Abbie's recent posts

Recent public posts (showing 1-10 of 10).

Oh, that is adorable. :) More books should star naked mole rats!

I should probably read this book. I have heard bits and pieces of his arguments in other places. He makes good points, but kind of flawed. For instance, he refutes the fallacious argument that without religion human beings would descend into anarchy, immorality, and unbridled selfishness. He points out that non-religious people also perform altruistic behavior. He's absolutely right, and I get irritated every time I hear church people talk about how their religion prevents them from being utter assholes. However, Hitchens then goes and talks about all the destructive things done in the name of religion, and I think he's already refuted his own argument. People do both destructive and altruistic things with or without religion. They use religion as an excuse, but without it, they would just find some other excuse. Humans (and other primates) are innately violent. Events in Communist China illustrate that people are capable of being nasty without religion. I also think that anyone arguing for the lack of necessity of religion has to answer the fact that religions develop across the entire spectrum of human history and culture. We create gods, and I think it would be stupid to say that we don't do it because on some level we need them. Religion meets very basic psychological and emotional needs. Have most people really grown beyond that? I look around, and I don't think so. I feel deeply insecure with my alienation from the church of my childhood, but maybe that's because I was "abused" by being raised in church. Maybe I can't really see straight.

Thanks, Ron! The podcast for the next book will begin soon. The PDF is already up on my website. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. :)

Hi! I'm Amy's friend. I don't even know you, but I'm signing up to read your book reviews now. :D

This is the only book on writing I've ever recommended to anyone. :)

EEE! Awesome! :D

Oh, I read them a long time ago! I'm just randomly adding books I've read to my Goodreads book shelf. :) Oddly, the 3rd one does not seem to be listed.

I wish Hobb's work was available on audio. If it was, I would have read a lot more of it by now.

Yep, that was pretty much why I didn't like when I was young. The tree is a doormat, and the kid is a jackass. The book also pushes the idea that if you let someone abuse you over a long period of time, deep in their hearts they still love you and will return to you in the end. Anyway, I was just curiuos.

LOL. I'm so curious about why you hate this book. I mean, it's on a lot of people's favorites lists. I can guess why someone might not like it, and I have no strong feelings about it, but I'm curious.

~Abbie

I listened to these in 2004/05 and waited for the last one with baited breath. I really enjoyed them. Just enjoy the ride and don't expect too much out of the end.