"The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life " by Mark Manson

Publisher: Harper Collins

Copyright: 2016

ISBN: 9780062457714

Not only does this book have a somewhat unique title, but the advice it shares is equally unique. It allows you to be wrong, to stop believing yourself, not be special, ignore emotions that do not serve any purpose, etc.

It teaches you how to respond to tragedy, how to make yourself the creator of your own beliefs, it cautions you on what you should believe in, and addresses the failure success paradox (which is a real big deal in today’s society).

While many readers may be offended by the title, and therefore wouldn’t want to be caught reading this book I think that it is a book pretty much everyone should read. I say this because in society today we are inundated by information that we should care about this, or that, that all children are special, and therefore should be protected from ever having to think they have failed at something. Well this might be good advice if the child is still in diapers, but when they get into the real world if this same attitude is shown them, then they will be subject to a real shock, as nobody is that special. Not you, nor me, or anyone else on the planet.

Definitely worth the read!

"Three Hearts and Three Lions" by Poul Anderson (1926-2001)

Publisher: Avon books

Copyright: ~1953

This book tells a modern version of the story of Holger Carlsen, an engineer, who is slightly wounded, and passes out while fighting with the Danish underground, during the Second World War. He awakes naked in another time, and seemingly in another place. But what place, or rather what a place?

He is provided with a full suit of mail armour, clothes, weapons, and a huge black stallion. Thus begins his quest to find out where he is, and why he's here.

This novel is the first of two books  known as the Holger Dansk series. For those of you unfamiliar with Danish folklore (which is likely most of you), he is the legendary Prince of Denmark who in his cradle was given strength, luck, and love by the fairie folk who wish men well. According to legend he sleeps beneath Kronberg Castle, and will awaken in the hour of Denmark's need.

Poul Anderson has crafted a great story that meshes the folklore / legend of this famous man, with the events of the period when it was written. In this book the reader is treated to a general overview of Celtic mythology, and it is done very well. One thing I particularly liked was that one of the characters spoke with a very distinctive accent, and Mr. Anderson wrote it in dialect which gave it a wonderful flavour.

There is a second book in the series which I'll be reviewing in  two weeks.

"My Planet: Finding Humour in the Oddest Places" by Mary Roach

Publisher: Reader's Digest

Copyright: 2013

ISBN: 9781621450719

Mary Roach is to say the least of very interesting writer. The topics she chooses are some would say off-the-wall, but all are extremely informative and very well written. Her other books all focus on a specific topic, and all are well worth a read for both the style of writing, the humour, as well as the wonderful and in-depth research that she does.

"My Planet" is a collection of Mary Roach's essays and looks at 62 facets of normal life (albeit from an American viewpoint) with uncanny wit and wisdom. The jacket blurb states:

"These essays, which found a well-deserved home within the pages of Reader's Digest as the column 'My Planet' detail the inner workings of hypochondriacs, hoarders, and compulsive cheapskates."

This Book would make a wonderful addition to anybody who is looking for a light read, but one that gives you insight into human interaction, and life in general - especially one where you want to look at the funny side of life.

"Genus Homo" by L. Sprague de Camp (1907-2000) and P. Schuyler Miller (1912-1974)

Publisher: Berkley Books
Copyright: 1950

What happens when a group of 25 men and women who are on their way to a scientific conference are waylaid due to an accident, and wake up in the world so changed they don't realize where they are?

The story itself deals with a group of humans that are in advertently put in suspended animation following a bus crash, and the subsequent collapse of a highway tunnel. When they awaken they eventually realise that at least a million years have passed on earth and human civilization has ended. The way they discovered this is very well presented by the author as he does it through discussions between the characters with regard to changes in the constellations, the growth of trees and other plants, how animals have evolved,  and more.

Approximately the first half of this book is a story of how they survive, the interactions between the various members of the of the group, and so on. It does go into a fair bit of detail with regard to group psychology, group organization, survival, and so on and this is explored as the group learns how to live by themselves.

Depending on how much science-fiction you have read in your life this could lead you to see similarities with ither stories.  Probably the most obvious or possibly well known would be the book "Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boulle, which was published in 1965. Genus Homo however was published in 1950, so is it possible M. Boulle was influenced by genus Homo? It's true there are a lot of similarities, but being that M. Boulle wrote his story originally in French I somehow doubt that this book influenced his work. In addition, while apes in Genus Homo are one of the dominant species on the earth, there aren't many other similarities, in they become good friends with the few remaining humans and welcome them into their community.

I found this to be a very good story, with a wonderful message. Highly recommended, however possibly difficult to find.

"First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" by James R. Hansen

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Copyright: 2005, (3rd Edition 2018)

ISBN: 978-1-9821-0316-3

I found First Man to be an extremely informative and engrossing biography of the astronaut and Apollo 11 commander Neil A. Armstrong. I can vividly remember sitting on the floor of our basement family room listening to a black & white television in July 1969 when the Moon Landing was broadcast on CBC (the only station we could get). I was fascinated then, and still am today. Hopefully someday humans will return to the Moon, and possibly venue further into space.

The book essentially details Armstrong's life from birth in 1930 to his death in 2012, and gives a very detailed examination of his career in the United States Navy, and has a test pilot prior to becoming an astronaut, his accomplishments in the Gemini, and the Apollo programs, and his life after returning to Earth.

Commander Armstrong was an extremely private individual, but one who was forced into the public eye due to the accomplishments of the crew of Apollo 11. It was quite evident throughout the book that he did not like all the public exposure, but he did his best to survive it. Unfortunately this did cause a great deal of stress in his life, and to his family.

The accomplishments of Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong will go down in history as one of the greatest feats of engineering, courage, and dedication the world has ever seen. But without the 400,000 plus people at NASA and various other agencies and companies the accomplishments of these three men would not have been possible.

Prior to reading the book I did watch the movie, and found it to be equally as interesting, even though the director did take some liberties.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading a well written and researched biography.

"The Questor Tapes" by Dorothy C. Fontana

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 1974
ISBN: 0-345-28024-5

The Questor Tapes tells the story of an android that is constructed by a five-nation team of scientists that have been given the task by a somewhat mysterious scientist named Emil Vaslovik, who then disappeared. Since his disappearance the team has worked diligently at creating his invention, but they made the mistake of trying to decode the activation tape that Vaslovik supplied, which therefore caused the android to be incomplete.

One of the team who constructed the android is Jerry Robinson, the only one who actually worked from Vaslovik and who therefore is under some suspicion as to how he fits in, and what Vaslovik's real plan for the android is.

When the awakes he realises he is incomplete, and therefore makes it a priority to find Vaslovik, he does this by escaping from the laboratory where he was constructed, and enlisted the help of Robinson. Jerry agrees albeit reluctantly to help him and that when their adventures begin.

This book a good example of what science-fiction can be when it is handled by an experienced writer. The story itself is an adaption from a made for television movie by the same name which was create by Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon.

The only thing I wasn't too comfortable with in this book are the religious overtones (although they are subtle). But this doesn't detract too much from the book or the movie as it is only within the last chapter or so / few minutes that it becomes apparent as to what they are referring to.

All other things considered, it is a good light read.

"In Oceans Deep: Courage, Innovation, and Adventure Beneath the Waves" by Bill Streever

Publisher:New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2019.
Edition:First edition.
ISBN: 9780316551311
Characteristics: xi, 303 pages :,illustrations

I found this book "In Oceans Deep "to be a very interesting read. The author Bill Streever is a former commercial diver, who worked in the Gulf of Mexico amongst other places. When he left commercial diving he took up research biology and now lives with his wife aboard a sailboat (not a bad life).

These experiences have given him knowledge of most if not all the aspects of diving, and humanity's history underwater. In fact, I feel other authors who don't have these skills and experiences, would be hard pressed to write a book such as this.

The whole book is extensively researched, with the first chapter dealing with the accomplishments of the Trieste when it to descended it into the Challenger Deep back in January 1960. The author then examines the sport of free diving (diving to depth on the single breath of air). The author managed to reach a depth of 132 feet after only four weeks of training.

The next topic was developments in technology to allow divers to stay at depth using various diving suits diving Bell's etc. in this section he also gives an overview of decompression science and how it was developed / discovered when they were utilizing caissons for building bridges.

Next comes saturation diving, which means divers stay under pressure for an extended periods of time, breathing exotic gas mixtures to allowing them to work or do research at depth.  This section included discussion of projects such as the U.S. Navy's Sealab I, II, & III.

Other topics that are dealt with in this book are: 1 atmosphere diving in which the diver remains at 1 atmosphere throughout the by using devices such as the Newtsuit, submersibles, etc. The next topic was remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) how they are used, and some of the accomplishments that have been achieved through their use.

The final chapter talks about some of the interviews the author did when writing this book, the ongoing work to preserve the oceans by these advocates, and the difficulties they are having.

This book was extremely interesting to read, and even though I haven't been diving for many years it makes me want to get back into the sport. Mind you the fact that I live in a landlocked part of the country makes this rather difficult, as there isn't much to see in freshwater lakes.

"Asimov on Science Fiction" by Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)

Publisher: Avon Books
Copyright: 1981
ISBN: 0380585111

Generally speaking, for the last little while I have been alternating my fiction reviews, with non-fiction ones. This time I'm going to bend that rather lax rule and review a non-fiction book, about fiction writing.

"Asimov on Science Fiction" is a collection of 55 essays reprinted from the editorials in various main-stream, science, and science fiction magazines throughout Dr. Asimov's long career.

He touches on such topics as science fiction in general, its writing, predictions, its history, science-fiction writers, fans, reviews, and finally his personal relationship with science-fiction.

As this book was released in 1981 it obviously deals with various topics only up to that point. Dr. Asimov discusses movies such as Star Wars, and other media phenomenon from that time, such as televisions short run series "Battlestar Galactica". He thankfully has been spared the recent attempts at what Hollywood is now referring to as science fiction such as the possibly never ending series of superhero movies, and other supposed science-based movies. Most of which I'm assuming would have him shuddering due to their total lack of anything that even faintly resembles science.

There is a wonderful quote in the book with regards to this (from the essay The Reluctant Critic) in which Dr. Asimov tells of when he was invited to watch a preview of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" by Science Digest and was appalled at what he saw (for good reason in my opinion as well):

"... Close Encounters has it uses, too. It is a marvellous demonstration of what happens when the workings of extraterrestrial intelligence are handled without a trace of skill. It makes one feel added wonder and awe at stories in which extraterrestrial intelligence and other subtleties are handled with painstaking skill - as in those written by the best of the real science-fiction writers."

As Dr. Asimov was one of the originators - if I may use that term - of written / real science-fiction as it was brought to the general public in the early part of the 20th century I believe he is more than capable of passing judgement on what is good science-fiction. Unfortunately the vast majority of the so-called science fiction that we have today is simply an excuse for big budget special effects, but which in some cases totally lack a cohesive storyline or plot.

If you like real science-fiction, and what to know more about it's history, development, and such then I would highly recommend this book.