What nonfiction book are you currently reading?
- Thread starter arnisador
- Start date
I just picked up Sam Kean's The Violinist's Thumb from the library. Sounds very interesting. I'm also in the process of reading his The Disappearing Spoon (which my daughter gave me for Christmas) which led me to look for other books by him.
To follow up The Violinist's Thumb I am reading The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins. I misspelled Tale as Tail which had me chuckling.
Not to worry, an easy mistake to make, sfs.
Currently about to make a start on:
"Cox's Navy" by Tony Booth - a book about salvaging the German High Seas Fleet from Scapa Flow
"Battlecruisers" by John Roberts (bet you can't guess what it's about
)
"The Grand Fleet" by D. K. Brown (early C20th warship design)
Currently about to make a start on:
"Cox's Navy" by Tony Booth - a book about salvaging the German High Seas Fleet from Scapa Flow
"Battlecruisers" by John Roberts (bet you can't guess what it's about
)"The Grand Fleet" by D. K. Brown (early C20th warship design)
Invisible: Britain's Migrant Sex Workers, by Hsiao-Hung Pai. She goes undercover working in a brothel as a maid. I bought the book after reading the excerpt here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/15/brothel-regret-not-working-sex-trade
It is very well done, but it is gut-wrenching.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/15/brothel-regret-not-working-sex-trade
It is very well done, but it is gut-wrenching.
dancingalone
Grandmaster
Bean by Bean. A cookbook with beans(duh) as the primary focus. It has mostly vegetarian and vegan recipes though some contain a bit of meat and obviously one can always use an animal based stock for flavor instead of vegetable stock. I have tried a few of the Indian-inspired curries and stews and they are tasty and healthy.
Recently read Leadership & Training For The Fight by Paul Howe. Lots of good concrete leadership advice for folks who take others in harm's way, along with some stuff that applies to other leaders, too.
Reading (finally!) Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.
Also recently read Sleights of Mind by Stephen L. Macknik & Susana Martinez-Conde. Very interesting inside view of why stage magic works...
Reading (finally!) Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.
Also recently read Sleights of Mind by Stephen L. Macknik & Susana Martinez-Conde. Very interesting inside view of why stage magic works...
Electronics for the Guitarist. And it's kicking my butt.
How many windings are you going to put in your pickups?
Haven't gotten that far in the theory. I'm still trying to figure out how a vacuum tube works.
The Annals of the Grand Monadnock, by Allen Chamberlain. A book written in 1936 that covers the history of my fave mountain. I thought I would be tearing through it, but I haven't. Its not an easy; Chamberlain's writing style is antiquated and his references to the life the way it was viewed in the 1800s is not always easy to follow.
The information is quite fascinating. It provides a level of insight in to the life the early residents of the towns had in the early 1800s, including many of their challenges, difficulties, and victories in a way that I have not seen before.
The information is quite fascinating. It provides a level of insight in to the life the early residents of the towns had in the early 1800s, including many of their challenges, difficulties, and victories in a way that I have not seen before.
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by biologist Richard Dawkins
Shuto
Purple Belt
I'm currently reading Moby Duck. This is a story about a shipment of child bath toys that falls overboard and end up being found on beaches throughout the word. While that's the "plot" the book is really more about the pervasivness and problems with plastic pollution. But that's not why I enjoy it. The author meets many people in his travels colecting information for this book and describes them and the weird situations that he finds himself in using a very entertaining style of writing. It's a bit like Steinbeck's Travels with Charlie in that regard. Travels with Charlie isn't just about some guy and his dog traveling around the US. Similarly, Moby Duck is much more than a tale about lost bath toys.
http://www.amazon.com/Moby-Duck-Bea...UTF8&qid=1370276800&sr=1-1&keywords=moby+duck
Another book I just started reading is Gulp which describes our digestive system. When the author is describing the role of smell in eating, she takes us to a laboratory that experiments with pet food. Did you know that the way pet food smells after it has been "processed" by your pet is just one of the considerations pet food designers take inot account? I didn't. I also didn't know that the smell of food that really turns a dog on is horrible to us humans so they don't use it.
In describing the other end of the digestive track she takes us to a prison and interviews a person who is very adept at using part of the digestive track for smuggling. The chapter is both funny in describing the training and the process as well as amazing in what people shove up their behind.
A well written and entertaining book that will also teach you something about the subject.
http://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Adventur...t&ie=UTF8&qid=1370277759&sr=1-1&keywords=gulp
http://www.amazon.com/Moby-Duck-Bea...UTF8&qid=1370276800&sr=1-1&keywords=moby+duck
Another book I just started reading is Gulp which describes our digestive system. When the author is describing the role of smell in eating, she takes us to a laboratory that experiments with pet food. Did you know that the way pet food smells after it has been "processed" by your pet is just one of the considerations pet food designers take inot account? I didn't. I also didn't know that the smell of food that really turns a dog on is horrible to us humans so they don't use it.
In describing the other end of the digestive track she takes us to a prison and interviews a person who is very adept at using part of the digestive track for smuggling. The chapter is both funny in describing the training and the process as well as amazing in what people shove up their behind.
A well written and entertaining book that will also teach you something about the subject.
http://www.amazon.com/Gulp-Adventur...t&ie=UTF8&qid=1370277759&sr=1-1&keywords=gulp
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