Saturday, October 2, 2010

List 03: 100 Non-Fiction Books To Read

Posted by Tiger Bailey at 1:38 PM
When people ask the question "Have you ready any good books lately?" it almost always carries the unspoken implication that the "good books" in query are pieces of prose fiction. I've never really understood this stance - the sort of stand-offish way people approach a book about something not rife with escapism and subtext, as though suggesting that a text on the culture of the ancient Minoans, or a work on the beautiful mathematical patterns around us is to be abhorred.

In fact, whilst looking for some important and interesting non-fiction work suggestion I stumbled across the following quote: "...many of the books you'll read during your college career -- and possibly in the rest of your life -- probably won't be novels. Instead, they'll be non-fiction: textbooks, manuals, histories, academic studies, and so on....Here, finding out what happens -- as quickly and easily as possible -- is your main goal. So unless you're stuck in prison with nothing else to do, NEVER read a non-fiction book from beginning to end."

This list, then, sets out to improve my palette by consuming 100 non-fiction books, whether they be biographical, scientific, historical, or anything in between - these works are here not only to entertain, but also to educate. Hopefully, by the end of this list, I've learned a great deal, and I've inspired some of you guys to read some of the books on here as well (if you already haven't!)

Once again, until the list is full, please continue to leave suggestions for me in the comments section - it's all part of making the ten thousand...
  1. More Information Than You Require - John Hodgman
  2. Guns, Germs, And Steel - Jared Diamond
  3. An Anthropologist On Mars - Oliver Sacks
  4. A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
  5. The Paradox Of Choice - Barry Schwartz
  6. The Art Of War - Sun Tzu
  7. Bulfinch's Mythology - Thomas Bulfinch
  8. On The Origin Of Species - Charles Darwin
  9. Godel, Escher, Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
  10. How To Survive A Robot Uprising - Daniel Wilson
  11. The Abolition Of Man - C.S. Lewis
  12. The Republic - Plato
  13. The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
  14. The Principia - Isaac Newton
  15. A Brief History Of Time - Stephen Hawking
  16. The Interpretation Of Dreams - Sigmund Freud
  17. Critique Of Pure Reason - Immanuel Kant
  18. Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel
  19. Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
  20. Handbook To Life In Ancient Rome - Lesley & Roy Adkins
  21. Book Of Lost Books - Stuart Kelly
  22. Eats, Shoots And Leaves - Lynne Truss
  23. Never Hit A Jellyfish With A Spade - Guy Browning
  24. Don't Swallow Your Gum - Aaron Carroll & Rachel Vreeman
  25. The Fabric Of The Cosmos - Brian Greene
  26. What To Eat - Marion Nestle
  27. How To Lie With Statistics - Darrell Huff & Irving Geis
  28. Why Evolution Is True - Jerry Coyne
  29. Consider The Lobster - David Foster Wallace
  30. Zen Yoga - Aaron Hoopes
  31. Eat Smart - Aaron Hoopes
  32. The Periodic Table - Primo Levi
  33. The Know It All - A.J. Jacobs
  34. The Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollan
  35. Lies My Teacher Told Me - James Loewen
  36. In Defense Of Food - Michael Pollan
  37. A Distant Mirror - Barbara Tuchman
  38. The Mother Tongue - Bill Bryson
  39. Elizabeth: The Struggle For The Throne - David Starkey
  40. Last Chance To See - Douglas Adams & Carwardine
  41. This Is Your Brain On Music -  Daniel J. Levitin [Recommended By Sam]
  42. Unweaving The Rainbow - Richard Dawkins [Recommended By Sam]
  43. The Black Swan - Nassim Taleb [Recommended By Scrummitch]
  44. On Liberty - John Stuart Mill [Recommended By Alexander Bowler]
  45. Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt [Recommended By Belinda Frew]
  46. Shakespeare - Bill Bryson [Recommended By Noni] 
  47. The Weather Makers - Tim Flannery [Recommended By Noni]
  48. Bubbles, Botox, & Bumbreath - Dr Karl Kruszelnicki [Recommended By Noni]
  49. Modernity & Self-Identity - Anthony Giddens [Recommended By Hopstar72]
  50. Deviance, Conformity, & Control - Sharyn Roach Anleu [Recommended By Hopstar72]
  51. Stigma - Erving Goffman [Recommended By Hopstar72]
  52. Reflexive Modernisation - Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens, & Scott Lash [Recommended By Hopstar72]
  53. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins [Recommended By A Tall Dark Stranger]

5 comments:

  1. homemaderecipesOctober 2, 2010 at 2:29 PM

    Books that shaped my life:) Very sociological but....

    John Howard Griffin - Black Like Me

    Jean Baudrillard
    1. The Gulf War Did Not Take Place"
    2. Simulacra and Simulation
    3. The Vital Illusion

    Nikolas Rose - Governing the Soul: The Shaping of the Private Self

    Anthony Giddens - Modernity and Self-Identity. Self and Society in the Late Modern Age.

    Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens & Scott Lash - Reflexive Modernization. Politics, Tradition and Aesthetics in the Modern Social Order.

    Anthony Giddens - How Globalization is Reshaping Our Lives

    Erving Goffman -
    1. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity
    2. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates.

    Sharyn Roach Anleu - Deviance, conformity & control

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarcastic CookieOctober 2, 2010 at 10:57 PM

    Here's a few for you:

    Bertrand Russell on God and Religion (Great Books in Philosophy) - Bertrand Russell, Al Seckel (ed)
    A History of Western Philosophy - Bertrand Russell
    Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits - Bertrand Russell
    Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy - Bertrand Russell

    Ideas and Opinions - Albert Einstein

    The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank

    Moab Is My Washpot - Stephen Fry
    The Fry Chronicles: An Autobiography - Stephen Fry

    Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream - Hunter S Thompson
    Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail - Hunter S Thompson
    Fear And Loathing In America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist - Hunter S Thompson

    ReplyDelete
  3. A Tall Dark StrangerOctober 3, 2010 at 4:01 PM

    The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
    The Bible

    ReplyDelete
  4. TeacupJanuary 7, 2011 at 2:25 PM

    I'm thinking 'Lazarus Rising' - the John Howard memoir, and 'Battle Lines' by Tony Abbott, and whatever Costello's book was called. Three men who have (and will continue to) shape the Australian political landscape. (I didn't say it would be pleasant reading.)

    Also, "The Rise & Rise of Kerry Packer", "Jonestown" - more people who have influenced our society for better or worse.

    And there's one about H. H. Holmes and the World Fair... "The Devil and the ..." I can't remember what it's called...

    "Billy" by Pamela Stephenson...

    Okay, that's my brain wracked for today. I'm sure I'll think of some later.

    ReplyDelete
  5. KylieJanuary 24, 2011 at 1:09 PM

    If there is one book I would say you have to add too your list it would have to be 'Tuesdays with Morrie' by Mich Albom. That book is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read and its quite an easy read. I own this one if you want to borrow it.

    I noticed you have Freud in your list to read - I struggle with Freud's work. Carl Jung was another psychologist of Freud's time and was influenced by Freud's work however he also disagreed with a lot of Freud's teachings - on my own list of things to read is a compilation of the letters the wrote to each other discussing theories - I thought you might be interested too. "The Freud/Jung Letters" edited by William McGuire.

    I noticed someone else said the Bible and I am all for that but I am not sure if you would be willing to call that Non-fiction. There is a book called "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel, which actually discusses the evidence for Jesus. I want to encourage you to read it.

    I am sure I can think of others but I have to go right now but I will have a good think about it.

    Oh and since this is my first comment here - I think this is an awesome thing you are doing :D It be cool if you could create some sort of check list so you and your readers can see what you have completed in each list

    ReplyDelete

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