Background: S is reading a supposedly nonfiction book that has its history hopelessly muddled. It claims that Herodotus expressed an opinion on Cicero and that Plutarch coined the term "Dark Ages" to refer to the Early Medieval period, among other things. So we were talking about that ( Read more... )

Imagine that you are reading a book, and you discover partway in that the author is using the book to espouse views that you disagree with. (Could be any kind of views - political, social, aesthetic...) Because of this, you find the book annoying and dislike it. Do you keep reading? What are your considerations as you decide ( Read more... )

"The Bible, Observed ( Read more... )

Even if you accept astrology completely--indeed, perhaps especially if you accept astrology completely--you cannot explain problems happening now by saying that Mercury is about to go retrograde.

As far as I can tell, there are exactly two good things about this book:

1. The cover
2. The fact that it's written in standard English with correct punctuation.

Nonsense word ( Read more... )

So I'm in the library at the moment, and I was browsing books, as I am wont to do. A title caught my eye: The Skeptical Feminist, by Barbara G. Walker. "Yes," I thought, that's me, finally a book that understands ( Read more... )