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Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 9:25 pm
by Derived Absurdity
Or at least books that had a profound influence on you or are your personal favorites or whatever. Here's some of mine:

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
Cosmos - Carl Sagan
The Great Transformation - Karl Polanyi
Ecstasy: The MDMA Story - Bruce Eisner
Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky
On Writing - Stephen King
Ecstasy: The Complete Guide - Julie Holland
A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn
The Doors of Perception - Aldous Huxley

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 12:43 pm
by Derived Absurdity
u people

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 5:09 pm
by BruceSmith78
Who has time to read non-fiction? What is this, school? [none]

Sikax would probably contribute to the this thread, if he sees it.

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 5:33 pm
by Gendo
The Bible.

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2016 5:49 pm
by BruceSmith78
Didn't Liszt show up for like 5 minutes a while ago? She reads non-fiction.

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2016 12:02 pm
by Faustus5
Consciousness Explained - Daniel Dennett
Darwin's Dangerous Idea - Daniel Dennett
The Extended Phenotype - Richard Dawkins
Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky
A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn
The Emperor's New Mind - Roger Penrose (the book's thesis is garbage, but you learn a lot about physics)
Godel, Escher, Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
Lipstick Traces - Greil Marcus

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 3:31 pm
by Derived Absurdity
Good list. I still want to read Godel, Escher, Bach even though I doubt I'll understand most of it.

Never heard of Lipstick Traces. Looks interesting.

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 5:02 pm
by Faustus5
Derived Absurdity wrote:Good list. I still want to read Godel, Escher, Bach even though I doubt I'll understand most of it.
I doubt you would have any trouble. The genius of the book is in the way he's able to use carefully constructed parables to get the reader to understand incredibly complex subject matter without any expertise.

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2016 8:02 pm
by sikax
Only a handful of non-fiction books have had a profound effect on me.
Definitely the biggest three:

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Soul on Ice - Eldridge Cleaver
Rectifying God's Name - James D. Frankel


The non-fiction I read is mostly from 20th century American Black revolutionaries, so anything from that area could go here as an honorable mention.

Re: Best non-fiction books you've read

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2016 7:42 am
by Derived Absurdity
Faustus5 wrote:
Derived Absurdity wrote:Good list. I still want to read Godel, Escher, Bach even though I doubt I'll understand most of it.
I doubt you would have any trouble. The genius of the book is in the way he's able to use carefully constructed parables to get the reader to understand incredibly complex subject matter without any expertise.
Thanks. I might review it here if I get the chance, I'm interested in your thoughts.