Book Recommendations

Marcski wrote

MC2 5678F589 wrote

I read this and thought it was great:

https://www.amazon.com/One-Summer-America-Bill-Bryson/dp/0767919416

But mostly I read books about people living in cabins in the woods. Strange how people are drawn to stories about people who live completely different lives than their own.

I like a few of things that Bill Bryson has written.

I'm finishing a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. I really enjoy his sense of humor..

A couple of books I just turned my kids on to, because we have been Walt Disney World fans for a long time, are Walt Disney: An American Original and Storming the Magic Kingdom.  Kind of a departure from previous recommendations in this thread but good reads both.

Disney (still) is a bit of an American institution, even though it gets harder and harder for the average American to afford a Disney vacation.  Learning about Walt’s approach to business, his animated features, and the theme parks (in the biography) is pretty fascinating.  Reading about the scramble for the Disney assets after he, then Roy, exited the picture is an equally fascinating business expose regarding one of the biggest companies on the planet.

Disney sucks bro.

Theme parks, animated movies....I wouldn’t expect you to have much interest in or knowledge of those.  I would have thought you were intelligent enough to take notice of, maybe be interested in, the business model and practices of one of the biggest, most innovative, and influential companies in the world.  I guess I was wrong.  Bro.

Kind of like a collection of the worst nonfiction Horror you could ever imagine.  

The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President

Recently listened to a collection of short stories by Tom Hanks called Uncommon Type.  All loosely connected to a typewriter.  He did the reading, which made it even more fun.  Don't read the review if you would rather be surprised.

https://www.npr.org/2017/10/17/557189603/tom-hanks-lays-out-a-kinder-gentler-world-in-uncommon-type

I do not enjoy fiction at all.  I'm an engineer by trade so I typically just read technical books/textbooks.  I've been working my way through the MIT Press' Essential Knowledge series.  A bunch of books that cover topics at a level that's appropriate to give you a decent understanding of the topic concepts, but not get you bogged down in the low-level details.  

Each book is in the 200-250 page range, so they don't take a heap of time to work through.  I've read the Data Science, Machine Learning, Metadata, and Cloud Computing books so far, and I'm 1/4 of the way into the Technological Singularity.  I have a few more on the shelf to go, then I'll order some more.  I think I paid like $12 per book on Amazon.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/series/mit-press-essential-knowledge-series

Killers of the Flower Moon. The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.

MAy those responsible burn in hell!!  Mother fuckers!!

Turd Ferguson wrote

I do not enjoy fiction at all.  I'm an engineer by trade so I typically just read technical books/textbooks.  I've been working my way through the MIT Press' Essential Knowledge series.  A bunch of books that cover topics at a level that's appropriate to give you a decent understanding of the topic concepts, but not get you bogged down in the low-level details.  

Each book is in the 200-250 page range, so they don't take a heap of time to work through.  I've read the Data Science, Machine Learning, Metadata, and Cloud Computing books so far, and I'm 1/4 of the way into the Technological Singularity.  I have a few more on the shelf to go, then I'll order some more.  I think I paid like $12 per book on Amazon.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/series/mit-press-essential-knowledge-series

I used to be like this i.e. only reading things I thought were practically useful but in recent years I started reading fiction classics and have really enjoyed them.

I highly recommend Frankenstein.  It is/was a popular book for a reason, and if you haven't read the real story, you have no idea - it's far different than all the popularized tales.  There are a few that tried to come close in movie depiction, but all fall short by a good margin.  It's also a good tale if you are as science and technology person as you may relate to the issues that arise from technology.

Cunningstunts wrote

Turd Ferguson wrote

I do not enjoy fiction at all.  I'm an engineer by trade so I typically just read technical books/textbooks.  I've been working my way through the MIT Press' Essential Knowledge series.  A bunch of books that cover topics at a level that's appropriate to give you a decent understanding of the topic concepts, but not get you bogged down in the low-level details.  

Each book is in the 200-250 page range, so they don't take a heap of time to work through.  I've read the Data Science, Machine Learning, Metadata, and Cloud Computing books so far, and I'm 1/4 of the way into the Technological Singularity.  I have a few more on the shelf to go, then I'll order some more.  I think I paid like $12 per book on Amazon.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/series/mit-press-essential-knowledge-series

I used to be like this i.e. only reading things I thought were practically useful but in recent years I started reading fiction classics and have really enjoyed them.

I highly recommend Frankenstein.  It is/was a popular book for a reason, and if you haven't read the real story, you have no idea - it's far different than all the popularized tales.  There are a few that tried to come close in movie depiction, but all fall short by a good margin.  It's also a good tale if you are as science and technology person as you may relate to the issues that arise from technology.

Turd, you might dabble by reading some hard science fiction, as in that which is "characterized by an emphasis on scientific accuracy." For a list of representative authors, check the Wikipedia page.

Meanwhile, i highly recommend the non-fiction book, "The Shepherd's Life" by James Rebanks, a wonderful tale of a life on a third generation sheep farm in the Lake District, dealing with sheep, the seasons, the relationship with dogs and living a "normal" life in a tourist mecca.

Just finished this one.  It's required reading for military service.  Very interesting... evidence points to the fact that we are not instinctive killers of our own species.  In order to kill another human we must be conditioned like Pavlov's dog.

On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society

Oh man finished off a great book about George Washington last month.  I think the title was 1776.   Great read