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We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:43 am
by Chris OConnor
RULES
Please ONLY make non-fiction book suggestions in this thread if you have 25 or more posts on our forums. The purpose of this thread is to start the process of selecting our next non-fiction book for group discussion. It is not for general suggestions by authors and publishers just passing through the community. If you don't have 25+ posts your suggestions will be deleted. It doesn't take long to get the required 25 posts so show us you're serious about participating by making some quality posts in the various forums. :)

So what would you like to read and discuss next? Our next non-fiction book discussion might start in March if we get enough suggestions here. Otherwise, we'll probably hold off till April and May 2010. Please remember that the most important thing to do in these suggestion threads is read OTHER peoples suggestions and leave comments on those books. Would you read them? Why or why not?

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 3:35 pm
by JulianTheApostate
This excellent book is well written and convincing argues about a seldom-discussion aspect of the health care situation.

Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer by Shannon Brownlee
http://www.amazon.com/Overtreated-Medic ... 582345791/

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Contrary to Americans' common belief that in health care more is more—that more spending, drugs and technology means better care—this lucid report posits that less is actually better. Medical journalist Brownlee acknowledges that state-of-the-art medicine can improve care and save lives. But technology and drugs are misused and overused, she argues, citing a 2003 study of one million Medicare recipients, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, which showed that patients in hospitals that spent the most were 2% to 6% more likely to die than patients in hospitals that spent the least. Additionally, she says, billions per year are spent on unnecessary tests and drugs and on specialists who are rewarded more for some procedures than for more appropriate ones. The solution, Brownlee writes, already exists: the Veterans Health Administration outperforms the rest of the American health care system on multiple measures of quality. The main obstacle to replicating this model nationwide, according to the author, is a powerful cartel of organizations, from hospitals to drug companies, that stand to lose in such a system. Many of Brownlee's points have been much covered, but her incisiveness and proposed solution can add to the health care debate heated up by the release of Michael Moore's Sicko.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Award-winning health and medicine writer Brownlee notes that Americans spend between one-fifth and one-third of health-care dollars on unnecessary treatments, medications, devices, and tests. What's worse, there are an estimated 30,000 deaths per annum caused by this unnecessary care. The reason for what amounts to a national delusion that more care is better care is rooted, she says, in a build-it-and-they-will-come paradigm that rewards doctors and hospitals for how much care they deliver rather than how effective it is. In a step-by-step deconstruction of America's improvident health-care system, Brownlee sheds light on events, attitudes, and legislation in the twentieth century's latter half that led to this economic nightmare. With the skill of a crack prosecuting attorney, she cites specific cases of physician and hospital fiscal abuse. Her aim is broad but not scattershot as she hits not just docs and hospitals but private insurers, Medicare, patients, medical device manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies by, for instance, quoting a pharmaceutical salesperson who confesses financing a physician's swimming pool to get the doc to write more prescriptions. She is not all bad news, though, for she posits models that could be adapted to create a nationwide health-care system that conceivably could staunch the current fiscal hemorrhaging. If only.

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 12:52 am
by Chris OConnor
I think people ignore or accidentally overlook sticky topics and announcement posts. If I unstick this thread it will start to get attention.

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 1:34 pm
by oblivion
My suggestion would be Pascal Boyer's Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought. It is a very readable explanation of why we have religion, with Boyer plainly explaining theories and research in evolutionary biology and cognitive psychology. His short answer to the preceding question is because "that is how our minds were prepared by evolution". Of course, much like Columbo in the old series where we know who the murderer is from the very beginning but which does not detract at least in the enjoyment of seeing the famous detective piece together the clues and reach the conclusion, knowing Boyer's answer in advance detracts nothing from this book.

Amazon.com Review
What's it all about? Though we might never answer the really big questions--with good reason--maybe we can understand why we ask them. Cognitive anthropologist Pascal Boyer tackles this topic in the unapologetically titled Religion Explained, and it is sure to polarize his readers. Some will think it's an impermissible invasion of mental territory beyond the reach of reason; others will see it as the first step toward a more complete understanding of human nature--and Boyer is acutely aware of the emotionally charged nature of his work. This knowledge informs his decision to proceed without caution, as he warns readers early on that most will risk being offended by some of his considerations. Readers who can lay aside their biases will find great rewards here; Boyer's wide scholarship and knack for elegant writing are reasons enough for reading his book.

That gods and spirits are construed very much like persons is probably one of the best-known traits of religion. Indeed, the Greeks had already noticed that people create gods in their own image.... All this is familiar, indeed so familiar that for a long time anthropologists forgot that this propensity requires an explanation. Why then are gods and spirits so much like humans?
Peppering his study with examples from all over the world, particularly the Fang people of Africa, Boyer offers plenty of evidence for his theory that religious institutions exist to maintain particular threads of social integrity. Though he uses the tools of evolutionary psychology, he is more careful than most EP proponents to avoid ad hoc and circular arguments. Best of all, at least to those unmortified at the idea of examining religion critically, his theories are potentially testable. Even if he turns out to be dead wrong, at least Religion Explained offers a new and powerful framework for thinking about our spiritual lives. --Rob Lightner --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


From Publishers Weekly
Cognitive anthropologist Boyer does not shrink from the task of explaining "the full history of all religion (ever)" in this engaging but somewhat oversold synopsis of anthropological findings, purporting to show how "the intractable mystery that was religion is now just another set of difficult but manageable problems." Boyer eloquently critiques mainstream academic treatments of religion that, in his view, distort the facts by imposing a single explanatory theory on a complex assortment of religious phenomena. At the same time, he argues that the variety of human religious concepts is not infinite, suggesting an underlying pattern in the way certain kinds of religious concepts engage the mind by "successful activation of a whole variety of mental systems." These patterns increase the probability that such concepts will be remembered and transmitted. Besides the religious concepts' appeal in stimulating individual minds, Boyer's account sees no deeper function or significance in them, a stance he realizes will leave most religious believers nonplussed. "People who think that we have religion because religion is true... will find little here to support their views and in fact no discussion of these views," he cautions. Boyer's strategy of explaining religion in terms of mundane, everyday thought processes puts him at odds with recent neuropsychological studies that identify "special" cognitive structures or events associated with religious experience. Ultimately, it may be Boyer's criticism of the mere concept of "religious experience" that makes this book such a fascinating exercise in devil's advocacy.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

I'm afraid I would not be interested in reading the book on the healthcare system as I'm struggling enough with our German one.

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 7:45 pm
by Saffron
I'd like to give Pilgrim at Tinker Creek a second try. I think the last voting escaped a few people's notice. So, my suggestion is Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.

amazon.com/Pilgrim-Tinker-Harper-Perren ... amp;sr=1-1


Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is the story of a dramatic year in Virginia's Blue Ridge valley. Annie Dillard sets out to see what she can see. What she sees are astonishing incidents of "mystery, death, beauty, violence."

Another idea is to read a biography. I don't have one to suggest, but would be open to reading one.

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 8:29 pm
by etudiant
Paul Krugman, economist and writer, has been active in presenting his views in the NY Times, and also in other venues. In his book “ Conscience of a Liberal”, I believe he makes a clear statement of how the US got to where it is today, and where the path ahead may lie. Some may disagree with his political viewpoint, but I think his book will spark some lively discussion among BT members.


http://www.amazon.com/Conscience-Libera ... 279&sr=1-1

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 1:23 pm
by Chris OConnor
We need more suggestions and more feedback on suggestions.

Can we all agree to a book within the next 5 days? Let's try!

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:06 pm
by Saffron
Feedback: I like both suggestions by Oblivion (Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought) and Julian (Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer). I am more interested in the second.

And I have another title to toss out:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

NPR story and book review:
npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story ... =123232331

I think this could be an interesting book to read (the story is fascinating) and a bit of a departure from the topics on BT lately. I think it would surely generate a hopping discussion. The book hits on medical ethics, race, the ethics of investigative journalism, and well, I'm not sure what else!

Excerpt from NPR story:

In 1951, an African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer. She was treated at Johns Hopkins University, where a doctor named George Gey snipped cells from her cervix without telling her. Gey discovered that Lacks' cells could not only be kept alive, but would also grow indefinitely.

For the past 60 years Lacks' cells have been cultured and used in experiments ranging from determining the long-term effects of radiation to testing the live polio vaccine. Her cells were commercialized and have generated millions of dollars in profit for the medical researchers who patented her tissue.

Lacks' family, however, didn't know the cell cultures existed until more than 20 years after her death. Medical writer Rebecca Skloot examines the legacy of Lacks' contribution to science — and effect that has had on her family

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:00 pm
by DWill
I've missed out on a number of science classics and would like to catch up. My suggestion is The Double Helix, by James Watson.

(A reader's review)
This is the daddy of them all. There have been attempts at popularising science for many a year, but James Watson's very personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA started the trend for popular science bestsellers, books on science that would be read by "ordinary people" not just science enthusiasts.

In some quarters it is popular to denigrate Watson's book - but this entirely misses the point. Yes it has sexist elements, yes it supports a particular version of history that puts a Watson and Crick's efforts in a good light - but that's hardly surprising given that it was written in the 1950s by one of the protagonists.

But if you can see past the inevitable fact that the book doesn't have a 21st century outlook, it's wonderful. Firstly, it really doesn't show its age, thanks to Watson's excellent, personal narrative style, featuring none of the stiffness of most of the writing of the period. Secondly, Watson may give us a biased picture, but it gives a feel for the reality of scientific endeavour, as opposed to the glossy Hollywood view. Thirdly, Watson is honest about his relative ignorance of much of science, and a certain laziness in not wanting to put too much effort into reading things up that will reassure and delight anyone who enjoys science but finds some of the detailed work boring. Scientists in Watson's world - including himself - aren't geniuses who immediately understand what other scientists are saying. Instead they have very limited understanding outside their own little sphere of knowledge. Finally, Watson doesn't stint from giving us some detail that a modern popularizer would shy away from. The information on molecular structures might be too much for some readers, but it's easy enough to skip over without losing the flow.

Perhaps the biggest potential criticism of the book is over Watson's treatment of the crystalographer Rosalind Franklin, whose case for being more prominent in the discovery of DNA has been well argued and is generally taken for granted today. (Franklin didn't share in the Nobel Prize, which some complain about, but to be fair it was awarded after her death, and the Nobel Prize is never awarded posthumously.) It's certainly true that Watson is, for most of the book, patronising towards Franklin, and he plays down the rather dubious way the Cambridge team obtained her X-ray photographs that would inspire them to come up with the familiar double helix structure. Nonetheless, it would be revisionist not to accept that Franklin was a prickly character and difficult to work with - very probably because of the way women were treated at the time - and Watson's response to her was unfortunate but honest. He does at the end of the book, written a few years later after Franklin's death, reassess her contribution and paints a more positive picture of her work.

Overall, though this is a gem of a popular science book that has stayed in print for many years for a reason. It's a great read, plain and simple

Re: We need non-fiction book suggestions for our next discussion!

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 10:35 pm
by Chris OConnor
Do any of you have suggestions for how we can get more people involved in our book discussions? What can we do right now to get more people suggesting book, providing feedback on suggestions, and ultimately participating in our book discussions?