TILOTD - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Things I Learned On This Day - The 1968 song In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly was actually a love song from Adam to Eve in the biblical Garden of Eden. In my younger days, I used to play the heck out of this record  but I only recently discovered that the title is a mispronounciation of "In A Garden of Eden". According to Wikipedia, organist-vocalist Doug Ingle wrote the song one evening while drinking an entire gallon of Red Mountain wine. When the inebriated Ingle later played the song for drummer Ron Bushy, who wrote down the lyrics for him, Ingle slurred his words so badly that what was supposed to be "In The Garden of Eden" was misinterpreted by Bushy as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". 

Fun Fact: In The Simpsons episode "Bart Sells His Soul", Bart passes out a song to be sung in church as a hymn entitled "In the Garden of Eden" allegedly composed by "I. Ron Butterfly". 

Book Reading List 2025

•  Mark Twain - Author: Ron Chernow
• Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering - Author: Malcolm Gladwell
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference - Author: Malcolm Gladwell
• Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion - Author: Sam Harris
• Source Code - My Beginnings -
  Author: Bill Gates
• Galapagos - Author: Kurt Vonnegut
• The Birds That Audubon Missed Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness - Author: Kenn Kaufmann
• Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism - Author: Sarah Wynn-Williams
• Lakota America A New History of Indigenous Power Author: Pekka Hamalainen
• Becoming Earth How Our Planet Came to Life - Author: Ferris Jabr
• Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion - Author: Michael Taylor 
• The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War - Author: Michael Shaara
• By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land - Author: Rebecca Nagle
• Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perce: The Untold Story of an American Tragedy - Author: Kent Nerburn
• The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster - Author: John O'Connor
• What This Comedian Said Will Shock You - Author: Bill Maher

Book Review - Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering

Title: Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
My Rating: 👍👍👍👍
My Review: Pending...

Description (Audible):A lot has changed in 25 years. A quarter-century after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand-new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light — this time in an immersive audio format that transports you, the listener, directly inside of each riveting story. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell’s most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of the modern world. It’s time we took tipping points seriously.

Description (ChatGPT): Malcolm Gladwell's Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering revisits the themes of his 2000 bestseller, The Tipping Point, exploring how small changes can trigger significant societal shifts. In this follow-up, Gladwell introduces the concept of the "overstory," a dominant narrative that influences behavior, and examines its role in various phenomena, from the opioid crisis to the spread of COVID-19. Critics have noted that the book often feels like a rehash of Gladwell's earlier work, offering familiar anecdotes and theories without introducing substantial new insights. The narrative style, characterized by its engaging but sometimes disjointed storytelling, has been described as "whiplash-inducing" . Some reviewers have found the book to be "pedantic, repetitive, and smug," with a tendency to oversimplify complex issues.  However, for readers who appreciated Gladwell's previous works, Revenge of the Tipping Point offers a familiar blend of storytelling and social analysis. While it may not break new ground, it provides an accessible examination of how narratives shape societal behaviors.In summary, Revenge of the Tipping Point is a continuation of Gladwell's exploration into the dynamics of social change. While it may not offer groundbreaking revelations, it serves as a thought-provoking read for those interested in understanding the mechanisms behind societal shifts.

Book Review - The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Title: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference 

Author: Malcolm Gladwell
My Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍
My Review: Great book. Reading it 25 years after it was first published made it a little dated but the basic concept of how things reach a tipping point are still very relevant to today.  I loved this book. 

Description (Audible): The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

Description (ChatGPT): The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell explores how small actions or changes can trigger major shifts in behavior, trends, and societal movements. Drawing on examples from business, public health, and pop culture, Gladwell introduces concepts like the "Law of the Few," the "Stickiness Factor," and the "Power of Context" to explain how ideas and products reach a tipping point—when they spread like epidemics. The book blends psychology, sociology, and storytelling to uncover what drives sudden change in our world.

Book Review - Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

Title: Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
Author: Sam Harris 

My Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍

My Review: I consider myself to be a spiritual person. However, I do not consider myself to be a religous person. I feel that sprituality is an type of evolution that happens throughout a persons life. I haven't yet reached  a state of nirvana but I do feel content with my current beliefs. I liked this book and feel that it helped me better understand how it's possible to live a spiritual life outside religion.

 
Description (Audible): For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris’ new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology.  From multiple New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds. Throughout the book, Harris argues that there are important truths to be found in the experiences of such contemplatives - and, therefore, that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow. Waking Up is part seeker’s memoir and part exploration of the scientific underpinnings of spirituality. No other book marries contemplative wisdom and modern science in this way, and no author other than Sam Harris - a scientist, philosopher, and famous skeptic - could write it.

Description (ChatGPT): Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris is a blend of neuroscience, philosophy, and personal insight that explores how people can achieve spiritual well-being without relying on religious beliefs. Harris presents meditation and mindfulness as tools for self-discovery and inner peace, offering a rational and secular path to experiencing deeper states of consciousness.