Reading, a workout for the brain
Reading is like physical exercise. You could call reading a workout for the brain.
Alright, get your favourite chair ready or curl up on the couch. Have a lamp on behind, or to the side, so that you can clearly see you're reading. Arrange your necessities chocolates, coffee, chewing gum or whatever on a flat surface withing hand's reach.
Turn the first page ......
How do we choose what to read?
Pick a book
We choose a book to read because
- You've enjoyed reading another book by the same author
- One of your favourite authors has recommended a book by another author
- A book has been recommended by a friend
- The book is on a topic or in a style, or genre, of interest to you.
Here is a selection of books which I recommend. I hope you stumble upon something unexpectedly which seizes your imagination. Or, at any rate, takes your fancy.
Ancient Roman detectives
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Whodunnits in Ancient Rome
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A good mystery novel transports us into another world, engages our mind and stimulates our logical thinking. The challenge in historical fiction is not just to deliver a decent novel - a difficult enough task, but to be accurate to the historical ti...
Authors
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Elizabeth Gaskell : Author
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Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810-1865) was a well-respected and popular author in her own day and known to modern readers from the television adaptations of Wives & Daughters, North & South, and Cranford. Many of her books dealt with social concerns...
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Peter Berresford Ellis : Author
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How do you begin to describe Peter Berresford Ellis? He is an historian, a biographer, a novelist and short-story writer but above all, he is a preeminent Celtic scholar. As a Fellow of three Royal Societies in historical and antiquarian fields, he h...
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Rosemary Sutcliff : Author
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Rosemary Sutcliff was first and foremost a great storyteller and said of herself that she belonged to the minstrelsy. With her impeccable historical research, thrilling tales and her own poetic and rich prose, she has gifted us with books which are a...
Ancient manuscripts
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Beowulf, Ancient Hero
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In the face of danger and adversity they display impressive courage for the greater good of all. They are Heroes. We have always had heroes and Beowulf, great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century, is the ultimate hero. He is not just any hero,...
I Love Sr Fidelma
I just can't wait for October to get my copy of the latest Fidelma mystery!-
Council Of The Cursed
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I can't wait for the latest Fidelma novel! The release of the next mystery is scheduled for October 2009 and that's months away - can I last until then? Sister Fidelma finds herself in tense situations where she has to use her wits, her deductive ab...
Two of my favourite books
From Philip K Dick
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The Left Hand of Darkness
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The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin, is an absolute classic in every sense. It's a beautifully crafted book, and paints an alien, utterly compelling world inhabited by characters who reveal something fundamental about humanity. The story...
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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
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What is reality? Is my reality your reality? What does it mean to be human? Where, if anywhere, do we draw a line between the value of real and artificial life? In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, author Philip K Dick asks what qualities, if any...
My Cat reads Books too
The two of us spend many a quiet afternoon in the garden or, depending on the time of year, lounging inside by the fire, me on my old armchair and Vladimir on the rug, reading our books. It's a very pleasant way indeed to pass the time, the quiet broken only by the soft clickety clack of my knitting needles and the occasional furball-clearance process from my companion.
Vladimir's Choice
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Five Best Cat Books
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It is no coincidence that I share a house with a person who tries to treat me well, and to understand me. My person attempts to expand her knowledge about cats in general and about me in particular - a difficult task for her at the best of times. It&...
Historical Fiction
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Island of Ghosts
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In the Caucasus Mountains are the little republics of the Ossetians, places small enough, and obscure enough, to be almost forgotten by the world. But here, stories are still told of their ancestors, the Alans, and songs are sung of their greatest he...
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I, Claudius : Classic Books
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The Claudius Novels are superb, timeless classics, and if you haven't read them yet, you have missed one of the great works of the 20th century. These two novels by Robert Graves on the Roman Emperor Claudius make up what has to be the greatest...
The Story of Troy
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Best Books on the Trojan War
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The story of Troy has been told over and over in a thousand ways. I grew up with the walls of Troy more real than my own backyard fence. Indeed the backyard fence was the wall of Troy and I was always Kassandra, wailing piteously, when all I ever wan...
Mythology Collections
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Nordic Mythology : Best Books of Skandinavian Stories
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The Norse myths are peopled with all sorts of fantastic beings - gods and giants, elves, dwarves and dragons! Like all mythology, if we pay close attention to what the stories are saying, we learn a great deal about what our ancestors thought was im...
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Best Books on Greece and Greek Mythology
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Something happened in the islands of Greece a few thousand years ago. Maybe a stray meteorite was to blame, spilling onto the plains of Attica in an invisible cloud of interstellar dust carrying the secrets of lost solar systems. How else can you ex...
The Legends of King Arthur
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Best Books on the Legend of King Arthur
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From the faraway days of Britain come the stories rooted in ancient Celtic and Germanic imagination, stories of the strongest, the bravest and the best. Tales that have been told and endlessly retold, tales of a chivalrous knight, a powerful warrior...
For more on books and authors, visit The Bookworms where our lensmasters share their favourites
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- awakeningwellness awakeningwellness May 12, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
- The only thing better than curling up with a good book is having my dogs curled up next to me while I read the book!
Thanks for the reading suggestions! 5*
Thanks for dropping by ..
Thanks very much for dropping by to read about What to Read.
You're more than welcome to leave a note in the guest book above and, if you're a member of Squidoo, you can also rate this lens :)
It's all much appreciated, Susanna
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About Susanna Duffy
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G'day from Melbourne, Australia where I write about King Arthur, Mythology, Legendary Beasts, Ancient Rome, Books, Fairy Creatures, Australiana and Adventures in my Kitchen. I'm also a Charity Mentor and an Honorary Squidoo Angel 
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