Fluctuat nec Mergitur
“Tossed into the waves but does not sink”
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https://www.amazon.com.au/Fluctuat-nec- ... =8-1-spell
Samuel Louis Carroll
Copyright © 2020 Samuel Louis Carroll
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9798622682421
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments i
1 On love and Loss 1
2 On Thought and Obscurity 15
3 On Place and People 25
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wrote this collection over the past year, usually at one of the higher ends of my emotional spectrum,
Thus you will notice some may seem very sad and solemn,
Others a more optimistic and joyful reflection
I thank those friends, family and strangers that have influenced me over the course of time
Even those that are no longer around to see me enjoy the art of rhyme
I would like to thank my favourite Author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who influenced the title of this collection. I admire his outlook on the world, and I am sure he might see some of those sentiments embedded in my poetry.
On Love and Loss
SHE LETS HERSELF IN
There is a girl
Who comes knocking in my dreams
She opens the door
And lets herself in
I give her a tour
And show her around
I take her to the room
Where my heart beats aloud
She leaves the dream
Enters my mind
Where heart and Soul become entwined
When I leave her side
To work or sleep
She manifests herself
Like love in the deep
Two Souls
Separated by two cities
United again like the first time we did
Whether by the Sea
At a picnic by La Perouse
Or rugged up in bed with you
I vow to thee
Hearts content
With loving you
Until the end
Although we may fight at times
I want you to know
That my love and affection
Does not always rhyme
But should honesty and sincerity
Hold true at all
Please do not be upset
For it is you I adore
Beautiful but humble
Cheeky and funny
You make me smile
You make a miserable day sunny
I would like to thank you
For the time we have had
Let us do it all over
I will be so grateful, and glad
BIRTHDAY
Thank you for becoming a part of my life
I wrote some words on your Birthday
Which I hope incite delight
Glittering eyes and a sparkling Smile
For the Jewell is not a precious rock or ring
But the aura you possess within
Busier than a Bee
Preparing her hive for the future
Others around you are uplifted
From your caring and vivacious nature
Like Rapunzel, you are a princess with luscious hair
You are, however, not trapped in a castle
For your wings let you soar through the air
A foundation of family structure
Although princess like
You stand tall and strong in Stature
Twenty-Two years of loving Bliss
On behalf of everyone
‘Thankyou’
For being just this
LA PEROUSE
Nature's sofa bed
A rocky outcrop away from the noisy dead
Rays emanate through the blue
Despite what good Friday
Ordinarily, has in store for you
No rain on this buzzing birthday, just love and smiles Above La Perouse
Pop the champagne cork, twist the bottle cap
Quite a view indeed
As the sun illuminates blue for the girl of my dream
Yes, I concede that I love you on the rug by the sea
Like a fine drop of wine poured from the bottle of life
It should remind us of the many glasses to come
Just say Samuel, and I will be like a puppy at your feet
Eyes that glitter under cold moon light
Gleam in the sun, like radiant heat
Reminiscent of a year worth of memory
Bring forth nostalgia of accomplishments
Struggles overcome
Introspective anticipation for the future
Destined for happiness and prosperity
A journey around the sun
I fear time, as time Is the test of all tests
But it seems so right, so why should it not for the rest
I hope
I am a pain, a headache, a heart ache
Worth putting up with
The notion of losing you is too much to take
LONGING FOR YOU
While you are not here
What am I to do?
I long for you my Dear
For who can make me smile as do you?
The way your hair curls is fresh on my mind
The sparkle in your smile could cure mankind
My heart breaks at the slightest sense of sadness
Felt from a change in your complexion
Happy or sad
You have my full span of love and affection
I am beginning to feel what you feel
With the slightest detection
May time fasten when distanced apart
Slow when side by side, inseparable without depart
Lorikeets stay with their partners for life
Let us work something out
Like the native wildlife
A CONFESSION FOR YOU, MY DEAR
While my heart gently weeps
And my mind overthinks
My love for you always beats
Night or day
Like the hooves pounding of a horse
I Gallop towards you
Without notice, or with due course
Lady Luck has led us here
By fate, chance or will
Alignment of mind and soul
I love you my Dear
It is now out of my control
But by free will alone
I vow to thee
Through the test of time
That you shall see
Through sad times and good times
What you really mean to me
THE TRAIN
The train had been cancelled
The next had a delay
I was lucky to make this one
It was full of people today
I would not miss my date
If only I could fly like the crow
Direct and straight
Through the trees fast and low
I will not miss this special night
It will be the last for a while
It will be worth the fight
To beat this awful time trial
At the mercy of the train and track
A strange squiggle on a map
Waiting helplessly
Like a mouse staring down a cat
So far away from you
Unable to talk to you
Every minute of this journey through
Is a little less to walk, to you
This takes away my anguish
Bringing happiness and bliss
Like a hot served dish
Of all the things I miss
TO COMPLEMENT THE ROSES
Your eyes glitter with awe and love
Your heart and soul are pure like a dove
Your essence is as pleasant as a rose
It cannot be captured even with the most beautiful prose
You are so special to me
As special as anyone could be
You shine brighter than the sun's rays
I wish to be with you
Until the last of my days
THE HEART BLEEDS FOR THE HEART
My heart tells me to walk away before I break
Though my heart bleeds for the heart's sake
For living in two separate cities
Is becoming increasingly painful
The thought of leaving our love behind is unbearably cruel
For the past five months have been
Most joyous, loving, happy times I can recall
So why should it not be the same forever after all
What are you up to? I wonder when I am not there
Do you yearn for me as I yearn for you?
Not knowing I cannot bear
I wish our love story to never end
I must however face what is real and not pretend
Am I the only one your heart bleeds for?
Or is there another that you had met before
I want to trust you
I know our love is true
Are my thoughts and paranoia superficial?
Not real
My heart and mind entwined do not know what to feel
Most times things seem perfect; could not feel more right
Though my doubts and inhibition exuberate
Which leads to a verbal fight
You have a strong voice
Though you scream loudest when silent
Who would have thought?
The sound of no sound could be so violent
I feel the need to seek the truth
No matter what I may find out
Even though I fear this is what might lead
To the end of our route
I wish not to push us apart
For you mean more to me than priceless art
Yes, some warning bells have sounded
I maintain hope of a false alarm
All suspicion grounded
PUT MY DOUBT TO REST
Am I making the right decision?
Or is my frustration leading to derision?
I fell in love with you
A love within that still rings true
However, I feel we have entered a plight
Something I wish we can make right
Regardless of what happens between us
The last thing I want is to cause you anymore fuss
This is because I have never loved anyone like this
I hope our two souls will return to tandem-loving-bliss
I respect our understanding of a short break
I just beg that my love arrives on Sunday
For my heart’s sake
For I may sound certain in my convictions
Though this will soon turn to doubt and inhibition
What I mean to say is sorry
For all the wrong I have said and unnecessary folly
If you still want to spend your life with me
Then I am all yours
I still love you regardless of your choice in due course
I will chase you around the world low and high
The truth is I never really meant to say goodbye
CANDY
A golden touch of your golden fur
Is all I needed to keep myself smiling and heeded
You were always there to play and listen
Wishing I could cure time, age and to get your legs treated
Our friendship could outlast time and reason
Rest your tiresome head
Though do not give up hope yet friend
Your working days are over
Though there is still time to be loved
For you have been there from the start
I shall be here until the end
We should make the most of the moment
As there are still memories to be carved
Man's best friend and you are mine
To give others the opportunity to meet your precious soul
I would give up my body to give you extra time
It saddens me deeply to know it is out of my control
Age has deafened you, but you still hear my call
The sun had blinded you, but you still see fine
If I throw, I am sure you will still catch your beloved ball
You mean the world to me, you are special and divine
Wisdom and compassion
Are qualities well desired which you deliver best
Something others should learn from
Should they know you like I
You are the sweetest and dearest without contest
I could cry at the thought of losing you
Having to say goodbye
CANDY II
I said my final goodbyes this evening
To my friend, companion, family
I am forever grateful
For such a beautiful and miraculous anomaly
I knew something was wrong
It looked as though she was crying
I just never fully comprehended at the time
That you were dying
I placed you on your mat
Rugged you up on the kitchen floor
I moved my blanket and pillow next to yours
So you knew I was there for sure
I am relieved only that you are relieved
Of suffering and pain
I shall suffer on
For life without you will not be the same
All those years ago I remember as clear as crystal glass
The memory of you appearing before my eyes
On a blanket on the grass
Ever since that moment in time
You brought happiness, joy, love and more
Before that exquisite moment
It is hard to recall anything at all
You will forever be a part of my memory and heart
There is no easy way to say goodbye for your depart
Fate took you away, though do not fret my friend
Now you really can rest your loving Soul
Cheers Candy; to a peaceful end
On Thought and Obscurity
THE SMALL THINGS
Forgive and forget they say
I believe it now, after all life is too short to start affray
Especially between lovers, that is what you are after all
If that is what you want than forgive and forget
Move on and rise above the fall
Look back on all that has been said and done
You might wonder
Why is it always the small things that made us bleed?
To thunder it would always lead
So why not be ahead and end the unnecessary folly
Regret is remorse, and remorse is saying sorry
Speak your mind in the moment, doing so with grace
You never know what you might say
That will leave an unremarkable trace
When you make a mistake, learn
Be understanding of the other
For we all are all imperfect
Do not gloat and make bother
I have been thinking a lot and wish to make it right
If you wish the same, then our future is bright
POWER OF THE PEN
I have somewhat lost my desire to speak
As the words on the page come to life
True it may be the mouth is stronger than the sword
Strongly I believe the pen is mightier than them all
So strong as to end a war, or stop it ever having begun
The power to spread love or devise hate
A tool to change many a fate
Words of dialect are over in an instant, forgotten over time
Words enshrined with pen and paper or inscribed in rock Can outlive its author and even the clock
They can save lives or end them
They can rhyme or reason
Their message can change as people do
Like Time and Season
DANDELIONS DANCING WITH DAFFODILS
Dandelions dancing with daffodils
Blemished with perfect imperfection
Individually delicate, collectively antifragile
Bringing joy to poor and rich alike
Pollinating the Earth with colour, smell and life
Dancing in tandem with the wind is such a sight
Glowing in the sunlight so bright
As I walk through the fields filled of flowers
Absent of city grit and climbing towers
My mind is manifested with peace, stillness and love
Smiling and content as a dove soars above
As my mind wonders
The gentle breeze turns to wind
Changing course and sending thunder
Instincts ring and say to seek shelter
Though as the hairs stand on the back of my neck
Before I turn to anxious wreck
I think of past volatility
Reminding me of the way in which
Dandelions and daffodils
Return to stable tranquillity
OBSCENE WORLD
Sad
Cruel
Obscene world
While I see
Chains swaying in the wind
Like freedoms tail tattered and tied in knots
Death and destruction both combined
A hollow tree
Hollow world
Crewel
Swad
FRACTURED PROSE
Fractured prose in a field proud of poppies
Cattle leaving Golden droppings
Like the pearl-bearing clam deep within the ocean
Open to man
Prostitution of Earth’s rotation
As Linen Drapes from velvet toil
Deception lies not within the soul
‘Mind over matter’
Said Man to himself
While leaves swirl, In Nature’s bliss
For he who seeks seldom
Walk away at once
Nature has a way
Let her hooves pounce
Ignore the ego for it is often wrong
Only if he Can bring himself down
Notch by Notch In cheerful song
Quarrel not with moon and Stars
Why look closer creature
Science fiction Is not found on Mars
MOON SLAIN
Reduced by bed
Dream deep again
Seduced by sleep
Moon slain
You put the bravest of their back
I do not want to rest
Hell! The Sack!
Precious partner, who lies with thee
Darkness creeps, alone for the take
Where are you? The one to be
Oh please, oh let me wake
Brittle bones crack and brake
Take me to a brighter place
Far away from Night’s fate
RADIOS BURNING
Fire speaking, radios burning
Upon the highest mountain
Far above the mortal fountain
One can see the hollowing destitution
Unprepared for battle against approaching restitution
If one is already prepared to die
Then it is easy to see through the naked eye
That an alternative can arise
A life filled with opportunity and surprise
Unlike the existing entrapment
There remains a hidden world of enchantment
Though it is not far from Earth's core
All its beauty, wonder and awe
For this war will not be won with blood and steel
Instead a change in perspective's seal
An enhancement of mind and soul
Radios burning out of control
DEAD LEAVES
Devil in the trees, devil in the sea
Watch how the devil blows dead leaves
Blame it on the breeze, a cold chill in my knees
Oh spare me devil, devil please
Lost my home, lost our way
Although the stars tonight make me feel okay
There is nothing left we lost it all today
All but a trail of death and decay
Nothing left before the devil I lay
Nothing good about that devil to say
If only it would rain and wash it all away
Follow the river to a new dawn
A new day
HOPE, RESILIENCE, RESISTANCE
Through the eyes of the soul I see
From the depths of my heart I plea
That may I be sheltered from the violent sea
For everything else that threatens
I beg it to be kind to thee
Hold your head high, hold it tight
For when the hammer falls, it shall fall with might
Do not be overwhelmed by destiny’s fate
If you are weary, then it is already too late
Stick to no plan for plans fall apart
Stay true to yourself, stay close to the heart
All ships rise with a rising tide
Its crew will perish without a captain to abide
In these strangers I confide
A horse with a healthy stride
Or a Mule who is worked and tired
Upon this life we ride
On Place and People
HILCUS
In a cold damp place in the heart of Sydney
Here lay Hilcus in the CBD
Hilcus was a man of very little talent
His fashion sense was quite apparent
He was a man who begged for coin
`Twas a struggle for the stench
That lay dormant on his groin
As Hilcus laid there left for dead
“Move on, move on!” The policeman said
The four-week fast
Was broken from a half-eaten chicken roll
In the bin from the past
Hilcus won’t be remembered for his death
Instead, for the lonely smell of his breath
THE SPIRIT OF AIRLIE BEACH
Serendipity congregates at the local
Where strangers, friends and lovers alike
Choose to meet under the cover of night
Promiscuous as Poseidon
Who swells beneath the surface
Sending Forth tenacious tentacles
To unsuspecting swimmers
Tumultuous times
In a turbulent town
Many pass through
A humble abode for a few
A place to escape
Becomes a prison for some
For others it brings sanctuary and sanctum
An enigma of impermanence is Airlie Beach
While sunken ships turn to rust
An everchanging people
Resilient and robust
SEAL ROCKS
We deviate from the laborious monotonous highway
A right-hand turn
Onto the start of the famous Lake's way
The winding descent had sprinkles bouncing off the road
As little green tree frogs, not to be mistaken for a toad
Turn frenzy to affray
As they leap to live another day
Easy it is to miss our turn
Had I not been here before
Anticipating the town of Bungwahl and its burger shop
That all Passer-bye’s taste buds adore
Adjacent is the towns general store
The staff are friendly, and the service is nice
You can fill up with fuel
Or stock up on beer and ice
Reminding me of former adventures travelled
Passing by familiar sights and sounds as bell birds sing
Amongst the speed-blurred ferns, gums and palms
As the sealed bitumen road turns to gravel
The surrounds of Seal Rocks unravel
We climbed to the top of the lighthouse
Unveiling the whole of lighthouse beach
So vast and far
Seemingly just out of reach
Remembering the whale bones when I came here as a boy
'Do not fondle the whale bones'
After all they are not a toy
Just an early memory that brings great joy
Sounds of rhythmic thunder
A sight of oscillating wonder
Zeus has fun making surfers blunder
On an average day in the Coastal Australian Summer
SPYRO
As I await in the king’s chair
My friend prepares the Greek coffee
Relaxed and without care
My barber Spyro asks, son
How would you like your hair?
How have you been young friend?
You look good and at ease
I think I will have it slicked back
To flow with the Shearwater breeze
Anything you please
Although I think a nice business cut above the ears
How is your coffee, not too hot?
Delicious, though tell me a story
I know you have a lot
What would you like to know?
When I walked as a child over the mountain in Greece
With a donkey and without shoes
Or the time I trimmed Packers brow
I have until noon so why don't you choose?
To make it across the world I had to save harder
To make it to London to learn to be a barber
I confess at times a curly mess, the hard determination
Would land me an honourable job in hair castration
HAWKESBURY
Little blue boat floating peacefully without care
As shallow yellows turn a deeper, darker green
A lonely barge moors by the mangroves
As the ferry passes the wake appears to taper
Below muddy waters
Sediment's stirred
For the Mangrove Jack and his sons and daughters
Striving to survive the line and hook
That is their day of slaughter
Towards the rocks that line the hills of homes
Spread far enough apart
Its occupants could appear alone
Or that a neighbour is farther than a stone thrown
Sydney Eastern Oysters
Are farmed on poles by the docks
Ready to be served with expensive white sparkling
At a bar in the Rocks
Oh Hawkesbury Heal me
From the taint of the city
Where the city streets are crowded and Gritty
Every time I pass you by
On the Train from Newcastle to Sydney
I dream of having a home by your side
The front lawn a river tide
Peaceful awe and beauty
A home by the Hawkesbury
THE FARMER
An approaching apologetic downpour
The man and his wife anticipate a prosperous yield
The mortgage on the farm for another month to be sealed
In a distant plain
There is lightning, thunder and rain
Though the temperature is yet to drop a degree
In Manor lane
Faintly the man can hear a Victa stalling and croaking
Cutting the weeds while the grass is thirsty and choking
Far above the fields soars the black Cockatoo
Conserving energy protected from the sun
Under the quandong tree lies the kangaroo
Time appears infinitely still on a day nearing done
The rail line had been washed away at Werris Creek
Travellers headed south bound had another route to seek
Four hundred miles from home seems bleak
Fate had it be that I stay another week
For worser things could happen to a man with no plans
He is not fazed by a delayed train or tram
Quite frankly he does not really give a damn
He cares more for the locals with not a drop in their dam
The dusty red dirt fields are filled with death and drought
Even the seasoned farmer has a lot of doubt
Tiny one horse, one pub towns
God's country, once the jewel of the crown
Now mostly forgotten about
Except for the lone traveller with no plans
An open mind and a light load
Whom the farther he travels he realises
That he may never reach the end of the road
Lightning struck a blackbutt
Splitting it down the middle
Causing the leaves to burn red
One could have sworn that the tree like the country:
Bled
Though before you knew it the field was in flames
The farmer handed his wife the car keys
He himself grabbed his colt by the reins
Where the cattle had congregated
Near the shed that was corrugated
Was a whirlwind of smoke and dust
Although the cattle capitulated
A wild brumby not yet broken-in drinks from a trough
Another bolt hits the mountain ridge
A crack more trembling than a hundred bull whips
As the brumby retreats after his final sips
The farmer rode like Captain Thunderbolt
Thinking to himself that love of the country can be tough
Sometimes it seems easier to move to the city
The more the going gets rough
I AM, AN AUSTRALIAN
Where do you hail from, distant alien?
Is that an accent I hear?
I hear no accent though it is true my dear
I am, an Australian
Oh my, what is it like down there you might ask?
The sun is hot and the beer is cold
The beaches are beautiful and the outback is harsh
I have seen a lot while travelling around
Telling stories around the fire and having a laugh
The sun warms and burns our convict stock skin
Unless you are an Aborigine
Or have other backgrounded kin
City to landscape like no other
So old and fragile
You are welcome anytime, though a word of warning
Do not cause us bother
For we may be laid back people
Who tend to look out for one another
A vast and spacious terrain
Some separated by ocean
From Tasmania to Christmas island
It takes days to cross the nation!
A young history of little more than two hundred years
For we have still standing older trees
And thousands of former formidable Frontiers
Our little though large island
Has sent its brave youth to both World and smaller wars
Most of us would give the shirts off our back
No matter the cause
Like an old dog full of new tricks
She puts to bed all doubt in natures bliss
Up and down the coast
East to West
Each little town or city
Is different from the rest
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Samuel Carroll is an Australian poet, philosopher and author. He is reinvigorating the romance and adventure of Bush Ballads and is passionate about the old values and reasoning of philosophy in a 21st century which has almost all but turned to philosophy when navigating one’s life.
He is most well-known for his ‘Australian Native Wildlife’ Children’s book series including the acclaimed ‘Birdie: The Lorikeet who could not fly’.
Author Page
amazon.com/author/samuelcarroll
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- ↳ Flowers for Algernon - by Daniel Keyes
- ↳ Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief - by Lawrence Wright
- ↳ Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark - by Carl Sagan with Ann Druyan
- ↳ King Henry IV, Part 1 (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) (Pt. 1) - by William Shakespeare
- ↳ Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart: Rewriting the Ten Commandments for the Twenty-first Century - by Lex Bayer and John Figdor
- ↳ Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism - by Richard Carrier
- ↳ Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus – by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- ↳ The Big Questions: Philosophy - Simon Blackburn
- ↳ Science Was Born of Christianity: The Teaching of Fr. Stanley L. Jaki - by Stacy Trasancos
- ↳ The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom - by Jonathan Haidt
- ↳ A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One - by George R. R. Martin
- ↳ Tempesta's Dream: A Story of Love, Friendship and Opera - by Vincent B. "Chip" LoCoco
- ↳ Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty - by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson
- ↳ Archived Book Discussions 2012-2013
- ↳ The Drowning Girl - by Caitlin R. Kiernan
- ↳ The Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga - by Sylvain Tesson
- ↳ The Complete Heretic's Guide to Western Religion: The Mormons - by David Fitzgerald
- ↳ A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - by James Joyce
- ↳ The Divine Comedy - by Dante Alighieri
- ↳ The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True - by Richard Dawkins
- ↳ Dubliners - by James Joyce
- ↳ My Name Is Red - by Orhan Pamuk
- ↳ The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? - by Jared Diamond
- ↳ The Man Who Was Thursday - by G. K. Chesterton
- ↳ The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined - by Steven Pinker
- ↳ Lord Jim - by Joseph Conrad
- ↳ The Hobbit - by J. R. R. Tolkien
- ↳ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - by Douglas Adams
- ↳ Atlas Shrugged - by Ayn Rand
- ↳ Thinking, Fast and Slow - by Daniel Kahneman
- ↳ World War Z - by Max Brooks
- ↳ Evolutionary Psychology - by Robin Dunbar, Louise Barrett, John Lycett
- ↳ Moby Dick; or, the Whale - by Herman Melville
- ↳ A Visit from the Goon Squad - by Jennifer Egan
- ↳ Lost Memory of Skin: A Novel - by Russell Banks
- ↳ The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - by Thomas S. Kuhn
- ↳ Hobbes: Leviathan: Revised student edition - by Thomas Hobbes
- ↳ Archived Book Discussions 2010-2011
- ↳ The House of the Spirits - by Isabel Allende
- ↳ Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens - by Christopher Hitchens
- ↳ The Falls: A Novel (P.S.) by Joyce Carol Oates
- ↳ Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection - by D.M. Murdock
- ↳ The Glass Bead Game: A Novel - by Hermann Hesse
- ↳ A Devil's Chaplain - by Richard Dawkins
- ↳ The Hero with a Thousand Faces - by Joseph Campbell
- ↳ The Brothers Karamazov - by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- ↳ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - by Mark Twain
- ↳ The Moral Landscape - by Sam Harris
- ↳ The Decameron - by Giovanni Boccaccio
- ↳ The Road - by Cormac McCarthy
- ↳ The Grand Design - by Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow
- ↳ The Evolution of God - by Robert Wright
- ↳ The Tin Drum - by Gunter Grass
- ↳ Good Omens - by Neil Gaiman
- ↳ Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - by Dan Ariely
- ↳ The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel - by Haruki Murakami
- ↳ ALONE: Orphaned on the Ocean - by Richard Logan & Tere Duperrault Fassbender
- ↳ Don Quixote - Translated by Edith Grossman
- ↳ Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain - by Oliver Sacks
- ↳ Diary of a Madman and Other Stories - by Nikolai Gogol
- ↳ The Passion of the Western Mind - by Richard Tarnas
- ↳ The Left Hand of Darkness - by Ursula K. Le Guin
- ↳ Archived Book Discussions 2008-2009
- ↳ The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism - by Howard Bloom
- ↳ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - by Lewis Carroll
- ↳ Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle - by Chris Hedges
- ↳ The Sound and the Fury - by William Faulkner
- ↳ The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene - by Richard Dawkins
- ↳ Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions - by Neil Gaiman
- ↳ The Selfish Gene - by Richard Dawkins
- ↳ When Good Thinking Goes Bad - by Todd C. Riniolo
- ↳ House of Leaves - by Mark Z. Danielewski
- ↳ American Gods: A Novel - by Neil Gaiman
- ↳ Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved - by Frans de Waal
- ↳ The Enormous Room - by E.E. Cummings
- ↳ The Picture of Dorian Gray - by Oscar Wilde
- ↳ God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - by Christopher Hitchens
- ↳ The Name of the Rose - by Umberto Eco
- ↳ Dreams From My Father - by Barack Obama
- ↳ Paradise Lost - by John Milton
- ↳ Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism - by Kevin Phillips
- ↳ The Secret Garden - by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- ↳ Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists - by Dan Barker
- ↳ The Things They Carried - by Tim O'Brien
- ↳ The Limits of Power - by Andrew Bacevich
- ↳ Lolita - by Vladimir Nabokov
- ↳ Orlando - by Virginia Woolf
- ↳ On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not - by Robert Burton
- ↳ 50 reasons people give for believing in a god - by Guy P. Harrison
- ↳ Walden - by Henry David Thoreau
- ↳ Exile and the Kingdom - by Albert Camus
- ↳ Our Inner Ape - by Frans de Waal
- ↳ Your Inner Fish - by Neil Shubin
- ↳ No Country for Old Men - by Cormac McCarthy
- ↳ The Age of American Unreason - by Susan Jacoby
- ↳ Ten Theories of Human Nature - by Leslie Stevenson & David Haberman
- ↳ Heart of Darkness - by Joseph Conrad
- ↳ The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature - by Stephen Pinker
- ↳ Archived Book Discussions 2006-2007
- ↳ A Thousand Splendid Suns - by Khaled Hosseini
- ↳ The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil - by Philip Zimbardo
- ↳ Responsibility and Judgment - by Hannah Arendt
- ↳ Godless in America: Conversations With an Atheist - by George A. Ricker
- ↳ Interventions - by Noam Chomsky
- ↳ Religious Expression and the American Constitution - by Franklyn S. Haiman
- ↳ Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future - by Bill McKibben
- ↳ The God Delusion - by Richard Dawkins
- ↳ The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal - by Jared Diamond
- ↳ The Woman in the Dunes - by Abe Kobo
- ↳ Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction - by Eugenie Scott
- ↳ The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals - by Michael Pollan
- ↳ I, Claudius: From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 - by Robert Graves
- ↳ Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon - by Daniel Dennett
- ↳ A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East - by David Fromkin
- ↳ The Time Traveler's Wife - by Audrey Niffenegger
- ↳ The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason - by Sam Harris
- ↳ Ender's Game - by Orson Scott Card
- ↳ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - by Mark Haddon
- ↳ Value & Virtue in a Godless Universe - by Erik J. Wielenberg
- ↳ Archived Book Discussions 2004-2005
- ↳ The March: A Novel - by E.L. Doctorow
- ↳ The Ethical Brain - by Michael Gazzaniga
- ↳ Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism - by Susan Jacoby
- ↳ Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - by Jared Diamond
- ↳ The Battle for God - by Karen Armstrong
- ↳ The Future of Life - by Edward O. Wilson
- ↳ What is Good? The Search for the Best Way to Live - by A.C. Grayling
- ↳ Civilization and It's Enemies: The Next Stage of History - by Lee Harris
- ↳ Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space - by Carl Sagan
- ↳ How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God - by Michael Shermer
- ↳ Looking For Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain - by Antonio Damasio
- ↳ Archived Book Discussions 2002-2003
- ↳ Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right - by Al Franken
- ↳ The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature - by Matt Ridley
- ↳ The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature - by Stephen Pinker
- ↳ Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder - by Richard Dawkins
- ↳ Atheism: A Reader - edited by S. T. Joshi
- ↳ Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century - by Howard Bloom
- ↳ The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History - by Howard Bloom
- ↳ Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - by Jared Diamond
- ↳ Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark - by Carl Sagan
- ↳ Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West - by Dee Alexander Brown
- ↳ Future Shock - by Alvin Toffler
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