Book Recommendations From The Library

Well 2021 is rambling on I haven’t said a peep yet. Or have I? Actually I’ve been saying far more than a few peeps on my YouTube channel called The Anadromist. And on my other channel called Georgian Crossroads. Not to forget my Gravity From Above Channels and sites. So if you are one of my long time followers who somehow haven’t noticed that much of my work is coming out in video format these days, this is your wake up call. Not that I am going to forget this channel. There much more writing to do. And it will be coming here. Including the text to my recent video called The Parable Of The Walls. And more!

Meanwhile in this little essay we are going to mention my Book Recommendation videos and a more salient fact, that I currently have GoFundMe to help me get my huge library, the library that I used to research all of these essays! From Haines Alaska to Tbilisi Georgia. 12 time zones away. Half the globe. Everything has been sitting in Storage Unit #3 since 2017. Waiting for this call. My goal is $10,000. We are, at this writing a week and a half into the campaign, at $6,382. And I know that there are those of you who have been with me for years. It’s hard to believe that The Anadromous Life has been active for over 10 years. It’s indeed the OG of all of my sites and channels.

So I’m asking you to consider helping me in this once in a lifetime insane task. Someone gave $5. If that’s all you have (Heck is that even the cost of a latté?) throw it in. Four people have given $500. Astounding. But it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t know your financial situation. That $5 could be the same to that person’s economy as $500 is to the others. Just look to your soul? Have I helped you at all? Then give. Just this once. (Can you tell that I used to do fundraising marathons at a small Alaskan radio station?) Thanks!

Now onto the books!

I am often asked for book recommendations. And I am happy to oblige. And then when I do, people tend to gulp a little, because the books are never simplistic. I’m not in the habit of recommending books that are a good read. To get the kinds of observations I do I tend to follow authors down to the ground. So I never just read one great book by an author. I also never, ever, recommend digital versions. To me hunting down the hard copy, preferably a hardcover, used or new, holding the book in your hand, reading it, is where the depth occurs. Reading by screen, tends to become skimming. You have to work for knowledge and wisdom.

So I have collected everything I could by Jacques Ellul, C.S. Lewis, Solzhenitsyn, Hans Rookmaaker, etc. that I can find. Not to be a completist. But to really absorb their ideas. Novelists tend to be a little different. So these recommendations are not only my reading of a specific book, rather they are summation of my time spent with their total oeuvre.

People also wanted to know some of my fiction recommendations and so I also made a video of a few of those. Again, it is authors first, with a few key works highlighted. And this is only merest hint of what I’ve read.

And finally here is a book that I did a separate review of called Cabinets of Curiosities. I made a special video of this because it highlights the importance of the physical world and the importance of libraries. Which is the answer to the question: Byrne do you really need all of this stuff in this digital age? And the answer is, Now more than ever. But you’ll have to watch the video if you wish to learn more.

So here is the link to help me get my library across the oceans to Tbilisi. Please consider helping. I’m doing well. I’d be doing better if you threw a few coins into the pot.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/send-byrne-powers-library-from-alaska-to-georgia?utm_campaign=p_cp_url&utm_medium=os&utm_source=customer

Byrne Power

Tbilisi, Georgia

May 13^th 2021