Books that changed your life
09-28-06, 12:38 AM
#101
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Originally Posted by DXchulo
Nice to see this thread again. Thanks to those of you who recommended Your Money or Your Life. Definitely worth reading if you haven't already. Just for the heck of it, my favorite book:
Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran with S. Blakeslee (https://www.nobeliefs.com/Ramachandran.htm)
Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran with S. Blakeslee (https://www.nobeliefs.com/Ramachandran.htm)
I bought it and have read only the first
60 pages and it has dramatically changed
and energized my life. As a result of what
I read I got back into a study of NLP, or
Neurolinguistic Programming and found
a program on restructing thoughts and
beliefs in yourself and others. I bought
and downloaded the program tonight
and am totally blown away. This is the
heavy brain syrup of which Karl Rove
uses (with evil intent, IMHO) to massage
the minds of the American Public. I challenge
you all to buy and study this great material.
If you are in Sales or Public relations, a teacher,
or a staff member or director of a Non Profit, or
if you are in any job that means you must
successfully communicate your ideas to people,
I highly recommend this material.
https://www.nlpmp3.com/pages-producti...-download.html
If you are a moral person with fair intent, I
suspect that this program would be very
benefitial and improve all aspects of your
living experience. It could be used to
manipulate people too, but as we know,
bad KARMA can catch up with you.
07-12-07, 07:45 PM
#103
Full Member
Not necessarily in any particular order:
Richard's Bicycle Book by Richard Ballantine (taught me about traffic jamming)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (real imaginative, grabbed me at a young age and I still think it's great)
Jumper by Steven Gould (Probably my favorite recent)
Steal This Book by Abby Hoffman (I learned a lot of things that nobody tells kids in the suburbs)
Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein (turned me on to SF in the 5th grade)
The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain (changed my way of eating completely)
Firestarter by Stephen King (one book I can enjoy re-reading)
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (tremendous imagination and the first I had ever heard about nano-scale devices)
Richard's Bicycle Book by Richard Ballantine (taught me about traffic jamming)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (real imaginative, grabbed me at a young age and I still think it's great)
Jumper by Steven Gould (Probably my favorite recent)
Steal This Book by Abby Hoffman (I learned a lot of things that nobody tells kids in the suburbs)
Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein (turned me on to SF in the 5th grade)
The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain (changed my way of eating completely)
Firestarter by Stephen King (one book I can enjoy re-reading)
The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (tremendous imagination and the first I had ever heard about nano-scale devices)
Last edited by striegel; 07-17-07 at 06:38 PM.
07-12-07, 07:56 PM
#105
Sophomoric Member
The Omnivore's Dilemna by Michael Pollan
The book that explains our food supply and how it got that way. Of great relevance to political carfree folks. Here's an excerpt from pp. 83-84:
The book that explains our food supply and how it got that way. Of great relevance to political carfree folks. Here's an excerpt from pp. 83-84:
Assuming [a beef steer] continues to eat 25 pounds of corn a day and reaches a weight of 1200 pounds, he will have consumed in his lifetime the equivalent of thirty-five gallons of oil--nearly a barrel.
So this is what commodity corn can do to a cow: industrialize the miracle of nature that is a ruminant, taking this sunlight- and prairie grall-powered organism and turning it into the last thing we need: another fossil fuel machine. This one, however, is able to suffer.
[....]
"You are what you eat is a truism hard to argue with, and yet it is, as a visit to a feedlot suggests, incomplete, for you are what what you eat eats, too. And what we are, or have become, is not just meat but number 2 corn and oil.
So this is what commodity corn can do to a cow: industrialize the miracle of nature that is a ruminant, taking this sunlight- and prairie grall-powered organism and turning it into the last thing we need: another fossil fuel machine. This one, however, is able to suffer.
[....]
"You are what you eat is a truism hard to argue with, and yet it is, as a visit to a feedlot suggests, incomplete, for you are what what you eat eats, too. And what we are, or have become, is not just meat but number 2 corn and oil.
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07-12-07, 09:09 PM
#107
In the right lane
Field Notes from a Catastrophe: A Frontline Report on Climate Change
By Elizabeth Kolbert
https://books.google.com/books?id=suX...+a+catastrophe
I've been reading her articles for a number of years in the New Yorker. Highly recommended.
Here is the last paragraph of the book: "Ice core records also show that we are steadily drawing closer to the temperature peaks of the last interglacial, when sea levels were some fifteen feet higher than they are today. Just a few degrees more and the earth will be hotter than it has been at any time since our species evolved. The feedbacks that have been identified in the climate system...take small changes to the system and amplify them into much larger forces. Perhaps the most unpredictable feedback of all is the human one. With six billion people on the planet, the risks are everywhere apparent. A disruption in monsoon patterns, a shift in ocean currents, a major drought -- any one of those could easily produce streams of refugees numbering in the millions. As the effects of global warming become more and more difficult to ignore, will we react by finally fashioning a global response? Or will we retreat into ever narrower and more destructive forms of self-interest? It may seem impossible to imagine that a technologically advanced society could choose, in essence, to destroy itself, but that is what we are now in the process of doing."
By Elizabeth Kolbert
https://books.google.com/books?id=suX...+a+catastrophe
I've been reading her articles for a number of years in the New Yorker. Highly recommended.
Here is the last paragraph of the book: "Ice core records also show that we are steadily drawing closer to the temperature peaks of the last interglacial, when sea levels were some fifteen feet higher than they are today. Just a few degrees more and the earth will be hotter than it has been at any time since our species evolved. The feedbacks that have been identified in the climate system...take small changes to the system and amplify them into much larger forces. Perhaps the most unpredictable feedback of all is the human one. With six billion people on the planet, the risks are everywhere apparent. A disruption in monsoon patterns, a shift in ocean currents, a major drought -- any one of those could easily produce streams of refugees numbering in the millions. As the effects of global warming become more and more difficult to ignore, will we react by finally fashioning a global response? Or will we retreat into ever narrower and more destructive forms of self-interest? It may seem impossible to imagine that a technologically advanced society could choose, in essence, to destroy itself, but that is what we are now in the process of doing."
07-13-07, 08:28 PM
#110
Sophomoric Member
Originally Posted by Bikepacker67
Ohh whoops! You said books that changed your life...
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07-13-07, 09:48 PM
#111
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The Giver -- Lois Lowry
Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley
The Road Less Traveled -- M. Scott Peck
Anything by Carl Sagan
The Eighth Day of Creation -- Horace Freeland Judson
Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley
The Road Less Traveled -- M. Scott Peck
Anything by Carl Sagan
The Eighth Day of Creation -- Horace Freeland Judson
07-13-07, 09:51 PM
#112
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Originally Posted by pedex
Immortal Class:cult of human transportation by Travis Hugh Culley
07-14-07, 10:23 AM
#113
In the right lane
Originally Posted by Denny Koll
I'll second that. Changed the way I think so much that I got rid of my car.
https://www.amazon.com/Bike-Cult-Ulti...4429863&sr=8-1
Looks like this one written by David Perry. Not available at my library and out of print... Amazon can get used copies.
07-14-07, 11:05 AM
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07-14-07, 11:01 PM
#115
Sophomoric Member
Kinda off-topic, but important to me. Instead of buying books from Amazon, etc., consider buying from your local independent bookstore.
Just visit, e-mail or call them on the phone. If it isn't in stock, they can special order any book you want. No shipping charges for you, and your book usually arrives in a couple days. They'll e-mail you when it comes in, and you can ride on your little bicycle to pick it up.
Another good thing: your own neighbor makes a profit instead of some giant soul-sucking corporation in cyberland.
Just visit, e-mail or call them on the phone. If it isn't in stock, they can special order any book you want. No shipping charges for you, and your book usually arrives in a couple days. They'll e-mail you when it comes in, and you can ride on your little bicycle to pick it up.
Another good thing: your own neighbor makes a profit instead of some giant soul-sucking corporation in cyberland.
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07-15-07, 08:04 AM
#116
In the right lane
Originally Posted by Roody
Kinda off-topic, but important to me. Instead of buying books from Amazon, etc., consider buying from your local independent bookstore.
Just visit, e-mail or call them on the phone. If it isn't in stock, they can special order any book you want. No shipping charges for you, and your book usually arrives in a couple days. They'll e-mail you when it comes in, and you can ride on your little bicycle to pick it up.
Another good thing: your own neighbor makes a profit instead of some giant soul-sucking corporation in cyberland.
Just visit, e-mail or call them on the phone. If it isn't in stock, they can special order any book you want. No shipping charges for you, and your book usually arrives in a couple days. They'll e-mail you when it comes in, and you can ride on your little bicycle to pick it up.
Another good thing: your own neighbor makes a profit instead of some giant soul-sucking corporation in cyberland.
I think your friendly local bookstore has been pretty much a thing of the past for many years, at least in this neck of the woods.
07-15-07, 08:33 AM
#117
Sophomoric Member
Originally Posted by gerv
This is interesting. I often buy from either Amazon or Amazon affiliates like Powell's (which is a bookstore in Portland.) The other option here is either Border's or Barnes and Noble, who have branches in both cyberspace and about 5 miles out in the suburban malls.
I think your friendly local bookstore has been pretty much a thing of the past for many years, at least in this neck of the woods.
I think your friendly local bookstore has been pretty much a thing of the past for many years, at least in this neck of the woods.
Do you know anything about this store?
The Book Store
606 Locust St, The Equitable Bldg, Des Moines, IA 50309 · 515-288-7267
Simple wood shelving holds this store's collection of books. Titles range from fiction and history books to reference texts and science fiction titles. Independently owned, The Book Store is convenient to downtown and stocks a variety of magazines and periodicals. The bookstore is housed in the Equitable Building, which features a gorgeous lobby, and the staff is talkative and helpful.
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; Sat 11am-4pm
Simple wood shelving holds this store's collection of books. Titles range from fiction and history books to reference texts and science fiction titles. Independently owned, The Book Store is convenient to downtown and stocks a variety of magazines and periodicals. The bookstore is housed in the Equitable Building, which features a gorgeous lobby, and the staff is talkative and helpful.
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; Sat 11am-4pm
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07-15-07, 09:54 AM
#118
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Roody,
I am in full agreement on trying to utilize local businesses if at all possible...FWIW I are a local business (well my wife is) However Podunkville, Any State, USA in my case doesn't have ANY bookstores. There is a small "Christian" bookstore that sell primarily used stuff. So for some of us Amazon is the basically the ONLY choice. The nearest independent book store listed from me is almost 40 miles away
Must be why I have my own private library
(maybe there is a potential career there for me
)
Aaron
I am in full agreement on trying to utilize local businesses if at all possible...FWIW I are a local business (well my wife is) However Podunkville, Any State, USA in my case doesn't have ANY bookstores. There is a small "Christian" bookstore that sell primarily used stuff. So for some of us Amazon is the basically the ONLY choice. The nearest independent book store listed from me is almost 40 miles away
Must be why I have my own private library (maybe there is a potential career there for me )Aaron
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Webshots is bailing out, if you find any of my posts with corrupt picture files and want to see them corrected please let me know. :(
ISO: A late 1980's Giant Iguana MTB frameset (or complete bike) 23" Red with yellow graphics.
"Cycling should be a way of life, not a hobby.
RIDE, YOU FOOL, RIDE!"_Nicodemus
"Steel: nearly a thousand years of metallurgical development
Aluminum: barely a hundred
Which one would you rather have under your butt at 30mph?"_krazygluon
07-15-07, 10:22 AM
#119
In the right lane
Originally Posted by Roody
Actually, the number of independent book stores has been holding steady, even increasing in recent years. A lot of people are going back to the service and quality of a local business, and they typically offer more discounts and sales than they used to. IMO, supporting local businesses is an important part of being carfree.
Do you know anything about this store?
The Book Store
Do you know anything about this store?
The Book Store
606 Locust St, The Equitable Bldg, Des Moines, IA 50309 · 515-288-7267
Simple wood shelving holds this store's collection of books. Titles range from fiction and history books to reference texts and science fiction titles. Independently owned, The Book Store is convenient to downtown and stocks a variety of magazines and periodicals. The bookstore is housed in the Equitable Building, which features a gorgeous lobby, and the staff is talkative and helpful.
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; Sat 11am-4pm
Simple wood shelving holds this store's collection of books. Titles range from fiction and history books to reference texts and science fiction titles. Independently owned, The Book Store is convenient to downtown and stocks a variety of magazines and periodicals. The bookstore is housed in the Equitable Building, which features a gorgeous lobby, and the staff is talkative and helpful.
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; Sat 11am-4pm
Funny thing is that I've biked past this location a number of times and never noticed it. It's amazing that I have to use the Internet to tell me what's in my backyard
07-15-07, 11:03 AM
#120
Sophomoric Member
Originally Posted by wahoonc
Roody,
I am in full agreement on trying to utilize local businesses if at all possible...FWIW I are a local business (well my wife is) However Podunkville, Any State, USA in my case doesn't have ANY bookstores. There is a small "Christian" bookstore that sell primarily used stuff. So for some of us Amazon is the basically the ONLY choice. The nearest independent book store listed from me is almost 40 miles away Must be why I have my own private library (maybe there is a potential career there for me )
Aaron
I am in full agreement on trying to utilize local businesses if at all possible...FWIW I are a local business (well my wife is) However Podunkville, Any State, USA in my case doesn't have ANY bookstores. There is a small "Christian" bookstore that sell primarily used stuff. So for some of us Amazon is the basically the ONLY choice. The nearest independent book store listed from me is almost 40 miles away
Must be why I have my own private library (maybe there is a potential career there for me )Aaron
Years ago, when I lived in Jackson, MI, we had no good bookstore, and no internet at that time. We used to go to the original Border's store in Ann Arbor every couple months to buy books. Border's was a great independent bookstore at the time, and I still love going to their branches. Sometimes I find a book I want at Border's, then special order it through my independent store. Other times I just buy the book there at border's.
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07-15-07, 01:48 PM
#122
The Rock Cycle
Originally Posted by carless
Originally Posted by carless
Hey Mom, Can I Ride My Bike Across America?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/096...e=UTF8&s=books
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/096...e=UTF8&s=books
Originally Posted by carless
Miles from Nowhere
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089...lance&n=283155
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/089...lance&n=283155
The Tightwad Gazette is a book that changed the way I spend (and live) a lot.
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07-15-07, 01:49 PM
#123
The Rock Cycle
Originally Posted by davidmcowan
The simple living Guide by Janet Luhrs
Your money or your life.
Your money or your life.
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07-15-07, 01:59 PM
#124
The Rock Cycle
Originally Posted by ken cummings
Geomorphology
I have Process Geomorphology by Ritter/Kochel/Miller that I used for a geomorph college class I had. This wasn't a very good textbook. I'd like to find a better book on the subject.
Light reading for geologists should include anything by John McPhee: Rising From The Plains, In Suspect Terrane, Crossing The Craton, Basin & Range, Assembling California.
I just finished ( few minutes ago) Cycles of Rock and Water by Kenneth Brown. A journey from Baja California to the Aleutian Islands, taking about geology, biology and history.
I am now reading Ice by Mariana Gosnell. Anything you could possibly want to know about ice, from the blocks in you drink to the earth's poles. It's a great read.
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07-15-07, 02:06 PM
#125
The Rock Cycle
Originally Posted by smilin buddha
Any book by Scott Nearing
Rereading Living the Good Life for the 10th time.
Rereading Living the Good Life for the 10th time.
I went to Forest Farm in Maine and met Helen a year or so before she died (in an automobile crash). I got to chat with her and help her weed her garden. I think about them a lot, although I do not live that sort of a lifestyle now.
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Gunnar Sport
Specialized Ruby
Salsa Vaya Ti
Novara Randonee x2
Motobecane Fantom CXX
Jamis Dakar XCR
