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Brian's Reading List - 2015


Brian.

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I've had Stuffocation on my wishlist for a while, but had heard mixed reviews which is why I haven't bought it yet.

 

Have to admit, I came to a completely different conclusion to Brian (see here), and thought it poorly argued, not least because he's simply advocating changing one form of stuffocation (buying stuff to enjoy the stuff) for another (buying stuff to enjoy the experience).   After all, he maintains, we need to keep the capitalist economy moving.  All very well, if you're loaded with money to buy the stuff in the first place, but then pretty much all of his discussion centred on the activities of a very narrow social range.  At two stars (out of six), I thought I was being generous!

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I don't ordinarily read non fiction but this summer I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo. I have never been a hoarder but I have always kept things just in case or because they were a gift, or because I'd paid good money for them.

No more, my house has never been tidier, cleaner or better organised, everything in the house (that is mine personally obviously) 'sparks joy'.. This is the phrase Marie Kondo has coined to enable you to decide what items in your house make you happy and which do not, from your underwear drawer to your CD's to your kitchen cupboards. She does come across a little - ok, a lot - quirky and I believe some things don't translate well from her native Japanese, but I think her methods work amazingly well. Instead of deciding what you want to get rid of when you want to declutter, you decide what you want to keep, everything else is superfluous.

I have sent 8 binbags to the charity shop, 14 to the tip and other items have been sold or given away. My home is now more minimalist and as a result I think seriously before I buy anything that will add to my possessions.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post here. My reading has been all over the shop recently, due to a mixture of work and traveling. As a result there will be a few missing reviews and I will just mention what I have read.

 

The Running Man - Stephen King

Written under an alias which I didn't realise at the time. The book is quite different from the movie and I quite enjoyed it.

3/5.

 

Thunderball - Ian Fleming

The 9th book in the original Bond series and one that I would describe as a classic Bond story. I read this on a long haul flight and it really helped to pass the time.

4/5.

 

Grandissimo - David G. Schwartz

The true story of Jay Sarno, a Las Vegas legend who built Circus Circus and Caesar's Palace casinos. A fascinating person and a decent attempt at telling his story.

3/5.

 

This brings my total for the year so far to 68, about 10 books short of my best year but I am not bothered about that. I am currently reading On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming and Whole 30 by Melissa & Dallas Hartwig.

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What do you think of Whole 30 Brian? If I lived on my own I would definitely go for it but living with others makes it too challenging (for me). I do follow a a lot of the Paleo/Whole 30 principles though.

 

I am only 2 or 3 chapters into it but so far it seems solid. I plan on adopting the main message once I get back from Italy at the end of the next week but I won't be doing the whole shebang until January (Xmas and my birthday are too close). I never used to be completely convinced with the whole 'food allergy' thing but over the last year or so I have noticed that certain things I love to eat make me feel a bit crappy afterwards. I have also come to the realisation that I find sugar very addictive so anything that will help me get that under control is more than welcome.

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It is a real mindset you have to get into and sometimes I find it easier than others. I can go without sugar easily and even the alcohol isn't too much of a challenge but the grains are a little harder. They do make me feel tired and lethargic, and sometimes a little nauseous too so I do my very best to eat very little of them. The less you eat of them the better you will feel, but if you do cheat you will find they have a greater effect on you once your body is not used to them.

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Once I've settled into an eating pattern I'm fine discipline wise but I do need to keep an eye on it otherwise I do drift back into poor habits. I definitely slipped back into eating without thinking about recently and I have noticed that I don't feel as good as I did. I'm over halfway through the book now and I still have the opinion that it's a solid book so far.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looks like it's time for my monthly update, :D

 

I really need to find time to post on here more often. Book wise I've been reading when I get a chance so progress has been slow going. Despite this, I have managed to finish a few books, Whole30 (3/5) and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (4/5). Both of these have been read on my Kindle and I find myself using it more and more these days. I have really culled my physical book collection, replacing them with ebook versions where it isn't too expensive,

 

I have started to read SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard since my return from Rome and I suspect this will be my last book of the year. If I finish it before Jan 1st it will give me a total for the year of 71 books which is far better than last year even if my pace has slipped significantly towards the end.

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I have started to read SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard since my return from Rome and I suspect this will be my last book of the year. If I finish it before Jan 1st it will give me a total for the year of 71 books which is far better than last year even if my pace has slipped significantly towards the end.

 

I've got SPQR on my immediate to read pile, so hope to get stuck in over the next few weeks - hope it's as readable as people have said - and will be particularly interested in what you have to say about it.

 

I may, just may, hit seventy by the end of the year, which would be a first (my highest ever is 63, but am currently reading my sixtieth this year, so should slip past) - certainly couldn't contemplate hitting that figure and allowing three weeks for my final book!

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