I need something new. I just finished "A short history of nearly everything" by Bryson. That is typically the genre I lean toward. I'm not against fiction though. If someone really swears by a certain fiction book I would be willing to try it out. What do you all suggest?

8/29/2009 2:43:06 PM

have you read any of Ray Kurzweil's stuff?

i've also been eager to read Wired for War


[Edited on August 29, 2009 at 2:45 PM. Reason : fiction is overrated. there's enough fiction in the nonfiction we read ]

8/29/2009 2:43:51 PM

Is he the guy who (in a round about way) thinks terminator will really happen?


After a google search I have answered my questions. no.

[Edited on August 29, 2009 at 2:48 PM. Reason : df]

8/29/2009 2:47:22 PM

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8/29/2009 2:49:08 PM

Obviously there are a million threads on the subject. I made this so I could explain my specific taste. This way people know not to suggest books by people like Italo Calvino.


[Edited on August 29, 2009 at 2:53 PM. Reason : gh]

8/29/2009 2:51:39 PM

if you like Bryson, maybe you'd like Richard Dawkins as well - at least his science-related books, not necessarily the atheism-related ones (although those are good too, of course) - The Ancestor's Tale, The Selfish Gene, and The Blind Watchmaker

others, by category
Physics/Astronomy - The Future of Spacetime, Time Travel in Einstein's Universe, Richard Feynman's "What do you care what other people think"

Science/Skepticism - The Demon-Haunted World, Cosmos, Small Blue Dot all by Sagen, Flim-Flam by James Randi, Why People Believe Weird Things and Why Darwin Matters by Michael Shermer

Psycology/"interesting things" - Outliers, Blink and The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell, Quirkology by Richard Wiseman, and of course Freakonomics, that kind of started the whole "quirky economics" craze, Braniac by Ken Jennings (yes, the Jeopardy guy)

[Edited on August 29, 2009 at 3:36 PM. Reason : .]

8/29/2009 3:33:55 PM

I just finished The God Delusion by Dawkins, it was great. I just started The Selfish Gene, it looks to be an equally satisfying read

8/29/2009 4:18:47 PM

^^^ Sorry, thought you might find something useful in those 27 pages.

I guess you're the only person who likes non-fiction and some fiction.

[Edited on August 29, 2009 at 4:23 PM. Reason : ]

8/29/2009 4:22:46 PM

Ended up going with "The Ice Man". It's about a mafia contract killer.

8/29/2009 9:13:56 PM

i fucking HATE Ray Kurzweil. Motherfucker has some quasi-religious fantasy that we're going to be living in a utopia in 30 years and that it's going to happen just under his normal lifespan (how lucky for him) and then he's going to live forever and reanimate his dead father... all because we'll have developed true AI, a feat that we haven't made considerable progress towards in 60 years.


Anyway, all I read anymore is nonfiction. I finished off the Malcom Gladwell trifecta a while back. Recommend.

I just finished "Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution". Pretty damn good if you're into that sort of stuff.

I'll third the recommendation on Dawkins. I read "Blind Watchmaker" (which was good except for a few meandering rants against 20 year old creationist arguments) and "The God Delusion".

8/30/2009 7:24:01 AM