For non-fiction I would go with:
A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Mainteneance by Robert M. Pirsig
For fiction I would have to say any of the Terry Goodkind “Sword of Truth” series or most of the Dragonlance series.
[quote]deanosumo wrote:
Have to second the Hunter S. Thompson recommendations. Sad that he is gone…[/quote]
HST was the man. He went out on his own terms and has his ashes shot out of a cannon. No reason to be sad.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
I see On the Road listed a couple of times.
Poorly written book, with complete utter lack of a story.
Only interesting when you consider that it was written at a point in our history that this type of behavior was completely unacceptable. Very tame by todays standards.
It was supposedly written in a couple of days while he was on drugs. It shows in the writing.
Still worth a read.[/quote]
I heard varying opinions on this book, but have never read it. The people I know that rave about it and urge me to read it are generally the type of people I wouldn’t take book advice from.
I only know one person that doesn’t fit into the above group that has read it. I generally trust her opinion on books, and she said it is merely okay. Maybe slighlty entertaining.
As a side note (and slight hijack), I do own Innumeracy, but have yet to read it(I have other books I need to finish). It seems fascinating, but I’m into this sort of thing. Any other good math/logic/number books being recommended? Feel free to PM as to not completely hijack this thread.
[quote]Orbitalboner wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Orbitalboner wrote:
Freakanomics by Stephen Levitt
Anyone know the reason for the massive drop in the crime rate in the States throughout the 1990’s?
The legalization of abortion in 1973, read this book for more info.
One mans opinion. I have seen this dismantled many times.
Most of it is due to aging of the babyboomers.
There are less young people today to commit crimes than there used to be.
Who did the dismantling, Pat Robertson?
Hard to say it’s ‘one man’s opinion’ when he published his paper in 2001, successfully defended it against anti-abortion zealots, then won the John Bates Clark Medal for best economist under 40 in 2003.
Anyway I’d like to see you sum up this ‘dismantling’ you speak of, but maybe you should read his actual paper first?[/quote]
Steve Sailer did an excellent job of refuting Levitt’s theory:
http://www.amconmag.com/2005_05_09/feature.html
“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.
May not be what you’re looking for, but a book I had to highly recommend.
Thursday night college and pro football on ESPN and ESPN2. Great non-fiction. Should really challenge both dendritic synapses as well as terminal synapses in the hippocampus and maybe even the basal ganglia.
Consider “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” and “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking”, both by Malcolm Gladwell.
Totto Chan: Little Girl at the Window, by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
One of those books that can appeal to both a child and an adult. It is a gentle criticism of education systems based on rote-learning and conformity.
I often wonder what it would have been like to go to a school like the one the author did.
Eaters of the Dead (Previously The 13th Warrior) by Michael Crichton.
Great read.
Sterno
[quote]Y2Ray wrote:
… It is a gentle criticism of education systems based on rote-learning and conformity. [/quote]
In a similar vein, some might be interested in some of John Taylor Gatto’s books (The Underground History
of American Education) or those from Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt (The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America).
Gatto was a New Yorks school teacher for 26 years, before quitting out of disgust at having to fight a system that seems designed to prevent kids from learning anything except punctuality, accepting authority without question and keeping their mouths shut.
For a preview of some of Gatto’s arguments see here: The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher, by John Taylor Gatto
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
deanosumo wrote:
Have to second the Hunter S. Thompson recommendations. Sad that he is gone…
HST was the man. He went out on his own terms and has his ashes shot out of a cannon. No reason to be sad.[/quote]
I’m sad for purely selfish reasons- that I will never jump for joy over seeing a new book of his that I haven’t read yet in my bookstore.
cant believe that no one has mentioned the da vinci code great book!
[quote]sterno wrote:
Eaters of the Dead (Previously The 13th Warrior) by Michael Crichton.
Great read.
Sterno[/quote]
Although it’s fiction, I would have to agree that it’s a good read. It’s got a great dismantling of the Beowulf mythos.
[quote]Non-fiction wise, I have to say that the Motley Crue biography Dirt is massively entertaining, if a little scary.
[/quote]
While it won’t do anything to expand your mind, that book [i]IS[/i] massively entertaining. I didn’t even buy it. It was such a fast, entertaining read that I was able to sit down in a local book store (it’s a real laid-back store; more like a library with plush couches and chairs) and read the whole thing in just a few trips.
[quote]sterno wrote:
Eaters of the Dead (Previously The 13th Warrior) by Michael Crichton.
Great read.
Sterno[/quote]
Is that the same 13th Warrior that was made into a movie?
[quote]quest520 wrote:
cant believe that no one has mentioned the da vinci code great book![/quote]
I personally like Angels & Demons better. I know they’re essentially the same book, but I just liked it better. I was one of the very few people I know who actually read A&D first, maybe that’s why.
[quote]deanosumo wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
deanosumo wrote:
Have to second the Hunter S. Thompson recommendations. Sad that he is gone…
HST was the man. He went out on his own terms and has his ashes shot out of a cannon. No reason to be sad.
I’m sad for purely selfish reasons- that I will never jump for joy over seeing a new book of his that I haven’t read yet in my bookstore.
[/quote]
I can agree with that. He was entertaining to the end though.
Winnie the Pooh (Seriously)
[quote]TQB wrote:
Winnie the Pooh (Seriously)[/quote]
Homo!
For non-fiction, I would go with The Tao of Pooh and for fiction I highly recommend Illusions by Richard Bach