Steve's Book Picks
Here's a list of some of the most interesting books I have read. Some of it isn't exactly light reading, but if you are going to broaden your horizons, you have to knock out a few walls (or at least install some windows).
I highly, Highly recommend these books. Click the individual book to drop down the page for a brief (or not-so-brief) description.
The Bible (Ignatius Press). Yup, this is a great place to start (but no, I'm not Bible-thumping here...). Go ahead and read the whole thing (I dare you). Most people like to read only the parables, or certain verses that justify what they say and think. Read it from cover to cover, and you will be able to tell when someone is quoting Scripture out of context for their own purposes. Also, your baloney meter will go off every time someone says "well, the Bible says..." and you know that it doesn't. I decided to read a Catholic Bible because it contained the 7 "books" that Martin Luther chose to remove back in the 1500's, along with other edited bits and pieces. While researching Luther, I found out from numerous sources that said he wanted to remove more from the Bible, but other scholars basically told him to chill out. For example, Luther allegedly had a very bad attitude regarding women, and this is often cited as one reason why he wanted to remove one of the books written by a woman (I think it was Esther, might've been Ruth). Anyways, other folks twisted his arm to keep that book in, so he did. Another "book" that was eliminated was entirely about a woman acting brave and courageous and stuff. Makes you wonder about his motives regarding other areas... Back to Top
The Story of Christianity: The Reformation to the Present Day (Gonzalez 1984). Here's where the behind the scenes stuff begins - or is it? I haven't read the first volume of this two-volume book, so I can't really comment on Christian history before the Reformation. But, this book does a good job of covering European and American history, and how the political, economic, and religious issues were nearly indistinguishable during the 1500's and ever since. The brutality of human nature is underscored by the personal motives, bloody attacks, and the forces of greed as Europe became religiously divided into the Catholics and the Protestants. The book also outlines how Christianity then fractured into oodles of "denominations", such as Methodism (Free, United, Reformed, Black), Mennonism, the Amish, the Baptists, Southern Baptist, the Anabaptists, Lutheran (ELCA and Missouri Synod), Episcopalian, Mormonism, Anglican church, Roman Catholic, American Catholic, the Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick maker, etc. Very interesting. Back to Top
A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bryson 2003). Take every high school (and some college level) science textbook you ever never read, boil them down into Cliff Note form, add stories about the accidental circumstances of important discoveries, and funny tidbits about the geniuses that were too often laughed at and only given credit for important work after they died pennyless - and you have A Short History... This book seeks to tell the reader what we know about the world around us, who discovered it and how. It uses fantastic, practical imagery to make the unimaginable comprehendable. For instance - to count the number of molecules of Oxygen in a 1 liter bottle, you would have to cover the United States in corn kernels to a height (depth) of 800 feet. A nice visual, I thought. Back to Top
Darwin's Ghost (Jones 2001). Steve Jones uses modern language and details of modern scientific advances to communicate and expand on Darwin's original "On the Origin of Species". A great read for a Biology student (it was actualy used as a discussion text for an Evolution class I took), this book can also be understood by people with no science background. Jones clarifies many of Darwin's ideas in very easy to understand examples. These examples are often pulled from todays headlines to give them a modern feel and relevancy that Darwin's original can't readily supply. Back to Top
The Demon-Haunted World (Sagan 1997). In this, his second-to-last book, the late Cosmologist Carl Sagan takes a serious look at a handful of our modern day "mysteries". From alien abductions, UFO's, psychics, astrology, and even the tragedy of witch hunts and the Inquisition, Sagan looks for the origins of magical, mystical happenings in our world, and why so many of us willingly believe in them. For instance why do people believe in astrology, when it is based on things that were visable to the naked eye in ancient Rome and Greece; and why hasn't it been updated to include everything we've discovered since then? Wouldn't that make your reading more accurate? He uses logic, reason, and common sense to remind us to question dubious claims. In the words of "The Amazing" James Randi: "THINK!" Back to Top
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