George RR Martin-The Armageddon Rag

Although he is better known for his Songs of Ice and Fire series, this novel is the first one that I have read by this author circa 10 years ago. Now, I have bought this book couple of months ago and read it again. I was enchanted the same as the first time when I read it. Nazgul were a band that was very popular among hippies and rockers playing occult hard rock. Their career abruptly ended when someone shot and killed their singer Hobins during live gig. Now, Nazgul reformed and started playing tour with new singer that looks very much like Hobbins almost as if his ghost takes over the body during gigs. Strange things and murders happen, and the old hippy underground journalist Sandy Blair must discover can Nazgul music wake up the dead? I hate hippy movement and everything about their spiritual pipe dreams. But, this is a damn fine novel, mix of music, horror, thriller and drama about not wanting to grow up. It is very readable and you can absolutely gulp it in couple of days. I recommend this one!

Ayn Rand-The Virtue of Selfishness

Ayn Rand(1905.-1982.) was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is best known for creating philosophical system called objectivism. This book is a collection of her essays and lectures on ethics and morality of objectivism. The concept is that man must be a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute. I can see a lot grounds for Church of Satan and Anton Szandor LaVey thinking in the thoughts of Ayn Rand. The book is just excellent. Rand says that ethical egoism and rational should be our guiding moral principle. She also rejects both socialism and fascism as negative because they both advertise the state, meaning collective in front of the individual and such societies are not welcome in objectivism. Rand rejects faith and religion and also altruism. For Rand, you can aquire knowledge only through reason. She also very much opposes collectivism, statism and anarchy. Laissez faire capitalism recognizes individual and his individual rights, so it is the only right political system for us. I couldnt agree more.  Interesting book, great thoughts and I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I did.