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Jim’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jim’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Jim Puskas’s Followers (146)
Jim Puskas
Goodreads Author
Born
in Thamesville ON, Canada
Website
Twitter
Genre
Influences
Frederick Forsyth, Nevil Shute, Thornton Wilder, Thodore Goodridge Rob
...more
Member Since
January 2012
URL
https://www.goodreads.com/wyenotgo
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Eastwind
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Until This Soul Departs
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.
Now at Ottawa Public Library
Of course, I would very much hope that readers will buy my latest book Until This Soul Departs.
However, those of you living in my part of the world can now borrow it at no cost from the Ottawa Public Library.
But it would be wise to put it "on hold" quickly, as the waiting list is growing . . . Read more of this blog post »
However, those of you living in my part of the world can now borrow it at no cost from the Ottawa Public Library.
But it would be wise to put it "on hold" quickly, as the waiting list is growing . . . Read more of this blog post »
Jim Puskas said:
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I'm reading this little gem just now primarily as an antidote, to re-set my equilibrium while I'm plowing through the gory mess known as The Iliad and also gnawing on an anthology of Simone Weil's philosopy — two works almost guaranteed to give one a
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Jim Puskas said:
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Opening comments:Earlier this year, I was first introduced to the life history of Simone Weil. I was greatly impressed, finding her ideas fresh and compelling; I wanted to learn more.
I plan to read this anthology of her works over the course of the ...more "
Jim’s Recent Updates
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Jim Puskas
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| I'm reading this little gem just now primarily as an antidote, to re-set my equilibrium while I'm plowing through the gory mess known as The Iliad and also gnawing on an anthology of Simone Weil's philosopy — two works almost guaranteed to give one a ...more | |
"3½ stars
Two mysteries were solved by my finally finishing The Iliad. 1) It is so obvious why these Ancient Greek stories have survived for so many years-- it's all gory violence and sex. Homer tapped into these marketing tools early. 2) I now unders" Read more of this review » |
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Jim Puskas
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Jim Puskas
rated a book it was amazing
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| I’ve shelved this as a parable, since it seems to me to fall into the same genre as several of Mitch Albom’s parables. The language, on the other hand, causes me to ponder what Mordecai Richler would sound like had he been an Aussie. An odd combinati ...more | |
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Before leaving the first essay in this Anthology and moving along, I wanted to respond to a couple of the points raised thus far:
It has, of course nev ...more " |
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Regrettably, we are probably coming close to the end of Wendell Berry's days. I hope to work my way through the entire list before I too pass on ...
By ...more " |
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"This was a hybrid novel/essay/reminiscence written as fiction in the persona of Andy Catlett in old age. A lament for the loss of an old way of life that lost out to "progress", and the realization that there's nothing he can do. Berry steps into the"
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Diane, I really cannot face another 500-page book right now, being up to my ears in Simone Weil and the Iliad, but this looks too good to pass up. Per
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"Thanks to Julie for gushing over this book in her review. Not for making me a fan of Pilcher, I was already that, but for making me realize what a perfect time to read this book. Enter Kindle, who put it on sale for $1.99, and I was lured to a small "
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Thank you, Sara, for a whole new list of books I didn't know anything about.
Mr TBR list just got a bit longer ... ...more " |
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“You have been given questions to which you cannot be given answers. You will have to live them out - perhaps a little at a time.'
And how long is that going to take?'
I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps.'
That could be a long time.'
I will tell you a further mystery,' he said. 'It may take longer.”
― Jayber Crow
And how long is that going to take?'
I don't know. As long as you live, perhaps.'
That could be a long time.'
I will tell you a further mystery,' he said. 'It may take longer.”
― Jayber Crow
“The bird and the fish may fall in love but where will they build their nest?”
― The Time of Our Singing
― The Time of Our Singing
“But I’m going to need you to love me on the bus, dude. And first thing in the morning. Also, when I’m drunk and refuse to shut up about getting McNuggets from the drive-thru. When I fall asleep in the middle of that movie you paid extra to see in IMAX. When I wear the flowered robe I got at Walmart and the sweatpants I made into sweatshorts to bed. When I am blasting “More and More” by Blood Sweat & Tears at seven on a Sunday morning while cleaning the kitchen and fucking up your mom’s frittata recipe. When I bring a half dozen gross, mangled kittens home to foster for a few nights and they shit everywhere and pee on your side of the bed. When I go “grocery shopping” and come back with only a bag of Fritos and five pounds of pork tenderloin. When I’m sick and stumbling around the crib with half a roll of toilet paper shoved in each nostril. When I beg you fourteen times to read something I’ve written, then get mad when you tell me what you don’t like about it and I call you an uneducated idiot piece of shit. Lovebird city.”
― We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.
― We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.
“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions."
In 1984, Huxley added, "people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us".”
― Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
In 1984, Huxley added, "people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us".”
― Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
“Wanderers eastward, wanderers west,
Know you why you cannot rest?
'Tis that every mother's son
Travails with a skeleton.
Lie down in the bed of dust;
Bear the fruit that bear you must;
Bring the eternal seed to light,
And morn is all the same as night.”
― A Shropshire Lad
Know you why you cannot rest?
'Tis that every mother's son
Travails with a skeleton.
Lie down in the bed of dust;
Bear the fruit that bear you must;
Bring the eternal seed to light,
And morn is all the same as night.”
― A Shropshire Lad
Dickensians!
— 621 members
— last activity 8 hours, 37 min ago
Do you love the stories by Charles Dickens, and anything Victorian? Are you keen to chat about his books, his life, the times or places he lived in, o ...more
Ovid's Metamorphoses and Further Metamorphoses
— 93 members
— last activity Feb 08, 2020 02:44PM
To read the Metamorphoses of Ovid, in any of the many translations (or the original), and at whatever speed it takes, with three goals in mind: 1. To ...more
Works of Thomas Hardy
— 284 members
— last activity 19 hours, 8 min ago
A group to discuss all the works of Thomas Hardy, from poems to novels and everything in between. Also, this is a place to discuss the life and times ...more
Political Philosophy and Ethics
— 6210 members
— last activity Jan 06, 2026 06:02AM
Study and discussion of the important questions of ethical and political philosophy from Confucius and Socrates to the present. Rules (see also the ...more
¡ POETRY !
— 22581 members
— last activity Dec 24, 2025 01:37PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read ...more
History: Actual, Fictional and Legendary
— 1203 members
— last activity Dec 30, 2025 12:47AM
This group is for anyone whose interest in History goes beyond textbooks. While I enjoy reading books that cover actual events and actual people, I al ...more
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I would be interested to see your comments on The Shadow of the Wind by Zafon. Also: A tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki if you decide to read it.
I heartily agree with your message to writers and editors to keep it to less than 400 pages, omit irrelevant characters and don't ramble. Surely part of an editor's job is to impose some discipline upon the writing process (e.g. ref. my reviews of The Philosopher's Pupil and Minister Without Portfolio). My message to a writer is: "I'm your customer. Making my reading experience annoying is disrespectful and bad for your business"
Thanks for your friend request! And glad you found my review of A Tale for the Time Being interesting. It was an intense read for me--some things very good but other aspects bothersome. Look forward to book chats with you.
