I am currently looking to purchase some new books (took a hiatus from reading).  I am mostly interested in history, biographies, and overall non-fiction.  I just bought the Beatles biography by Hunter Davies.  I am curious as to any suggestions anyone might have for me?

 

I saw a previous thread mentioning the "Images of America: the Cleveland Series" which sounds very interesting, where can I find these?  I also have an Elliot Ness book I picked up from a friend.  I would appreciate any suggestions!

I'm reading two right now that are pretty good:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Living-Biblically-Literally-Possible/dp/0743291484/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265403630&sr=8-1

 

http://www.amazon.com/Things-that-Dont-Make-Sense/dp/0307278816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265403647&sr=1-1

I've been reading "Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities".  It's a relatively good book for people like me who aren't urban planning experts, but are interested in the subject matter.

Try the book "Getting There" by Stephen Goddard. It will open your eyes, big time.

 

It's available on Googlebooks at:

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=xuVitDFGhYoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Getting+there,+Stephen+Goddard&source=bl&ots=fvJu5SFfHI&sig=Wy39hH0PxLu_12qRVbmIRwShnmE&hl=en&ei=_4hsS8u4N5GKswO9haWxDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

History- what era/places/themes are you interested in?

The Age of Reagan: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order: 1964-1980  http://www.amazon.com/Age-Reagan-Liberal-Order-1964-1980/dp/0307453693/ref=pd_sim_b_1

The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution: 1980-1989 http://www.amazon.com/Age-Reagan-Conservative-Counterrevolution-1980-1989/dp/1400053579/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266332651&sr=1-1

 

 

Pretty much all I read is non-fiction, mostly in the entertainment/music field.  Here are some recent ones I've enjoyed:

 

Barbara Walters' autobiography (forget the name, but it was pretty good)

John Lennon: The Life (Philip Norman)

Here's The Story by Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady) - this was quite a surprise.  Did you know she was a huge crackhead at one point?

Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (Don Felder): shows you what a bastard Don Henley really is.

Storms: My Life with Lindsay Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac (Carol Ann Harris): unbelievable if childishly written.  Had no idea Lindsay was such a crazy MFer.

Dandelion: Memoir of a Free Spirit by Catherine James (former GF of Jimmy Page and several other notables)

Hotel California: The True Life Adventures of CSNY, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Rondstadt, Geffen, the Eagles and their many friends by Barney Hoskyns

Laurel Canyon: Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Legendary Neighborhood (Michael Walker)

Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Me by Pattie Boyd

Clapton: the autobiography

Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out (autobiography)

Long Time Gone: the autobiography of David Crosby (also Since Then, to read afterwards)

 

 

 

The Secret Lives of Buildings by Edward Hollis

Seven responses and not one person has mentined the Bible.  Bunch of Heathens, I tell you!

 

Seriously though, why not go back in time a bit.  John Locke's Treatises on Civil Government (especially the 2nd), Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America", Thomas Paine's "Common Sense", Thomas Hobbes' Leviathon, John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty", Karl Marx's "Das Kapital", and Thoreau's "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" are all worth a read at least once in your lifetime.

 

 

Hmmm...I recently read "In Search of Whitopia". 

 

I usually only read nonfiction, but most of it is pretty obscure.

Obscure? Like what? Old stuff?

^

Old stuff and theses.  Also specialized non-fiction. For example I just finished this book, which mixes local and social history:

 

 

he struggles of the civil rights movement were not limited to the Deep South. Althought states like Alabama and Mississippi receive the most attention from historians, civil rights leaders were active across the country, challenging racial stereotypes and working to end discrimination in cities large and small. Louisville, Kentucky's unique status as a border city between the North, South, and Midwest presented local civil rights leaders with an opportunity to pursue their agenda, and their efforts that would foreshadow the future direction of the national movement.

 

Gateway to the South: The Civil Rights Movement in Louisville, Kentucky 1945 - 1980 fills a needed void by focusing on four decades of Louisville's civil rights history. Using a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, including oral history records of movement participants, Tracy E. K'Meyer connects the movement in Louisville to related movements in other cities in the region and across the nation. Gateway to the South offers insight into how America's race relations got to where they are today, and clues to their future direction.

 

...it was published by a university press, and these publishers usually specialize in the things I like to read.

Eliot Coleman: The New Organic Grower

www.fourseasonfarm.com/books/index.html

Seven responses and not one person has mentined the Bible. Bunch of Heathens, I tell you!

 

Seriously though, why not go back in time a bit. John Locke's Treatises on Civil Government (especially the 2nd), Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America", Thomas Paine's "Common Sense", Thomas Hobbes' Leviathon, John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty", Karl Marx's "Das Kapital", and Thoreau's "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" are all worth a read at least once in your lifetime.

 

You're speaking my language!

 

I really want to read Tocqueville's books. I keep reading books by recent Sociologists and Historians who analyze a lot of his work. I think it was in his "Democracy in America" book, he apparently talks about American culture; how we tend to roam and not get attached to our cities or community. Also how we build with such cheap materials and are quick to obliterate buildings (wait, maybe that was Thomas Jefferson - I can't remember). Anyway, his work sounds completely relevant to the present.

 

I tend to agree with him about "Tyranny of the Majority". Look at gay rights issues or any civil rights issue. You simply can't rely on the majority to make good decisions that benefit everybody equally. I can see why the system wouldn't go over as well in Europe, where people had grown content with their social standing as it was ordained by the Clergy and God's will - thus out of everyone's control anyway. There was much more mutual respect regardless of blatant social stratification that existed.

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”

– Alexis de Tocqueville

 

Whittaker Chambers' "Witness" and Aleksandr Sozhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" are two good ones.

Dave Eggers has some amazing books, i'd recommend:

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - autobiographical.

What is the What - story of the Lost Boys of the Sudan

Zeitoun - about a Syrian-American business man in New Orleans after Katrina

 

*his books can be labeled as "fiction" in that they are based on true events and the recollections of the people that are the central characters of the stories.  He calls them fiction so that while the story is mostly accurate, sometimes things are compressed, etc...to allow for the story to continue. (also to avoid people taking it all for straight fact and getting lumped in with liars like James Frey).

If you like biographies, read Titan about John D. Rockefeller.  It is huge, but a great read and an amazing story.

I hear David McCullough is very good.

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”

– Alexis de Tocqueville

 

Whittaker Chambers' "Witness" and Aleksandr Sozhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" are two good ones.

 

Who was it that said citizens will inherently vote for the person who is most likely to raid the treasury? Marx?

Laurel Canyon: Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Legendary Neighborhood (Michael Walker)

 

This sounds like an interesting book.  I like books that mix geography and pop culture/cultural studies. 

Laurel Canyon: Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Legendary Neighborhood (Michael Walker)

 

This sounds like an interesting book.  I like books that mix geography and pop culture/cultural studies. 

I hear David McCullough is very good.

 

I had a History prof once say that he sucked b/c he wasn't writing about "real" history. I generally liked the prof but thought this accusation was being thrown from a little too high in the ivory tower.

 

There's no such thing as 'real' history. Just look at the word itself; "his story" ;)