Anyone know of any good books for Christmas presents?

[beaversmom]

Don't know if you are familiar with Dennis Prager but here is a whole list of books that he recommends--wide variety.

http://dennisprager.com/booksRec.html

[skeptoid]

A Fortunate Life by Albert Facey...most unique...Australian autobiography...hard life...easy read: he was illiterate till later in life.
Peter the Great by Robert Massie...one of the most fascinating and influential characters in history....the father of Russia....928 rich pages, but not really difficult.
Charles M. Russell by John Taliaferro....the best bio of the best Western artist and storyteller, warts and all. Charley Russell was a real one.
Trails Plowed Under by C. M. Russell (the subject above) A collection of short stories from cowboy Montana in the 1880's & 90's. My favorite: 'Whisperin Booze'
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana....a true American classic. Because of illness and failing vision,RHD leaves Harvard for California in 1834...returns 1836...publishes this one of a kind.
Ernest K. Gann's Flying Circus by E. K. Gann....his experiences as a commercial pilot from DC3 to jets....details the way it was with the old characters and aircraft. Very romantic, sentimental, poignant. The hard cover has nice color illustrations of the planes described.

All are available on amazon.com

[fire_eye]

Marcus Aurelius "Meditations".

Or maybe, "The Zen Teachings of Huang Po." (depends on how literate your jailbird is...)

[Havoc]

Treason...

[dennisw]

What's a good book to send someone in jail?......


Yoga and exercise books

[ASA.Ranger]

"Light This CANDLE"; The Life and Times of Alan Shepard, America's First Spaceman by Neal Thompson. Informative, entertaining and easy to read.

"The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History" by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Ph.D. Informative, enlightening and ammo for Liberal know-it-alls. It applies the US Constitution to major events. It explains 1)why the US revolution was different and that American 'revolutinairs were actually conservatives, 2) the Puritans did not steal Indian lands, 3)"Landslide Lyndon" Johnson stole his first Senate race, 4) the War on Poverty made poverty worse and 5) reveals the absurdity of the Fourteenth Amendment. Quotations from the Founders, politicians-of-the-era, common partipants, soldiers and historians unite the Constitution and times creating an understandable context. (No relation to author)

[Gamecock]

"The Guns of the South"

That was an interesting twist on time travel.

[Mo1]

.

[MikefromOhio]

yeah it was...

considering the way that book ended, I am amazed there hasnt been a sequel to it....

[Banjoguy]

Some of my recent favorite reads:

1. "The Illustrated Longitude" by Sobel and Andrewes (Navigation)
2. "Brunelleschi's Dome", by Ross King (Architecture and history)
3. "Clear The Bridge" by RAdm. Dick H. O'Kane (WWII)
4. "Fermats Enigma" by Simon Singh (Math)
5. "Louis Armstrong" by Laurence Bergreen (Music)
6. "The Da Vici Code" by Dan Brown (Fiction)
8. "Reflections on The Art of Living" by Diane Osbon (spiritual path)

[johniegrad]

8.

[Chewbacca]

Atlas Shrugged by Ayan Rand.

[katana]

No one's mentioned Quicksilver yet so I will. Read it a couple months ago and really enjoyed it.

Contains a lot of factual "connections" type information the development of "Natural Phlosophy" (see Scientific Method) in Britain and Europe, i.e. Newton, Liebnitz, Hegel, etc., the American Colonies, plus 17th century religion and politics (synonomous at that time) thrown into a very good story line. It's out in paperback.

The "heavy lifting" math and scientific parts of the story are nicely interspersed with the juicier bits to keep it from becoming too dry.

[em2vn]

You can not read too many books.
You can have too many books for the size of your home.

[JustaCowgirl]

**Do any of the people like Alternative history? **

I think Harry Harrison's Eden series has to be one of the best Alternative History series ever written.

For a person who likes time travel and history, I also liked Jack Finney's Time and Again (about going back in time to gaslight-era New York City).

I like Dean Koontz also.

For nonfiction, how about Kings of the Hill by Dick and Lynne Cheney? That is probably out of print, though.

[JustaCowgirl]

**What's a good book to send someone in jail?**

Books on meditation and out-of-body experiences.

[JustaCowgirl]

Particularly if the recipient is a woman, I think Jan Karon's Mitford series can't be beat. Start at the beginning, they build on each other. Wonderful small-town America from the eyes of Father Tim, the Episcopal priest.

Also for a woman: anything by Curtiss Lee Matlock. Life in small-town Oklahoma. She's really good.

And anything by Lee Smith, who writes fiction about life in the Carolinas. She's a wonderful writer.

[tmp02]

The BIBLE seems to be an excellent book to give to people for Christmas.

[Cincinatus]

I agree -- interesting concept in Quciksilver.

The Weekly Standard had a long article on Stephenson's Baroque Cycle a couple of weeks ago:

Back to the Baroque: Neal Stephenson's science fiction of the past.

[JustaCowgirl]

Wow, I am going to have to check out Neal Stephenson's books. Sounds right down my alley. Historically-based fiction and alternate history, with a dose of science mixed in, is the genre I enjoy most.

Do you recommend any specific one? Or should I just start with Quicksilver?

Does anyone remember an obscure novel called Islandia? It was written probably in the 1920's and became something of a cult classic, I believe. I have thought of that book more than once when listening to the Democrats describe their perfect world.