KATG book club
 

What books would you recommend reading and your thoughts on why? Obv. the first book I would recommend would be "What do we do now" and why is obvious. NEXT?

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

This is an extremely well-written non-fiction book about something you'd think would be boring, but Pollan makes it interesting, fast-paced and easy to understand, even though it does get kind of sciencey from time to time. Pollan's premise is that the problem with the American diet, and the reason we're all so unhealthy is because we've moved away from real food and onto a series of chemical concoctions that purport to have the same or better nutritional values as food, but which is actually killing us.

It's very helpful and interesting, and while I don't agree with absolutely everything he says, I've made some changes in my eating habits and in the food that comes into my house because of this book.

Have you read any of his other books Marina? I've been meaning to read The Omnivore's Dilemma but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

I haven't, to be honest I'm not yet done with In Defense, I haven't had a lot of reading time recently. But all his books are on my christmas list, so I'm sure I'll be getting one or two.

Yeah, I did see a sort of hack little book of his in Barnes and Noble the other day. It's called something like 'how to eat' or 'what to eat' it has about 90 pages of instructions that are lifted word for word in parts from In Defence at least, and probably other books of his. I thought it was kind of funny. More power to him for that book, because people who buy 90 pages of 'what to eat' probably aren't going to hang out for 300 other pages on why and how and when.

But I didn't know that about Omnivore. I'll avoid that one since I plan on reading the others anyway.

Meh, pop. books on food science are probably too shallow to capture the truth of the matter.

Some stuff on my reading list I wouldn't mind getting out of the way:
The Collapse of Complex Societies
Guns, Germs and Steel
Globalizing Capital

The Civil War: A Narrative.

Because military history is sexy times.

If your into Military history then I highly recommend On Killing, about the psychology of individuals in war, Dispatches, about Vietnam and On Call In Hell, about a Doctor in Iraq. They are all a little emotionally damaging but its totally worth it :)

Arthur Hailey - Hotel