Must.Read.Non.Fiction (publishing, series, favorite, summary)

[Rob Allen]

I recommend anything by Barbara Tuchman. I particularly liked A Distant Mirror.

[PlainWhite]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

I would say American Sniper by Chris Kyle (different and less PC than the movie) and The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump.

Also "Who Are We" by Samuel P Huntington who deals with not just the economic but the cultural threat posed by illegal immigration, and The Roots of Obama's Rage by Dinesh D'Souza

Above all, though, the best non-fiction book ever would have to be the Bible.

This is the one of the funniest posts I've read in a long time. Thanks! I needed a good laugh today.

[BeerGeek40]

One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch


One of the great investing books ever. Should be must.read.non.fiction. in our public school systems rather than garbage like Shakespeare!

[KathrynAragon]

I just got done reading an excellent non fiction book:

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown, Paperback | Barnes & Noble

In April of 1846, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and fourteen others set out for California on snowshoes, and, over the next thirty-two days, endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors.

In this gripping narrative, New York Times bestselling author Daniel James Brown sheds new light on one of the most legendary events in American history. Following every painful footstep of Sarah’s journey with the Donner Party, Brown produces a tale both spellbinding and richly informative.

I've read several books over the years about the unfortunate Donner party, but this was the best by far.

[southwest88]

Finished:


Engineers of victory : the problem solvers who turned the tide in the Second World War / Paul M. Kennedy, 1945- , c 2013, Random House, 940.54 KENN.


Subjects

• World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns.
• World War, 1939-1945 -- Naval operations.
• Naval convoys -- Atlantic Ocean -- History. -- 20th century.
• World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations.
• Bombing, Aerial -- History -- 20th century.
• World War, 1939-1945 -- Amphibious operations.
• Amphibious warfare -- History -- 20th century.
• World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Pacific Area.
• Germany -- Armed Forces -- Organization.
• Germany -- Armed Forces -- History -- World War, 1939-1945.

Notes

• How to get convoys safely across the Atlantic -- How to win command of the air -- How to stop a blitzkrieg -- How to seize an enemy-held shore -- How to defeat the "tyranny of distance" -- Conclusion: problem solving in history

Summary

• "Engineers of Victory" is a new account of how the tide was turned against the Nazis by the Allies in the Second World War, the focus being on the problem-solvers: Major-General Perry Hobart, who invented the "funny tanks" which flattened the curve on the D-Day beaches; Flight Lieutenant Ronnie Harker "the man who put the Merlin in the Mustang"; and Captain "Johnny" Walker, the convoy captain who worked out how to sink U-boats with a "creeping barrage".

Length xxvi, 436 pages, [16] pages of plates : maps, tables, photos. Bibliography, chapter notes, index.


A systems look @ the Allies & WWII. Very interesting, excellent writing, putting campaigns in their World & war context.

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by Unsettomati

Cheryl Strayed's Wild

I don't recommend reading the book and then watching the movie. The movie left A LOT out, including some pretty key points in the book.

Originally Posted by Holly-Kay

Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. One of the best business books ever but is also very applicable to personal life.

I had a boss once who had us all read this. I put it off and put it off and was the last one in the dept to read it. After reading it, I ended up quitting my job. Not the outcome my boss was expecting!

Maybe I should re-read it...

I think everyone should read "The Five Love Languages." It can help with all relationships in your life, not just romantic ones. I also found "The Year of Yes" by Shonda Rhimes to be quite inspiring.

As for the non-self-help type, "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown is excellent.

[southwest88]

Just finished


And yet ... : essays / Christopher Hitchens, c2015, Simon & Schuster, 814.54 HITC




Notes[

• Che Guevara : goodbye to all that -- Orwell's list -- Orhan Pamuk : mind the gap -- Bring on the mud -- Ohio's odd numbers -- On becoming American -- Mikhail Lermontov : a doomed young man -- Salman Rushdie : Hobbes in the Himalayas -- My Red-state odyssey -- The turkey has landed -- Bah, humbug -- A.N. Wilson : downhill all the way -- Ian Fleming : bottoms up -- Power suits -- Blood for no oil? -- How uninviting -- Look who's cutting and running now -- Oriana Fallaci and the art of the interview -- Imperial follies -- Clive James : the omnivore -- Gertrude Bell : the woman who made Iraq -- Physician, heal thyself -- Edmund Wilson : literary companion -- On the limits of self-improvement, part I : of vice and men -- On the limits of self-improvement, part II : vice and versa -- On the limits of self-improvement, part III : mission accomplished -- Ayaan Hirsi Ali : the price of freedom -- Arthur Schlesinger : the courtier -- Paul Scott : Victoria's secret -- The case against Hillary Clinton -- The tall tale of Tuzla -- V.S. Naipaul : cruel and unusual -- No regrets -- Barack Obama : cool cat -- The lovely stones -- Edward M. Kennedy : redemption song -- Engaging with Iran is like having sex with someone who hates you -- Colin Powell : Powell valediction -- Shut up about Armenians or we'll hurt them again -- Hezbollah's progress -- The politicians we deserve -- Rosa Luxemburg : Red Rosa -- Joan Didion : "Blue nights" -- The true spirit of Christmas -- Charles Dickens's inner child -- G.K. Chesterton : the reactionary -- The importance of being Orwell -- What is patriotism?
• Includes index.

Summary

• "This collection of essays brings together some of the finest pieces Hitchens published over the last two decades for the first time in one book, addressing with characteristic wit and erudition the subjects he is best known for, including: the case against God, faith and religious observance; the case for intervention in Iraq; indictments of towering political figures like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, and Henry Kissinger; and celebrations of the writers and thinkers whose work meant most to him" -- provided by publisher.

Length

• vi, 339 pages ; index.

Excellent essays, well worth reading.

[southwest88]

Browsing through a splendid book. (There's very little of interest on TV.) & thanks to Christopher Hitchens, who reviewed this & gave it a thumbs-up:

Cultural amnesia : necessary memories from history and the arts /Clive James, 1939-, c2007, Macmillan Publishers, 909.0982 Jame.



]Subjects

• Civilization, Western.
• Intellectuals -- Biography.
• Artists -- Biography.
• Musicians -- Biography.
• Philosophers -- Biography.
• Intellectual life -- History -- 20th century.
• Humanism -- History -- 20th century.
• Memory -- Social aspects.

Length

• xxxii, 876 pages : index

100+ essays, on various leading figures from history & the arts. A kind of intellectual/cultural encyclopedia, excellent read.

[BeerGeek40]

Another really good book:


The Professor, The Banker, and The Suicide King by Michael Craig
Story of the highest stakes poker game ever played.

[Mightyqueen801]

If you've got a year, I recommend Christianity, the First Three Thousand Years, by Diarmaid McCulloch. Read it this past year in a study group. It's a history book, not a book promoting religion. Fascinating and a very complex study on how the religion influenced the world and affected history, but I could have done without some of the more obscure minute details that no one but McCulloch will ever remember.