Books everyone should read

[Dan]

This thread is for books you read you believe everyone should read.

My first suggestion is for The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick.

Mitnick is a social engineer who penetrated the security of the biggest companies, copied the source code of many big programs and similar feats. He was condemned by the court with an exagerated sentence (they counted the stuff he copied as being "lost" by the companies who hosted it, Mitnick did no actual damage). All of this was accomplished through social engineering (manipulating people in doing what you want, giving you passwords, etc.).

He now runs a consulting company to train people to resist attacks such as the ones he was performing and that's the goal of the book too. It's full of credible real-life example that most people would fall for, followed by an analysis on the attack and how to prevent it.

It's really an eye opening book and I highly suggest it to everybody.

[Stuart]

"The Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan. It demonstrates how pseudo-science and mumbo-jumbo is becoming more popular in the modern world and tells you how to spot it and avoid it. Its the single best book on the subject I've read, and while I'd suggest everyone reads it, I would actively encourage anyone who intends to go to university to study it.

[randomer909]

"The Demon Haunted World" by Carl Sagan. It demonstrates how pseudo-science and mumbo-jumbo is becoming more popular in the modern world and tells you how to spot it and avoid it. Its the single best book on the subject I've read, and while I'd suggest everyone reads it, I would actively encourage anyone who intends to go to university to study it.

Bdw Stuart, how's that novel you've been workin on comin along?

[Dan]

My vote goes to "The Alphabet of Manliness" by Maddox.

Why? All the quotes I heard from it where pretty stupid like this one:

Listen for a faint whistling noise coming from between her legs, as if wind were passing through a large, hollow cavern. If you hear this sound, your prospective woman may have a condition commonly referred to as 'whore.'

Wow! What a great insight on biology! I wonder if other muscles in the body get weaker from exercise!

[Dan]

But i think there's also a great and extensive list of books which are not considered classics, but have definitely affected the way people think. for me, some of the most inspirational books i've ever read are:

Joseph Heller's Catch-22

I believe Catch-22 is considered a classic.

Of course today classic means "A book no one wants to read but everybody wish they had read." :)

[Pitti]

Shining by Stephen King is great

[sunnysarah]

Cant help voting for
Lord Of The Rings

and also

Magician by Raymond E Feist

[Stuart]

Everyone should read the manuals for their household appliances.

[Jo76]

Hey,

how about the thrillers by Dan Brown ?
Angels & Demons, Da Vinci Code and now the Lost Symbol ?

[Dan]

how about the thrillers by Dan Brown ?

Entertaining but sloppy. It's the fast-food of literature so I don't think it's a must.

Also, there's a claim that bothers me:

Martin Savidge: When we talk about da Vinci and your book, how much is true and how much is fabricated in your storyline?

Dan Brown: 99 percent of it is true. All of the architecture, the art, the secret rituals, the history, all of that is true, the Gnostic gospels. All of that is ... all that is fiction, of course, is that there's a Harvard symbologist named Robert Langdon, and all of his action is fictionalized. But the background is all true.

That is completely false. Brown says lots of things that are true and well-research and lots of things he just invents which makes it hard to separate the fiction from the non-fiction. Every time he talks about science, religion or history unless you already know the topic, you get Schrodinger knowledge: maybe you learned something true, maybe that was completely false.

[Eric]

A few that come to mind and not yet mentioned:

Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse by Jared Diamond.

The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams.

[luvthemgiants]

A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking

Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis

Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

[Karla]

48 rules of power by Robert Greene.