Instead of finishing the books I talked about last week, I started a couple new ones because why not?

My partner read Lying by Sam Harris because a friend recommended it to him, and since I kept trying to peek over his shoulder while he was reading, he handed it to me when he was done. It is a very short book – more like an extended essay. But I guess what else can you say about lying? It’s a lot of discussion of ethics and hypothetical situations (for example: if a murder comes to your door and you’re hiding a child inside, you should tell him the truth because lying will cause more problems) and it really just made me want to watch The Good Place…mostly because of this line:

It was the hardcover edition of the book, so it also included an interview with a professor that had an impact on Harris’ start in ethics and a Q&A on the last few pages of Harris responding to reader’s questions. All in all, it was alright, obviously, there really is no perfect answer, but it’s always interesting to think about. I understand what he was getting at but at the same time, I don’t think I’d want to get stuck in the corner with him at a cocktail party because if this is what he talks about…how could one get away? If you lie, that will only make him want to talk MORE, meaning really the only escape would be:

I also started the graphic non-fiction title How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden. I’ll be honest, I picked it up thinking it was going to be a quick read but it is actually relatively long – or maybe just dense. It is based on Glidden’s actual trip to Israel that she sort of took ironically because her Jewish heritage gave her access to the birthright trip but she was not pro-Israel at all.

The sad truth is, I know nothing about the Israel-Palestine conflict. I know it *exists* and that is about it. I think that is why it is taking me longer to read this then I expected, I really have to pay attention to the details of the history she is seeing as she travels. I need to read up on it after I finish this book to get some more details. But after I finish the three other books I have bookmarks in the middle of…

That’s it for now. I ordered a bunch of non-fiction books about gaming last week, sort of fell down a rabbit hole looking for books about the positive aspects of tabletop gaming, so I really need to finish my current pile of books so I can dive into those!

Hope you were able to check a few books off of your TBR list this week!