Books Worth reading (Any subject)

[mugsy]

Here's my top five:

1. The Bible (even for the non-religious), ok so it is a collection of books/letters/epistles, anyone in Western Europe or the USA who is ignorant of the basic stories of the Bible is ignorant of his own culture. (My only recommendation is don't try to read it end to end unless you are a very disciplined reader, look at the summaries and pick a book that piques your interest)

2. U.S. Grant's Memoirs - edited by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). Surprisingly well written and, unlike most Civil War memoirs, it doesn't read as if written just to settle a score.

3. Any of the C.S. Forester Horatio Hornblower novels - anything useful I know about tall-ships and naval warfighting came from these books. Also, Gene Roddenberry based the Star trek character Capt. Kirk on Capt Hornblower.

4. The Way Things Work - by David Macaulay. Everything I should have learned in school.

5. For local history buffs try The Carbine and the Lance by Wilbur Nye. One of the most even handedly written histories of the interactions and conflict between the U.S., the settled tribes, and the wild tribes of Oklahoma.

OK, that's my two cents - what's yours?

 

[Shadowrider]

American Rifle - by Alexander Rose

Interesting as hell. Covers all of the military rifles through America's history, the design, manufacturing, capabilities, how they were utilized, the shenanigans among the various armories and the bickering among those in charge of procurement in the military over tactics and doctrine. Very well written too.

 

[blazeitornot]

Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates and Pirate Utopias by Peter Ludlow - Rise of the Warrior Cop by Radley Balko - No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald

 

[somarsmi]

American Rifle - by Alexander Rose

Interesting as hell. Covers all of the military rifles through America's history, the design, manufacturing, capabilities, how they were utilized, the shenanigans among the various armories and the bickering among those in charge of procurement in the military over tactics and doctrine. Very well written too.

This looks like a book I would like.

I would suggest On Combat- by Lt. Col. Grossman and The Heart and the fist- by Eric Greitens.

 

[Dale00]

... anyone in Western Europe or the USA who is ignorant of the basic stories of the Bible is ignorant of his own culture.

"Call me Ishmael" , the sufferings of Job, the prodigal son, Ruth the Moabite, David the shepherd boy turned warrior and king. Joseph - betrayed, enslaved, falsely imprisoned but "what you intended for evil, God used for good". So many stories worth knowing in depth.

For Oklahomans: "A Tour on the Prairies" by Washington Irving

"A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold - beautiful insights into nature and man's relation to it including "The Good Oak"

Horatio Hornblower novels - definitely

John Muir, "The Wild Muir - Twenty Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures"

 

[SM Rider]

The Law by Frederic Bastiate

Age of Reason by Thomas Paine

The Rights of Man, again by Thomas Paine

The Lysander Spooner Reader with intro by George H. Smith

Natural God by Beth Houston

 

[Cohiba]

My reading goes from one end of the spectrum to another..........here goes.

Dr.Stephen Hawking:

A Brief History of Time

The Grand Design

A Briefer History of Time

Black Holes and Baby Universes

On the Shoulders of Giants: The Great Works of Physics And Astronomy

The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe

That's what I've read from him so far. Quite fascinating AND if I remember correctly his first wife wrote a book about their marriage, his beginning stages of ALS, and his work.......need to look it up and find this book if there is such a book.

Most to all of the Tony Hillerman books. I thinks its pretty cool how a fellow Okie fell in love(like myself) with the Southwest. He used fictional Navajo police characters but the locations (and if they haven't been torn down or changed)....stores, trading post, coffee shops are/were real places. I remember a few years back Robert Redford made a few of his books into PBS movies.

Most to all of Charles Darwin. I believe he wrote around 20-something books but I've only had the chance to read four but I love to read books about him and his work.

It dumb founds me how people label him as anti-Christian but he received his degree in theology and was an ordained Parson. He came from a well to do family of conservatives and some of his family members were prominent abolitionists!!! His father was a medical doctor and I believe his brother became one......why Charles didn't finish medical school....remember at his time of medical school there either wasn't an effective anesthesia or they didn't have or use on surgery.....basically watching med-school surgery freaked him out -so he quit.


Lots and lots of Autobiography/Biography.....here's my spectrum.....Buck Owens to Sonny Barger .........Dr. Timothy Leary to Albert Einstein.........Rommel to Patton.

Lately magazines;

Cigar Afficionado

Wrist watch magazines...........Watch and Wrist Watch

Motorcycle magazine........The Horse

Santa Fean magazine

South West Art magazine

Chile Pepper magazine

Guns of the Old West magazine

I guess as of lately..........magazines.

*** If you don't want to purchase ........don't forget the OKC libraries!!!

 

[SoonerP226]

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer. Military history. Story of the Battle off Samar. This ought to be required reading in high school.

Neptune's Inferno: The US Navy at Guadalcanal, also by Hornfischer. Military history; something of a "prequel" to Last Stand. As much as Last Stand shows us how we beat the Japanese, this makes us question how we were able to do it.

The Martian by Andy Weir. Sci-fi. About an astronaut who, thought dead, is left behind on Mars, and must figure out how to survive. Very solid science and engineering, and an outstanding story.

Daemon and Freedom(tm) by Daniel Suarez (Suarez used the pen name "Leinad Zeraus" (think on that long enough and you'll get it) on very early editions of Daemon). Sci-fi/technothriller. Set in the "just over the horizon" future, the two novels form a single larger story.

Go Like Hell by AJ Baime. Racing History. The story of how Ford set out to conquer Le Mans and succeeded.

Craig Johnson's Longmire series. Crime Fiction set primarily in Wyoming. The Audible versions are read by George Guidall, who is an outstanding narrator.

Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe series. Historical military fiction. Set in India prior to and Europe during the Napoleonic Wars, it follows Richard Sharpe from being a private in His Majesty's Army in India to being a Lieutenant Colonel at Waterloo.

As You Wish by Cary Elwes and Joe Layden. Memoir. Primarily Elwes's memoir of the making of The Princess Bride, but includes significant contributions by other cast and crew members. The Audible version is primarily read by Elwes, with many of the surviving cast members reading their own portions.

All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Military Sci-Fi. Basis for the movie Edge of Tomorrow.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Crime drama. Basis for the movie of the same name.

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. Military fiction. Long read; rather faithfully captured by the movie of the same name, although there's much more in the novel.

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think? by Richard Feynman. Memoir/autobiography. Fascinating insights on life, politics, and lots of other subjects by one of the most brilliant minds this country has even produced.

Ghost In the Wires by Kevin Mitnick and William Simon. Memoir/autobiography. Legendary hacker Kevin Mitnick's story, as told by Mitnick.

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. Scifi. Lots of interesting philosophy (particularly libertarian philosophy in Mistress) disguised as good sci-fi.

 

[OKNewshawk]

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein. Scifi. Lots of interesting philosophy (particularly libertarian philosophy in Mistress) disguised as good sci-fi.

I see you those RAH books and raise you with The Puppet Masters and Glory Road.

 

[SoonerP226]

I see you those RAH books and raise you with The Puppet Masters and Glory Road.

I liked The Puppet Masters and The Door Into Summer, but I haven't gotten to Glory Road yet. I was more bringing out the philosophical attributes of Mistress and Troopers. I finally got around to reading his multiverse books within the last year or so, and it takes awhile to get over those, particularly To Sail Beyond the Sunset. Severe "ick" factor.

I guess on the philosophical bent, I should've included Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park.