Recommended Reading Thread

[lolPhillies]

Moral Politics - Lakoff.

[SportsAndrew25]

I do not have four book these in my collection, but I hope to have them soon:

The Reagan Diaries- Ronald Reagan
The Conscience of a Liberal- Paul Krugman
Why Nations Fail- Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson
No Easy Day- Mark Owen

[dbroncos78087]

I do not have four book these in my collection, but I hope to have them soon:

The Reagan Diaries- Ronald Reagan
The Conscience of a Liberal- Paul Krugman
Why Nations Fail- Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson
No Easy Day- Mark Owen

Very good book. I don't know if you added it because of my suggestion but I really learned a lot from this book and despite the size of the book it was not a boring read. Sometimes books can drone on and on but this one did not.

I have Conscience of a Liberal on Audiobook but simply have never had the time to just listen to it.

[Fool]

Has anyone read Maps of Time by David Christian? It seems really interesting.

I also picked up The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama recently.

[natelpete]

I bought "A People's History of the United States", by Howard Zinn, based off of a recommendation from this thread, and I'm really enjoying it.

[GGGGG-Men]

I bought "A People's History of the United States", by Howard Zinn, based off of a recommendation from this thread, and I'm really enjoying it.

Nice. I've been reading it off and on for a few years now It's great and interesting, but I have to take it in small doses. Every page has some piece of info that makes me stop and think or research further.

Great book. It should replace every High School Senior's US History book

[SportsAndrew25]

I got Conscience of a Liberal and Why Nations Fail Today.

[flea]

http://www.amazon.com/Social-Origins.../dp/0807050733

Very illuminating read discussing why some countries become democracies and others don't. It's the benchmark for studies in the politics of economic modernity. Some of Moore's theories and methodologies have not stood up over time but the thrust of his argument was revolutionary, brilliant, and still generally accepted today.

In addition, the book provides an interesting discussion on the competing interests in modern countries. So not only is the book both proscriptive and historical, but to some extent also provides a useful mirror for examining our own democracy. It's quite a long read because it details a number of nations' paths but, at minimum, the first and final chapters lay out what has become the basis for this area of study.

[GGGGG-Men]

Has anyone ever read this? http://www.amazon.com/1491-Revelatio...&keywords=1491

Been meaning to check it out...

[GasMan]

Political books I've read semi-recently

Atlas Shrugged - Long winded fantasy. Rand took a good concept and divorced it from reality hoping to make her argument stronger but really just made it cartoonish. Loved finding out this conservative hero was an atheist.

Fair Tax Book - Made a good argument for the fair tax even if it was at times unnecessarily snarky. Some details were a little glossed over for my taste.

It's Even Worse Than it Looks - Written by a left/right pair of long time friend. Made some good (and scary) points about the state of politics. Despite being a bipartisan book, it was decidedly (and somewhat admittedly) left leaning. Overall I thought it was a good read.

They Eat Puppies Don't They? - Political humor. Funny fictitious story from Christopher Buckley.

The Benefit and the Burden - Tax Reform: Why We Need it and What it Will Take - Really liked this book even if I didn't agree with all of his prescriptions.

We're With Nobody - Written by two opposition researchers about some of their experiences. It was somewhat informative and somewhat entertaining but overall a little vague and a little too much about the authors.

American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson - interesting book about Jefferson. The more I read about him the more I think he gets overrated compared to other men of his time.

The Big Short/Griftopia - If you want to learn about the economic conditions leading up to the financial collapse, these two are great reads. I read Griftopia twice just because I wanted to really understand what these screwed up derivatives were all about plus I love reading Taibbi.

Plain Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution - Great read, really did a great job of covering the backstory and conditions that led to and created the Constitution.

The Extra 2% - A book about the economics in turning around the Tampa Rays baseball team.

The Signal and the Noise - Still reading but I'm loving it so far. Has already changed the way I think about statistical data.

[GasMan]

I'm catching up with books I've meant to read for a while.

I'm currently reading Team of Rivals (Doris Kearns Goodwin) and On the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin).

Both are very good so far.

Team of Rivals was a great book. I think it even worthy of a second read.

[natepro]

It's Even Worse Than it Looks - Written by a left/right pair of long time friend. Made some good (and scary) points about the state of politics. Despite being a bipartisan book, it was decidedly (and somewhat admittedly) left leaning. Overall I thought it was a good read.

One of the guys that wrote this was on NPR's Fresh Air a week or two back. I downloaded it in podcast form to listen to, but you could probably stream it on their website too if you do a bit of searching. It's a really good, and quite interesting interview. Made me want to read the book, for sure.

[Patsfan56]

Currently half way through 'The Great Game' by Peter Hopkirk.

Absolutely fascinating for anyone interested in central asian history, and its implication on the histroy that would/ is following it for the next 150 years. The incredible adventures of the people involved- it is truly fascinating. And to be in a position to ahve been in the actual places where this history took place just makes me appreciate it all the more.

[b1e9a8r5s]

Not reading, but listening. Nate Silver is on the BS report (Bill Simmons podcast) on grantland. It's mostly sports, but it was a good listen. It's a little over an hour.

[jomota]

Read After America by Mark Steyn