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I loved Radzinsky's Rasputin bio Tom Send a noteboard - 14/09/2009 06:58:46 PM
He also wrote a FANTASTIC biography of Stalin that I highly recommend - it purges all the other bios of Stalin like the enemies of the people they are.

I think it is worthwhile to post a survey to start people talking more about non-fiction on this website as well. To me, reading fantasy and science fiction all the time is a bit like eating junk food or playing computer games - it's fun and entertaining, but when you're done and look back on the time spent you sometimes sit there and say, "What have I done?!"

Yup. Which is why I find it a little disturbing that so many people read more Fantasy than anything else. It's great and I love it but my brain requires something more.

Yes. I read the entire Mistborn trilogy (and I have Warbreaker on the shelf waiting to be read) and amazon is shipping the new Dan Brown as we speak. However, my brain also needs more and so I try to broaden my reading spectrum more and more.

- world cultures

I used to love this as a child. The high gloss books with photos and snippets of information about a place and culture were marvellous.

I still love those sorts of books, though now I like the ones with glossy photos and then in-depth articles next to them.

I like looking at pictures and reading art history.

I have a lot of coffee table books (some of them big enough to make into coffee tables) like that. Of course, I also have the "art photography" books that are essentially high-end soft core porn because it's just as cool as having porn on display but yet much more chic.

7. Do you consider books about the occult to be non-fiction or fiction? Why?

In what way do you mean about? Do you mean an occultist version of The Bible, or similar? Most likely, though, whatever your answer, I'd probably consider it to be non-fiction.

I meant more that people discuss experiences and things that likely did not happen - whether it's Aleister Crowley claiming to have summoned the devil in a ritual or Carlos Castaneda claiming to have been on a drug trip in Mexico with Yaqui shamans when records show he was checking out books that day from the university library. A certain amount of occult books present cultural traditions, but some seem to be actively making things up.

Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.

ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius

Ummaka qinnassa nīk!

*MySmiley*
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Non-Fiction survey Tom - 14/09/2009 05:38:04 PM 1344 Views
Heh. jh - 14/09/2009 05:58:59 PM 1056 Views
You associate non-fiction with work? Are you a non-fiction book reviewer by day? Tom - 14/09/2009 06:35:59 PM 879 Views
Nah... jh - 14/09/2009 06:56:41 PM 887 Views
I like non-fiction as long as it's not preachy. Darth_Katie - 14/09/2009 06:25:42 PM 1069 Views
So...Bill O'Reilly's out but Aleister Crowley is in, right? Tom - 14/09/2009 06:34:38 PM 941 Views
I didn't say I wanted to read occult books. Darth_Katie - 14/09/2009 09:40:40 PM 1474 Views
Fun. Legolas - 14/09/2009 06:31:28 PM 1155 Views
Machiavelli is a good case study for translation vs. original language Tom - 14/09/2009 06:48:46 PM 891 Views
Fact not fiction. Rebekah - 14/09/2009 06:43:32 PM 1086 Views
I loved Radzinsky's Rasputin bio Tom - 14/09/2009 06:58:46 PM 971 Views
Re: I loved Radzinsky's Rasputin bio Rebekah - 14/09/2009 07:10:01 PM 975 Views
You're going to force me to start a Dan Brown discussion in a different thread. Tom - 14/09/2009 09:00:32 PM 899 Views
Well, I can do it here, no worries, just think of it as non-non-fiction. jh - 14/09/2009 09:06:34 PM 958 Views
This is pretty much it. Rebekah - 14/09/2009 09:09:18 PM 950 Views
Re: Fact not fiction. Cockatiel of Doom - 17/09/2009 12:40:31 AM 995 Views
Re: Fact not fiction. Rebekah - 17/09/2009 03:08:34 PM 906 Views
Re: Fact not fiction. Cockatiel of Doom - 17/09/2009 11:57:22 PM 844 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey mapthis - 14/09/2009 07:25:20 PM 894 Views
Legacy of Ashes sounds interesting Tom - 14/09/2009 08:59:38 PM 889 Views
Re: Legacy of Ashes sounds interesting mapthis - 14/09/2009 09:09:30 PM 919 Views
So nossy - 14/09/2009 10:14:47 PM 862 Views
Re: So mapthis - 14/09/2009 10:35:40 PM 864 Views
I do read sometimes. Craig - 14/09/2009 08:01:03 PM 1105 Views
If you liked Jesus, Interrupted... Tom - 14/09/2009 08:58:26 PM 969 Views
Added to The List. *NM* Craig - 14/09/2009 10:28:14 PM 401 Views
I read it quite a lot, obviously. Camilla - 14/09/2009 09:20:40 PM 1009 Views
I have Antonia Fraser's bio of Oliver Cromwell. Tom - 15/09/2009 05:14:06 AM 927 Views
Re: I have Antonia Fraser's bio of Oliver Cromwell. Camilla - 15/09/2009 08:07:28 AM 976 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey random thoughts - 14/09/2009 09:24:35 PM 1114 Views
I'd be interested to know the title of that Lincoln book. *NM* Tom - 15/09/2009 05:11:14 AM 432 Views
Tried by War by James M. McPherson random thoughts - 15/09/2009 07:01:30 PM 950 Views
Thanks! *NM* Tom - 17/09/2009 03:07:50 PM 435 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey ranagrande - 14/09/2009 10:05:56 PM 882 Views
I'm sorry. I just can't take "pro wrestling" seriously enough to comment on it beyond this. *NM* Tom - 15/09/2009 05:15:13 AM 425 Views
What, pro wrestling is awesome! ranagrande - 16/09/2009 05:59:44 PM 1104 Views
Sweet nossy - 14/09/2009 10:09:21 PM 1045 Views
My problem with Fisk is his naivete Tom - 15/09/2009 05:10:00 AM 904 Views
If you're referring to the passages I think you're referring to... Legolas - 15/09/2009 11:06:04 AM 1035 Views
I need to read more American Indian books random thoughts - 16/09/2009 07:01:21 PM 888 Views
Good survey! smaug - 14/09/2009 11:40:58 PM 1056 Views
Ah...but where do you draw the line on the occult? Tom - 15/09/2009 05:07:14 AM 863 Views
Intent. Craig - 15/09/2009 06:02:39 AM 901 Views
Yea, I would tend to agree. smaug - 15/09/2009 11:10:03 AM 929 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey Chas - 15/09/2009 12:25:57 AM 924 Views
You should consider reading more non-fiction. *NM* Tom - 15/09/2009 05:04:55 AM 456 Views
It's under consideration. Chas - 15/09/2009 11:50:47 PM 800 Views
I read a lot of it for my classes, so I read very little of it for leisure. Ghavrel - 15/09/2009 12:46:23 AM 1054 Views
As someone who read Ab Urbe Condita in Latin...the book you reference "delenda est". Tom - 15/09/2009 05:04:05 AM 904 Views
It's infuriating, yes. *NM* Ghavrel - 15/09/2009 06:22:36 PM 424 Views
Mea culpa; the book in question is Zoch's Ancient Rome. Ghavrel - 15/09/2009 06:45:22 PM 836 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey Vodalus - 15/09/2009 01:07:13 AM 968 Views
I did a survey about personal libraries, too... Tom - 15/09/2009 05:01:12 AM 919 Views
great survey. Avendesora - 15/09/2009 02:17:26 AM 1197 Views
Re: great survey. Tom - 15/09/2009 04:56:50 AM 975 Views
Interesting questions! Sophy - 15/09/2009 07:20:05 AM 1090 Views
I'm not sure if it's a translation issue, but Tom - 17/09/2009 03:10:49 PM 983 Views
That's the English titel yes! Sophy - 18/09/2009 07:03:45 AM 1178 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey Jonielle - 15/09/2009 11:35:48 AM 1220 Views
Try reading something new you think you'd like and post a review! *NM* Tom - 17/09/2009 03:11:47 PM 370 Views
Books on Napoleon.... Napoleon62 - 15/09/2009 08:03:55 PM 919 Views
Narcissist. *NM* Craig - 15/09/2009 08:21:44 PM 385 Views
David Chandler's The Campaigns of Napoleon is wonderful. *NM* Tom - 17/09/2009 03:13:03 PM 380 Views
i like non-fiction! temeraire - 15/09/2009 09:40:40 PM 975 Views
Lots of people have recommended The Omnivore's Dilemma to me *NM* Tom - 17/09/2009 03:14:09 PM 427 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey Cockatiel of Doom - 17/09/2009 12:49:35 AM 1191 Views
Re: Non-Fiction survey ajah - 26/09/2009 01:49:16 AM 953 Views
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