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Allright boys, I need your input. I'm buying books to read over the summer. The problem is that I can't think of any who really catches my interest. I've only come up with one by Jon Elster, but other than that I'm drawing blanks.
So... A little help? I've filled up with fiction, so I'm only looking for non-fiction now.
The Hunger Games are perfect casual reading for beachtime
I've been wanting to get The Managerial Revolution but I can't find it anywhere for cheap.
Yeah, I'm filled up on fiction for the foreseeable future, so I'm looking for non-fiction... Especially books on democracy or economics, but anything goes really.
Oh the obvious if you haven't, Harry Potter is seriously awesome
Gospel of Nicodemus
it's pacy
W.H. McNeill's The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000
B. Tuchman's The Guns of August
Max Boot's The Savage Wars Of Peace: Small Wars And The Rise Of American Power
Good reads one-and-all (English language)
Robert V.S. Reddick's The Red Wolf Conspiracy, because noone can be done with awesome fiction.
I'm loaded up on Skram and Dostojevskij as well as uncle tom's cabin and the great gatsby, that should be enough fiction for one summer(my reading cycle goes fiction/nonfiction/fiction/nonfiction and so on).
Also, I despise fantasy in all its forms.
All writings are fantasy to some degree, and I find that if you have a genre you can't get enjoyment out of, it's usually because you havent found the right example yet.
I just can't engage with the supernatural, and generally find it too pompous.Quote:
Originally Posted by Greyblades
Das Kapital. Should be up your alley.
Already read, of course ~;)Quote:
Originally Posted by a completely inoffensive name
Starship Troopers, for politics.
Shantaram for religion.
The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy for.. Well just basically because of it.
I disagree. Having read this with much difficulty, its a hard read even for me, who devours military history books. More like a monograph than anything else.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh
Would you like some titles explaining why black people are less intelligent than whites, and even more so, say, japanese?
THen I would suggest The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.Quote:
Originally Posted by HoreTore
Or
Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker.
He specifically said non friction bro.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kadagar_AV
I simply loved his turn on economics and the varying degrees of centralized control over time/culture. Some useful insights there. Thought it was a dense read, but not too tough to enjoy/make the connections.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hooahguy
I recommend this in every book-thread, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...ouse_of_Leaves it certainly isn't cheap but there isn't anything like it, it's an experiment in how far typography can go, some pages have only a few words, it's truly a descent into total madness like no other.
Disclaimer: it's really scary it messes with your mind
Naked Lunch. For the lulz.
Writing on Both Sides of the Brain: Breakthrough Techniques for People Who Write -- Henriette A. Klauser
non fiction book?
it's a rare book, but try "The French Armies in the Seven Year's War: A Study in Military Organisation and Administration, N.C., 1967" by Lee Kennett.
I'll level with you: it won't be up your alley--you might hate me for it in fact. Having said that, it has good laughs, like the account of an officer describing his general's routine, or the epic feud between Fenestre and d'Agay. even after almost 4 years, the lulz never cease to amaze me.
A little research on the net and some wine making gear and you can engage in alchemy :)
Transform honey into wine; it's easy, interesting, has a million variations, and it ages nicely. Cheap tasty booze you make yourself? Just say Yes!
"Congo, a history" (original title: Congo, een geschiedenis), from David Van Reybrouck. Not sure if it's already translated in English, but if not, it most likely will be.
The book won a few awards and received excellent reviews, but a few Belgian experts on Congo had some pretty harsh critique on the book. That's why I intend to read the following books after I've finished Van Reybrouck's easy-to-read and not at all boring book:
"The assassination of Lumumba" (original title: De moord op Lumumba) by Ludo De Witte (this one should be very interesting, since it prompted the creation of a Parliamentary commission in Belgium more than 30 years after the facts, to investigate the assassination of Lumumba and the involvment of Belgian authorities).
"King Leopold's Ghost", by Adam Hochschild (read it a few years ago, but will read it again now that I'm in a "Congo-mood"; it's a book that got some criticism as well)
"Rood rubber", by Daniël Van Groenweghe (I don't think it has been translated into English, but I believe there's a French translation "Du Sang sur les Lianes. Léopold II et son Congo."
Coercion, Capital and European States: AD 990 - 1992 - Charles Tilly :smoking:Quote:
Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh
Good book, but that writer is a horrible and bloated person.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andres