Recommend Me Some Good Non-Fiction

[Sonic_Death]

I am looking to pick up a lot of books soon, and I already know what I want as far as Fiction goes.

What I really want to get suggestions on are some good Non-Fiction books that will give me an interesting read.

What have you guys enjoyed?

[Matt_W]

Climbing mount improbable - Richard Dawkins
Hyperspace - Michio kaku (Might be a tiny bit outdated now)
A brief history of nearly everything - Bill Bryson
How the mind works - Steven Pinker

[bluestarbass]

I just finished 2 music biographies, Marilyn Mansons and a led zeppelin one. The manson one is called long hard road outta hell, and the zep one is called hammer of the gods. Both very interesting reads. You have to like both bands to really enjoy the book. The manson one is pretty gross in parts also so you have to not be easily offended.

[*smb]

It really depends what kind of thing you're after but here's a few I've enjoyed lately

James Gleick - Chaos ('70s developments in maths told in a great anecdotal way)
Richard Feynman - Surely you're joking (interesting stories about the life of the Nobel prizewinner)
David Coulthard's autobiography (can't remember the title, stories about the life and career of the F1 driver, some familiarity with his career is probably necessary)
Alain de Botton - Status Anxiety (popular philosophy, analyses our tendency to want to compete with our friends and neighbours and how to deal with it from different philosophical standpoints)
James Lovelock - The Revenge of Gaia (a very highly regarded scientist's view on climate change etc)

[Sonic_Death]

Well just to clarify a little, though I am open to almost any Non-Fiction, I'd prefer not to read any autobiographies at this time. I was never a huge fan of them really.

[hbarcat]

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are - Carl Sagan

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by Sonic_Death

Well just to clarify a little, though I am open to almost any Non-Fiction, I'd prefer not to read any autobiographies at this time. I was never a huge fan of them really.

Read The Frank Zappa Book. You'll change your mind about biographies.

[MAJOR METAL]

Matt if you like curent events check out Ambassador John Bolton's book " Surrender is not an option ".

[Ed Fuqua]

1493 - about the fall of Constantinople, pretty fun read
The Medici Giraffe - sort of a socio cultural history of menageries/zoos and their subsequent impacts on the development of natural history and political alliances
Thinking In Jazz - not really a method book, but a pretty in depth look at (through interviews with and analysis of the playing of a number of different jazz musicians) what jazz improvisation is all about
A Vineyard in Tuscany Ferenc Mate's new book about buying some land and growing wine (well growing grapes and making wine out of them) in Tuscany, a really fun read

[Baryonyx]

Textbook on Land Law (11th Edition) by Judith-Anne MacKenzie and Mary Phillips. Absolutely dire but it's the book to teach you English Property law!

[ahkiatt]

Tom Hodgkinson: How to be idle.

Only book I read this year.

[A9X]

Originally Posted by Chris2112

Textbook on Land Law (11th Edition) by Judith-Anne MacKenzie and Mary Phillips. Absolutely dire but it's the book to teach you English Property law!

I think you should lower your meds.

[dman_113]

Merchant of Death, the authors name alludes me at the moment but very good book about the illegal arms trade in the 3rd world.

[peaveyuser]

If your a GNR fan, the book Slash is a great book, written very well. My brother just bought it, I read one chapter everything is interesting.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by A9X

I think you should lower your meds.

I think I just need to get these two exams out of the way!

[cdef]

Soft City, by Jonathan Raban. It's about the urban environment experienced as a private, internalized landscape, and most enjoyably written. I guess there's some element of fiction there, but the historical facts and observations are really interesting enough in themselves.

The Pursuit of the Millennium, by Norman Cohn. A classic socio-psychological investigation of anarchist millenarian movements in the Middle Ages.

Steps to an Ecology of Mind, by Gregory Bateson. Collected essays of a multi-disciplinary researcher.

[daofktr]

'kitchen confidential', by anthony bourdain.
not your normal autobiography...by any standard.

'poop culture: how america is shaped by its grossest national product', by dave praeger.
a serious, but funny, exploration of, well, poo.

'i am america and so can you!', by stephen colbert.

the daily show with jon stewart presents: 'america (the book): a citizen's guide to democracy inaction'.

there's a fun start.

[vbsurfer3001]

The Tao of Inner Peace - Diane Dreher (what it sounds like)

Religion & Nothingness - Keiji Nishitani (A LOT more than it sounds like)
"In Religion and Nothingness the leading representative of the Kyoto School of Philosophy lays the foundation of thought for a world in the making, for a world united beyond the differences of East and West. Keiji Nishitani notes the irreversible trend of Western civilization to nihilism, and singles out the conquest of nihilism as the task for contemporary philosophy. Nihility, or relative nothingness, can only be overcome by being radicalized to Emptiness, or absolute nothingness. Taking absolute nothingness as the fundamental notion in rational explanations of the Eastern experience of human life, Professor Nishitani examines the relevance of this notion for contemporary life, and in particular for Western philosophical theories and religious believes. Everywhere his basic intention remains the same: to direct our modern predicament to a resolution through this insight.
The challenge that the thought of Keiji Nishitani presents to the West, as a modern version of an Eastern speculative tradition that is every bit as old and as variegated as our own, is one that brings into unity the principle of reality and the principle of salvation. In the process, one traditional Western idea after another comes under scrutiny: the dichotomy of faith and reason, of being and substance, the personal and transcendent notions of God, the exaggerated role given to the knowing ego, and even the Judeo-Christian view of history itself.
Religion and Nothingness represents the major work of one of Japan's most powerful and committed philosophical minds."

[Snakeman1066]

Ghost Rider - Neil Peart (Man this one will tear you up)

The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe (About Author Ken Kesey, the father of the Acid movement and leader of the Merry Pranksters)

Don't Tell Dad - Peter Fonda

[A9X]

Originally Posted by Chris2112

I think I just need to get these two exams out of the way!

Been there. Good luck.