OFFICIAL POLL: Vote on our January - March 2023 NON-FICTION book!

Below are 5 NON-FICTION book choices for our next group discussion.

You can vote for up to 3 of the 5 non-fiction book options presented below.

Please select your top non-fiction book choices. The more books you vote for, the easier it will be for us to find the most popular book for our next non-fiction book discussion. We'll be reading and discussing the book with the most total votes.

As soon as we have a clear winner, we'll go with that 1 book for our next group discussion. When will the discussion start? We'll create a dedicated forum for the winning book as soon as we have enough people interested in one of these books. That could be in a few days, or it could take several weeks if people don't vote promptly.

SIMPLE RULES:

We're not looking for book suggestions in this thread. We're only looking for actual votes.

Please don't vote or even post in this thread if you don't currently have at least 5 posts on our forums. We're about to start a book discussion, and we only allow active members to vote. We define active as having 5 or more posts on the forums.

Change your vote at any point.

Consider paying attention to this poll and engaging in any discussions people initiate on the 5 book choices. Watch for a clear winner to emerge.

Optional: Tell us why you voted the way you voted! This is always helpful.

---

Here are our 5 non-fiction choices...

BOOK 1: Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters: Thirty-Nine Tiny Mistakes That Changed the World Forever
By Jared Knott

BOOK 2: Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
By Andrea Elliott

BOOK 3: How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going
By Vaclav Smil

BOOK 4: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
By Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin

BOOK 5: Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life
By Héctor García & Francesc Miralles

4. American Prometheus

I started reading the book and find the author's style engaging.

The movie about Oppenheimer is coming out on 07/26/23. So if not this quarter's BookTalk non-fiction book, perhaps next quarter April - May 2023.

I have voted for How The World Really Works by Vaclav Smil.
https://www.amazon.com/How-World-Really ... 593297067/

Jim, were you going to read and participate? I don't see a vote cast by you.

Ah, I didn't see the voting option on top. My second vote would be for "How The World Really Works". I'll try to see how to vote more than once.

You just select up to three books. It works the same as selecting one.

Apparently I can't go back and choose 2 other books.

Book 1: Tiny Blunders/Big Disasters - Jared Knott
Book 3: How the World Really Works - Vaclav Smil
Book 4: American Prometheus - Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin

Here's an interesting 8 minute interview with a historian about Oppenheimer.

I voted for "How the World Really Works". It sounds like an excellent book to follow the one I'm currently reading: Carl Zimmer's "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea" . This is easily the most engaging and complete book on the subject I've read.

LevV wrote: ↑Tue Jan 03, 2023 11:58 amI voted for "How the World Really Works". It sounds like an excellent book to follow the one I'm currently reading: Carl Zimmer's "Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea" . This is easily the most engaging and complete book on the subject I've read.

I picked up How The World Really Works at my local bookshop. I was particularly interested to see this comment in the Introduction

For those who ignore the energetic and material imperatives of our world... the prescription is easy, just decarbonise.

Smil criticises "those who prefer mantras of green solutions to understanding." He is here making a very sound and important scientific and moral point that well illustrates his perspective that informs this book. The controversy here is that "green mantras" are alleged by their adherents to be completely scientific, but Smil suggests they ignore science.