Update on Books I am Currently Reading (satire)

Books I am currently reading:

The Small Talk Handbook, Melissa Wadsworth - I'm reading this to help prepare for future scenarios where it might come in handy.

The Narcissism Epidemic, Jean M Twenge & W Keith Campbell - Certainly narcissism is getting to be a problem, but rather than address the empath and sociopath aspects of this problem, it all gets lumped under narcissism. Within this context, I finished ME Thomas' Confessions of a Sociopath and Jon Ronson's The Sociopath Test as well as Daniel Smith's Monkey Mind.

Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion - This is going to take awhile to read. Perhaps I'm over my league here. I mainly bought this because Whedon created Buffy, Angel and Firefly. So I might be short-sighted in my purchase.

No god but God, Reza Aslan - In this post-911 world, it makes sense to keep abreast of the history of Islam. I started with this book, which leads me to...

Islam, Karen Armstrong - The definitive book on Islam, even though it might be weak on the intervening history between Mohammed and the mid 18th century when the West certainly conflicted at great length with Islam, even though by then it was starting on its decline.

American Crucifixion, Alex Beam - While this book comes across as anti-Mormon, I'm not giving up the chance to read an expose on Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. So far, it reads like a Western, complete with megalomania and a sociopathy so complex, I'm almost siding with the ex-Mormons.

However, the favorable spin on Mormonism tends to condemn the apostate a little too harshly. For example, the slut-shaming of innocent women courageous enough to not participate in Smith's polygamy scheme is unwarranted. Even so, I find the muted name-calling from the pro-Mormon literature unwarranted as well. It made the polygamy chapter hard to get through. Pro-Mormon literature blames Bennett for polygamy, and proclaims Smith innocent of all charges.

My reason for so many books:

IMO I may suffer from mild ADD. When a book gets tiresome to read, I get bored. So I rest a moment, and then read a new book from the stack. Currently, of the above mentioned titles, the Mormon book and the two books on Islam are being read more often than the Small Talk Handbook

If I feel like curling up to a book for a good read, then I can do so with any of the seven books I am currently reading. For me, book reading beats going to bars, hanging out at the beach, and shopping. Though, at some point in the near future, I am going to have to get off my ass and trade in a heap of books I've read.

As for now, I have a lot of reading to do and love it.

What I Learned from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Twilight Series (satire)

People turn into monsters when they don't get what they want, or if they are jealous of others. The monsters of Pleasantville are vampires, werewolves and other supernatural creatures, but represent boys and girls who act out of turn when their desires are thwarted or they become jealous.

The same goes for Twilight.

Boys who don't get what they want become monsters. Girls jealous of other girls become monsters.

Is it so hard to decipher?

I think not. Besides, my previous analogy that vampires are bisexual is totally wrong since it's not about sexuality. It's about power and control.

It is about sexual predators. It's about desire. This is what monsters mean to me.

YMMV