What to read?

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I need some recommendations from you. After a summer holiday devouring a pile of books, and with another pile earmarked to send out to reviewers for the winter issue of The Business Economist, I’m a bit short of books in my own in-pile. This is a busy time of year, when all my jobs realise they’ve not had any meetings for six weeks, and decide they need to catch up this week or next at the latest. So there are plenty of papers I could be reading. But where’s the fun in that? I do have a couple of books on my iPad, but regular readers of this blog will know my strong aversion to e-books (and, as if I needed another reason, there’s the e-book legacy issue, although apparently Bruce Willis is not taking Apple to court after all). There are specific requirements too. Of course it must be serious but readable non-fiction, economics and business and their hinterland – history, science, social science. Not too big, so I can carry it around on the Tube (I’m just about to give up on a book so chunk I can only read it in bed propped up on a pillow).

At the moment I only have two choices in the house. They are Taking it Big: C Wright Mills and the Making of Political Intellectuals by Stanley Aronowitz and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness by Alexandra Fuller.

I think I’ll start with the former. But send me ideas!

13 thoughts on “What to read?”

  1. Hi Diane,

    I have some recommandations. Some of the books are on my wish list and I haven’t read them yet, but heard very good recommandations about them.

    Freedom’s Forge : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freedoms-Forge-American-Business-Produced/dp/1400069645/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I37CAIFIQ9CVHS&colid=36S0HDLB9D3AZ

    It’s about how the American industry has been able to scale to produce enough arms and supplies during WWII.

    The Chosen Few : How Education Shaped Jewish History, 70-1492
    http://www.amazon.fr/The-Chosen-Few-Education-History/dp/0691144877/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pdT1_S_nC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I36813IQT7T6K6&colid=36S0HDLB9D3AZ

    The Innovator’s Dilemma
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Cause/dp/0875845851/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346748633&sr=8-1
    I’ve already recommended this book but I don’t know if you’ve read it. Basically, it’s about asymetric competition and why some companies fail while doing everything right.

    Mindstorms http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindstorms-Children-Computers-Powerful-Ideas/dp/0465046746/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346748756&sr=1-1
    The Children’s Machine http://www.amazon.co.uk/Childrens-Machine-Rethinking-School-Computer/dp/0465010636/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346748756&sr=1-2
    These are not about Economics or Business but the School system and I found them fascinating. Both are from Seymour Papert.

    The Economics of Rights, Co-operation and Welfare by Robert Sugden
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Economics-Rights-Co-operation-Welfare/dp/0333682394/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2DCP9UTNMKN6I&colid=36S0HDLB9D3AZ

    Private Truths, Public Lies: The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification by Timur Kuran
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Private-Truths-Public-Lies-Falsification/dp/0674707583/ref=sr_1_1?s=english-books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346749064&sr=1-1

    Reply ↓

  4. These are definitely from the hinterland. Both broadly on Metaphysics, Money &/or Value but I’d recommend from my recent reads….

    Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I realise I’m a bit late to the party, here. But if you haven’t, you should. Guaranteed to give a new perspective on Value and a good read to boot. I’m still in the afterglow from this one.

    If you prefer something heavier, more academic, it’d have to be Richard Seaford’s Money and the Early Greek Mind. Frustrating at times, but a compelling argument for the link between Money and how we think.

    Reply ↓

  5. I read your blog for book recommendations. Here are some of my favorites. Not brand new, but good.

    http://www.amazon.com/Macachiavellian-Intelligence-Rhesus-Macaques-Conquered/dp/0226501175/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346762959&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=macaciavellian

    http://www.amazon.com/Unintended-Consequences-Everything-Youve-Economy/dp/1591845505/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

    http://www.amazon.com/Panorama-Classical-World-Nigel-Spivey/dp/1606060562/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

    http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Macroeconomics-Origins-Development-Current/dp/1845422082/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Dream-Reason-Philosophy-Renaissance/dp/039332365X/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Discovery-France-Historical-Geography/dp/0393333647/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

    http://www.amazon.com/Europe-Between-Oceans-9000-BC-AD/dp/0300170866/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

    Reply ↓

  9. Pingback: Marginal intellectuals | The Enlightened Economist

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