After reading Kelly's post, I thought we should add a book on economics to our list (the bottom of the list). So I looked up a few and I wanted everyone's opinion on which they thought would be best to read (of course if you have another one that would be better, feel free to add it). Here's my list:
The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else by Hernando de Soto
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (okay not so much an economics book, but still looks fascinating--Pulitzer Prize winner)
Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen (a Nobel Prize winner in economics)
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good by William Easterly (again, not so much about economics, still looks interesting, although the reviews I read criticized the writing as being too "saleable" and not enough intellect).
Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development (Initiative for Policy Dialogue Series C)by Joseph E. Stiglitz (mostly about free trade and the WTO)
Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy: Lessons from Medieval Trade (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)by Avner Greif (Ok, so I admit that anything that has to do with ancient civilizations is going to be on my list)
Understanding the Process of Economic Change (Princeton Economic History of the Western World)by Douglass C. North (better reviewed than the one above and along the same lines--another Nobel Prize winner in economics author)
Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market (Scholars Edition)by Murray N. Rothbard (supposed to be a good overview of economics)
Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics (Paperback)by Henry Hazlitt (supposed to be a simple, fast book about the basics of economics)
Okay this was way longer than I intended and took far too much time out of my day when I need to be doing other things. However, in all my searching I found this list on Amazon, that probably has better books than I listed here. So maybe just check that list out instead and see what you think.
Oh, I also think we should add a few more "light" books into our mix to break things up a bit more--like some YA fiction or just more fiction in general. I don't have any ideas though. Anyone?
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Little Britches
What We're Reading Now
Little Britches
Profundities--Eve
Brian Sykes (geneticist who studies Mitochondrial Eve): "I have in my hand the end of the thread which connects me to my ancestral mother way at the back. I pull on the thread and one woman's face in every generation, feeling the tug, looks up at me. Their faces stand out from the crowd, and they are illuminated by a strange light. These are my ancestors. I recognize my grandmother in the front row, but in the generations behind her the faces are unfamiliar to me.
There are all my mothers who passed this precious messenger [mitochondrial DNA] from one to another through a thousand births, a thousand screams, a thousand embraces of a thousand newborn babies. The thread becomes an umbilical cord." pgs. 47-48
Satan wishes to blur our knowledge of the absolutes of good and evil. The power inherent in that knowledge makes us like God. It is our choice of good over evil which makes us godlike.
The ultimate reality for women rests on the truth that our lives are embedded in relationships. Our identities are tied up with other people. pg. 172
President Hinckley: "Your potential is limitless. You are daughters of God, endowed by inheritance with marvelous gifts and immeasurable potential. Accept the challenge. Go forward with confidence." pg. 161
There are all my mothers who passed this precious messenger [mitochondrial DNA] from one to another through a thousand births, a thousand screams, a thousand embraces of a thousand newborn babies. The thread becomes an umbilical cord." pgs. 47-48
Satan wishes to blur our knowledge of the absolutes of good and evil. The power inherent in that knowledge makes us like God. It is our choice of good over evil which makes us godlike.
The ultimate reality for women rests on the truth that our lives are embedded in relationships. Our identities are tied up with other people. pg. 172
President Hinckley: "Your potential is limitless. You are daughters of God, endowed by inheritance with marvelous gifts and immeasurable potential. Accept the challenge. Go forward with confidence." pg. 161
Future Readings
- **Little Britches / Ralph Moody
- **1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus / Charles Mann
- **The Whipping Boy / Sid Fleischman
- **Notwithstanding My Weakness / Neal A. Maxwell
- **Cranford / Elizabeth Gaskell
- **Carry On, Mr. Bowditch / Jean Lee Latham
- **Man's Search for Meaning / Viktor E. Frankl
- **The Scarlet Pimpernel / Emmuska Orczy
- **Surviving Jamestown / Gail Karwoski
- **The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe / Stephen Hawking
- **Anahita's Woven Riddle / Meghan Nuttall Sayres
- **Walk Two Moons / Sharon Creech
- The Gate of Heaven / Mark. B. Brown
- **Onion John / Joseph Krumgold
- **The House of Seven Gables / Nathaniel Hawthorne
- **Basic Economics: A Citizens Guide to the Economy, Revised and Expanded / Thomas Sowell
- How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, from the Pilgrims to the Present / Thomas J. Dilorenzo
- **The Post-American World / Fareed Zakaria
- **Midnight's Children / Salman Rushdie
- **Robinson Crusoe / Daniel Defoe
- **I am the Clay / Chaim Potok
- **Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China / Jung Chang
- **Understanding the Process of Economic Change / Douglass C. North
Commentary
Past Readings
- **The Federalist Papers / Alexander Hamilton
- A Passion for the Impossible / Miriam Huffman Rockness
- A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century / Oliver Van DeMille
- Around the World in Eighty Days / Jules Verne
- Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America / Daniel J. Tichenor
- Eve and the Choice Made in Eden / BeverlyBeverly Campbell
- Fermat's Enigma:The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem / Simon Singh
- Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies / Jared Diamond
- Hamlet / William Shakespeare
- In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms / Laura C. Schlessinger
- Kim / Rudyard Kipling
- Life of Pi / Yann Martel
- Milkweed / Jerry Spinelli
- On the Wings of Heroes / Richard Peck
- The Bronze Bow / Elizabeth George Speare
- The Devil We Knew:Americans and the Cold War / H. W. Brands
- The Little Prince / Antoine de Saint Exupéry
- The Screwtape Letters / C.S. Lewis
- The Secret Life of Bees / Sue Monk Kidd
- Their Finest Hour / Winston Churchill
- Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze / Elizabeth Foreman Lewis
4 comments:
I'm for the Basics of Economy book all because I didn't get it going through American Heritage at BYU. Question: are these classics, or just random/modern books?
I totally agree in the "need more light reading" comment.
I'm all for sticking with classics. And, I do have a goal in life to read all of the Newberry Award Winning books, so that is one list we could look at when making choices.
Some of my favorites:
Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo
Crispin - Avi
The Wheel on the School -
Invincible Louisa (about Louisa May Alcott)
The Giver - Lowry
Onion John -
The Whipping Boy - Fleishman
A great book that might go into this whole "economy" topic could be "Twenty-One Balloons" ?????? (and if not, it's still a fun, light book to read)
By way of classics:
Little Women
Anne of Green Gables
The Robe - Lloyd Douglas
A Wrinkle in Time
The House of Seven Gables - Hawthorne
The Girl of the Limberlost -
Anything by Roald Dahl
Around the World in Eighty Days
Misc./more current:
The Penderwicks -
The Wish Giver - Bill Brittain
The Search for Delicious - Babbitt
The Sunflower - Richard Paul Evans
There's my extensive list for you! You know if you ask my opinion you'll get it and more!
:-)
JU
Let me ask my husband if he knows any good economics classics. That's his forte - but I don't usually read those.
There are a few on Julia's list that I haven't read yet that would be interesting. If I have any other ideas, I'll post them.
I vote the Douglass book--it sounded like a good overview, but I will leave the picking of it to you Kami, as long as what you pick doesn't get too bogged down in ancient times.
Ju--you knew I would do this to your list but I am still going to apologize:
1) nothing by Richard Paul Evans. Ever.
2) Tim said Crispin was lame and extremely predictable, so I'm not that interested.
3) Invincible Louisa wasn't that great. Tale of Despereaux was excellent, The Giver--you haven't read it???????????????, haven't we all read Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Robe, Wrinkle in Time, Girl of the Limberlost, Roald Dahl, and The Wish Giver?
Are we reading books we've already read? I'm okay with it if we are--all of the above are excellent. I just didn't know if we were or not.
I haven't read Onion John, The Whipping Boy, The Wheel on the School, The House of Seven Gables, or Around the World in 80 Days--I wouldn't mind adding one or more of those. And/or The Search for Delicious.
If we are reading books people have already read than I want to add the Secret Life of Bees. Really, one of the best books ever.
Also, I want to add Surviving Jamestown, because you can never have enough historical fiction.
Here are the books that grabbed my eye during my recent dates to Barnes and Noble:
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time (Paperback),
The Thief Lord (Paperback), by Cornelia Funke
Penny from Heaven, Jennifer Holm,
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry
Sharon Creech--I started with the author because I love her and I am behind, I haven't read The Wanderer or Replay or Love that Dog. Any of those. PS Kami, Replay is about a boy named Leonardo.
Love and Valor : Intimate Civil War Letters Between Captain Jacob and Emeline Ritner - Jacob B. Ritner
Anahita's Woven Riddle
by Meghan Nuttall Sayres
A Passion for the Impossible
by Miriam Huffman Rockness
The Sherwood Ring - Elizabeth Marie Pope
I could go on--but I will stop there. I haven't read any of those so I can't say if they would meet my definition of "classic."
Do we want to read only things we know are classics, or come labeled as classics, or are we going to read what we want in order to add to our personal classics list.
I'm okay either way.
First - in defense of Richard Paul Evans I did NOT like any of his other books, but The Sunflower was very different. I thought so anyway. It gives a lot to discuss, I believe.
AND - - I should have known you'd read practicaly EVERYTHING on my list, Andrea. Of course, I have read The Giver. This was a list of my favorite books. AND I didn't list The Wanderer because I'd assumed you'd already read it... and it is quite excellent. So, yes, these are books I have already read... BUT I would love to DISCUSS any of them with anybody because I haven't DISCUSSED much.
I, for one have NOT read all of Roald Dahl. Love him! And Around the World in 80 Days is a MUST read for everyone! :-)
And, if we are wanting to discuss teaching our children to think then we must read "The Wheel on the School."
So, there is my rebudle to your comment, Andrea! :-)
LOVE YOU!!!
JU
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