X-post: Looking for a book before 5 PM today

**road trip** · 02-22-2007, 11:47 AM

Figured I'd throw the line out in the forum with the most viewers.

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77653

Thanks, Rune!

Post copied below:

Okay, so I'm looking for one non-fiction/techy/geeky book and one book that is more a story (fiction or non-fiction - - think Kite Runner for the non-fiction storyish book). I'll be making a B&N run this afternoon because I need some reading material for the weekend.

Books that I'm contemplating for non-ficton:

The Trouble with Testosterone - Robert Sapolsky
The Origins of Virtue - Matt Ridley
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

Recent non-fiction reads tend to center around biology / sociology / anthropology / evolution (Genome, The Red Queen, Before the Dawn) although I'm going to venture into historical non-fiction / political non-fiction / and biographies when I have a good recommendation (recent read that I enjoyed: A History of the World in Six Glasses).

Fiction - - I've got nothing. I read one fiction book every 5 or 6 reads. Recently read (and enjoyed) A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. The last fiction books I read prior to that were Thirteen (hmm... I think that was the title.. it's missing from my bookshelf.. about Upper East Side aristocrat kids and a drugs with a crescendo at the end) and Chromosome 6 by Robin Cook.

Historical favorite: Issac Assimov (Foundation Series) and Ayn Rand books.

THANKS!

Note to reader: if not able to help by 5, anything after 5 woiuld be greatly appreciated as well.. I'll be sure to keep a good list.

**ptavv** · 02-22-2007, 11:49 AM

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein for your Fiction

**ptavv** · 02-22-2007, 11:50 AM

Reefer Madness, Killing Pablo, Black Hawk Down, Imperial Life in the Emerald City (Iraq related), Ship of Gold, Moneyball

for non-fiction, off the top of my head

**road trip** · 02-22-2007, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by ptavv

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein for your Fiction

Very Assimov'ian. Thanks!

Another all-time favorite read:

Swan Song by Robert McCammon

**nova2** · 02-22-2007, 12:01 PM

Omnivore's Dilemma
Michael Pollan

**Beaver** · 02-22-2007, 12:37 PM

A short history of almost everything

**s.p.c** · 02-22-2007, 12:42 PM

read
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy (fiction). you will not be disappointed.

**maniloff** · 02-22-2007, 01:04 PM

Depending on why you like Asimov - two of my favorites of his are It's Been a Good Life and Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor, which may be out of print.

**smmokan** · 02-22-2007, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by s.p.c

read
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy (fiction). you will not be disappointed.

My girlfriend read this a couple weeks ago. She reads a book or two a week, and thought this was one of the better books she's read in a long time.

**slippy** · 02-22-2007, 01:22 PM

Fiction: Absurdistan is the funniest book I've read in a long time. It's about a wealthy russian trying to get back to America (after going to school in NY). Has some good insight on living in current day russia and other things, so it's not a dumb slapstick comedy book. Very witty, and was on the NY Times Top 10 list from 2006. Something I could see Roo reading, if that means anything.

**Buster Highmen** · 02-22-2007, 01:30 PM

"Snow" by Orhan Pamuk, fact based novel about military coups and fundamentalists in Turkey.

Anything by Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian novelist, targeted by Muslim extremists. "The Cairo Trilogy" is awesome. "Palace Walk" alone is fantastic.

Anything Jorge Luis Borges. "Collected Ficcionnes" is a stunning collection of short stories heavily hewn by a classicists hand guided by the histories of Bolivar and South America.

**Tippster** · 02-22-2007, 01:31 PM

If you like smart SciFi buy this book immediately.

**flatNshallow** · 02-22-2007, 02:22 PM

Fiction: Anything by Piers Anthony (but I especially reccomend The Apprenticve Adept sieries. Great stories by a great story teller with a very sharp sense of humor.

Another option - if you have any interest in the fantasy genre - is Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time / Dragon reborn" Series. Easily the best fantasy effort by anyone (tolkien included) to date. Unbelievably rich and real world and character developments. (but be warned: addictive and LOOOONG! To date there are (I think) 11 or 12 installments of 700 to 800 pages each. ... and he's not where near the end of the story! Good stuff.

**cold_smoke** · 02-22-2007, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by Beaver

A short history of almost everything

Seconded.......(by Bill Bryson)

**XtrPickels** · 02-22-2007, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by Beaver

A short history of almost everything

I need to pick this book up.... again.

Fiction
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

**Tippster** · 02-22-2007, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by flatNshallow

Another option - if you have any interest in the fantasy genre - is Robert Jordan's "Eye of the World / Dragon reborn" Series. Easily the best fantasy effort by anyone (tolkien included) to date. Unbelievably rich and real world and character developments. (but be warned: addictive and LOOOONG! To date there are (I think) 11 or 12 installments of 700 to 800 pages each. ... and he's not where near the end of the story! Good stuff.

I'm a fan of tWoT, but Stephen Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series beats it like a red-haired stepchild. Check out "Gardens of the Moon" (Book 1) if you're a fantasy fan.

**XtrPickels** · 02-22-2007, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by flatNshallow

Fiction: Anything by Piers Anthony (but I especially reccomend The Apprenticve Adept sieries. Great stories by a great story teller with a very sharp sense of humor.

Another option - if you have any interest in the fantasy genre - is Robert Jordan's "Eye of the World / Dragon reborn" Series. Easily the best fantasy effort by anyone (tolkien included) to date. Unbelievably rich and real world and character developments. (but be warned: addictive and LOOOONG! To date there are (I think) 11 or 12 installments of 700 to 800 pages each. ... and he's not where near the end of the story! Good stuff.

I believe the 11th came out recently

**ptavv** · 02-22-2007, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by XtrPickels

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Excellent choice.

I'll add The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Make sure you get the translation with the cat and a green background on the cover. It's significantly better than the other one.

**road trip** · 02-22-2007, 03:25 PM

Fantastic! I think I've now got a good list to last me through 12 hours of bus trip this weekend...

...and then the rest of the year!

Thanks, all!

**mr_gyptian** · 02-22-2007, 03:48 PM

Fiction:
Sci-Fi isn't my specialty, but these were cool.

Cryptonomicon
Ghost Soldiers

Non-Fiction:
The Myth of Hitler's Pope
Freakanomic's was good. the chapter on abortion being the reason for our drop in crime in the 90s is priceless.

**hutash** · 02-22-2007, 06:17 PM

"The God Delusion" is a great read, not to be missed by anybody with an open mind.

"A Short History of Everything" is a fun read, as is anything from Bryson.

"Guns, Germs and Steel", and "Collapsed" by Jarred Diamond for some not so light reading.

**Speedfreak** · 02-22-2007, 06:21 PM

Caught my eye in Heathrow in Sept. and turned out to be phenomenal:

Emergency Sex (and Other Desperate Measures): True Stories From a War Zone by Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain, and Andrew Thompson

*I think in the US its "True Stories From Hell on Earth"

Best book I've read since Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux, if you're into the crazy travel lit.

**fool** · 02-22-2007, 06:24 PM

The Last American Man is an awesome non-fiction read as well.

-fool

**road trip** · 02-22-2007, 08:36 PM

Thanks all! I picked up Fooled by Randomness per TacLuv, The God Delusion per me <wink>, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress per Ptavv.

Tried to get Absurdistan, but the help at B&N couldn't find it. Kinda mad that I didn't look for The Road while I was there but it took so long to try to find Absurd that I had to jet.

Plenty for the next on-line order though... Thanks again!