BookTalk.org

What non-fiction book do you suggest we read and discuss in November, December and January?

Here are my suggestions....

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
Bill Bryson
(Harry Marks)

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The Ape that Understood the Universe: How the Mind and Culture Evolve
Steve Stewart-Williams
(Harry Marks)

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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X

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The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American
Andrew L. Seidel

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Message to the Blackman in America
Elijah Muhammad

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Outgrowing God: A Beginner's Guide
Richard Dawkins

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Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
Frans de Waal
(Harry Marks)

The first two and the last sound great. I might also suggest "New Power" by Timms and Heimans, something good by Brene Brown, "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson, or "Bowling Alone" (if the group has not already read that one).

Harry, I was looking at Caste as an idea too. Great suggestion!

All are great suggestions but I would like to begin with ###Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

Below are my reasons-
*** This may be a good starter book for anyone who wishes to discuss and understand evolutional psychology and the book on "The Ape who ......
*** Remember Matrix part 3 where machines eat people? well, do we need o worry about animals on similar lines?
*** Having done a 3 week road trip of Southern US, I cant imagine the breath taking view detailed in the book, "A walk in the woods...but let me read about animals I may need to fear or admire first ...

Thanks for listening folks!

Thanks for your suggestion, Pri2020.

I just finished Caste and recommend it although it is painful reading. It's amazing how little discussion there is of the American caste system even though upon consideration it immediately becomes obvious that system exists.

What's the deal with the Nation of Islam (NOI) book by Elijah Muhammad? I sometimes listen to a local NOI radio program. At times they have unusual and very interesting insights. At times they make incredibly stupid statements. (Example: Light cannot travel through a vacuum.) Anti-Semitic comments frequently slip into the commentary.

Well having said that, The Autobiography of Malcolm X could be interesting. He was killed by NOI. Not sure why I have ambivalence between the two books.

Probably too many suggestions already, but I'd like to get into John Dean's new Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers. Trump will be gone soon (yes, he will!), but Dean's book looks at the milieu from which Trump arose.

A Walk in the Woods is a breezy read and quite funny, if that kind of book works for discussion. As an AT hiker myself, I liked Bryson's irreverent take on hiker culture.

DWill wrote:I'd like to get into John Dean's new Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers. Trump will be gone soon (yes, he will!), but Dean's book looks at the milieu from which Trump arose.

I support this suggestion. The psychological and political comparison between President Trump and other imperial autocrats through history offers a compelling story.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Authoritarian ... 1990549054

I've read 5 or 6 Trump books and I'm F'n done with that! I've wasted too much time in the last 5 years fretting about that mentally ill adolescent bully. But if you select the Dean book I'll read it.

I assume it's too late to add another, but this new book looks fascinating. I believe the author is an expert on military history. I read Fiasco about the Iraq war.

First Principles: What America's Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country by Thomas Ricks