Top Book Picks (Non-Training)

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Into the Wild by Jon Krakuer

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[quote]nolecat wrote:
TQB wrote:
Winnie the Pooh (Seriously)

Homo![/quote]

Nope, just a bear with a very small brain.

63

[quote]CC wrote:
sterno wrote:
Eaters of the Dead (Previously The 13th Warrior) by Michael Crichton.

Great read.

Sterno

Is that the same 13th Warrior that was made into a movie?
[/quote]

Yes it is.

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The Education of Cyrus - Xenophon.
The Histories [Inquiries] - Herodotus.
The Gay Science [Not what you think] - Nietzsche

Fiction:

The Raj Quartet [The Jewel in the Crown] - Paul Scott
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

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[quote]sinnaman18 wrote:
Anything by R.A. Salvatore… I am serious; this guy is consistently THE BEST fantasy writer.

-M[/quote]

Just started my first R.A Salvatore book!
The writing is awesome so far. I always gave fantasy novels the “pshht”, but I’ve been missing out.

Drizzt is an “interesting” character…

66

Bret Easton Ellis:
American Psycho
Less than Zero
Glamorama

Chuck Palahniuk:
Fight Club
Stranger Than Fiction (Short Story Collection)

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[quote]nopal_juventus wrote:
Catch-22.

I don’t care if it’s fiction.

Read it.

Best. Book. Ever.[/quote]

this needed to be repeated. it is the best book ever, im on to my 5th re-reading of it and if anything its getting better.

and i think Bill Brysons’ “a short history of nearly everything” is the best non-fiction book for a beginner, like the title says it covers pretty much everying and it will get you interested in different aspects of science.

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LOoking for something different try
“cradle to cradle”
its a great read

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Consider also:

  1. The Great War for Civilization: the Conquest of the Middle East (Robert Fisk) - a light and easy read of about 1300 pgs;

  2. Teaching As a Subversive Activity (Dr. Neil Postman/Charles Weingartner) - an oldie but goodie, as it were;

  3. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (again, Dr. Postman and again an oldie but goodie);

  4. Plutarch on Sparta: Nuff said. Don’t wait until the movie “300” (a reference, incidentally, to the troop of the most elite of Spartan warriors) comes out to find out about the battle of Thermopylae.

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There have been loads of great recommendations so far.

I will definitely add my voice, to the seething mass vouching for Hunter S. Thompson.

‘A Brief History of Time’ by Stephen Hawking, is a book that leaves you with a feeling of how little you know, despite how much you learn from reading it. (IMO a good thing).

I was surprised to see R.A. Salvatore mentioned, I read ‘Echoes of the Fourth Magic’ when I was about 10 and still the author’s name sticks with me.

I would also recommend, ‘Understanding Power’ by Noam Chomsky. It is a little less dry than his other books and provides and insight into an awesome intellect.

‘Everything you need to know about the music business’ by Donald S Passman is an incredibly detailed work which is frequently updated and helps to de-mystify, what can be, quite an arcane area of popular culture.

I also think that pretty much everything that Richard Dawkins writes is immensely profound whilst remaining pithy and humorous throughout.