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Book Recommendations

R

rousseau

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I thought I'd give this thread a try as I often find myself looking for book recommendations at this forum. Hopefully the thread gains a bit of traction and some other people get some use out of it too.

Ask for recommendations, give recommendations.

As for recommendations I've been interested in lately, for a while I was keen on reading about the under-development of Sub-Saharan Africa, but the more I think about it the more I'm interested in the modern political situation on the continent, rather than the historical situation. Have done some brief looking about but nothing caught my eye. Would appreciate any pointers.
 
One of my favorite Fantasy books is Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward. It takes the classic heroes save the world story and turns it on its head in that the villains are actually the protagonists and the heroes are the antagonists. As a young man I played a lot of Bullfrog's Dungeon Keeper which is why I picked this one up.

It's out of print now, so it might be a bit expensive to own, but if you can find it in your local library it's definitely worth picking up.
 
Just finished The Christian Delusion, and can recommend it.

If you're more into physics, out of all the Higgs boson books that came out in the wake of CERN's Higgs discovery, I really enjoyed The Infinity Puzzle.
 
Think I'll give this thread a try before making a new one in history..

Can anyone recommend non-fiction they like focused on some aspect of Asian history, preferably social? I've been trying to break into the Asian history bubble for some time now, but the continent's history is too vast and broad to get too general in a book, and because the scope is so big I have no idea where to start in terms of more specific histories.

Though I'd start by asking people to throw out any random works that are enjoyable reads.
 
Here are some books that can really help you think about international politics from Terry Prachett's Discworld series

Interesting Times explains about the futility of trying to change a society through revolution or outward forces.

Jingo explains how nationalism and group-identity are used by some in power to create support for a war that does not benefit the population.

Monstrous Regiment again explains how outward influence cannot stop a society that wants war.

Thud! explains how religion and distortion of history are used to fuel ongoing feuds.
 
Hadn't read a Paul Theroux in a long time. I'm reading his most recent short story collection now (Mr. Bones) and it's well done. But his travel book Deep South (2015) is long, languorous, chatty, and irresistible. He was interested in the burnt-out, exhausted, forgotten little towns that have been deserted by industry or bypassed by highway construction. He found Southern poverty to be almost as dire as it must have been in the 30's -- he describes a hopeless peasant class. He stood in front of the infamous store that Emmett Till entered in Aug. '55. He drove into settlements of hovels in Arkansas with magnificent natural backdrops. He sat in diners and bars and talked with the bemused locals. Highly recommended.
 
I don't know how, but a pdf of "Medieval Sexuality: A Casebook" by April Harper found it's way onto my e-reader. I must have downloaded it a long time ago among a set of other pdfs and let it sit on my machine for months.

Have been reading through it over the past few days and it's very interesting and readable, if you don't mind more academic writing. What I especially like about it so far is that it's spending a good chunk of time on early medieval sexuality, which is a period I haven't read much about, and is closer to the roots of Christianity.
 
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