Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bookrecommendation

Young adult books about or starring characters from Laos?

ruhroh — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:48:29 -0800

[Book Filter] Does anyone have recommendations of books that are either about Laos, or starring characters that are Laotian? I have a student in my 5th grade class whose parents and grandparents emigrated from Laos and is interested in reading about experiences of people who live in Laos. Books can be either fiction or non-fiction, but fiction is preferred. He is probably a little behind grade level in his reading ability, so a book that is good for 3rd or 4th graders would be preferable. Optional: Adult or Young Adult books on the same subject that I could read on my own and discuss with him.

Books that I have read that are somewhat related to Laos: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down and First They Killed My Father.

tomorrow is Oktoberfest, Butters, and polka will never die.

Mitheral — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:30:49 -0800

You liked The Dresden Files. What other books did you enjoy? Now that I'm finishing up Side Jobs I'm looking for new stuff to add to my Kobo. So I'm looking for similar sorts of books. I'm not really sure what similar sorts are so basically I'm throwing this open with two criteria: You liked The Dresden Files and you liked the recommended book which in some way has the same feel as the Dresden books.

Looking for novels featuring good parenting

SandiBeech — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:39:30 -0800

I want to improve my parenting skills for my almost-2-year old. I don't have a lot of role models nearby, so I'd like to do some reading. I tend to put off reading non-fiction, even if it is well-written about a topic I am interested in. However, I will read novels even if they aren't very good and I don't really have time to read them. I was surprised at how much I picked up about ancient Egypt by reading Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody mysteries, so it is possible for me to learn something from a novel that is not intentionally didactic. Does anyone have a recommendation for a novel that includes characters involved in good parenting of small children? By "good parenting" I am thinking of "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk," which advocates a style of collaboration with your kids rather than a heavy handed top-down approach. I'm most interested in gentle mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy. I would rather avoid horror and thriller.

History of Austria-Hungary?

the man of twists and turns — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:15:30 -0800

Can you recommend good books on the history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, specifically their part in WWI and the breakup of the Empire?

SF that starts out as realism/historical fiction and ends up somewhere else?

RogerB — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:44:24 -0800

Speculative fiction about historical gradualism: I'm looking for SF stories which begin in the real historical world (past or present) and then gradually diverge from it, without any single decisive turning point. After reading Samuel Delany's Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders, which begins in the present and follows its characters in their everyday lives eightyish years into the SF future, and Terry Bisson's Any Day Now, which begins as a strictly realistic historical novel set in the Fifties and slowly, sneakily shades into an alternate-history version of the Sixties, I'm getting interested in the idea that there might be a niche or two I haven't previously thought much about within SF, that narratively represents gradual historical change. So I'm looking for other book suggestions that share this characteristic.

Criteria: The story must start in a purely realistic present or historical setting and diverge from it only gradually, without any clear single moment of transition, turning point, etc. I'm NOT interested in anything that just jumps into the future via a narrative break/flash-forward/prolepsis; also NOT interested in the more common kind of alternate history that's about the consequences of a single or a small number of decisive "what if" changes. Ideally I'm looking for things that might read like pure realism for quite a long time, until eventually the reader pauses, surprised, and realizes that they haven't been reading about the actually existing world for some time.

Any recommendations for a book on history of computer security?

cman — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 13:18:16 -0800

I'm looking for a book recommendation on the history of computer and internet security. I had the opportunity to take a class called Network Security and I only went to the first day because there was no way I would be able to keep up with all my work. But on that day the professor went quickly over a timeline of network security history, talking briefly about honey pots, warez, NIDS, p2p, DoS attacks, porn, and so many more interesting topics that I wish I had time to absorb. I'm looking for a book that covers this history, hopefully accessible to an engineer-yet-not-a-CS-nerd like myself. Any recommendations?

Rehabilitation motivation

mimo — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:18:19 -0800

Please recommend books or blogs that document full/near-full recovery and rehabilitation after an injury. I've led a moderately active life (hiking, regular gym visits, etc.), so I was a little surprised when five months of intensive boot camp/kickboxing classes eventually brought to light that I've been living more than 10 years without an ACL in my right knee. It was only when I was doing a lot of jumping and pivoting that I even noticed it was gone.

I was really enjoying the increased physical activity; so, rather than returning to my former easy-going ways, I've decided to get my knee fixed while I'm still relatively young and healthy. My surgery is quickly approaching and I'm starting to freak out a little about going from being fairly able-bodied to an extended period of imposed disability and painful rehab.

My understanding is that the initial recovery to basic getting around will be relatively quick, but that full recovery to roundhouse kicks may take up to six months. I'm worried about keeping up my morale and motivation for rehab for more than the basics. If I go through all this pain and inconvenience and just end up back sitting on the couch, I won't have really gained much.

I'd be interested in reading books or blogs about/by individuals who experienced a serious injury but were still able to return to an active life or a high level of athletic performance. I'm looking for some inspiration to keep me going when things get tough.

Oh what a wonderful world...

snowysoul — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:03:58 -0800

Asking for a friend: Any recommendations on books about social or environmental justice for a high school junior? A friend of mine from university is looking for recommendations for accessible, intellectually engaging and HOPEFUL books about social/environmental justice for a super mature and highly socially conscious lovely wonderful grade 11 who has the weight of his privilege in the world weighing on his shoulders. (As a side note, any recommendations for college aged students as well?). Thanks!

Bizarre nonfiction recommendations?

Sticherbeast — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:47:34 -0800

Nonfiction books that are off-the-wall, of mixed-to-dubious accuracy, but which are also entertaining and insightful as works of literature, irrespective of the factual claims presented therein. Clarification and examples lurk within. I'm looking for nonfiction books that are too strange and/or creative and/or wrong to be considered "normal" nonfiction, but which are also too readable to be considered gibberish or pure formal experimentalism.

For the purposes of this question, I'm not looking for personal stories or personal journeys. These books should be about history, science, travel, language, etc. etc. etc.

The author should be attempting for factual accuracy, even if s/he falls short of the mark.

Encyclopedic books are more than fine, so long as they're readable front-to-back.

I'm not interested in straight-up conspiracy literature of the "who killed JFK" variety, let alone anything of the "aliens at Area 51" variety, unless the book is truly, truly amazing, especially as far as the prose itself is concerned. I'd rather come way from the book feeling that I've actually learned something, even if I'm not entirely sure how reliable the lessons were.

I'm not really looking for pop science or pop history, not because I'm a snob, but because those books are generally not weird enough. For example, Mark Kurlansky's books are good, but they're not what I'm looking for.

Some examples of what I am looking for include:

Peter Levenda's Sinister Forces trilogy, which reads American history through an occult lens. Distinguishes itself from plain old conspiracy books by being much more about undercurrents and strange connections than it is about any particular big-C Conspiracy, especially since most of the conspiracy elements are about things which are verifiably true to some extent or another (e.g. MKULTRA really did exist, Frank Olson really did die at the Pennsylvania Hotel, and so on). This book is maybe the best example of what I'm looking for - there's a thesis, there are subtheses, it's well-researched, it's sort of insane, much of it is perfectly true, much of it is probably false, but I read the entire thing with pleasure. Levenda's Unholy Alliance also fits within what I'm looking for.

Reza Negarestani's Cyclonopedia fuses a loose fictional frame with some truly heady theory. This one's further out on the experimental fringe of what I'm looking for. While the factual assertions made in this book are not meant to be taken at face value, the theory is, so it still has that feeling of a delirious nonfiction book.

Ernest Becker's The Birth and Death of Meaning is on the more sober, academic fringe of what I'm looking for. It's well-cited, with a mature and respected thesis that has been developed in further works, including Becker's own work and in the work of his acolytes.

G. K. Chesterton's The Everlasting Man is a conservative example of what I'm looking for. It's a loose history of the world, as seen through the lens of a fervent Catholic. Neither fish nor fowl, but a very good book.

Colin Wilson's A Criminal History of Mankind. I'm currently reading this book, and I love it. I'm also very much aware that much of what Wilson is writing is complete bunk - not quite woo, just bunk. Nonetheless, this book is what inspired this question. For all of the nonsense the book has, it's very well-assembled, and what's more, there's real insight in here, as well as real facts and anecdotes.

What book / purchase might help my can't-do stepfather change his life?

ElfWord — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:02:42 -0800

What book (or other purchase) would you recommend for my defeatist, unskilled step-father, that might help him improve his life? My step-father (who I like but am not close with) has been going downhill for a while now. He married my mom about seven years ago, they both had a period of great success, but when the housing market collapsed things started going downhill. At this point, he's been out of work for two or more years and has no savings.

He's a very kind, decent guy, but has a fairly negative worldview / defeatist attitude. He hasn't been following up on work opportunities that seem too challenging / out of his comfort zone. There are no work opportunities in the area (North Georgia mountains) for someone with his experience (telecommunications electrician ("telephone pole guy") and carpeting).

I'm 800 miles away, and can't do much for him. But I'm hoping metafilter might have some recommendations for some kind of book (or other purchase) that might help him change his perspective / get him out of the do-nothing funk he's in / see that he's capable of learning new skills.

I know that I can't make him change, but I'd like to at least give him something that helps give him the option. Any ideas?

Recommendation for a book on jealousy in romantic relationships?

melancholyplay — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:25:18 -0800

I'm looking for novels that explore jealousy in romantic relationships, particularly featuring a partner who is jealous or insecure about the other person's romantic past. Ex-boyfriends/ex-girlfriends haunting the relationship would be excellent. Any recommendations? ("Literature" preferred--i.e., trashy novels aren't my thing.)

Can anyone recommend a good introduction to Marxism?

lucien_reeve — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:06:58 -0800

Can anyone recommend any good introductions to Marxism? More and more, as I get older, I find that the socialist view of the world as a set of competing classes, with one class exploiting the others, makes more and more sense. It also seems increasingly clear to me that this is going on at the moment. However, I am still quite new to Marxism and a little put off by and daunted by Das Kapital... Also, I want to find out about Marxism since Marx, as well as Marx himself.

So, can anyone recommend a good introduction to Marxism? Especially one that uses contemporary examples, or engages - fairly - with the modern criticisms of Marx?

Please note: I have already read Francis Wheen's biography of Marx and the Communist Manifesto. I also have a copy of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and Chris Harman's A People's History of the World (although for some reason I keep not getting around to reading them...) So please don't recommend those.

I have heard of Terry Eagleton's Why Marx was Right, but past work by Eagleton has not impressed me much, so I am hesitant. Is it any good?

Oh, and I am not particularly interested in hearing about critiques of Marxism.

Seeking good book for goal-setting in relationships.

The Great Big Mulp — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:50:00 -0800

My ladyfan and I are looking for recommendations for books that may help us move our relationship forward, especially ones with a focus on discussing, setting, and working on goals together. So, yes, we would like to move our relationship into the future, however neither of us are very good at setting and achieving goals individually, so setting goals as a couple tends to ... not work out, really. As such, we'd like a book that we can read and work through together, preferably one with plenty of exercises, examples, and activity suggestions.

Read 'em and don't weep.

santojulieta — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 15:18:14 -0800

Book recommendations - slay me with modern fictional awesomeness! I don't really want fluff and/or fruitcake books; I have plenty of options for those. I'd like one-off, stand alone, single volume fictional stories that are modern (so no Gulliver's Travels, Jane Eyre, Ayn Rand, etc).

And I want it to be the single most awesome book you've ever read!

Before you say it, here's what I've already read:
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (my fave book of all time)
Room
Winter's Bone
Hunger Games (books 1/2, book 3 wasn't as awesome)
City of Thieves
The Book Thief
High Fidelity

Here's what I can't read:
Marley & Me/Racing in the Rain or other memoirs about pet loss
A Staggering Work of Hearbreaking Genius or other memoirs about parental suffering. (I couldn't make it past the first chapter)

Help my inner geek: Find books to "go deep", learn new things/actively learn

Wolfster — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:42:47 -0800

Nonfiction book recommendations for books that both 1) explain the why behind things and 2) list specific things that you can do to learn the idea (not just “read along with me). I recently ran across these two books in the bookstore, and what I really like about them is that

• They explain the why behind something (why add baking soda or why add this particular flavor); okay, my inner geek needs to understand the why behind something.

• I really like having an experience to go along with it. The book about cooking lists simple recipes and the wine book lists wines that you buy, drink, and drink along with the lesson to learn the basic ideas for each chapter. To me, unless I am doing it, it will fall out of my head and reading becomes just a passive activity. (These ideas are typically easy to implement, not get a PhD in rocket science or buy a laboratory..things that are easy to get, acquire, and follow along).

I’d really like to find other books like this (the fact that the ones up there are about cooking or wine is completely random – I can only cook 1 or 2 meals, and know nothing about wine) – so this is open to other topics. I don’t know of a search term that I can use to find similar books to the ones that I described, so I think that this needs to be a hive mind query. But the main goal is something that I can read that explains some new/novel ideas and that I can experience.

Also, as a small plus, it would be great if the book can be broken up into small activities/chapters. That way, if/when I have time, I can peck away and try things out, and not be obligated to remember what I read several months ago.

If you found your own way to read a book and “go deep” (maybe you read a historic event and then traveled to an easy to get to location and it came alive for you), feel free to share. I don’t want to buy a guide book, though/a combo of book and experience.

Thank you

Books about world politics, conspiracies, and espionage.

reductiondesign — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:01:41 -0800

Bookfilter: I love world politics, conspiracies, and espionage; TV shows like Alias and Rubicon really do it for me. What books would I like? Modern-day stories preferred. Also, I read for prose as much as for story, so please no Dan Brown or the like.

Western fiction recommendations?

Kurichina — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:31:58 -0800

If you enjoy Louis L'amour, what other authors are you likely to enjoy? Both [present filter] and [book recommendation filter]. The gifts I've given my dad in the past that he's enjoyed the most are collections of Louis L'amour short stories and the like. But I think I'm coming to the end of L'amour oeuvre, and am looking for some other ideas and it's not really a genre of fiction I read myself. What are some other good authors of adventurous cowboy fiction?

SF book recommendations

tonyx3 — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:17:40 -0800

Help me find a new scifi author to consume! Looking for book/author recommendations. I've recently read and enjoyed most of the stuff by Peter F Hamilton, Charles Stross and Cory Doctorow.

I want SF/Future books written relatively recently (last decade-ish) because I'm interested in our current visions/predictions for the future, rather than ones speculated by authors longer ago.

I loved Peter Hamilton's stuff immensely, as well as some of Stross'.

Help!

Nonfiction for hipsters?

hilaritas — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:03:05 -0800

Good non-fiction books similar to Sarah Vowell? What are some books that are similar to Sarah Vowell's "Assassination Vacation" and "The Wordy Shipmates"? I recently read those two books and enjoyed Vowell's anecdotal style of history. I also like that the books show a sense of humor, although I think Vowell might find herself cleverer than I do. I don't really care one way or the other about her politics and that's the one thing I like the least about the books. What are some other non-fiction books that use a conversational tone to discuss a topic? It doesn't have to be history, but I like books larded with tidbits of trivia. Anything that will provide me with good trivia fodder for Jeopardy is a plus. Thanks!

Punchy non-fiction with an educational bent?

sciapod — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:22:30 -0800

If I enjoy the engaging (and frequently humorous) nonfiction and memoir of Stephen Fry, Mary Roach, and Bill Bryson, who else should I be reading? I'm looking for nonfiction, essays, or memoir that are conversational, humorous, sharp, and educational--without verging too far into the sometimes-sketchy Malcolm Gladwell-esque side of pop psychology or sociology.

Other authors whose nonfiction I've enjoyed: David Foster Wallace (!), Oliver Sacks, and, to a lesser extent, Malcolm Gladwell and Bruno Maddox of Discover magazine.

(I have seen these older questions, but it's been a while.)

Looking for a new book similar to Pillars of the Earth

fogonlittlecatfeet — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:21:14 -0800

What are some books that are similar in storyline and writing style to Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet? I recently read Pillars of the Earth as well as World Without End. I enjoyed them thoroughly. I would like to remain lost in that type of world for a bit longer though.

Can anyone recommend any books that are similar?

The location isn't that important.
I'm looking for the rustic setting. I want something before electricity or modern machinery.
I want a story told more from the peasant side of things as opposed to the royal side of things. I guess most of the people in the story were pretty ordinary at least at first glance.
Not Kings or Queens or Warriors or Magicians.
I like how well developed the characters were and the amount of research that went into it.. details.. i love details.
I enjoyed learning so much while I was reading for pleasure.

It could be a fantasy novel - I tried to get into Robert Jordan's stuff but felt like he took too much from Tolkien and changed it here or there to make it just different enough and it got on my nerves. But the setting was perfect for what I'm looking for.

I liked the love story. Not too sappy or overly predictable. or overwhelming the whole story.

I enjoyed that the story spanned decades.

I guess that is a good starting point. What books do you love that fit into these parameters? Why do you love it?

Thanks!

Good etymology book?

helixportland — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:29:32 -0800

My friend recently mentioned that he'd like to have a good (American English) etymology book. Can anyone suggest a good one? It can be simple and short or long and detailed, but I'd prefer to err on the side of long and detailed.

Harry Dresden, Repairman Jack, Felix Castor, then?

robocop is bleeding — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:38:27 -0800

I'm looking for some book recommendations: Urban fantasy stories featuring investigators vs the supernatural. I've already read all of Butcher's Dresden Files, Wilson's Repairman Jack, and Carey's Felix Castor series. I'd like to continue to read books about lone investigator/private eyes combating the supernatural in an urban fantasy setting, but after a bit of experimentation, I keep on stumbling upon series that either devolve into softcore porn or are not very well written, or both (so Anita Blake is right out).

So where do I go from here? Spring is finally springing and I'd like some light, entertaining reading.

Extra-points for Kindle content.

A book on the history and interpretation of copyright law

cyphill — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:19:22 -0800

Could somebody please recommend a book on the history and interpretation of copyright law in the United States? I'm looking for something that isn't simply legalize (although if it delves into it a bit that's fine) and does not focus on piracy.

A Book About Killing Before Guns

Bobby Bittman — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:46:36 -0800

Book-Recommendation-Filter: I want a book that tells me all about how medieval warfare used to be waged. I don't want to know about specific battles. I don't want to know about history. I want to know all the different ways people came up with to kill each other and knock down castles made of stone.

Suggestions?