The 10 Greatest Apocalyptic Novels Of All Time After scouring book reviews and Wikipedia, a list of the Top Ten Best Apocalyptic Novels was born. The books on this list take you down the darkest paths in uncivilized worlds, from cannibalistic gangs to vampire infected corpses. If this list doesn't get you thinking on the quickest way stock your basement full of water, canned goods and rifles, I don't know what will! World War Z Documenting the war on zombies, "World War Z" takes you through horific times with some of the most vivid writing this genre has ever seen. "World War Z" paints such a realistic picture of a world after Zombies that even skeptics would find themselves engrossed in the novel! Blindness Forget world wide pandemics of flesh eating bacteria or a zombie illness! The family unit escapes and attempts to build a new life in the outside world, just as sight is returned, just as quickly as it was taken away. I don't know who I felt worse for reading this book. The Road The Postman Oryx and Crake A Canticle for Leibowitz
Unusual Words Unusual Words A by no means exhaustive list of rare, obscure, strange and sometimes funny words and their meanings that only seem to crop up in crosswords and dictionaries. Words that are used so seldom, you wonder who invented them and why. Home ~ The Stories ~ Diversions ~ Links ~ Contact Penn Gazette | Essays | Notes from the Undergrad By Andrew Newburg | Yawn. Go ahead: Laugh if you want (though you’ll benefit your brain more if you smile), but in my professional opinion, yawning is one of the best-kept secrets in neuroscience. Even my colleagues who are researching meditation, relaxation, and stress reduction at other universities have overlooked this powerful neural-enhancing tool. However, yawning has been used for many decades in voice therapy as an effective means for reducing performance anxiety and hypertension in the throat. Several recent brain-scan studies have shown that yawning evokes a unique neural activity in the areas of the brain that are directly involved in generating social awareness and creating feelings of empathy. For these reasons I believe that yawning should be integrated into exercise and stress reduction programs, cognitive and memory enhancement training, psychotherapy, and contemplative spiritual practice. Why am I so insistent? My advice is simple.
30 Books Everyone Should Read Before Their 30th Birthday - StumbleUpon The Web is grand. With its fame for hosting informative, easy-to-skim textual snippets and collaborative written works, people are spending more and more time reading online. Nevertheless, the Web cannot replace the authoritative transmissions from certain classic books that have delivered (or will deliver) profound ideas around the globe for generations. The 30 books listed here are of unparalleled prose, packed with wisdom capable of igniting a new understanding of the world. Everyone should read these books before their 30th birthday. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse – A powerful story about the importance of life experiences as they relate to approaching an understanding of reality and attaining enlightenment.1984 by George Orwell – 1984 still holds chief significance nearly 60 years after it was written in 1949. Related True Measure of Understanding: Ignorance Generates Negativity In the absence of understanding human reaction is generally negative. August 27, 2007 In "Aspirations"
The Mad Logophile: Commonly Mispronounced Words The following words are some of the hundreds that are commonly mispronounced (and a few uncommon ones). The preferred pronunciation is from Webster's Dictionary, so take it up with them if you disagree :D ►There is no such thing as an assessory, no matter what the salesperson tells you. Pronounce the double "c" in accessory like "ks." ►Acumen can be pronounced one of two ways: ak-yu-men or ak-yew-men. The former is the traditional one, however, reflecting its latin origin. ►Chimera may look like a French word but it's not. for-bad. let it go -- e. e. cummings let it go - the smashed word broken open vow or the oath cracked length wise - let it go it was sworn to go let them go - the truthful liars and the false fair friends and the boths and neithers - you must let them go they were born to go let all go - the big small middling tall bigger really the biggest and all things - let all go dear so comes love ~ e. e. cummings ~
25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters As storyteller, you are god. And to be frank, you’re not a particularly nice god — at least, not if you want your story to resonate with readers. A good storyteller is a crass and callous deity who treats the characters under his watchful eye like a series of troubled butt-puppets. From this essential conflict — storyteller versus character — a story is born. Put differently, as a storyteller it’s your job to be a dick. It’s your job to fuck endlessly with the characters twisting beneath your thumb. And here’s 25 ways for you to do just that. 1. Gods have avatars, mortal or semi-mortal beings that exist on earth to embody the deity’s agenda. 2. The audience and the character must know the stakes on the table — “If you don’t win this poker game, your grandmother will lose her beloved pet orangutan, Orange Julius.” 3. Impossible odds are a powerful way to fuck with a character. 4. Drop the character smack dab between two diametrically opposed choices. 5. 6. This one? 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Books that will induce a mindfuck - StumbleUpon Here is the list of books that will officially induce mindfucks, sorted alphabetically by author. Those authors in bold have been recommended by one or more people as being generally mindfucking - any books listed under their names are particularly odd. You're welcome to /msg me to make an addition to this list. And finally, although he's way down at the bottom, my personal recommendation is definitely Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, as it turns the ultimate mindfuck: inverting the world-view of our entire culture, and it is non-fiction.