I’m liking the Ender’s Game suggestion, that book is pure entertainment.
I’d also recommend The Beach by Alex Garland, as I do every book thread. It’s a modern day classic.
Right now I’m finishing up ‘Reading Lolita in Tehran’ by Azar Nafisi. Gives you a bit of an idea what it’s like living under Islamic rule.
Hey Lifticvs, if I remeber correctly, aren’t you a scientist? If so what field do you work in and can you recommend any easy books in that field?
Also I highly recommend that everyone buy a microscope (not a cheap toy, but a real one) and have a look around. I got one for christmas and had a blast playing with it. protozoa rock.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Flop Hat wrote:
I just finished reading freakonomics. I thought it was pretty good. I would certainly like to get a better understanding of economics after reading it.
Read that book also and loved it; however, don’t know if it really has anythting to do with economics just being able to answer social issue questions from an economists perspective.
What are you interested in? There are a few good science books out without too much jargon and little mathematical rigor. “A Short History of Nearly Everything”, by Bill Bryson; “The God Particle”, by Leon Lederman; “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman”, by R. Feynman, R. Leighton (Very Funny); “Jarhead”, by Anthony Swofford (Funny, but not meant to be!)[/quote]
I’ve been thinking about the ‘reading lolita in tehran’ I might have to give it a shot.
[quote]CaptainLogic wrote:
I’m liking the Ender’s Game suggestion, that book is pure entertainment.
I’d also recommend The Beach by Alex Garland, as I do every book thread. It’s a modern day classic.
Right now I’m finishing up ‘Reading Lolita in Tehran’ by Azar Nafisi. Gives you a bit of an idea what it’s like living under Islamic rule. [/quote]
Enders Shadow-O.S. Card
Brave New World-Don’t remember the author.
Masters of Chaos-true stories about Special Forces during some wars, as first hand accounts by guys who actually do the job.
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943, by Anthony Bevor.
Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944-1945, by Max Hastings
One Bullet Away : The Making of a Marine Officer, by Nate Fick
I could recommend many books across a wide range of subjects, but I’ll only mention one here.
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty
This concepts in this book are explained so simply and well that a child could understand them. Yet it’s one of the most compelling texts I’ve ever read. It covers fantastically, without ever bringing them up in formal academic style, the subjects of philosophy, social and political theory, economics, religion, and more.
[quote]Worf wrote:
You didn’t mention in your thread that you enjoyed economics but as I am an economics professor so it’s pretty much all I read so here’s what I recommend.[/quote]
Just curious, which general wing of economics do you adhere to – Keynesian (demand side) or Free Market/Austrian (supply side)? From the links which you provided I would tentatively assume it’s the latter.
[quote]Bram Wiley wrote:
Ham on Rye was so good. Post Office, Women and Pulp are great too.
[/quote]
Ham on Rye, Post Office, and Women are some of the best books that I’ve ever read…
Tales of Ordinary Madness is great too…
you should check out the poetry if you like Bukowski…
[quote]MODOK wrote:
Good suggestions all. I would have to second Black Hawk Down, John Adams, and a Bridge Too Far. All these werre fantastic. Also Flags of Our Fathers…one of the best I’ve ever read. [/quote]
Flags of our fathers was a terrific read!
Cryptonomicon–Neil Stephenson
I must admit I’m getting bored with Atlas shrugged, read all Dean Koontz…loved em! All Dan Browns, once you’ve read the Da vinci code you’ve read them all. killing pablo-very good read and for humour anything by Ben Elton…
IMHO the list should have on it:
For just plain weirdness: Gravity’s Rainbow (Jerzy Kozinski is next in line)
(or Joyce’s Finnigan’s Wake if you can read it)
Generally anything by Joseph Conrad
Ann Rand is boring…good reads if you enjoy England of the 1820-1830’s
S.M. Stirling’s Draka series.
Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom (an economist who witnessed first hand the results of leftist arguments) and to counter it John Maynard Keynes’ General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (an economist who made his fortune in the stock market before being well known)
The Republic by Plato
Lord of the Rings (Ballantine’s Publication of the 1960’s-best maps)
Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes
For the opportunity to laugh at psychology: Totems and Taboo by Freud
Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind
P.J. O’Rourke’s stuff tends to get good laughs…
Bertrand Russell’s Why I am Not a Christian…and Bishop Ware’s Orthodox Faith.
Should keep you busy for a bit…
HIJACK WARNING
I’m about to co-opt this thread a tiny little bit.
Thanks to the economists for providing a reading list. I’d also love to study up mathematics and philosophy.
For math, I’d just like to get a clue. The way it was taught back in the Stone Age, when I was in school, was “just memorize the formula and apply it when I tell you to.” Any suggestions on reading material that would deepen my understanding?
For philosophy, how about a suggested survey of readings from Western philosophers spanning, say, Aristotle to Wittgenstein?
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread, already in progress.
[quote]XX wrote:
For math, I’d just like to get a clue. The way it was taught back in the Stone Age, when I was in school, was “just memorize the formula and apply it when I tell you to.” Any suggestions on reading material that would deepen my understanding?[/quote]
Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences by John Allen Paulos is a great book about math for people who hate or don’t get math. It shows what is “fun” about math and educates on many different topic at the same time. It won’t make you an expert on any mathematical subject, but it might give you ideas on what to read next to deepen your understanding.
Beyond Innumeracy by the same author is also good; it’s presented as a sort of mini-encyclopedia, presenting 26 major mathematical subjects in more details that Innumeracy did. It can also be read in any order, perfect for those quick bathroom breaks. 
[quote]For philosophy, how about a suggested survey of readings from Western philosophers spanning, say, Aristotle to Wittgenstein?
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread, already in progress.[/quote]
For philosophy, try a book called “Sophie’s World,” by Gaarder. Although it seems easy to read, it’s quite good at getting you up to speed in PHIL, and it covers all the main players.
[quote]djoh615893 wrote:
Brave New World-Don’t remember the author.
[/quote]
Aldous Huxley
I hate you all, my reading list has multiplied and I think it might start reproducing asexually within a few days. At the moment I am waiting on my copies of The Art of War, The Book of Five Rings, and Hagakure to come in from amazon so I can dig into them. any other recommendations for books along those lines?
As far as books I have read, I tend to read fantasy novels, dragonlance and forgotten realm series, all of Tolkien’s books, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, those guys. Looking forward to getting into some mentally stimulating subject matter, keep it up!
p.s. It really PISSES ME OFF to see profiles of people on myspace/facebook that talk about how they have never read a book outside of class or don’t read. People wonder how come kids are getting worse grades these days.
[quote]Charlie wrote:
The Republic by Plato
[/quote]
I was going to recommend this, and then I figured, well, who would read it?
OTOH, Plato’s Symposium is much, much shorter and a more fun dialog to start out with.
Not cool… Freud was a tremendous innovator and founder of psychoanalysis. As with most great thinkers, his ideas go in and out of vogue (and are frequently misunderstood) or are improved upon. But that makes him no less laudable.
Another good pick.
Right now I’m working my way from barron’s “math the easy way” all the way to “precalc the easy way” . If it’s been a long time since you have studied they are great. I also read “Power Math” which was full of tricks and short cuts, but I’m still too rusty to learn much from it yet.
For philosophy I enjoyed sigmund freud’s “the future of an illusion” and “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” by carl sagan. They deal with religion, mostly. Not quite what you were looking for I know, but both great books.
[quote]XX wrote:
HIJACK WARNING
I’m about to co-opt this thread a tiny little bit.
Thanks to the economists for providing a reading list. I’d also love to study up mathematics and philosophy.
For math, I’d just like to get a clue. The way it was taught back in the Stone Age, when I was in school, was “just memorize the formula and apply it when I tell you to.” Any suggestions on reading material that would deepen my understanding?
For philosophy, how about a suggested survey of readings from Western philosophers spanning, say, Aristotle to Wittgenstein?
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread, already in progress.[/quote]
The Tough Coughs as he Ploughs the Dough
[quote]XX wrote:
For math, I’d just like to get a clue. The way it was taught back in the Stone Age, when I was in school, was “just memorize the formula and apply it when I tell you to.” Any suggestions on reading material that would deepen my understanding?[/quote]
I highly recommend starting with logic. Not only will that deepen your understanding of math, but it will go hand-in-hand with your philosophical pursuits, as well.