Good Non Poker Books
As much as I lover poker. I cant let it control my life(so far im failing...lol)
I was wondering what books interest poker players. I just finished reading "Conspiracy of Fools", it talks about Enron and how it collapsed, it is a great read, it has very little technical jargon, easily readable by the layman. My next book I think will be the essays covering the Art of War, by Sun Tsu. Ive read it before but never with commentary. Any other suggestions for good books?
I was wondering what books interest poker players. I just finished reading "Conspiracy of Fools", it talks about Enron and how it collapsed, it is a great read, it has very little technical jargon, easily readable by the layman. My next book I think will be the essays covering the Art of War, by Sun Tsu. Ive read it before but never with commentary. Any other suggestions for good books?
Comments
1984, fantastic, it's my 2nd time through it.
IF you like non-fiction, I highly reccomend the "Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan, "Sword of Truth" by Terry Goodkind, and of course, the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. THere's tonnes of good ones out there though, Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana and two-book series < name escapes me, but 1st book is "Sailing to Sarantium">
Mark
Mark, I have to agree, these are fantastic serieseses? Is that a word? Do you happen to have the last installment of the Goodkind series...I haven't read it yet? In this genre I'd also recommend Glen Cook's Black Company...and if you can get through the first in the series, Stephen King's Gunslinger, IMHO, was awesome. Also still love Terry Brook's Shannara series as well.
Also - anything by Kurt Vonnegut - but one of my favourites is Hocus Pocus
My favorites are Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and Hitchikers Guide (all 4 books). For "historical fiction", I love Herman Wouk (Winds of War, War and Rembrance, The Hope/The Glory) and Nigel Tranter's "Bruce Trilogy". I also really like spy novels, specifically David Morrell (although there's a bunch of good ones). As a quirky read, Phillip Kerr's "The Grid" is one that just sticks in my head. I tend to stay away from non-fiction now, since I read so much (technical) during the work-day.
I have also read a fair bit of poetry, Susan Musgrave is my favorite poet. I also sometimes delve into the "weird" poets too, e.g. ee cummings, bp nichol, etc. I am generally annoyed by poetry that rhymes.
For brain candy reading, I have enjoyed Michael DiMercurio's submarine books, and several books by Tom Clancy. I also sometimes enjoy reading military non-fiction; particularly good (if you're into the genre) are "Inside Delta Force" by Eric Haney, and "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden (which I've just started reading) which is the book that lead to the movie of the same name.
ScottyZ
I also been a fan of Tom Clancy's novels for years, but his last couple have flat out STUNK!! Rainbow Six is the only recent one worth reading.
A non-fiction book that blew me away was Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. You'll never want to eat at McDonalds ever again. I recommend it.
Also, anything by Steven Ambrose regarding WWII is great. He wrote Band of Brothers(which Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks turned into a mini-series on HBO), Citzen Soldier, D-day and my favorite,
Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany. Great read about the boys in the bombers.
JohnnieH
It's a great story.
DOH!
I meant fiction... I always forget that "make-believe" = fiction and vice versa... regardless, good books, and if you read them and thought they were non-fiction, well, I"m not the one with the problem then.
Mark
In fact, the first few books in the series is some of the best fantasy written.
Unfortunately, Jordan has no clue when to quit and each progressive book that has come out starts a hundred new threads, while resolving one or two and virtually no progress is made. (Except often, in the last 3 or 4 pages of the book) At one point I decided to stop reading and just collect the books waiting for him to finish....
...I've now stopped collecting the books. Reviews of the last few books have been abysmal and there appears to be no end in sight for the series.
If he was able to end it at around book 5ish, it would have been considered one of the greatest series of all time. Instead, it's a joke... a really bad running gag that will never, ever end.
Serpentine by Thomas Thompson --> awesome true story of a killer/con artist etc...he was wanted all over the world - great great story
Skunkworks by Ben Rich --> awesome true stories of the secret US Lockheed Martin teams that designed stealth fighters etc....plus stories from the pilots who flew them
So those are my top 3 non-fiction books.
Sadly, I am attempting to read Harry Potter (had to see what all the hype waz about) and I am 1/2 way through #1 and it is actually ok - but I am not a fiction fan.
Then I'd recommend...
"Changing my mind, among other things." by Dr. Timothy Leary.
"A Brief History of Time." by Dr. Stephen J. Hawking
Other tough books?
Interpretation of Dreams - Sigmund Freud
Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler
BOOOOORRRRRING
Mark
Fair enough Rob...
Jordan has "cash cowed" his series, which is truly unfortunate, because until about book 6, Wheel of Time was a phenomenal universe. However, I do hold some hope that RJ is finally realizing that all good things must come to an end, as he has begun progressing the main storylines (I.e. Tarmon Gaidon prophecy) at the end of the most recent book (book 10 - Crossroads of Twilight... I think) instead of the myriad of side-plots (i.e. filler B.S.). Goodkind has come out and said that his series will end in three books (two now, one is out), so maybe Jordan will do the same.
Mark
Crossing the Rubicon
by Michael Rubbert
(Warning: Clear reading area of all sharp objects, pharmaceuticals, and rope. Be prepared for your phones to be tapped)
Wheel of Time is 12 books(main line) with book 11 coming out in October. Also there are 3 prequels, with one released already (New Spring).
He had said he wasnt sure if he could squeeze it into 12 books, but has since been announced that it will be 12, so I'm assuming the last 2 will be relatively "action packed" in comparison to books say 7 - 10.
Funny... I read the first one, and didn't much care for it... the one character I liked was killed, and there was very little actual fantasy for me.
Mark
As an example he talks about how one of his patients, a young teen is given a .22 rifle for christmas. The rifle was given to him by his parents. It happens to be the same rifle that his older brother used to blow his brains out. The crazy thing is that these parents thought they were hard-working, god fearing people who thought giving their son that rifle was normal. They would not accept the fact that they may have been a contributing factor to their only remaining sons depression that involved self-mutilation.
I highly recommend this book. I first read it in march and again for a 2nd time last week.
CHEERS!
I've read them, a great series of books. However, I was quite disappointed at their prequel (The Rising) when I read it.
Wondering if anyone has read "Rule of Four". I had it recommended to me.
galapagos comes to mind. also, cats cradle, slaughterhouse 5, and welcome to the monkey house (a collection of his short fiction) are good classics
julio cortazar is also someone i enjoy reading, if youre into short stories, although his collections are hard to find. blow up is the more common one and theres another one i forget the name of that i havent come across. his stories are twisted, but not in a corny 'keeper of the crypt' kind of way. 'house taken over' is my favourite
the da vinci code was good, but it was too much like reading a blockbuster movie (oh the irony). you easily breeze through it and its super entertaining, but you get the sense that after you read it you havent learned anything lol
Bud, Sweat and Tee's
Awesome book if you like golf and know anything about Rich Beem