What nonfiction book are you currently reading?

[Jonathan Randall]

I went to Barnes & Noble today and ... I'll tell ya, I'm the biggest sucker for their bargain shelves they ever saw coming. They see me walking in from the parking lot and start jumping up and down with glee.

Today I (finally) bought 'The Art of War' - the only one I could find, but I don't think it's the one I was looking for ... it's translated by Yuan Shibing and is small (I figured I could read it while waiting for others or in the john or something until I get my hands on the bigger one). Hey, it was only $5.

But the one I've already begun reading is 'The Most Evil Women in History' by Shelley Klein. She essays on Lizzie Borden, Audrey Hilley, Valeria Messalina, Agrippina the Younger, Tz'u-Hsi, Catherine the Great, Queen Ranavalona, Elena Ceausescu, Mary Ann Cotton, Marie Noe, Rose West, Grace Marks, Aileen Wuornos, Myra Hindley and Karla Homolka. $7.

I noticed Martha Stewart and Nancy Reagan aren't on the list ...

Me too! I love the bargain shelves at B&N. I bought "Dracula" unabridged on cassette for $12.00 same with "Little Women"!

I saw the same book you speak of. I couldn't believe they didn't have a chapter on Elisabethe Bathory.

Right now I'm re-reading "Shogun". Great novel.

 

[hardheadjarhead]

The Closing of the Western Mind: The rise of faith and the fall of reason, by Charles Freeman.

A background in classical history might help a bit in approaching this...but it is a wonderful book. I'm going to have to check out Freeman's other books. He's very clear in his writing, and he takes intellectually weighty topics and makes them understandable. I do so hate writers who get caught up in jargon or who can't construct a concise sentence. Freeman is not one of those. He writes very, very well.



Regards,


Steve

 

[still learning]

Hello, I am currently enjoying reading all the books by "Marc, the animal, Macyoung

just read - Cheap Shots, Ambushes, and other lessons.
- Violence, Blunders and Fractured Jaws. and Ending Violence Quickly.

also on my on desk is "The Gentle Art of Self-Defense at Work by Suzette Elgin

Finish " What Holding You Back" and "Tongue Fu " by Sam Horn

Marc the aninmal was a tough guy and bouncer, his stories are real life stuffs and what can happen to you and how to avoid troubles.

"Judo Fu" is good too, The Kona Police department recommend their officers to read the book.


So many books....so little time..........Aloha (current collection on Martial art books is at just over 100 books so far)

 

[arnisador]

When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops, by George Carlin.

 

[arnisador]

The Extended Phenotype, Richard Dawkins

 

[hardheadjarhead]

I've often thought of getting Dawkins, but every book I've seen has print so damnably small that I couldn't read it even with reading glasses.

I'm reading Bryan Perrett's "Impossible Victories," and just finished the charge of the Gordon Highlanders at Dargai.


Regards,


Steve

 

[Korppi76]

Now reading "Secrets of Samurai" byOscar Ratti& Abele Westbrook.
Also reading "Introduction to GPRS" & "3 G systems"

 

[Loki]

The Extended Phenotype, Richard Dawkins

:asian: Kudos to you, fellow Dawkins reader!

I'm reading The Selfish Gene (also by Dawkins) and The Probability of God by Stephn D. Unwin.

Just finished Authenticity by David Boyle.

arnisador, how's Phenotype? and did you read Selfish Gene?

 

[KenpoTess]

Just started Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, Book One: Prodigal Son .. pulled me in on the first page

Just finished Harry Potter's 6th book, and Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1) by Christopher Paolini (who was only 15 when he wrote it.). looking forward to his next one due out this month.

~Tess

 

[arnisador]

arnisador, how's Phenotype? and did you read Selfish Gene?

I read The Selfish Gene and really got a lot out of it. I started Phenotype a few years back, got distracted and set it aside, and have just gone back to it. I'm halfway through it. I don't find it as eye-openeing as Gene, and in fact many parts amount to rebuttals to criticisms of Gene, but there's still much good stuff in there. Also, I understand that the final four chapters of Phenotype are where the good stuff is supposed to be.

I enjoy Dawkins' writings. He's realy thinking deeply about evolution, in a very broad sense.

 

[Shorin Ryuu]

I just got my reprint of Nakasone Genwa's Karatedo Taikan. It is definitely a treasure trove for a Japanese reading (I can fake it, at least) karateka. If all else fails, it serves as a great source of martial arts pictures from the early decades of the 1900s.

 

[arnisador]

On Ayn Rand, by Allan Gotthelf

 

[ed-swckf]

A book on shell scripting from o'reily

 

[arnisador]

Philosophy of Logic, W.V. Quine

 

[OnlyAnEgg]

Currently, I am reading The Te Of Piglet. My 13 year old daughter is reading my copy of The Tao Of Pooh, both by Benjamin Hoff.


egg

 

[someguy]

"America as Second Creation" David E. Nye
I can't put it down...Mainly because I can't seem to pick it up. Stupid classes making me read stupid books. Sigh I should go read now.

 

[bignick]

On Killing by Dave Grossman

 

[arnisador]

On Nietzsche, by Eric Steinhart

I like this On ... philosophy series, though the Kripke one was a let-down.

 

[Martial Tucker]

Currently have 2 non-fiction books in progress:

Critical Path, by Buckminster Fuller


Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

[arnisador]

Introducing Bertrand Russell, by Dave Robinson