Living Car Free - Books that changed your life

I haven't looked completely thru this long this thread, so maybe a repeat.

I just picked up Cradle To Cradle: Remaking the way we make things (http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm)

http://www.mcdonough.com/images/cradle_cover.gif

I'm really liking the way it analyzes some of the attitudes among "eco-types". There a number of fascinating discussions about why down-cycled products, like speed bumps and clothes made from recycled bottles, is really a bad idea... why that kitchen counter top made from recycled glass may actually have a negative impact on the environment. Great food for thought here.

Nice bump!


Collapse (http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_9780670033379,00.html) by Jared Diamond

Thanks for this recommendation gerv! I can't put it down, right up my alley... So interesting.

Good to Great by Jim Collins. A must read for any business owner.

The Revolution by Ron Paul. A very timely treatise on how we got into this fiscal mess.

"A Separate Reality"
by Carlos Castaneda

I've started this book by Richard Register, "Ecocities", which talks about a lot of the urban density (and other) issues that are plaguing our cities. Seems like it will be a worthwhile read.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Eaj7baCXL._SL500_AA246_PIkin2,BottomRight,8,34_AA280_SH20_OU01_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Ecocities-Building-Cities-Balance-Nature/dp/1893163377

I am not sure if this site has been listed here before... Many Books (http://manybooks.net/) they have over 26,000 free e-books.

I have been considering a Kindle, but have been making due with libraries, thrift stores and free e-books that can be downloaded to my crackberry.:o

FWIW current books in hand and being read or re-read are; Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Walden/Civil Disobedience and Grumbles From the Grave by Robert Heinlein.

The Many Books website has opened up a huge resource for me and I hope will help some others out.

Aaron:)

Ingenuity Gap - Thomas Homer-Dixon
Non-fiction discussing the "critical gap between our need for ideas to solve complex problems and our actual supply of those ideas." (From the website, but I really couldn't have said it better)

Blink - Malcolm Gladwell (and anything from Malcolm Gladwell, podcasts, guest web chats, anything)

I'd say these are the only two writers who have really transformed the way I think about things. I also loved Bill Simmon's Book of Basketball, but that's a guilty pleasure.

When I was a kid, I must have read Rats of Nimh ten times.

1. Gotta agree on the "People's History of the United States" recommendation. Changed my life too. History does not have to be just about wealth & powerful people.

2. "Creating a World Without Poverty" by Muhammad Yunus, about how businesses can give up the goal of "making money for investors" and replace it with the goal of solving some problem in the realm of public health, poverty, etc.

3. "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan, who asks us to put more of our energy/time/money in to healthy food. If you want to improve your health, have a look at his ideas about natural food / local food. If you want to make a difference in terms of preventing damage to the environment, look at his ideas about natural food. And if you want to help poor people all around the world, following Pollan's guidelines about respect for non-factory-style agriculture can do a lot to increase respect for poor farmers and raise incomes among the poor in your own country and elsewhere.