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.

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.

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 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.

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 month we’re taking down the serious a notch with a look at ancient Rome, starting with The Way of the Gladiator by Daniel P. Mannix.

Continuing through Ancient Rome, this weeks book looks at one of the earth’s first recorded plagues with Pox Romana: The Plague That Shook the Roman World by Colin Elliott.

How did Rome end? Well, rather than the massive three (or more?) volume work on the subject, I chose this slightly more manageable work, Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire by Simon Baker.

I have decided to look at more broad spectrum of religion, and try to pick books topical to the month. Sometimes. This month definitely, making this weeks book An Introduction to Roman Religion by John Scheid.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Time for a brain break with fiction, but this one is semi-topical to the rest of the months theme, McMasters Guide to Homicide Volume 1: Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes.

It’s been a while since I spent an entire month with the same author, or in this case authors, but this month we’re looking at the criminal mind, starting with Mindhunter by John Douglas & Mark Olshaker

Continuing with our look at the criminal mind, this weeks book is Journey Into Darkness by John Douglas & Mark Olshaker.

This weeks book completes the trilogy by John Douglas & Mark Olshaker on the criminal mind, The Killer Across the Table.

So I found a book that discusses primarily the worlds first recorded murder, The Beast That Crouches at the Door: Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, and Beyond by Rabbi David Fohrman.

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

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.

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

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

October is where I review books on spooky stuff, and this month I’ve decided to look more at the history of magic, by looking at historical beliefs with Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. Fortunately, it’s three literal books, so we’re going to read them one by one, starting with Book 1: The Natural World. Translation is by Eric Purdue.

October is where I review books on spooky stuff, and this month I’ve decided to look more at the history of magic, by looking at historical beliefs with Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. Fortunately, it’s three literal books, so we’re going to read them one by one, and next up is Book 2: The Celestial World. Translation is by Eric Purdue.

October is where I review books on spooky stuff, and this month I’ve decided to look more at the history of magic, by looking at historical beliefs with Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. Fortunately, it’s three literal books, so we’re going to read them one by one, rounding out this month with Book 3: The Divine World. Translation is by Eric Purdue.

So how does this months reading tie together with religion? Well, that’s sort of the topic of this weeks book, Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion by Nicholas Spencer.

We have five Sunday’s this month so I’m starting with fiction, and since I’ve long been curious about the writing of one of my favorite YouTubers, The Critical Drinker, this week I’m reading his book Redemption, by Will Jordan.

Since the fiction work was a spy thriller, I decided to dig into my non-fiction espionage books this month, making this weeks book The Great Game: The Myth and Reality of Espionage by Frederick Hitz.

Continuing our explorations of espionage, this weeks book is The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctinoal Intelligence Culture by Ishmael Jones.

Rounding out my month on espionage, this weeks book is Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence by Abram Shulsky.

Since spys wear many faces but not all of them follow one religion, I went with a religion with many faces for this months book, making this weeks book Many Many Many Gods of Hinduism by Swami Achuhananda.

This December I’m getting back to my heritage, starting with Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough.

Continuing with Scandinavian history, this weeks book is The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman by Nancy Marie Brown.

Rounding out our learning of the Viking’s, this weeks book is The Hidden Lives of Viking Women: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives by Michele Hayeur Smith & Alexandra Sanmark.

Rounding out our month with the Vikings, this weeks book is The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia by Neil Price.

Since we just had an election, lets spend this month with Communism…or rather, the mind control that is part and parcel of Communism, starting with Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Since Communism and it’s worship is basically a cult, this weeks book is Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China by Robert Jay Lifton.

Continuing with mind control techniques, this weeks book is The Rape of the Mind by Joost Meerloo.

Now that we know how mind control happens, how do you fight it? That’s the topic of this weeks book, Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan.

This month’s religious reading is a classic, often mistaken for an economic treatise, but clearly religious bollocks, The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx.

I decided to explore one of my husband’s favorite topics this month, Japan, making this weeks book Ninja: 1000 Years of the Shadow Warrior by John Man.

This month I’m revisiting the biographies of women who have lived under Islam, but I’m starting with a work of fiction, the publication of which had a fatwa called upon the author’s head, making this weeks book The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.

During a random browse at my local Barnes & Noble, I found a trio of books by more survivors of Islam, so we’re starting this month with The Girls in the Wild Fig Tree: How I Fought to Save Myself, My Sister, and Thousands of Girls Worldwide by Nice Leng’ete & Elizabeth Butler-Witter.

This week’s survivor story is Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education by Sola Mahfouz & Malaina Kapoor.

The final memoir on survivors of Islam is Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi.

I’m sure there is a book out there about how great Islam is…but not today. Today’s book is The Tragedy of Islam: Admissions of a Muslim Imam by Imam Mohammad Tawhidi.