book recommendations

[SMP]

I recently decided to start reading again. I have been pretty absorbed in my job. Even when I'm not officially working, I'm usually still thinking about work. So I thought that reading would be a good way to get my mind off work from time to time. I bought a kindle and started downloading books that seemed interesting. However, so far, the only books to really get any traction with me have been books by Malcolm Gladwell and the Freakonomics books.

Does anyone have any suggestions for books similar to those. (not sure how to classify them: quasi-intellectual pop-sociology? brain candy?)

[yayfulness]

Since you mention economics, I'll suggest Reinventing the Bazaar, Naked Economics, or The Armchair Economist (unless you've already taken Econ 110 and read them all). If you care at all about international development or poverty, read Out of Poverty, by Paul Polak. Jared Diamond's books Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse are also excellent (more in the realm of history).

[Katya]

I'm currently reading Maphead by Ken Jennings. I also liked his first book, Brainiac.

[Whistler]

I really liked Steven Pinker's The Stuff of Thought.

[Yarjka]

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson has an array of tidbits to share with people at a party and sound like you're really smart. Basically every item you could possibly come across in a typical home is given a full historical treatment. He goes through room by room and it gives a good idea of the evolution of domestic life and the importance different items held at different times. His other book, A Short History of Nearly Everything is similar in style, but a bit daunting because of its scale. It's more a look at the history of modern science, though, giving you names and information about the people who shaped our understanding of the world but are often not mentioned in science class since no equations or planets were named after them.

On the science side of things again, there is The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. I listened to this one on a long car ride, and we found ourselves wanting to get back in the car just to listen to more. It's mostly trivia interspersed with interesting narratives about the discovery of each element on the periodic table.

Simon Winchester's Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded gives not just more information about an event you've likely heard of but know very little about, but actually explores the entire history of geology and looks at the development of worldwide communication. Fascinating stuff. Other books by Simon Winchester are very good as well: Outposts, where he visits each remaining overseas territory of Great Britain; Atlantic, where he looks at the history of the Atlantic Ocean and all human interaction with that ocean; and The Professor and the Madman, where he gives a fascinating overview of the development of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Also, The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin is a classic and well worth reading.

[Katya]

On the science side of things again, there is The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. I listened to this one on a long car ride, and we found ourselves wanting to get back in the car just to listen to more. It's mostly trivia interspersed with interesting narratives about the discovery of each element on the periodic table.

This. So good. I got it for Christmas and when I finished it, I immediately wanted to reread it. (I also learned a ton about chemistry, which has always been one of my weaker subjects.)

He's got a new book out—The Violinist's Thumb—about DNA, but I haven't read it yet.

[Zedability]

I LOVE The Disappearing Spoon! He has a new book?! Best. Day. Ever.