#benedictinebits — Public Fediverse posts

Geeked1’s Book Club: East of Eden

Originally posted to Substack on August 10th, 2026

We’re back a little later than normal with the Book Club! This time around we are reading the fantastic family saga by John Steinbeck, East of Eden. Join us as we scratch the surface of this deep novel that is almost an infinite well of moral and philosophical lessons.

East of Eden follows the Trask family over the course of three generations in the late 1800s and early 1900s as they try to settle and survive in the new state of California and, while at the same time, retelling the story of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel over the generations.

https://rumble.com/v7e0puw-benedictine-bits-book-club-east-of-eden.html

Geeked1’s Book Club: War In Heaven

A Metaphysical Thriller from one of the Inklings (Originally posted to Substack on July 6th, 2026)

We’re back a week late due to not being able to finish the book in time (I personally blame Amazon for taking forever to deliver it to me, I am unsure what Peter’s excuse is), and this time we are discussing the 1930 metaphysical thriller War In Heaven by the Inkling Charles Williams. 

First off, I’m sorry for the reduction in quality, I had to use the cloud recording from Riverside. Second off, this was one of the more difficult books we’ve done this year, and not necessarily my favorite. I think there’s a good story here, it just needs to be worked on a bit more – but that could just be because we are reading it close to 100 years after it was released and I am not an intellectual on the same level as Lewis or Tolkien. Anyway, I know that my dislike for the book was on me, cause everyone else enjoyed it so much more, and you might too.

So with that being said, enjoy our discussion on War In Heaven by Charles Williams and join us at the beginning of August for our next book East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

https://rumble.com/v7dz1b2-geeled1s-book-club-war-in-heaven.html

Geeked1’s Book Club: Project Hail Mary

An optimistic take on world-ending sci-fi (Originally posted to Substack on June 1st, 2026)

We’re back with May’s book club, and after the relatively depressing April’s Three-Body Problem, we decided to go with something a little more hopeful. Well, making waves with a blockbuster hit starring Ryan Gosling was Project Hail Mary, so we decided to discuss the book that one of the latest successful movies is based on. So, join us for Project Hail Mary (the book, not so much the movie).

We’re now a podcast, so subscribe in Apple Podcasts to listen to us discuss these (hopefully classic) books once a month.

https://rumble.com/v7ao36e-geeked1s-book-club-project-hail-mary.html

Geeked1’s Bookclub: The Three-Body Problem

Delving into Chinese sci-fi for the first time. (Originally posted to Substack on April 27th, 2026)

After spending four months reading The Brothers Karamazov, I started to get an itch for something sci-fi. Initially, I had suggested something like Project Hail Mary, but we decided to go with The Three-Body Problem this month. What we did not realize (but should have) is the lack of a clear morality in this award-winning Chinese novel. Overall, most of us did like the book and thought it was a lighter read than what we have been doing, but it was lacking a clear ground for the “good vs evil” fight that is potentially being set up, but maybe that’s just because this is the first in a trilogy, which I will probably pick up at some point. In the meantime, join us for The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu.

https://rumble.com/v793hqa-geeked1s-book-club-the-three-body-problem.html

Geeked1’s Book Club: The Brothers Karamazov Part 2

A Book Club in Four Parts (Originally posted to Substack on January 12th, 2026)

WWe’re back for the new year! There was a bit of an unexpected hiatus due to the density of this quarter of the book that we are discussing, and we are planning on having the next discussion at the end of February, so we should be back to normal after that. As I said for the last Book Club, we had initially planned on reading the first two parts of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dosteskvsky for December and then the last two parts plus the epilogue for this month, but that was moving way too fast, so now we are here for Part 2 of The Brothers Karamazov.

So, with that being said, here is a Book Club in Four Parts, plus an Epilogue (Part 2).

https://rumble.com/v792ce0-geeked1s-book-club-the-brothers-karamazov-part-2.html