Reading List '05
 

Jared Diamond came out with a new book recently. Anyone interested in the social sciences ought to read them all. Particularly my favorite two (the two most recent), Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies and Collapse. Both deal with the rise and fall of societies. I will warn any potential readers that he is a biologist first and a historian second, though he has degrees in both fields (and many others). Most of his books deal with society in relation to the environment. This does not mean, however, that he is a biased environmentalist. In fact, he's very objective.

Next on the list are two relatively old books. The Armchair Economist and Fair Play by Steven E. Landsburgh. Alone, the books are fantastic and I've read them both many times. Landsburgh is a wonderful writer and has his own internet column (if you care to read). In fact, the only writer that passes him up in wit and style is...

Deirdre McColsky with The Sins of Economics. Not to say I agree with everything she says. It's a very interesting paper (not a book) and it's got to be the best written piece of work I've ever read.

Enjoy!

Q

RE: Reading List
 

check.. will do, thanks Q

RE: Reading List
 

So, is that all this topic is good for? Because I'd like to recommend some books as well.

Obviously, I received and read Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. It's hailed as a grammar book, but really, it's a book about how to prevent stupidity from spreading further.

I also received and read Steal this File Sharing Book which is obviously a book about file sharing. I quite liked it, but the author got redundant at times. His book is very much up to date and full of awesome facts you probably didn't know about file sharing. Plus, he's quoted in my signature.

~Squeek

I'm trying to get a hold of Schrödinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality because In Search of Schrödinger's Cat was a fantastic book on quantum physics, and this is a more recent follow-up. John Gribbin rules.

Last book I read was Watership Down by Richard Adams, and it was fantastic, but I still say Gone with the Wind (Mitchell) is the best.

As for grammar, Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Connor rules.

If anyone knows a good book on imaginary numbers, I'd like to get one.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

I'm currently reading How the Light gets In, by M. J. Hyland, and it's proven to be fascinating. I'd like to recommend (at this point most guys can just skip to the next post.. boys don't like a lot of the books I read) Speak, by Laurie Halse Andersen, which is by far my favorite book ever, The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, Bongwater, whose author I forget, and White Oleander, by Janet Fitch (which has been on shelves long enough that everyone on the planet should have picked it up by now).

I read much less nonfiction than I should. The last I read was How to Stop Acting, by Harold Guskin, and that's obviously directed at a small audience. I did read a book called Physics and the Art of Dance once, and it was fantastic.. surely someone would enjoy it.

Some of you might also find Hauer & Young's A Journey into the Bible interesting. It was required reading in one of my classes last semester.

Currently reading The Da Vinci Code and I'm planning on reading Angels and Demons after it since I will not have English anymore. Both by Dan Brown.

I recommend reading The DaVinci Code as well. It's a perfect example of a poorly written up theory. If you want to try to test it's validity, just AIM convo me. I held up a good fight to Jursey...I think. She dropped the conversation, anyway.

Q

Oh please...you're just saying that because you don't agree. It's a good book, very suspenseful. I get yelled at for reading ahead. =\

I have read the Da Vinci Code. It is a very very good book. I look forward to reading Angels and Demons. Sure, maybe not everything in the book is not entire accurate, but it keeped reading for hours...which is hard, because I dont like reading.

The DaVinci Code was excellent reading if poorly supported theory, so Jursey and LD are both right. It did give me a craving for more Holy Grail stuff, which I promptly fed by watching Monty Python and canniballistic bunnies.

Really excellent books with LOTS of research behind them (you can skip the parts about plants and landscape if they bore you, but the story itself is really good): The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel and its four sequels, The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters (which I read first, loved but didn't quite understand where all the backstory came from, and went and got the others), The Plains of Passage, and Shelters of Stone. All are well over 800 pages though...slow readers beware.

More fantastical stuff that I love...Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, Douglas Adams' HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy (a trilogy in 5 parts), and any of the four-part series by Tamora Pierce. Those are aimed at a younger audience, maybe 9-14? But I am 20 and love them to death.

That is EXACTLY how I think. I'm anxious also for his new book, it's going to take off where the Da Vinci Code left off.

fingway shungwa pingsumondo noto!!!!!

This is a critical thinking forum asshat.

Bahamut, don't yell at the noob. Take it out of the forum if anything. (This is a public example)

I'm glad I made this list. So many people reading awesome books.

Jurs, you didn't sound like that when you were talking to me. You seemed to intent on that insane theory to be true.

Q

srry i have learned my lesson kinda and one name ... harry potter and the half blood prince

Well, at least this time it's on topic. I have always wanted to read the davinci code, but never got around to it, I'll have to go find a copy.

its pretty good book hard on my religion thou but well writen

Eats, SHoots and Leaves is hilarious. Lynn Truss makes a joke out of it all more than anything. Tuesdays with Morrie and THe Five People You meet in Heavan is something I would suggest. Its not heavy and its a great story. Life of Pi, Kite Runner, and DaVinci Code are all really good reads. I found DaVinci Code to kind of drag a bit, and was extrmely similar to Angels and Demons, but still worh the read. I enjoyed a modernized version of Dantes Inferno. In moving I've packed all my books up and Im not opening it to get you the author, but its really interesting how hte story was applied to modern society and the modern imagery was nice.

Books liek Watership Down and Tess of D'Ubervilles, The Awakening, Ethan Frome... those are kind of morbid to me. Good books, yes... but too morbid. Of course you've got classics liek Beowulf (which I liked...but thought the main character was stupid)... You guys should read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Ikiru, and Water Margin (since it kind of contrasts RotTK)...

i just finished Digital Fortress by dan brown, and it is a fantastic read, probably better than the da vinci code in my opinion. I'm going to get deception point and angels and demons soon i hope

i suggest sean hannity's deliver us from evil,slander by ann coulter,and persicution how liberal are waging war against christianity if you like politics and stuff.