2025 Reading Challenge discussion
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September - The Learning Challenge
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Updated OM 47 with:A Promise of Fire (2017.09.21, ★★★☆☆), in which I learned that οικογένεια is the Greek word for family.
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14. ***** Beyond Positive Thinking: A No-Nonsense Formula for Getting the Results You WantOur self-image regulates the use of our potential.
14/25
15. Light on Life's DifficultiesWhen man is prepared to turn from the illusory & self-created world of hypothesis in which he wanders & to stand face-to-face with actuality, then he will know himself as he is.
15/25
16. Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and SuccessEdison converted failure into a stepping stone to achievement, while the others used it as an alibi for not producing results.
16/25
Finished!Progress: 1 out of 1
Who says you should stop learning after you’ve finished school? For this challenge, we like you to read books that teach you something. It can be anything, history, science, language, how to cook an egg, the power of friendship, anything. As long as it is something new for you. This doesn’t necessarily have to be non-fiction, there are plenty of books in other genres that contain valuable lessons.
Please share with us what books you like to read for this challenge and what you learned from them!
1. How to Read Your Child Like a Book by Lynn Weiss - *** - 9/25/2017 - 211 Pages
17. How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in SellingNo man becomes a fool unless he stops asking questions.
17/25
18. I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the TalibanWe were scared, but our fear was not as strong as our courage.
18/25
I really enjoy seeing what books you're all reading for this challenge and the lessons they contain. Good job everyone! :)
19. The Psychology of Self-EsteemA friend reacts to a man as the man would react to himself, in the person of another. Thus, the man perceives himself through his friend's reaction.
20. Fighting Spirit
When you become One with everything in the 'now' moment, life flows easily & rapidly. It is being here, now, that allows the power within to flourish.
20/25
I finished my fourth one4/4 Completed
Early Modern Times: From Elizabeth the First to the Forty-Niners by Susan Wise Bauer
21. I Used to Know That: Shakespeare: stuff you forgot from schoolThere are 357 instances where Shakespeare is the only recorded user of a word in one or more of its senses. There are a further 1,035 instances where he likely introduced or popularised the words.
21/25
22. It's About Time: From Calendars and Clocks to Moon Cycles and Light Years - A History"When a man sits with a pretty woman for an hour it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute & it's longer than any hour. That's relativity." - Albert Einstein
22/25
Finished the one book that I choose Nabokov's Favourite Word Is Mauve: The literary quirks and oddities of our most-loved authorsData meets literature. Some fun and interesting facts, but I expected more.
Closing things out with 3/1 books. Updated OM 47; here's the complete list:1. Tipping the Velvet (2017.09.18, ★★★☆☆).
From the language in the book, I learned a lot about alternate definitions for words common in the queer lexicon. From looking up stuff to verify historical accuracy, I picked up a few bits 'n' bobs:
- Bagels have been sold in London and surrounding areas since the middle of the 19th century.
- It was rare and frowned upon for a woman to have short hair in Victorian England. If a woman did have her hair cut short, she would often attach a false plait made from her own chopped off hair before going outside.
- We have been using "bitch" in an awful pejorative way since the 15th century. Because we suck. This was a massively disappointing discovery that left me exceedingly engrumbled.
2. A Promise of Fire (2017.09.21, ★★★☆☆).
I learned that οικογένεια is the Greek word for family.
3. Bitter Spirits (2017.09.30, ★★★★☆).
I learned what to call a hairstyle I could heretofore describe but not name: the queue.
updated message 71/4
1. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
I ended up with a lot of things happening at the end of the month and didn't get as much reading done as I wanted. I almost finished A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail but didn't quite get there in time.
So I know October is almost over, but I did finally finish the book I was reading for this. I was listening to it on audio in the car, but I didn't have as much driving time as I originally planned, so it took a while. I read The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery by Sam Kean. I have a psychology degree, so brain stuff really interests me. While I already knew a lot of the stuff they end up proving or disproving with some of the case studies in here, Sam Kean has an awesome storytelling ability and really delves more deeply into the lives of the people with brain damage, as well as what was going on in the world at the time.
Books mentioned in this topic
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery (other topics)Corduroy Mansions (other topics)
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (other topics)
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (other topics)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sam Kean (other topics)Alexander McCall Smith (other topics)
Lewis Carroll (other topics)
Marisha Pessl (other topics)
Lynn Weiss (other topics)
More...







People think that working hard for money and then buying things that make them look rich, will make them rich.
13/25