Introduce Yourself: Recommend a book

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    • #6547 Reply
      jsalbato@cnm.edu
      Keymaster

        Start your reply with your name, what you prefer to be called, and then recommend a nerdy book that we should check out.

      • #6563 Reply
        jsalbato@cnm.edu
        Keymaster

          I’m Jeff Salbato (your teacher), but I prefer Jeff. You only need to introduce yourself in one of these sub-topics, but, because I’m the supposed leader here, I’ll post in all of them…

          Everyone should read Fromm’s Sane Society, Epictetus’ Encheiridion, Chomsky’s What Uncle Sam Really Wants, Milgram’s Obedience to Authority, Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, Holloway’s Godless Morality, …and hundreds of others…go read some books now!

          (If you want a fuller list of book recommendations, click the “Propaganda” link in the header above and you’ll find a bunch of categorized lists of my favorite books.
          Thanks, Jeff)

        • #52242 Reply
          Lindzey Corona

            Hi, I’m Lindzey and that’s what I prefer to be called. I’m 24 years old and majoring in sonography. A book or series I should say I think everything should read is the house maid series. It’s a thriller and each book gets better and better. Definitely will keep you up all night trying to finish it.

          • #52380 Reply
            Antonio Michelen Sanchez

              Hi everyone,
              My name is Antonio Michelen-Sanchez, but you can just call me Antonio. A book I recommend you to read is the first book of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, namely, Dante’s Inferno. The Divine Comedy was written over 700 years ago by Dante from Florence, Italy. The Divine Comedy is an imaginative epic poem where Dante himself travels through hell, purgatory, and paradise to find his loved one. Although I can’t vouch for the entire epic poem, since I have only traveled slightly further than the entrance of purgatory with Dante, I can certainly say that the Inferno is one of the greatest books I have read! Throughout the entire journey I felt as though I was right beside the characters experiencing the horrors of hell and questioning if the inhabitants of it even deserve to be there.

            • #52412 Reply
              Anthony Hilty

                Hi everyone,
                My name is Anthony Hilty, but feel free to call me Tony. A book I highly recommend is Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre. Written in 1938, it’s a philosophical novel that follows a man named Antoine Roquentin as he struggles with a growing sense of alienation and meaninglessness in the modern world. At first glance, it might seem bleak, but what makes this book so powerful is how it explores the idea that we are not born with purpose, we have to create it ourselves. Sartre’s existentialism really shines through here, and reading it made me reflect on how freedom and responsibility are deeply connected. It’s not a light read, but it’s one of those books that sticks with you and challenges how you see the world, and yourself.

                • #52420 Reply
                  jsalbato@cnm.edu
                  Keymaster

                    Great recommendation! The other books that you would probably like if you liked “Nausea” would be Dostoevsky’s “Notes from Underground” (it’s pretty short, like “Nausea”) and Camus’ “The Plague” (It’s pretty long, but it is a novel and a page turner).

                • #52446 Reply
                  Iliana Portillo

                    Hello!
                    My name is Iliana Portillo, feel free to call me Illy, but Iliana works just fine as well.
                    A book I strongly, STRONGLY recommend is No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai. I was first enlightened to this book when I was in 7th or 8th grade while I was watching Bungo Stray Dogs and realized that the characters were named after authors! I decided to check out some of their books and found No Longer Human. Ever since, Dazai has been one of my favorite authors.
                    Written in 1948 by Dazai, a Japanese native struggling with post-WW2 disillusionment, No Longer Human (also translating to “A Shameful Life”) serves as Dazai’s autobiography. Dazai puts himself in the role of the unreliable narrator, Yozo, born into a prestigious family he consistently felt alienated by. Through his life he struggles with addiction, perversion, and all the temptations of human existence. Unfortunately, one of his biggest temptation was to end his own being. Yozo (Dazai) spends his intoxicated life chasing the perfect woman to commit double suicide with, finds multiple women who fit the mold, and yet he still survives every time.
                    This novel is definitely a hard read; you can tell Dazai likes his writing with how much of it there is. It’s also emotionally invoking and quite brutal, but beautiful. If melancholy would be a book, it would be No Longer Human. It speaks to the loneliness we all feel to some extent and, in pointing out that loneliness, it rids us of it.
                    I read this book once a summer like clockwork. My summary doesn’t even come close to doing it justice, but I tried my best not to spoil it. If you are an enjoyer of existential dread (which I’m assuming most people in this class are) this is an AMAZING book. My favorite fact about it is that this is DAZAI’s life made consumable by creating a character in his place. It makes it almost more sad, knowing that Dazai could not even face his own life under his name.

                  • #52479 Reply
                    Leigh Anne Perdomo

                      Hi, my name is Leigh Anne. Some books that I would recommend to people is The Body Keeps Score and Becoming supernatural. A series that I love A Court of Thorns and Roses.

                      • #52652 Reply
                        Lois Gruver

                          The ACOTAR series is pretty good from what I’ve read, but I stopped reading it at some point and then watched these videos about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PaSCvzww0Q

                          It was pretty funny
                          anyway good luck in this class!

                        • #52653 Reply
                          Lois Gruver

                            Hello, my name is Lois and I really like some of Brandon Sanderson’s books. If you ever want an impressively long epic fantasy series with an awesome magic system where everyone is severely traumatized, you should read the Stormlight Archive.

                          • #52665 Reply
                            jsalbato@cnm.edu
                            Keymaster

                              I’ve read the first “Mistborn” book, and it was great. Sanderson is pretty much the king of current SciFi. I am starting to read much more SciFi and Fantasy now that I am finally letting myself…my favorites are Robert Heinlein, Andy Weir, Kurt Vonnegut, Christopher Moore. For anyone new to SciFi, I would recommend starting with Card’s “Ender’s Game”; everyone loves that one.

                          • #52537 Reply
                            Emma M

                              Hello again it’s Emma. I would recommend the book 1984 by George Orwell. I found this book hard to read but I think the overall messages about government control. Really good read a bit boring nut interesting at the same time.

                              • #52543 Reply
                                jsalbato@cnm.edu
                                Keymaster

                                  Emma,
                                  Yep, that is one of those books that is just about 100 pages too long. If I ever re-read it I will just use my margin notes to skip those dull parts, and then it would be a top 20 book for me. As you said, the overall plot and ideas are phenomenal; it’s just too dry in places. I would say similar things about some of my other favorite pieces of fiction, like Flaubert’s “Made Bovary” and Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”.
                                  As the chief nerd around here, let me add some recommendations for books that you would like if you liked “1984”. For great dystopia/utopia books, my other favorites are Perkins’ “Herland”, Trumbo’s “Johnny Got his Gun”, London’s “Iron Heel”, and Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five”. And then if you want to read the non-fiction parallel’s to that scary stuff, check out Chomsky’s “Understanding Power”, Fromm’s “Escape from Freedom”, and Palast’s “Armed Madhouse”.

                              • #52561 Reply
                                Addison Brawley

                                  Hello, my name is Addison. A nerdy book I really recommend is The Stranger by Albert Camus. I read the stranger this last semester and while it was strange (pun not intended) it was a wonderful exploration and commentary on absurdism (the idea that nothing in life has inherent meaning). I recommend The Stranger for anyone who enjoys philosophy especially about the meaning of life. It also ties in well to Jeff’s intro to philosophy class because it really gets you thinking about whether people are inherently good or bad, feeling or unfeeling and if that can change based on a person’s beliefs about the meaning of life.

                                • #52583 Reply
                                  jsalbato@cnm.edu
                                  Keymaster

                                    Addison. Yes. Camus is a great recommendation for people interested in a philosophical story. My other favorite from Camus is “The Plague”. A perfect introduction to his writing if you want a preview is his essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus”. It should be easy to find online (or just ask me, and I can find it for you.) It is a must-read!

                                  • #52657 Reply
                                    Jae

                                      Hi all! My name is Jaden, but I prefer Jae. I’m super excited to take this class! I love reading and there are so many books I want to recommend, but here’s just a few. My favorite book is The Outsiders, it’s not too long, kind of emotional, but entertaining and worthwhile. I also just finished reading Dracula. I thought it was amazing… up until the very end, but still a good read. And finally I’m working my way through Aristotle’s Rhetoric. I haven’t finished it yet, (I’m actually dragging my feet through it a little bit), but I find the “art of persuasion” to be quite interesting.

                                      • #52666 Reply
                                        jsalbato@cnm.edu
                                        Keymaster

                                          Jae, Yes, “Outsiders” is great.

                                          Ouch, Aristotle will make you smart, but it is not fun to read. The only Aristotle book that I actually kind of enjoyed reading was “Nicomachean Ethics”.

                                          If you want to read some classical philosophy, Plato’s Dialogues are great. “The Apology of Socrates” is a great place to start, and if you want to read his most important book, “The Republic” is a pretty good read, especially the second half.

                                      • #52687 Reply
                                        Ana

                                          Hello! My name is Ana and that’s what I prefer to be called! I definitely have an addiction to audiobooks because they’re so easy to access when I’m busy doing other things and I have a few recommendations. Recently, I’ve really enjoyed the Shatter Me series and the Once Upon a Broken Heart books. They are definitely for the people who enjoy romantasy genre and I’ve got to admit, that I’ve ben influenced to read these books off of what people have said online. They’re a lot of fun though and I feel like both of these series feel like a dramatic TV show off of Netflix (except in just word form). I would recommend them to people who want to giggle and gasp like a delusional teenage girl (like me)!

                                        • #52761 Reply
                                          Lakota Meyer

                                            Introduction: Hi, my name is Lakota Meyer I am 31 years old I do have a nick name or a street name that everyone knows me by is Loko, but I would rather everyone call me by my first name Lakota because I am trying to put my past behind me for a brighter and better future. I do have a favorite book and author my favorite book is the forest of lost souls and if I would pick a second would be the darkest evening of the year and they are both written by dean Koontz, so it is obvious that dean Koontz is my favorite author. I am really looking forward to this course this semester it seems fun and interesting.

                                          • #52903 Reply
                                            Mel

                                              Hello,

                                              I didn’t realize I had missed my initial introduction. So here it is my name is Melanie James but I usually go by Mel. My favorite books are mystery & suspense mostly by Mary Higgins Clark she was the queen of suspense. She keeps you hooked from page 1-2 til the very end I love her. I am working on library and look forward to owning all of hers. There is also one called Blood Warning I cannot remember who wrote it and lent out my copy and of course never got it back. It was about the Boston murders back in the 80’s I believe. It was written my the detective on the case. It is very very horribly written but the story is insane and very gruesome, but I enjoyed it. I like those murder mystery documentaries. I usually stay on Investigative Discoveries channel. My husband always gives my a hard time.

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