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Hope
Joined: 22 Nov 2003
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 Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:02 am Post subject: Recommend a non-fiction |
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| Think my brain is starting to atrophy. Please recommend your recent favorite non fiction books. |
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HapKi
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:34 am Post subject: |
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Into The Wild
A Walk in the Woods
and trying to find time to start The World Without Us |
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runlikegump
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:43 am Post subject: |
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All bought here in Seoul, and all worth the time it took:
The Magician and the Cardsharp: The Search for America's Greatest Sleight-of-Hand Artist by Karl Johnson
Confessions of a Yakuza by Junichi Saga
Bones of the Master: A Journey to Secret Mongolia by George Crane
Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players by Stefan Fatsis |
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butlerian
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:55 am Post subject: |
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Relevant to those of us here in Korea:
Aquariums of Pyongyang
How Asians and Westerners Think Differently: The Geography of Thought
The Adventure of English |
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Pink Freud
Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:07 am Post subject: |
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| The Blank Slate Steven Pinker |
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Ginormousaurus
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:12 am Post subject: |
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| HapKi wrote: |
| The World Without Us |
I just read it and it was my first thought when I read the thread's title.
I'd also like to reccomend "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins. Both books are available at Kyobo. |
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BS.Dos.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:30 am Post subject: |
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I've only just started it, but it's proving to be interesting:
Seeds Of Wealth: four plants that made men rich.~ Henry Hobhouse.
It chronicles the history of timber, wine, rubber and tobacco and how they've contributed to and influenced global economics over the last couple of hundred years. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:13 pm Post subject: |
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'Murder in Amsterday: Liberal Europe, Islam, and the Limits of Toleration' by Ian Buruma (van Gogh's murder in Holland and the larger issue of Moslem immigration)
'Mayflower: A story of community, courage and war' by Nathaniel Philbrick (Pilgrims from 1620-1676)
'Nothing But Victory: The Army of the Tennessee 1861-1865' by Steven E. Woodworth (Grant's and Sherman's army in the west) |
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BS.Dos.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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| ^I read The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick a couple of years back, which is also excellent. He gives a realy well researched narrative on the loss of the Whaling ship the Essex (this event inspired Herman Melville who then went on to write Moby Dick) and the crew who were cast adrift and who had to resort to cannibalism in order to survive. |
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SuperHero
Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Location: Superhero Hideout
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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I'll second into the wild and the other book by same author where he climbs everest
another second for aquariums of pyongyang.
surviving the sword: prisoners of the Japanese - good luck finding this in Korea, I picked it up in Singapore. |
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seoulsucker
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: The Land of the Hesitant Cutoff
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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The filter will catch this, but I recently finished a book called Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word"
Pretty cool in-depth study into the origins, historical and modern usage of the word. |
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Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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Freakonomics - a brilliant and quick read. I was sorry to see that book end.
Blink - about how we, as humans, make decisions in the blink of an eye and don't even realize we're doing it.
Comrades & Strangers - a Brit goes to North Korea for seven (?) years as a writer to help translate the works of Kim Il-sung.
I'll second Bryson as a great non-fiction writer (my favorite being Mother Tongue - about the English language and its rise through history). A funny and witty writer who does meticulous research for his books. |
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MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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A Natural History of the Senses: Diane Ackerman
The Survival Handbook: Bill Merrell
The Flamingo's Smile: Stephen Jay Gould
The Mensa Book of Words, Word Games, Puzzles, and Oddities: Dr. Abbey Salny
Mythology: Edith Hamilton |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Hanson wrote: |
| Blink - about how we, as humans, make decisions in the blink of an eye and don't even realize we're doing it. |
I was VERY disappointed in that book. Bubble gum arguments and magazine article style commentary. The book is almost an insult to your intelligence, certainly won't prevent the atrophy of your brain unless you critique it, and simply use it as a board to jump from. |
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Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
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| Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| Hanson wrote: |
| Blink - about how we, as humans, make decisions in the blink of an eye and don't even realize we're doing it. |
I was VERY disappointed in that book. Bubble gum arguments and magazine article style commentary. The book is almost an insult to your intelligence, certainly won't prevent the atrophy of your brain unless you critique it, and simply use it as a board to jump from. |
Yeah, I hear what you're saying, but it was still a read that made me think about how my mind does things I'm not even aware I'm doing. The author also goes into some interesting experiments with people and how they react. His other book, The Tipping Point, was at least interesting in that way, as well. |
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