Happiness and enlightenment do NOT include smoke and mirrors, so our book on religion does a 180 from the rest of the month, making this weeks book The Essence of Buddha: The Path of Enlightenment by Ryuho Okawa.

Smoke and mirrors work mostly because people want to believe, so this weeks book explores that: How Magicians Think: Misdirection, Deception, and Why Magic Matters by Joshua Jay.

Smoke and mirrors are impressive when you personally have been targeted by the reader, so this weeks book explores that topic: The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading by Ian Rowland.

The study of smoke and mirrors this month continues with this weeks book Trust Me I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator by Ryan Holiday.

This month, we’re looking at smoke and mirrors, starting with fiction of course, making this weeks book Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke.

Are we a Christian nation? What did the founding father’s think? That is the topic of this weeks book, American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation by Jon Meacham.

Rounding out our month of governmental fuckery, this weeks book is Skinwalkers and the Pentagon: An Insiders Account of the Secret Government UFO Program by James Lacatski.

Continuing our look into governmental fuckery, this weeks book is Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations Into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis by Annie Jacobsen.

For the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, let’s look at some of the fuckery our government gets up to with our over taxed dollars, starting with this weeks book, Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKULTRA by John Lisle.

This months book on religion ties up my month on Japan, Shinto: The Kami Spirit World of Japan by Sokyo Ono.

Rounding out my month on Japan, this weeks book is Pax Tokugawana: The Cultural Flowering of Japan, 1603 - 1853 by Haga Toru

Continuing my quest for knowledge on Japan, this weeks book is The Battle of Sekigahara: The Greatest, Bloodiest, Most Decisive Samurai Battle by Chris Glen.

Continuing with Japan, this weeks book is Code of the Samurai; Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobi.

Now, I’m pretty sure everything that I’ve read this month is embodied in the history of how Islam took over Persia, making this weeks book Apocalyptic Islam and Iranian Shi'ism by Abbas Amanat.

This months reading list pivoted from Vikings to politics based entirely on the release of this much anticipated book by the legendary Gad Saad, Suicidal Empathy: Dying to be Kind.

This week, continuing on our study of the downward spiral of America, we’re reading The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Johnathan Haidt.

This month, we’re looking at politics. Not the generic Democrats vs Republican, but the deeper problem of how the divide in this country has been growing, starting with The Vision of the Anointed by Thomas Sowell.

Time for a brain break and a dive into new to me fiction, making this weeks book The Swordmaster’s Matter by K.W. Lee.

Returning to our study of world myths and religions, this month’s book on religion is Gods, Goddesses, and Myths of Creation by Mircea Eliade.

Rounding out our month on homesteading information, this weeks book is Everything I Want to do is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front also by Joel Salatin.

Continuing our look at what homesteading entails, this weeks book is Dirt to Soil: One Family's Journey into Regenerative Agriculture by Gabe Brown.

Spring Time is time to plant and there are an awful lot of people who are enthralled with the idea of homesteading, so this month, we’re looking at what that might entail, starting with The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer by Joel Salatin.

Having spent the month with survivors of this particular regime, it seems fitting to close the month with this weeks book, The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhoods Industry of Death by Cynthia Farahat.

Rounding out our series on survivors, this weeks book is Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Continuing our look at survivors, this weeks book is I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai.

This month we’re looking at those who have survived true repression, making this weeks book The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity and My Fight Against the Islamic State by Nadia Murad.

Starting this month with a work of literature, which will tie into the overarching theme of surviving repression, making this weeks book A History of Judaism by Margaret Atwood.

I have a book on Islam in Iran…but I decided to focus on something a bit more positive and take a peek at one of the earliest religions, making this weeks book In Search of Zarathustra: Across Iran and Central Asia to Find the World's First Prophet by Paul Kriwaczek.

So how did we get to where we are now in Iran? How did the Shah come to be living in exile, and a formerly exiled Ayatollah take power? Let’s see if this is all covered in this weeks book, The Fall of Heaven: The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran by Andrew Scott Cooper.

Continuing my learning streak about Iran, this weeks book is The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran by Homa Katouzian.