What are your favorite non-fiction books? - Page 4

owl123 · 04-08-2010, 04:05 AM

Robert Cialdini's Influence and Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational. Both on social psychology. Very readable and fun.

beppe · 04-08-2010, 09:34 AM

I read more non fiction books than fiction, even not taking into account the books that are related to my profession.

Most of them regard our local politics in a wide sense, which, as most of Italian things, is particular, funny, despicable, tasty or just messy. They keep publishing one after the other new block busters that easily exceed a million copies each. I more or less read all of them to argue with fellow commuters or to follow the debates on TV, which are better than movies. In the class of Hellzapoppin'.

I want to point out three non fiction books that I keep going back to, to refresh a notion or just to re enjoy a particular concept.

The Clash of Civilizations

that one can read on line, download and build himself an ebook or buy the pdf for 99 cents.
It's 18 years that it was published and it raised quite a turmoil. I find it very useful.

A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russel that I keep reading since I was in high school. Sony Bookstore carries it but watch out it is faulty.

The Rhetoric of Aristotle.
I got mine from Adelaide. We have it on MR from the same source.

Of the whole book I keep going back to the first chapters of book II, where the emotions, the various types of human character and the gifts of fortune that may influence them, are examined and discussed in the typical Aristotle way, that is systematic, detached, clear and down to earth. A very useful legacy 2300 years old, in plain English, pure gold.

GrouchoM · 04-10-2010, 04:56 AM

i have been reading fiction mostly butthat is because nonfiction books are way too expensive in pk but i will be reading mostly nf when i get my ereader next month. i really enjoyed down and out in paris and london by orwell recently though.

daizyduke · 04-24-2010, 02:03 AM

any book by Ann Rule. I just read "Slash" - a biography about the guy in Guns and Roses. Next I think I will read "When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead" by Jerry Weintraub.

DoctorOhh · 04-26-2010, 04:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

I read very very little non fiction, but this one stuck.

Glenn Beck

An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems

My (then 15 year old) daughter bought this a while back and read it straight through. She really loved the formatting of this book and the ADHD moments spread throughout the book. It loses a lot of its aesthetic appeal when turned into an ebook.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction but one that I read over 30 years ago and still sticks with me was:

Joni: An Unforgettable Story by Joni Eareckson Tada

FlorenceArt · 04-26-2010, 04:31 AM

Two non-fiction books that stayed with me though I read them years ago:

Backlash by Susan Faludi, on the backlash against advances in women's condition in the U.S. The main subject of the book is not as outdated as one might think, in fact I think it's still very relevant. But what I found most interesting maybe, was the description of a press that was no longer driven by a motivation to reveal the truth, but to present a version of the truth that they think will sell, and therefore to shape our beliefs based on what they think these beliefs are.

Violence and the Sacred by René Girard, followed by Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, which extends his theory to include parts that he didn't include in the first book. I don't "believe" in his theory in the way he seems to (as a kind of unifying theory of human society and religion) but I still think it has many very interesting insights, and it has kept me thinking all those years. I've been planning to re-read the first book for a while (I read the second one fairly recently but the first was more than 20 years ago I think).

ddave · 04-29-2010, 11:54 AM

My first biography was Patton, which caused me to ask; "why didn't they teach us this stuff in history class..."
Much more recently, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World" by Jack Weatherford (a history professor in Minnesota). It seems he was invited to join a group of academics who were engaged in decoding and translating an ancient Mongolian text telling the story of Khan's life. I think he goes a bit overboard in crediting Khan with many technology advancements (even the Renaissance), but likely he could be credited with several and the book certainly gives an interesting perspective.
A very interesting read!

pshrynk · 04-29-2010, 01:48 PM

Lately I've been reading David McCullough biographies. Big and a bit sloggy in parts, but very enlightening of the subject.

rhadin · 04-29-2010, 02:15 PM

If I have to pick one it would be Abraham Lincoln: A Life by David Burlingame. It's long (2000 pages in 2 hardcover volumes) and expensive ($125 in hardcover) but it is the biography of Lincoln and clearly demonstrates that at least in the early years of America, the American dream could truly become a reality for everyone's betterment.

Hamlet53 · 04-30-2010, 12:19 PM

I find that I pull Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark off of my bookshelf at least once a month. Sometimes to glance at only a few pages, sometimes to read an entire chapter, and sometimes to read complete.

It would not make a good e-book though, at least not for any of the readers of conveniently portable size. To many illustrations in a book where illustrations are everything. Comparable to trying to appreciate The Night Watch from a picture postcard.

FlorenceArt · 04-30-2010, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

I find that I pull Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark off of my bookshelf at least once a month. Sometimes to glance at only a few pages, sometimes to read an entire chapter, and sometimes to read complete.

It would not make a good e-book though, at least not for any of the readers of conveniently portable size. To many illustrations in a book where illustrations are everything. Comparable to trying to appreciate The Night Watch from a picture postcard.

I think I need to get my hands on that book. I've seen it mentioned around here already, and it sounds extremely interesting.

NickSpalding · 04-30-2010, 01:59 PM

As someone with a strong interest in the second world war, I find the late Stephen Ambrose's books to be very good reads. He wrote several...most famous of which is probably Band of Brothers because of the mini-series. I'm currently reading The Pacific by his son, Hugh.

prodygi · 05-08-2010, 01:05 PM

I think Roger Penrose's book, "The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe" was a great book for someone trying to 'understand the mathematics' in those areas of physics, along with just about any other area...

04-08-2010, 09:34 AM	#47
beppe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,161 Karma: 81026524 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Italy Device: Kindle3, Ipod4, IPad2	I read more non fiction books than fiction, even not taking into account the books that are related to my profession. Most of them regard our local politics in a wide sense, which, as most of Italian things, is particular, funny, despicable, tasty or just messy. They keep publishing one after the other new block busters that easily exceed a million copies each. I more or less read all of them to argue with fellow commuters or to follow the debates on TV, which are better than movies. In the class of Hellzapoppin'. I want to point out three non fiction books that I keep going back to, to refresh a notion or just to re enjoy a particular concept. The Clash of Civilizations that one can read on line, download and build himself an ebook or buy the pdf for 99 cents. It's 18 years that it was published and it raised quite a turmoil. I find it very useful. A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russel that I keep reading since I was in high school. Sony Bookstore carries it but watch out it is faulty. The Rhetoric of Aristotle. I got mine from Adelaide. We have it on MR from the same source. Of the whole book I keep going back to the first chapters of book II, where the emotions, the various types of human character and the gifts of fortune that may influence them, are examined and discussed in the typical Aristotle way, that is systematic, detached, clear and down to earth. A very useful legacy 2300 years old, in plain English, pure gold. Last edited by beppe; 04-08-2010 at 04:38 PM.

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04-08-2010, 04:05 AM	#46
owl123 Addict Posts: 234 Karma: 214 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy NotePro 12.2, InkBook	Robert Cialdini's Influence and Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational. Both on social psychology. Very readable and fun.

04-10-2010, 04:56 AM	#48
GrouchoM Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: none	i have been reading fiction mostly butthat is because nonfiction books are way too expensive in pk but i will be reading mostly nf when i get my ereader next month. i really enjoyed down and out in paris and london by orwell recently though.

04-24-2010, 02:03 AM	#49
daizyduke Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kindle	any book by Ann Rule. I just read "Slash" - a biography about the guy in Guns and Roses. Next I think I will read "When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead" by Jerry Weintraub.

04-26-2010, 04:31 AM	#51
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	Two non-fiction books that stayed with me though I read them years ago: Backlash by Susan Faludi, on the backlash against advances in women's condition in the U.S. The main subject of the book is not as outdated as one might think, in fact I think it's still very relevant. But what I found most interesting maybe, was the description of a press that was no longer driven by a motivation to reveal the truth, but to present a version of the truth that they think will sell, and therefore to shape our beliefs based on what they think these beliefs are. Violence and the Sacred by René Girard, followed by Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, which extends his theory to include parts that he didn't include in the first book. I don't "believe" in his theory in the way he seems to (as a kind of unifying theory of human society and religion) but I still think it has many very interesting insights, and it has kept me thinking all those years. I've been planning to re-read the first book for a while (I read the second one fairly recently but the first was more than 20 years ago I think).

04-29-2010, 11:54 AM	#52
ddave Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Minnesota, USA Device: none	My first biography was Patton, which caused me to ask; "why didn't they teach us this stuff in history class..." Much more recently, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World" by Jack Weatherford (a history professor in Minnesota). It seems he was invited to join a group of academics who were engaged in decoding and translating an ancient Mongolian text telling the story of Khan's life. I think he goes a bit overboard in crediting Khan with many technology advancements (even the Renaissance), but likely he could be credited with several and the book certainly gives an interesting perspective. A very interesting read!

04-29-2010, 01:48 PM	#53
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	Lately I've been reading David McCullough biographies. Big and a bit sloggy in parts, but very enlightening of the subject.

04-29-2010, 02:15 PM	#54
rhadin Literacy = Understanding Posts: 4,833 Karma: 59674358 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The World of Books Device: Nook, Nook Tablet	If I have to pick one it would be Abraham Lincoln: A Life by David Burlingame. It's long (2000 pages in 2 hardcover volumes) and expensive ($125 in hardcover) but it is the biography of Lincoln and clearly demonstrates that at least in the early years of America, the American dream could truly become a reality for everyone's betterment.

04-30-2010, 12:19 PM	#55
Hamlet53 Nameless Being	I find that I pull Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark off of my bookshelf at least once a month. Sometimes to glance at only a few pages, sometimes to read an entire chapter, and sometimes to read complete. It would not make a good e-book though, at least not for any of the readers of conveniently portable size. To many illustrations in a book where illustrations are everything. Comparable to trying to appreciate The Night Watch from a picture postcard.

04-30-2010, 01:59 PM	#57
NickSpalding Addict Posts: 270 Karma: 1041222 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle	As someone with a strong interest in the second world war, I find the late Stephen Ambrose's books to be very good reads. He wrote several...most famous of which is probably Band of Brothers because of the mini-series. I'm currently reading The Pacific by his son, Hugh.

05-08-2010, 01:05 PM	#58
prodygi Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Sony PRS-505	I think Roger Penrose's book, "The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe" was a great book for someone trying to 'understand the mathematics' in those areas of physics, along with just about any other area...

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