Book list?

[JeepFreak21]

I've been on a quest lately to better myself intellectually, so I'm putting together a reading list to conquer over the next year or so. I figured I'd get better suggestions in here... so what do you guys recommend?
Thanks,
Billy

[tbburg]

"Basic economics" Thomas Sowell
"Guns, Crime, and Freedom" Wayne LaPierre
"Guns, Germs, and Steel" Jared Diamond(not about guns, don't be fooled by the title)

[joe_peters]

"Nineteen Eighty-Four" George Orwell
Anything by Rudyard Kipling
"Lucifer's Hammer" Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Anything by Robert A. Heinlein
"Animal Farm" George Orwell
"The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" William L. Shirer
Anything by William Shakespeare
"Unintended Consequences" John Ross
Anything by Earnest Hemingway

That should keep you occupied for a while.

[tbburg]

Let me shorten that up for you Joe,... :rof:
"Unintended Consequences" John Ross

That should keep you occupied for a while.

Jeepfreak: "Unintended Consequences" is a GREAT book. But if you're not into reading now, don't start with that one. My copy is 861 pages.

Also add "Hell, I was there!" by Elmer Keith. A window into how things were done only a generation or two back.

Not exactly intellect building(not conventionally, at least,) but you can also get anything by Jeff Cooper.
My personal favorite is "To Ride, Shoot straight, and Speak the truth"

[JeepFreak21]

Let me shorten that up for you Joe,... :rof:


Jeepfreak: "Unintended Consequences" is a GREAT book. But if you're not into reading now, don't start with that one. My copy is 861 pages.

Also add "Hell, I was there!" by Elmer Keith. A window into how things were done only a generation or two back.

Not exactly intellect building(not conventionally, at least,) but you can also get anything by Jeff Cooper.
My personal favorite is "To Ride, Shoot straight, and Speak the truth"

It's not that I'm not into reading, it's just that I haven't made much time for it in the last 5 years or so. The last real book I read was Atlas Shrugged, so I can handle the page count :)

Thanks guys! Keep them coming!

Billy

[JeepFreak21]

It's not that I'm not into reading, it's just that I haven't made much time for it in the last 5 years or so. The last real book I read was Atlas Shrugged, so I can handle the page count :)

Thanks guys! Keep them coming!

Billy

EDIT: $200 on the other hand... not sure I can handle that!!
http://www.amazon.com/Unintended-Consequences-John-Ross/dp/1888118040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274054391&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Unintended-Consequences-John-Ross/dp/1888118040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274054391&sr=1-1) http://www.slicky.net/smilies/eek3.gif
Billy

[joe_peters]

EDIT: $200 on the other hand... not sure I can handle that!!
http://www.amazon.com/Unintended-Consequences-John-Ross/dp/1888118040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274054391&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Unintended-Consequences-John-Ross/dp/1888118040/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274054391&sr=1-1) http://www.slicky.net/smilies/eek3.gif
Billy

Check the libraries for a copy.

[ladywolf]

i guess its what you really want to read to make yourself better?

You could try homers "the oddysey" however you have to kind of get used to the way in which it flows....

[joe_peters]

i guess its what you really want to read to make yourself better?

You could try homers "the oddysey" however you have to kind of get used to the way in which it flows....

Sort of like William Faulkner? His writing makes me want to commit acts of great violence, particularly against the teachers and professors that assigned him.

EDIT: ladywolf, aren't you supposed to be off honeymooning somewhere?

[ladywolf]

Sort of like William Faulkner? His writing makes me want to commit acts of great violence, particularly against the teachers and professors that assigned him.

EDIT: ladywolf, aren't you supposed to be off honeymooning somewhere?

Lol. I havent read william Faulkner. Another strange one is Poe....that man is REALLY weird.

Uh....yea...bout that honeymoon, lol. I had to go back to work the day we got married, and now the hubby is deployed. so I think we are gonna try to do on r and r...or when we get back.

[Shorty]

G. Gordon Liddy "Will"

best book I've ever read, and a stronger testimonial to what "can be done" than anything I've seen.

[Boatwrench]

The Coldest War by James Brady
This book describes the life of an infantry officer during the Korean War. James Brady went on to a successful career as magazine editor and publisher.

Halsey's Typhoon by Bob Drury & Tom Calvin
This book describes an event during the closing year of WWII in the Pacific. ADM Bull Halsey's fleet is decimated by a typhoon while chasing a Japanesse Fleet. The personal stories of survival by those who ships were sunk in the maelstrom are incredible.

It's Not my Department by Peter Glenn
I provide all newly appointed foreman with this book. It is an easy read and explains how simple customer service can be and the rsults of that good service.

The last days of the Late Great State of California by Curt Gentry
It's fun. It's 40 years old, buy it's fun and informative about the history of California and the states importance to the US.

Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza
The Rwhandan massacre of over one million Tutsi's by the Hutu's. It was written to describe this 22y.o. womans faith journey through 90 days of being hunted and hiding. I took away from it a sense of how easy it is for us humans to fall into being uncivilized.

Good luck,
Tom

[joe_peters]

300 million? Typo, right?

[Boatwrench]

300 million? Typo, right?

No, not a typo... a test. You passed :worship: I don't know why I typed 300 million, it was closer to 1 million people that were killed. That is still a substantial number.

[kujito]

Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide - Brian Fugere et al.

[MT Mike]

The Power of One and its sequel Tandia ~ Bryce Courtenay
Dune ~ Frank Herbert
All of J.R.R. Tolkien's books
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ~ Douglas Adams

[Begster]

Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling

[asp]

plum island, nelson demille
vertical run, joseph garber
i'm a fan of tom clancy's stuff, but not everyone likes his writing style.

[rweaver138]

shel silverstein - where the sidewalk ends
maurice sendek - where the wild things are

start out simple, then work your way big

[tbburg]

$200 for Unintended,...? WTF! I mean, it's a good book and all,..

I paid about 25 bucks for my first copy(Bought it at a sporting goods store!). Lent it out one too many times. I replaced it a couple years ago, from Barns & Noble, for about 38 bucks.

$200? What'd they do? Jail Ross for subversive activities, melt the plates, burn all un-sold copies and ban it?

Adams(great), Clancy(good, at least the early stuff), and Rowlins(Ok, but aimed at pre-teens) are pretty good reading, but I wouldn't call it educational.

For just shear pleasure, add Terry Pratchett to the list. Start with "Good Omens" then just buy anything else with his name on it.

[kujito]

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf - Harvey Penick w/Bud Shrake

If you play golf, you need to read this. It's not an instructional, but you can still learn quite a bit about playing the game.

[RichP]

Mike Resnick's 'Birthright:the book of man' one of my favorites, if you can find it, it's been out of print for like 15 years.

[Boatwrench]

Forgot Leadership Secrets of Attilla the Hun by Wes Roberts PhD.

[kdailey4315]

Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin

[5-90]

Unintended Consequences is out of print - therefore, it's gone up.

John Ross had a sequel planned, but he's also (as I recall) had a stroke - so back burner.

Might I suggest a primer in logic as well? Preferably symbolic logic - what that will do for you is allow to organise your thinking and synthesise a conclusion more rapidly than you do now (I audited a course in symbolic logic back in '86 - and I wish I'd taken it for credit! Enjoyable course, particularly for the mathematically-minded.)

Also, a primer in semantics - "The study of Meaning" - which will help you wade through the BS they're spouting in the press and start to see what they're really thinking (if you don't think their words are chosen carefully, then you're ready to buy both sides of the same acre in the Ozarks.)

Beginning studies in logic and sematics will do more for your thinking than anything else ever will! However...

Heinlein:
Starship Troopers
The Pragmatics of Patriotism
Who Are the Heirs of Patrick Henry?
Free Men
Farnham's Freehold
- And that's just the stuff off the top of my head that comes to mind. You can find excellent shorts and essays in Expanded Universe and The Past Through Tomorrow (more the former.)

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (dystopian society)
Smoke Jumpers - Paul Freeman (political satire)
Watch Demolition Man - you'll find elements of both novels.

I believe 1984 and Animal Farm have already been mentioned.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Some socialism needs to be mixed in with the capitalism to make things work - aside from "critical services" (public safety, musea and libraries for the preservation of knowledge, culture, and science; universities for education) this is really all that's left. It's the system that was posited as a pension for the elderly and the aged, and was the foundation for the Social Security Act (before it got hopelessly corrupted.)

The Federalist Papers. Collected writings of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. 1787-88. Written to persuade New York to accept the Constitution.

The Anti-Federalist Papers. Various anonymous authors. Retorts to The Federalist Papers.

That should get you started. Continue your researches from there. The "Silence Dogood" letters (Ben Franklin) also make for interesting reading.

In fact, nearly anything by Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson is good for kickstarting the little grey cells...

[5-90]

Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin

On the "Twain Vein" -
- The Curious Republic of Gondour. Posits an intersting alternative political system. Redefines the idea of a "poll tax."