h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've been reading a really cool book. It's called 'The Personality of Man', by GNM Tyrrell. It was written in 1945, but this is the 1954 edition:

http://ia600502.us.archive.org/9/items/personalityofman029580mbp/personalityofman029580mbp.pdf

The book almost defies categorisation. The author is a long-time member in good standing of the Society for Psychical Research, and he's very scientifical about all things weird. And boy, are there weird stories in here. One of the best concerns some French people having dreams about a yellow suit-case (his spelling)...

Even more fun are the theories behind telepathy, precognition, etc. Surprisingly insightful, and very close to describing the possible workings of an Einsteinian universe. You might like this.

At worst, it will while away some downtime. And it's free...

Tyrrell has also introduced us to the oeuvre of the amazing Patience Worth, a disembodied entity who was responsible for the publications of a Mrs Curran from St Louis, Missouri. Mrs Curran, when awake, apparently thought Henry VIII had had HIS head cut off. When in automatic-writing mode, she produced historical novels of great vividness. One of them apparently puts Lew Wallace to shame. It's called 'The Sorry Tale: A Story from the Time of Christ'. I'm a bit put off by the fact that part 1 is entitled 'Panda'. An Arab named Panda is a bit much to wrap one's head around. But hey, brain freeze or no, it looks good:

http://archive.org/details/sorrytaleastory01currgoog

So, for what it's worth, these are my library recommendations for the week.