These are not books that we have read or intend to read. These are books that fly away from our hand or slip by our memory. These are the books you come across that bear a striking feature that one day you wish someone will read on your behalf and deliver the verdict. Why do we need books that one does not want to read. Because they have the curiosity and charm to stick a bookmark to remind you as reference. These are the fantastic flying books that escape from your reading radar because you are inclined to pick them, turn them around, flip to the frontispiece, and let them fly. Yet, there is something remarkable about its winsome appearance in your life that you wish to share here. Lets go! Footnote: Title of the thread is borrowed from The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Bookmark: Taleb introduces the book as follows: "Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us call it antifragile. Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better" This subject is close to my heart — how some people not only recover but rally after a trauma. I love this notion of not just bouncing back but hurl oneself with torpedo speed from the life sling. "Antifragility" I like it!
Bookmark: There are lot of trivia books but how often do you come across one that recommends reading in the bathroom. Since this is in my "flying book" list, I may not have the opty to rub my palms against this squeaky duck but here you go if someone is interested. List of Uncle John's Books: Edition Title Year Notes 1 Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader 1988 2 Uncle John’s Second Bathroom Reader 1989 3 Uncle John’s Third Bathroom Reader 1990 4 Uncle John’s Fourth Bathroom Reader 1991 5 Uncle John’s Fifth Bathroom Reader 1992 6 Uncle John’s Sixth Bathroom Reader 1993 7 Uncle John’s Seventh Bathroom Reader 1994 8 The Best Of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader 1995 9 Uncle John’s Ultimate Bathroom Reader 1996 10 Uncle John’s Giant 10th Anniversary Bathroom Reader 1997 11 Uncle John’s Great Big Bathroom Reader 1998 12 Uncle John’s Absolutely Absorbing Bathroom Reader 1999 13 Uncle John’s All-Purpose Extra-Strength Bathroom Reader 2000 14 Uncle John’s Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader 2001 15 Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader 2002 16 Uncle John’s Unstoppable Bathroom Reader 2003 17 Uncle John’s Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader 2004 18 Uncle John’s Fast-Acting Long-Lasting Bathroom Reader 2005 19 Uncle John’s Curiously Compelling Bathroom Reader 2006 20 Uncle John’s Triumphant 20th Anniversary Bathroom Reader 2007 21 Uncle John’s Unsinkable Bathroom Reader 2008 22 Uncle John’s Endlessly Engrossing Bathroom Reader 2009 23 Uncle John's Heavy Duty Bathroom Reader 2010 24 Uncle John's 24-Karat Gold Bathroom Reader 2011 25 Uncle John's Fully Loaded 25th Anniversary Bathroom Reader 2012 26 Uncle John's Perpetually Pleasing Bathroom Reader 2013 27 Uncle John's Canoramic Bathroom Reader 2014 28 Uncle John’s Factastic 28th Bathroom Reader 2015 29 Uncle John's Uncanny Bathroom Reader 2016
Bookmark: The Old Patagonian Express (1979) is a written account of a journey taken by novelist Paul Theroux. Starting out from his home town in Massachusetts, via Boston and Chicago, Theroux travels by train across the North American plains to Laredo, Texas. He then crosses the border and takes a train south through Mexico to Veracruz where he meets a woman looking for her long-lost lover. He then takes the train south into Guatemala and then El Salvador where he goes to a soccer match and is amazed by the violence. He then flies to Costa Rica where he takes the train to Limon and Puntarenas. He ended his transit of Central America in Panama where he takes the short train ride across the isthmus. Theroux then proceeds to Colombia and then over the Andes and finally reaches the small town of Esquel in Patagonia. He endures harsh climates, including the extreme altitude of Peru and the Bolivian Plateau, meets the author Jorge Luis Borges in Buenos Aires and is reunited with long lost family in Ecuador. This book features in so many travel blogs, akin to a bench mark for travelogues, that I added it to my "flying list". I won't read the book but if someone inquires about travel writing then I will ask them to check for a chugging train in the shelf. @Gauri03, Did you notice that Borges? I think it was 2014 that Borges ruffled our serene lives. Since then, Mr Borges had made around 200 appearances in my casual reading (in the form of references, mentions, citations). Think of those days — Who Borges?
Bookmark: Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation is a seminal work in natural history by Robert Chambers published in 1844. This book caused a shift in popular opinion which – Charles Darwin believed – prepared the public mind for the scientific theories of evolution by natural selection which followed from the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859. If you hear words like "transmutation of species" and "natural theology" in a cocktail party just slide through the crowd and inquire — "Are you referring to that vestiges of natural history" by Robert Chambers. Bingo! You are the in-crowd now. Sounds interesting how Victorian scholars who preceded Darwin dealt with evolution.
