All About Books

  Title: Introducing Mind & Brain Author: Angus Gellatly & Oscar Zarate Publisher: Icon Books , London Year published: 2018 176 pages This book is a graphic guide that explores the complex relationship between our physical biology and our subjective experience.  It begins by tracing the historical shift from ancient philosophical ideas about the soul to the modern scientific understanding of the nervous system .  The book examines how early thinkers like Descartes proposed a separation between mind and body, a concept known as dualism , and how subsequent discoveries in anatomy and psychology challenged this view. The authors break down the physical structure of the brain, explaining the roles of different regions like the cerebral cortex , the cerebellum , and the limbic system .  They describe how neurons communicate through electrical impulses and chemical signals to process information.  However, the core of the book focuses on the hard proble...

  Title: The Thirty-Nine Steps Author: John Buchan Librivox Audiobook app Read by Adrian Pretzelis (4 hr 20 min) Richard Hannay is an expatriate recently returned to London from Rhodesia who finds himself bored with the mundane pace of British life.  This listlessness ends abruptly when his neighbor, Franklin Scudder , bursts into his flat claiming to have discovered a high level plot to assassinate the Greek Premier and destabilize Europe.  Scudder reveals a notebook filled with encoded secrets and warns of a group called the Black Stone .  Shortly after, Hannay finds Scudder murdered in his apartment and realizes he is being framed for the crime.  To clear his name and save the country, he flees to the Scottish Highlands . Hannay spends several weeks in Scotland dodging both the police and the conspirators.  During his flight, he assumes various disguises, including that of a milkman and a road mender.  He encounters a series of individuals ran...

  Title: History of Billy the Kid Author: Charles A Siringo Librivox Audiobook app Read by Roger Melin (2 hr 19 min) This book provides a detailed and personal look at the life of the notorious outlaw William H. Bonney.  Published in 1920, the narrative is based on the author's own experiences as a cowboy and detective who crossed paths with the Kid, as well as accounts from those who knew him best. Siringo begins by describing the Kid’s early years, noting that he was born in New York before moving west.  The story quickly transitions into the violence that defined his life, starting with his first murder at a young age in Silver City .  Siringo details how the Kid became a central figure in the Lincoln County War , a bloody conflict between rival factions of cattlemen and merchants in New Mexico.  During this war, the Kid served as a leader for the Regulators , engaging in numerous gunfights and killings that cemented his reputation as a daring and dangerous g...

  Title: World War II: 1945 - The Final Victories Publisher: Time Life Books, New York Year published: 2015 271 pages The book provides an intensive look at the closing chapters of the global conflict. The narrative begins with the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge , tracing the Allied momentum as it surged toward the heart of Germany.  In the West, American, British, and French forces managed to cross the Rhine River , shattering the final major natural barrier protecting the Third Reich .  Simultaneously, the Soviet Red Army launched massive offensives from the East, capturing territory at a rapid pace and eventually encircling Berlin.  The book details the atmospheric tension of the Yalta Conference , where Roosevelt , Churchill , and Stalin debated the postwar division of Europe while their armies were still finishing the fight. As the European theater reached its climax, the book shifts focus to the brutal island hopping campaigns in the Pacific.  Th...

  Title: Fathers and Sons Author: Ivan Turgenev Librivox Audiobook app Read by Roger Melin (9 hr 15 min) Ivan Turgenev's masterpiece explores the inevitable friction between generations and the shifting political landscape of mid-nineteenth-century Russia .  The story begins in 1859 when Arkady Kirsanov returns to his father's modest estate after graduating from university.  He is accompanied by his mentor, Bazarov , a self-proclaimed nihilist who rejects all established authority, traditions, and emotional sentiments in favor of scientific materialism and cold logic. Arkady's father, Nikolai , and his uncle, Pavel , represent the older liberal generation of the 1840s.  While Nikolai tries to bridge the gap through love and patience, Pavel is deeply offended by Bazarov's arrogance and his dismissal of art, nobility, and social order.  The tension between Bazarov's radicalism and Pavel's traditionalism forms the intellectual heart of the novel. The narrative s...

  Title: Lewis and Clark Author: William R Lighton Librivox Audiobook app Read by Roger Melin (3 hr 14 min) William R. Lighton provides a comprehensive historical account of the Corps of Discovery , led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, in this detailed biography.  The narrative begins with the geopolitical climate of the early nineteenth century, specifically focusing on Thomas Jefferson's vision for the United States.  Jefferson sought to explore the vast, unknown territory acquired through the Louisiana Purchase and find a direct water route to the Pacific Ocean.  He selected Lewis, his private secretary, who then recruited his former comrade Clark to co-lead the expedition. The book describes the rigorous preparation in St. Louis and the departure in May 1804.  Lighton highlights the immense physical challenges the group faced while ascending the Missouri River , including harsh weather, navigational hazards, and the constant need for sustenance....