Book recommendations

[1maGoh]

We have a lot of people into a lot of different things here and I thought it would be cool to get people taking about the books they read. Similar to the "Rate the last film you saw" thread, but I didn't want to limit it to the last book.

I mostly listen to audio books now, and somebody asked about those recently, but I used to read dead tree books all the time. Children ruined that. Thanks kids. Anyway, it doesn't matter if it's learning books, self help, fiction, science, or whatever. Just recommend something good.

I''m not sure if this needs to be split into two threads one for fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc, and one for business, history, learning, self help, etc.

I'll give two to start off.

How Google Works
Highly recommend

I should probably include the author's but I don't remember and I'm too lazy to go look it up. This was a really interesting book about how they built their culture and maintain their level of performance. Obviously they aren't giving away business secrets, but they are giving away culture secrets which might be more important. The whole thing revolves around what they call "smart creatives". Basically really smart, really creative people who are internally driven to create and improve great things. I'm very interested in business, culture, leadership, etc so this was an interesting look into how a really successful company does that. Very enjoyable.


Night wise by RS Belcher
Urban fantasy, highly recommend (if you're into that)

This one is a cool story about a guy who is kind of a redneck wizard prodigy. A friend of his asks him to track down the guy who killed his wife. He gets a really eclectic group of acquaintances, gets involved in some really weird, crazy stuff, and it's all just really interesting. The ending leaves a little too be desired, but the beginning and end make up for it. He makes a big deal out of the music people are listening to, so if you're into music it might be even better. I'm not. It didn't make an impact on me. The sequel, The Night Dahlia, and the shared universe series Brotherhood of the Wheel and King of the Road are also excellent. The author makes an effort to be intentionally diverse, so if that's your thing it checks that box.



Anybody have any good books you recommend?

 

[PA Ram]

I have been reading the Jeff Shaara series on WWII and they are outstanding. Not only are they very entertaining, they are also informative.

I am also reading, "Endurance" by astronaut Scott Kelly who spent a year on the space station. Also very interesting. Anyone we send in to space right now must leave from Russia ever since we stopped the space shuttle missions. Also he has a 30 percent greater chance of getting cancer than the general population after his space exposure. They will study him for the physical effects for the rest of his life.

Good book.

 

[1maGoh]

I have been reading the Jeff Shaara series on WWII and they are outstanding. Not only are they very entertaining, they are also informative.

I am also reading, "Endurance" by astronaut Scott Kelly who spent a year on the space station. Also very interesting. Anyone we send in to space right now must leave from Russia ever since we stopped the space shuttle missions. Also he has a 30 percent greater chance of getting cancer than the general population after his space exposure. They will study him for the physical effects for the rest of his life.

Good book.

That's cool. I've been meaning to read more autobiographies, but I haven't picked any up yet.

 

[fearsomefour]

I do a lot of audio books as I have a fair amount of windshield time.
Most recently Jordan Peterson 12 Rules for Life.
Thought provoking in certain ways.
Ive enjoyed it so far.

 

[norcalramfan]

I am currently re-reading Patrick O'Brian's "Aubrey and Maturin" books (there are 20 of them) set in the Napoleonic Wars of 200 plus years ago. "Master and Commode, Far Side of the World" a movie starring Russell Crowe a few years back combined several of the books into one movie. 200 hundred years is not so long ago and the number of Naval Expressions still in use today is amazing.

 

[1maGoh]

I do a lot of audio books as I have a fair amount of windshield time.
Most recently Jordan Peterson 12 Rules for Life.
Thought provoking in certain ways.
Ive enjoyed it so far.

I've been thinking about adding that one too my wish list/TBR list. Is it worth it?

 

[dieterbrock]

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a must read IMO

 

[1maGoh]

Also, if anyone was thinking "hey, I should read some of the classics. I'll start with The Picture of Dorian Gray!"

Don't. It's boring, long winded, and really disappointing.

On the other hand, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was much better. It was different than I expected. Good as far as classics go.

 

[fearsomefour]

I've been thinking about adding that one too my wish list/TBR list. Is it worth it?

I think so.
I enjoy Petersons observational/comparitive style.
But I am a super nerd when it comes to book/audio.
I read or listen to a lot of psychology stuff, medical journals, finance, history and bios. Hardly ever fiction.
Last long drive with the wife she was looking at what I had in the car....Peterson, A History of the Black Plague, a book about nuero plasticity and recover from head injury, a book about investing in emerging tech. Nerd alert!!
So she put her ear buds in and listened to Metallica.
Haha.

 

[1maGoh]

I think so.
I enjoy Petersons observational/comparitive style.
But I am a super nerd when it comes to book/audio.
I read or listen to a lot of psychology stuff, medical journals, finance, history and bios. Hardly ever fiction.
Last long drive with the wife she was looking at what I had in the car....Peterson, A History of the Black Plague, a book about nuero plasticity and recover from head injury, a book about investing in emerging tech. Nerd alert!!
So she put her ear buds in and listened to Metallica.
Haha.

I really struggle to balance my love it fiction with my desire to learn new stuff.

I listened to The Design of Everyday Things and a couple different Great Courses on military and business strategy.

 

[TexasRam]

I do a lot of audio books as I have a fair amount of windshield time.
Most recently Jordan Peterson 12 Rules for Life.
Thought provoking in certain ways.
Ive enjoyed it so far.

Im a huge Jordan Peterson fan. His youtube videos are legendary. I got 12 rules for life on hardback for Christmas but my eyes cant handle print anymore or I get a headache. I need to get the Audiobook!

 

[1maGoh]

Im a huge Jordan Peterson fan. His youtube videos are legendary. I got 12 rules for life on hardback for Christmas but my eyes cant handle print anymore or I get a headache. I need to get the Audiobook!

Audiobooks are the way to go. I have been reading books at a rate I haven't been able to since summer in middle School.

Well then and when I discovered Jim Butcher. That guy rocks. Hanna down best series I've ever read. He's freaking amazing.

 

[CeeZar]

How about a podcast recommendation instead. I've been reading some history these last few years but I was turned onto by listening to Dan Carlin Hardcore History podcasts.

https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

Truly great stuff. Dan has amazing way of relating history that really gives you the full flavor of the times. His older stuff is not available on the website for free, but is available to purchase for a few bucks. He did a 4 or 5 part series on Rome that must be 20 hours worth of podcast. Then another 3 on the Punic wars that was probably another 10 hours.

The ones currently on the website are 6 podcasts on WWI which are amazing and three parts on the Persian empire. Plus a few others.

 

[1maGoh]

How about a podcast recommendation instead. I've been reading some history these last few years but I was turned onto by listening to Dan Carlin Hardcore History podcasts.

https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

Truly great stuff. Dan has amazing way of relating history that really gives you the full flavor of the times. His older stuff is not available on the website for free, but is available to purchase for a few bucks. He did a 4 or 5 part series on Rome that must be 20 hours worth of podcast. Then another 3 on the Punic wars that was probably another 10 hours.

The ones currently on the website are 6 podcasts on WWI which are amazing and three parts on the Persian empire. Plus a few others.

Podcasts are awesome too! I think I've heard of that one, but I'm not sure. I'm probably going to have to make time for it somewhere in my life.

I used to listen to Writing Excuses a lot. That one is for authors/aspiring authors (@Memento and I think @LoyalRam you might want to check it out).

I had Masters of Scale recommended to me. That one is about business. The guy who does it also wrote Blitzscaling which was a very interesting book. If you read it and get inspired I would also recommend reading Exponential Organizations. That one is the same topic (fast growing start up businesses) but it's much crunchier.

 

[Mackeyser]

I do a lot of audio books as I have a fair amount of windshield time.
Most recently Jordan Peterson 12 Rules for Life.
Thought provoking in certain ways.
Ive enjoyed it so far.

Because of my Auditory Processing Disorder (it's like dyslexia for hearing), I'd rather be punched in the face than read to.

I tried to listen to an audio book and after about 15 seconds, I nearly had a panic attack in my car and was spamming the eject CD button so fast, my finger was a blur.

I wished I could listen to audio books because I have the kind of time that I'd go through 200+ a year, easy.

 

[Mackeyser]

I'm currently reading Black Light by Stephen Hunter.

It's the origin story of Bob Lee Swagger, the lead character from the movie, Shooter. Seems it's an entire series. I'm REALLY enjoying it, but the dialog is REAL. Part of it takes place in Arkansas in the 50s which means there's a LOT of N-words being thrown around. I didn't take issue because the use was historically accurate and valid for the characters, but whoo boy, you sometimes forget what people actually sounded like back then...like really sounded like, not what was on TV.

After this, seeing as I have a New Year resolution to read a book a week (I'm 4 weeks behind, but I'll be doing a LOT of catching up after the Super Bowl), I plan to finish the Dark Tower series by Stephen King as well as see if I can read all of the Jack Reacher novels.

I tend to not like recent biographies because they seem to be all a bunch of self-promotion.

Last biography I really liked was about Gen George S Patton. It was super interesting, especially his youthful years.

I already do a lot of research on various things on the internet, so I read quite a lot, but I do need to make more time to both read books as well as write.

 

[shovelpass]

Murder In Plain English- it's a true crime novel about the psychology of killers and their reasoning/motives for it through writing. They read and analyze manifestos of some well known killers and some lesser known ones too. If you're into that sort of thing

 

[Selassie I]

Chariots Of The Gods
By... Erich von Daniken


The 12th Planet
By... Zecharia Sitchin


Humans Are Not From Earth
By... Ellis Silver

 

[1maGoh]

Chariots Of The Gods
By... Erich von Daniken


The 12th Planet
By... Zecharia Sitchin


Humans Are Not From Earth
By... Ellis Silver

You're so outdoorsy I wouldn't have thought you would read much. What are those books. They sound different.

 

[Selassie I]

You're so outdoorsy I wouldn't have thought you would read much. What are those books. They sound different.

Oh yeah, they're different all right.

LOL


The titles should give you a little hint... but you can goog these and get a little insight.