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what non fiction book to read?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:27 am
by ventori
What is the best book you’ve ever read?
Preferably pick one fiction and one non fiction.

Best non fiction book I’ve ever read is definitely “A new rational guide to living”. No contest. If I could only read and share one book for the rest of my life, it would be this one.

Basically, it explains that emotions are caused by activating events, which are interpreted by your belief system. There are both rational responses to events, and irrational ones. You tell yourself things that cause you to feel a certain way. Rightfully calling something unfortunate is different from calling it horrible and how it shouldn’t have happened.

Couple days ago something happened personally, and I started thinking those things “oh how horrible, how could this have happened, etc”. Then I caught myself and realized; “Nothing really changed, did it? It’s unfortunate that it happened, but that’s all it is; it’s not ‘horrible’ etc”

It’s a bit difficult to explain, I’ll post my whole notes when I finish them.

A New Rational Guide to Living
Best nonfiction book I’ve ever read. No contest. Extremely recommended.

Share what book has influenced your life the most? What is the best book you’ve read? Which book should everyone read? Why and how did it influence your life?

Re: what non fiction book to read?

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 9:40 am
by DWill
Stoicism has a lot of relevance for us today. Just by consciously distancing ourselves from events that seem to strike us personally, we can see them more realistically and usually limit their negativity, and maybe respond constructively.

Re: what non fiction book to read?

Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 7:34 am
by ianwallace079
Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Re: what non fiction book to read?

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2020 2:17 am
by Irwin M Fletcher
I'm not sure how much it influenced my life but my favorite/best non-fiction book is "Carrying The Fire" by Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Michael Collins. Very intelligent and funny guy who obviously had a very interesting career although he was overshadowed by his crew-mates who actually got to land/walk on the lunar surface. He took it all in stride and with a sense of humor though.

It's hard to pick a fiction one but I'll go with "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut. I've read it a few times over the years, the first time about 20 years ago and it blew my mind. Especially the first time because I was just expecting a dramatic WWII POW book and then there was all this time travel and sci-fi stuff going on.

Re: what non fiction book to read?

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2020 8:32 pm
by jessfox
"The Order of Time" by Carlo Rovelli. He is an Italian theoretical physicist who has contributed much to the physics of space and time. It's a short and poetic description of the reality and unreality of time as we experience it.