What book to read next?

irishguy

i am just finishing Mr.Nice , very good book well worth a read. But i am looking for a recomendation for a non-fiction book that i can learn something new from.

funky penguin

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

Its written very well, and its easy to understand. He explains little things, that other books wouldnt bother with, like scientific notation, etc.

theCzar

funky penguin wrote:

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

Its written very well, and its easy to understand. He explains little things, that other books wouldnt bother with, like scientific notation, etc.

a friend of mine was reading that a while back, and i made a mental note to borrow it, but i can't remember which friend (i'm v.popular) it was, and nobody i ask knows what i'm talking about...

I may to have to, *gulp* buy it!

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

kurt vonnegut - slaughterhouse 5

short, but... well no, it's not very sweet. Fantastic book.

humbleCounty

Mr Nice is very good,

A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemmingway are fantastic,

my dad read that bill bryson book and thought it was ****e,

The Rum Diary by Hunter S Thompson also kicks a lot of ass

Junky by Burroughs one of the best books ever

The Doors of Perception/Heaven and Hell by Alduous Huxley, very very interesting

On the Road by Kerouac ... get turned on!

funky penguin

humbleCounty wrote:

my dad read that bill bryson book and thought it was ****e,

Did you read it?

doonothing

well, my science teacher did give a fairly hefty list of stupid mistakes and assumptions of mr bryson, who probably should've stuck to travel lit...

a brief history of time, stephen hawkings is good...
straw dogs by john gray is brilliant too, blow your mind so 'twill..

humbleCounty

nope, didnt read the Bill Bryson book, havent gotten around to it yet, i'll give ita go, but the father really panned it, at the start he said it was quite interesting, (black holes etc if i remember) but as it went on it just faded

I did read A Brief History of Time, which would seem to cover some of the same ground, and that was quite good, i never got round to finishing Black Holes and Baby Universes, but as far as i can remember he has since refuted what he claims in that?

funky penguin

Yeah, i agree it looses itself towards the middle, but picks itself up as it progresses. Best thing you should do is read it for yourself and see what you make of it.

humbleCounty

Best thing you should do is read it for yourself

true that

eclectichoney

why europe will run the 21st century - rather light and fast moving account of where europe is at v the us at the moment. maybe a bit too rose-tinted tho.

irishguy

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
why europe will run the 21st century

those look good, specialty europe will run the 21st century. Anyone read any books on human behavior/psychology?

Velvet Vocals

doonothing wrote:

a brief history of time, stephen hawkings is good...
QUOTE]


A Brief History of Time isn't "good"!!! It's a work of brilliance! But also he has since dis-proven some of the theory's from it and is supposed to be currently working on the updated version, so I'd hold off unless you want to have a full understanding of the before and after theory's

Bri

eclectichoney wrote:

why europe will run the 21st century - rather light and fast moving account of where europe is at v the us at the moment. maybe a bit too rose-tinted tho.

Just got this yesterday...Already into it. It is quite light but there's still a good deal of weight behind his argument. Unsurprisingly it is a little glossy to be a complete academic work, but the author isn't some shmuck. I'd (probably) recommend it to anyone who is reasonably into current affairs - and maybe a few who need to learn a little bit more about the EU too!

bonkey

1421 - The Year the Chinese Discovered the World (by Gavin Menzies).

Best non-fiction read I've had in a long time....

<edit>
...except maybe for Stiglitz' two books, but theyre good in a more "heavy" way...
</edit>

jc

irishguy

Half way through
Superstate - The new europe and its challenge to america by stephen hassler

[Still waiting on the rest of the books from amazon , if they will ever get here]

Superstate, is a fairly heavy policital book. You would want to know a bit about politics before reading it. Still a good book though and has some very good points.

funky penguin

irishguy wrote:

Half way through
Superstate - The new europe and its challenge to america by stephen hassler

[Still waiting on the rest of the books from amazon , if they will ever get here]

Superstate, is a fairly heavy policital book. You would want to know a bit about politics before reading it. Still a good book though and has some very good points.

I've been waiting over a week for my cache of books from amazon. 3-5 days my bum.