Book recommendations

[Farr Be It]

Visions of the Anointed. By Dr. Thomas Sowell. Brilliant man. Underrated intellect

Also, the Bible. Wisest book evaaaah.

 

[1maGoh]

Right now, they're all on Google Docs. I haven't published anything yet (still working on grammar structure - my weakness - for Poached), but the entirety is finished. I want to publish it to a magazine or something, but I'm not sure where to go with it. So, there's that.

You should publish them on Amazon or something. I know at least one poor slob who would buy a short story (or collection) for $.99-$1.99. And if they're any good I have a few friends I have a good track record recommending things to.

For what it's worth, the sample chapter of your superhero deconstruction was good, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Meaning I think you're probably more talented than you give yourself credit for.

 

[Raptorman]

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.

I'll up you one on "Endurance" Read "Endurance" by Aflred Lansing. It's about Shackleton's journey to the south pole that well, went south. 28 men, two years on the ice in the Antarctic. And they took photos, glass plates that they hauled with them.


Second choice. "Reach for the Sky". Paul Brickhill. Story of Douglas Robert Stuart Bader. Legless fighter pilot during WW2.

 

[1maGoh]

I've recently finished The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack and Peak by Robert Pool and Anders Ericsson.

I highly recommend GGOB. Highly. We got a new CEO at my job. This is one of the books he told our current leadership team to read. He has basically been turning companies around and making them will successful for a living for a while now. Not like, he takes them over runs everything to make a profit, then sells them. Legitimately just makes them better companies and helps them get sold.

Peak was a very interesting book about elite performance. Basically it comes down to intentional and deliberate practice. There are no child prodigies. There are no natural talents. At elite levels, IQ has been proven to be irrelevant. It's all about practice. They've even managed to teach kids (as little easier) and adults (harder) to have perfect pitch. That was previously thought impossible; you either had perfect pitch or you didn't. Everything is about practice. Really motivating if you are into working hard.

 

[1maGoh]

The book trailer for the next Dresden Files book came out today! I'm ridiculously excited.

It's "exclusively" at io9.

Check Out Our Exclusive Peek at Jim Butcher's New Dresden Files Entry, Peace Talks

Chicago wizard Harry Dresden returns for more magical mayhem in Peace Talks, the latest in fantasy author Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, which marks its 20th anniversary this year. At long last there’s some hope that the supernatural conflicts that’ve been tearing the city apart might be...

io9.gizmodo.com

Jim Butcher doesn't pay me. I'm just a huge fan of this series.

 

[thirteen28]

I just finished Tiamat's Wrath, which is book 8 of The Expanse book series, for those that are into sci-fi ... and it's incredible. But you have to read the first seven of the series to get it.

Some other recent reads include
- The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan
- The Dirt - the Motley Crue autobiography
- Conviction Machine by Harvey Silvergate and Sidney Powell
- Licensed to Lie by Sidney Powell - both this and the previous are great reads if you care the broken state of our federal "justice" system, but require a medical warning for those with high blood pressure because reading them will certainly raise it'
- Deep Undercover by Jack Barsky - an autobiography of a former KGB illegal in the U.S..
- The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, by Nikki Sixx - his diaries from 1987 when his heroin addiction was at its worst, a very good book but there is a lot of depressing stuff in there, although it's uplifting toward the end when he chronicles his post addition life and thoughts.

If anyone wants to read a book that explains why everything is so crazy in the world, from Brexit, the 2016 US election, the sweeping of populism across the globe, I strongly recommend this book, The Fourth Turning:

View: https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Turning-American-Prophecy-Rendezvous/dp/0767900464


It was actually published in 1998, but the authors saw, based on a repeating pattern, that we would be in somewhat of a crisis state right now, as occurs about every 80 years, give or take 10 either side (e.g., Revolutionary period ... abolition movement/civil war ... Great Depression/WWII ... and now this).

Visions of the Anointed. By Dr. Thomas Sowell

Seconded. But you could have put any title by Dr. Sowell and I would have said that

 

[GBRam15]

Peak was a very interesting book about elite performance. Basically it comes down to intentional and deliberate practice. There are no child prodigies. There are no natural talents. At elite levels, IQ has been proven to be irrelevant. It's all about practice. They've even managed to teach kids (as little easier) and adults (harder) to have perfect pitch. That was previously thought impossible; you either had perfect pitch or you didn't. Everything is about practice. Really motivating if you are into working hard.

I went through this thread some time back and saw your recommendation. I finished the book a couple of weeks ago and found it very interesting as well. I had already read Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning which has ideas that overlap with the concepts discussed in Peak. Both of these books have altered how I will look at learning, taking on new hobbies, or trying to develop difficult skill sets in the future. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[1maGoh]

I went through this thread some time back and saw your recommendation. I finished the book a couple of weeks ago and found it very interesting as well. I had already read Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning which has ideas that overlap with the concepts discussed in Peak. Both of these books have altered how I will look at learning, taking on new hobbies, or trying to develop difficult skill sets in the future. Thanks for the recommendation.

This thread is now a success. I'm glad you liked it. I'll definitely check out Make It Stick.

 

[Mackeyser]

I purchased Peterson's book and gifted it to my son.

Kristen Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Boy's Life by Robert McCammon

Gone South by Robert McCammon is maybe the 2nd best book of it's type only bested by The Stand by Stephen King.

Damn, was that book good!

 

[Mackeyser]

It's old, but The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone is my favorite non Sci-Fi book of all time.

It's the biographical novel of Michelangelo. I mean...oof. It's just so good.

 

[RhodyRams]

The SciFi fans here should go back in time and read some Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote 2001 A Space Odyssey back in 1968



As for the business minded here, try Never Split the Difference

 

[1maGoh]

The SciFi fans here should go back in time and read some Arthur C. Clarke, who wrote 2001 A Space Odyssey back in 1968



As for the business minded here, try Never Split the DifferenceView attachment 34883

I've seen never split the difference a few times, but never purchased. I haven't purchased any negotiating books because I tend toward two extremes (so laid back I might as well not be present or all the conflict, right now, about everything) so I am worried I won't actually take in any wisdom from them. It's probably stupid, but that's the reason.

What would you say was most impactful to you from it?

 

[Dieter the Brock]

Day of the Dolphin

 

[Loyal]

Chariots Of The Gods
By... Erich von Daniken


The 12th Planet
By... Zecharia Sitchin


Humans Are Not From Earth
By... Ellis Silver

So you're an Alien denier...I see you...

 

[RamsFanCK]

If you like epic fantasy, great world building, and cool magic systems then definitely check out The Stormlight Archive books by Brandon Sanderson, actually anything by Brandon Sanderson really.

I'm currently reading book 2 of the Lightbringer Series by Brent weeks, definitely enjoying it.

The Indifferent Stars Above was probably the best book I've ever read about the Donner Party Incident.

if you're into true crime you can't go wrong with some Ann Rule. The Stranger Beside Me would be my first choice.

The Close Encounters Man was an awesome biography of J. Allen Hynek and how he began to believe in the UFO phenomena while attempting to disprove it.

 

[RamsFanCK]

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.

Dan Carlin recently published his first book! It's kinda derived from the themes he takes with each podcast series. There is a chapter in there about epidemics as well, which of course fits nicely with the times..

Check it out!

 

[Tron]

Patrick Rothfuss - Kingkiller Chronicle. Amazing fantasy book with magic and shit. Book 3 isn't out yet but first two are amazing

Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn trilogy/ Stormlight Archive. Mistborn is a must read, reminds me of star wars but with a odd magic system. Stormlight Archive is on the 3rd book of a planned 10 and is beyond amazing. Fantasy at its best.

Stephan King - The Dark Tower series. Mixes fantasy, western, drama, Sci-fi, horror, and everything in between

 

[Tron]

If you like epic fantasy, great world building, and cool magic systems then definitely check out The Stormlight Archive books by Brandon Sanderson, actually anything by Brandon Sanderson really.

I'm currently reading book 2 of the Lightbringer Series by Brent weeks, definitely enjoying it.

The Indifferent Stars Above was probably the best book I've ever read about the Donner Party Incident.

if your into true crime you can't go wrong with some Ann Rule. The Stranger Beside Me would be my first choice.

The Close Encounters Man was an awesome biography of J. Allen Hynek and how he began to believe in the UFO phenomena while attempting to disprove it.

lol you posted this as i was making my list with Brandon Sanderson. Agree anything by Sanderson is good, read most of his shit.

Also the Night Angel Tilogy by Brent Weeks is quite awesome as well. Assassin badass.

 

[RamsFanCK]

Patrick Rothfuss - Kingkiller Chronicle. Amazing fantasy book with magic and shit. Book 3 isn't out yet but first two are amazing

Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn trilogy/ Stormlight Archive. Mistborn is a must read, reminds me of star wars but with a odd magic system. Stormlight Archive is on the 3rd book of a planned 10 and is beyond amazing. Fantasy at its best.

Stephan King - The Dark Tower series. Mixes fantasy, western, drama, Sci-fi, horror, and everything in between

Yeah, waiting on the Doors of Stone has been one of life's disappointments, so far. 9 years and counting....

How excited are you for the Rythm of War (Book for of the Stormlight Archive) man! November can't get here fast enough!

 

[RamsFanCK]

lol you posted this as i was making my list with Brandon Sanderson. Agree anything by Sanderson is good, read most of his shit.

Also the Night Angel Tilogy by Brent Weeks is quite awesome as well. Assassin badass.