Kaseys Korner

Sapiens

I actually did not completely finished this book. I downloaded it to my Kindle from the local library and didn't get it finished before the due date expired. I also couldn't renew it (because there's such a long wait list for it) so I have it back on hold. 

I got about 3/4ths of the way thru it tho and I can honestly say I've never highlighted so much in any other book EVER. The entire book is just jammed packed with interesting insights on our history and it's all fascinating but sad too. To see how destructive we've been during our climb to Apex predator ~ wiping out so many species and plants without a thought or care of anything except ourselves. Makes you wonder if we deserve our position on the food chain and what will be left when we're done. 

I did not know there have been six different species of the Homo genus identified. I really had only heard of two and when I was much younger, I remember thinking we'd all evolved from one. To think of the changes brought about in our lives as we moved thru the stages of hunter/forager to farmers and now to the cognitive revolution stage and during which stage were we happiest and actually was life the best?? It gave me pause to ponder that it might not be now like I'd anticipated thinking. Definitely connectivity and loneliness were non factors in all the other stages, like they are now. Take the "survival factor" out of living and what is our purpose?? Thought provoking indeed. All these huge jumps during the Cognitive Revolution but we're floundering more than ever at the question of what the goal is of life.

The end of the book (which I skipped ahead & read) dealt with where our species is headed in the future and those contents are both scary and exciting. When the author said that future Sapiens might not even be able to be categorized as Sapiens anymore & will be even more different from us today than we are from the Neanderthals of yesterday, that'sinsane. Collective brains, brains inside computers, cyborgs ~ it sounds like the stuff of science fiction but the research is going on right now! Do I want to be alive to see what that looks like? I'm not really sure. I like aspects of it where health issues and defective genes can be corrected but some of it freaks me out a little. But then again, my phone almost knows what I'm thinking & sometimes that creeps me out.

I'll return & update whenever I get the book back to finish. Very worthwhile and extremely readable even for the non-scientifically minded.

Tea in the garden??

I LOVE Instagram!  So easy & much faster than writing a blog post so you might just start seeing my pics from there pop up here.  

'The Shadow of the Wind'

If you're a book lover, this book will speak your language. Not only is it about books, and lovers of books, writers of books and characters who put pen to paper for a living in any form but it's a story uniquely developed as a result of reading a book.

From the minute young Daniel enters the 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books,' and picks out the rarest find among all the books resting in peace there ~ '<i>The Shadow of the Wind</i>,' he becomes completely obsessed with it, and instantly every bibliophile on the planet is riveted. We empathize.
We've been there. Maybe not to the extent where the obsession becomes real, like in Daniels case, but perhaps only because we lacked opportunity. Curiosity and reading are intertwined partners. It's absolutely plausible & the consequences make a fantastic story!

A perfectly paced mystery, a requisite unfulfilled love story, a tangled compilation of good versus evil characters (all thoroughly fleshed out) and one wordsmith of an author gifted with the ability to create gothic style atmosphere of suspense and intrigue = 5 stars. I thought it was sheer perfection. The walking map at the end of the book (of the streets/places in Barcelona relevant to the story,) was also brilliant. I wish I could hop on a plane, book in hand, and leisurely stroll every "Calle" that Daniel traversed, ending up at 32 Avenida del Tibidabo. That street and the Aldaya residence conjured the most beautiful mental images. I'm still luxuriating in them. Carlos Ruiz Zafon penned a travelogue (<i>inadvertently or purposely</i>) with that addition to his beautiful story!

It was so interesting how Daniels and Julian's lives were written as parallels but with a critical intersection. I know that happens repeatedly in life but (at the moment) I can't think where I've seen it so flawlessly depicted before??

I've already added 'The Angel's Game' to my wtr list because I loved this book so much & want to read more from the author. I thought Barcelona was alluring as a destination after having a neighbor from there but after reading 'The Shadow of the Wind' it calls to me even more. This book & it's wonderfully blended elements went straight to the pinnacle of my favorite literature pile.