I used to be quiet a heavy reader of non Fiction in the past but over the last 2-3 years have fallen behind in my book reading as I started reading more and more online.
A couple of months ago, after a bit of an embarrassing discussion with a Mentor with whom I used to love discussing what new books He and I had read and what I should read next (He's a reading machine, and reads very widely and deeply on so many subjects that at times my head hurts
) I decided to purposely start reading more Non Fiction books, and made a vow to read a Non Fiction book for every Fiction book I read.
Any way he mentioned a book that he though I should read, and tell him what I thought . The book was
The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age is Stupefying Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future by Mark Bauerlein
Whose Conclusions I quiet disagreed with, but could not put exactly into words. Reading the next book, helped as it addressed many of the points raised in the previous book.
Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter by Steven Johnson
I've also always enjoyed finding out odd titbits about history and general knowledge (Blame it on a Big Brother with an encyclopaedic memory and a love for oddball quiz's) so I picked up a few more books which I really enjoyed.
Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth C. Davis is quiet interesting, and while I would not take everything as gospel, it is quiet good at getting the facts behind the myth.
The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong by John Mitchinson is also quiet interesting, and is structured that you can dip in and out. Quiet a good read.
Then I decided to pick up a book whoes name I had heard a lot about, and so got
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee. While I've not read this book cover to cover, it is really handy for just dipping in to find why you cook something in some ways, and how to do something to get a specific result.
I'm currently going through a number of Non fiction books, picking up one or the other depending upon what my mood is and how much I'm able to concentrate. So in no Particular order,
13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time by Michael Brooks Which While a good read, is not a great candidate for reading cover to cover in one go, not unless you want a headache
. I'm slowly going through it one chapter at a time, digesting it, then moving onto the next.
The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman Going through it slowly to prolong the enjoyable experience.
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman Is an interesting book, with a good take on globalisation. I'm about halfway through, as I read it when I have some time to ponder.
Next on my List (and already on my reader) is
The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production--Toyota's Secret Weapon in the Global Car Wars That is Revolutionizing World Industry by James P. Womack
Star Trek: I'm Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact by William Shatner & Chip Walter
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios
Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade