As a Glenn Beck fan, even I sometimes find him a bit extreme so rather than Arguing with Idiots, I suggest, Radical Son, by David Horowitz.

Amazon.com Review
Raised to be a committed Marxist by communist intellectual parents, Horowitz was in on the ground floor of Berkeley activism, and through his work as an editor at Ramparts magazine, he emerged as a key player in the New Left. He went on to become an active supporter of the Black Panthers and something of an intimate of their founder, Huey P. Newton. Yet today he is an outspoken political conservative who has supported many right-wing causes (such as the contras in Nicaragua) and been critical of '60s radicalism in general. It would be easy to conclude that Horowitz went from A to Z this way because he's superficial and unstable. Instead, as this moving, intellectual autobiography shows, his second thoughts about leftism emerged gradually as he experienced various aspects of the "Movement." The catalytic episode came when he discovered that the Panthers had murdered a friend of his, but even then Horowitz was slow to convert, primarily because he was heavily enmeshed in what he now views as the quintessential leftist habit of judging politics by its intentions, not its acts. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Horowitz (The Rockefellers) has prominently charted his turn from leftism in Destructive Generation (both books co-written with Peter Collier), but here, he digs deeper to recount his intertwined personal and political odysseys. Because he has witnessed some elemental political battles, and because he tells his often painful story with candor and passion, his lengthy book remains absorbing. His teacher parents were New York City Jewish Communists full of angst and false conviction; young David emerged convinced at least that ideas were important. Married, Horowitz moved to Berkeley for graduate school, the New Left and Ramparts, the hot radical magazine. However, family man Horowitz was made uneasy by figures such as Michael Lerner and Robert Scheer, who rejected community; worse, though Horowitz found Huey Newton's courting of his advice seductive, he fell into "internal free-fall" when he realized that the Panthers were criminal thugs. His Jewish identity?at a time when blacks and the Third World were not allies?helped move Horowitz rightward, as did his disgust with dogmatic leftists. And in 1985, Horowitz and Collier publicly supported Ronald Reagan; the author considers himself a classical liberal. Particularly interesting is his score-settling with authors Todd Gitlin, Tom Hayden and Paul Berman, who, he argues, either sanitize '60s history or misrepresent his own views; now, with the help of foundations, he runs the magazine Heterodoxy and monitors what he views as liberal excess.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

I will give my two cents, even though I think that is all my opinion is worth since, I typically read the non-fiction book, but am not the best participant.

"The Revolution: A Manifesto"

This one is appealing to me. History, politics, the law, love these topics, and I think this would generate a good discussion.

"A Beautiful Mind"

I would love to read this, saw the movie, pretty decent, I think the book would delve deeper into the subject. And, I think the subject is fasinating.

"The Worst Hard Time"

I've read this, it's very interesting, it provides a lot of information, but I don't know what kind of discussion it will create.

I've read many posts on BT over the years and it occurs to me that none of them sounded as though it was written by a Jew. Common wisdom says a modern Jew grows up to be an agnostic and is well educated. I would think those attributes would cause them to be drawn to BT.

However, the topic of this thread is "MINDLESSNESS." I am not proposing that anyone believe in something. I am proposing that what ever it is you do believe, it is wise to understand what it is you believe and why you believe it and that what you believe is probably not a fact for anyone else to believe is true. What ever you believe is true, follow it to where it leads you but you can not impose your will on another.
I think that pretty much incapsulates the thesis statement of my essay.

That being said, it seems mindless of Americans not to consider why our government over the past 60 years has given 100s of BILLIONS of dollars, fought and is fighting wars expending more BILLIONS of dollars as well as killing and maiming tens of thousands of people for "Peace in the Middle East." If you read my post on why we are at our current state in health care delivery in America you learned how complicated it is to discern the historical evolution of our current condition.

If you think it is difficult to discern how we reached the current condition of health care, wait until you try to understand Judaism and "Peace in the Middle East." But I believe, as informed citizens, we should begin to try to understand this complex subject. And the way to begin is by reading, studying, and discussing Herman Wouk's book This is my God.

This doggerel peaked my interest: " How odd, of God, To Choose, The Jews." To which Wouk responded: "Though not as odd as those who choose a Jewish God and spurn the Jews."

I assure you he, unlike Dawkins, is not trying to proselytize the reader to Judaism but he does a masterful job of explaining what it feels like to be a modern day Jew and his post scripts on the modern state of Israel were very helpful to me. This is why I am recommending Wouk's book for our next nonfiction reading. I hope you all will vote for it. We BT members don't want to be accused of being mindless Americans - do we?

It seems to me the more recent non-fiction offerings from Amazon have little to offer for someone like me. I want to elevate and expand my knowledge so that I can make a more informed decision about today's and tomorrow's affairs. The books offered today provide fertile ground for thought and argument but I think BT is neglecting older books. I'd be inclined to read newer non-fiction for fun but I don't feel that it's making a large impact on my life regarding change of thought. There are quite a few books written from the 16c on (including more contemporary titles) that would make for good discussion and still be relevant today. These might be considered fringe books and may not attract many new participants but it may also lend something else to BT. Someone new to BT who sees that the past two non-fiction books were written by Dawkins might be put off because of cherished beliefs - however fantastic.

The non-fictions that read like fictions, non-fictions that discuss some form of why things are, and the non-fictions that claim to hold insight into why we do things have all been written before and in some cases prove better.

I'm not old fashioned, I just think that many people haven't had the opportunity in life to read the many worthy classic titles that are out there and that putting another contemporary filler in its place wouldn't be right. There has to be something out there that is worth reading with a group. There's a book that most people probably wouldn't read on their own but would really like to say that they have read. BT offers the motivation and opportunity to read these books due to group support.

So, I'm for the classics, I'm for yesterday's books, and I'm certainly not for another theological discussion; there is nothing left of that horse to beat.

Prez I then recommend The Passion of the Western Mind Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World View. Joseph Cambell stated: "The most lucid and concise presentation I have read, of the grand lines of what every student should know about the history of Western thought. The writing is elegant and carries the reader with the momentum of a novel...It is really a noble performance. 445 pages, published in 1991, and has a bibliography that would make Wikipedia cry.

I'd read that for sure. It would be a nice compliment to the book I'm currently reading: From Dawn to Decadence by J. Barzun.

I'd vote for it Lawrence!

I'm getting more and more into history. Reading history books is a great way to find out which parts of our (world) culture are most interesting. In a history book you can find war, art, significant people, philosophy... pretty much everything. Acknowledging what most interested you in a history book allows you some insight into what you would like to learn more about in the future. It also gives you a strong foundation for engaging in various discussions.

I just ordered Barzum's D to D. I've been meaning to read him but time just slipped away. Thanks for the wake up call and it does appear that Tarnas' book will be a splendid compliment. Of course the historian's historian is Toynbe but his flaw is he judged the causation of events through the paradigm of Christian theology. Also, he wrote the first 4 volumes before WWII and WWII really dislocated his premise of history.

In light of many of the discussions currently occurring on the site, I'd like to recommend a book that proposes a very different theory of how societies are organized. The book is Riane Eisler's The Chalice & The Blade.

Amazon link

I think the ideas and language in this book would expand and enrich the on going discussions on the various forums concerning how social norms are past from generation to generation, the role of religion in society and the division of labor, resources and power.

Copied from Wikipedia:
Eisler's international bestseller The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future, now in 22 languages, including most European languages and Chinese, Russian, Korean, Hebrew, Japanese, and Arabic, was hailed by anthropologist Ashley Montagu as "the most important book since Darwin's Origin of Species".

I've read some of the reviews for the book. Is this like a feminist thing? It seems like it's a feminist viewpoint of history that validates female worth. I don't think I'd vote for this book. I wouldn't read a book validating white/black/male/ or any other groups worth to the neglect of other groups either.

I do admit that the reviews are very good (although the vast majority are written by females), the book appears to be well written, and it should spark debate and discussion.

President Camacho wrote:I've read some of the reviews for the book. Is this like a feminist thing? It seems like it's a feminist viewpoint of history that validates female worth. I don't think I'd vote for this book. I wouldn't read a book validating white/black/male/ or any other groups worth to the neglect of other groups either.

I do admit that the reviews are very good (although the vast majority are written by females), the book appears to be well written, and it should spark debate and discussion.

This is not a feminist thing. It is an atempt to write a description of Indo-European Neolithic life based on the available archeological evidence. Based on the picture that emerged from her research Eisler decided that new terms were needed to describe the type of culture she saw in the archeological evidence.

For a better understanding of what Eisler talks about in the book have a look at this web site