American Gods by Neil Gaiman

So I picked this book after reading Norse Mythology. Another factor was that the series based on this got some rave reviews so thought of reading the book, and chuck the series.

And what are the thoughts? Well it is not that great. It's actually full of cliches, and there are so many details of weather, localities, and what not which has unnecessarily added the number of pages.

The whole plot is a long shot fight between the old gods, and the new gods. The old gods are any gods which you can think of from mythology. New gods are weird like internet, and media.

I don't generally look for a reason but this went beyond the realm (cliche).

I've not watched the series, and if you're liking it there are chances that this is actually better than the book.

The book ends on a note which I was anticipating, but the whole narrative couldn't build that charisma of a good read with such a huge plot.

I hope there is a sequel to it because you just can't leave it here but I also understand that this has got so twisted you may never know how to end it properly.

Give the book a pass if you can. 

Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan, & Cacilda Jethá

Of course the title was so catchy that I couldn't drop the book.

It took me more time than I thought but the reason was mainly me juggling between 3 books together.

Anyways, the book is about what it's title says. It explores the copulation habits of humans and other related (distantly or otherwise) to build a case that monogamy is not something which comes naturally to humans.

According to this book the humans are wired for uncontrolled out of bound copulation activities.

The book is full of citations, and references to prove the point from different sources related to different fields, be it anatomy, archaeology, behavioural studies etc.

However, the biggest disconnect was that the book starts backwards. It takes the premise that humans are not one partner species, and they subsequently start adding the references etc to drive this point.

I really don't have any opinion on what should be the sexual preferences of anybody because it is a very personal choice. Neither anybody should be forced to comply to what others think/call/label indecent or immoral.

One thing that I'm in favour of is that over all the years of civilisation (really???) whole society has created a moral fabric that everybody is supposed to be follow the rules, and any aberration should be punished, discarded or hated. Which is not a welcoming situation if you're on the other side.

The book is a fun read, and the only caution is that don't make any opinion based on this book alone. Since you might be reading this book doesn't give you a permit to cheat on your partners, and justify it with it's being the human nature :)