chinese History by William Goddard Although it is an older book, the history covered has not changed. Not just a history book; Goddard's stated purpose was to use history as the medium for finding "the meaning of Formosa." I believe he has done so. We are introduced to great figures in Taiwan's history: Li Han the pirate, Koxinga the patriot, the ruling house of Cheng, and even a cameo appearance by Sun Yat-Sen to mark the beginning of recent history. We see through these characters that Taiwan has on at least three occasions saved Chinese civilization when the mainland fell into a dark age. Now it is doing so again -- and this is why, regardless of what my government may do, I acknowledge Taipei, not Beijing!
Kingbird Highway: the Story of a Natural Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand by Kenn Kaufman Kaufman was one of the last of the really great Vagabonds. He showed that it was still possible to make truly epic journeys within North America in the late 20th century. He did this by setting himself an epic task: to see every species of Bird in North America in its natural habitat. In the decades since then, changes have taken place which ensure that journeys like his are no longer possible. Recent as Kaufman's world was, it has already vanished, and today's travelers and Vagabonds are of a lesser order.
Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner As the title suggests, this is a book for villagers in underdeveloped countries, without access to regular health care. It is written in simple language, with many illustrations, so as to be useful to people of limited education, or who cannot get it in their first language (although it is available in over 50 languages). What use is it for those reading this website, with access to modern Information Technology? Well, how much do you know, really, about your own health? When a person is always moving from one health fad to the next, is it not because she does not understand the basic principles of health? From what I have seen, most people believe the propaganda of the drug companies, advertising the same medicines Werner advises against: they do not deal with the causes of sickness, and are therefore a waste of money. Of course, for the Vagabond, this book has an additional use; for the Vagabond's travels will sometimes take her into just such villages as these, or into wilderness settings (the chapter on First Aid reminded me of my training in Wilderness First Aid, a different protocol than that of civilization). I must warn you, though -- the illustrations are a bit more explicit than most First-Worlders are accustomed to.
Foxe's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe This is by far the oldest book in this library, as the original edition was published in the 1560s. The author knew something about martyrdom, for he was an English Protestant during the time of Bloody Mary, and escaped martyrdom himself only by fleeing England. Many of the stories told are of his contemporaries, some of them doubtless people he knew. All the martyrs whose stories Foxe tells showed a deep courage all too rare in the West today (though believers of equal calibre can still be found in Third World, Muslim, and Communist countries); indeed, some showed such powerful conviction, the official executioners hesitated to do their jobs. None, however, were religious terrorists (false martyrs); on the contrary, these true martyrs eschewed violence, and many charitably gave away their last possessions on the way to the execution. After reading this book, who could be so foolish as to take freedom for granted? My freedom of religion was built upon the blood of countless of my bretheren in the faith -- bretheren with whom I eagerly wait to spend eternity.
Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture by Jeremy Rifkin Of the many environmentalist books out there, of varying quality, I chose this one because it explains very well the reasons I do not buy beef. The "cattle culture," as Rifkin calls it, has overall done more harm than good, both to people and to the planet. Rifkin exposes the rapacious nature of all cattle-raising peoples from the dawn of domestication to the present -- a world-consuming culture invariably built on "conquest and confiscation" in every country where it exists. Also, even if you are no vegetarian, Rifkin's chapter on sanitation (or lack thereof) in today's industrial slaughterhouses may make you never want to touch beef again! (And this was before mad cow disease.)
Where is God When it Hurts? by Philip Yancey This is a head-on treatment of what Yancey calls "The Gift No One Wants": pain. From his early chapters on the horrors of a life without pain -- as shown by patients of Hansen's disease, and children born unable to feel pain -- Yancey builds a case for pain as a necessary part of life, and indeed a sure evidence of a loving God. The desire merely to escape it is short-sighted and ignorant. He then goes on with stories of people facing chronic pain, who have transformed it into a positive force in their lives.
Beyond the Age of Innocence: Rebuilding Trust Between America and the World by Kishore Mahbubani The author is a Singaporean who has lived many years in the United States. Avoiding the temptation to take sides, either with the uncritical pro-American views of some conservatives, or the politically-correct anti-American reaction of the left, Mahbubani instead presents a balanced examination of both the good and the harm the United States has done in the world; of how the U.S. once built up a global reserve of goodwill toward itself, of why it is in danger of losing that goodwill, and of how it can salvage that goodwill. Although he takes rather too positive a view of Communist China, even there, his case is well researched and provides food for thought. "With much power comes much responsibility," the saying goes; and Mahbubani shows what that means in the real world.
Naming Nature: The Clash Between Instinct and Science by Carol Kaesuk Yoon We are all born with an instinctive knack for seeing order in nature, and classifying the life around us. Why is it, then, that so many people nowadays know so little about nature, and care so little? Yoon contends that, paradoxically, modern science is the reason. She calls us to disabuse ourselves of the notion that only science is right, and thereby to begin seeing the living world again.
Breakfast of Biodiversity: the Political Ecology of Rainforest Destruction by John Vandermeer and Yvette Perfecto Most of us in the industrialized "First World" see rain forest destruction as something going on "over there," far away. Vandermeer and Perfecto point out that, far from being able to point to any one cause of rainforest destruction, the web of interacting factors is itself the cause; and that the way to save the rainforests is not to set aside pristine reserves free from human interference, but rather to focus on ending the social, political, and economic inequities in the inhabited lands between the remaining rainforests. When the people who are now peasants have equal political power to ours, and equal opportunity to better their lives, only then will they have the luxury of not turning to the rainforest for subsistence.
