What Book would you give away for free?

http://www.buzzfeed.com/juliapugachevsky/which-book-would-you-give-out-for-free

In honour of the



What Book would you give away for free if you could??

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Because it is an easy read and has good messages.





https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/4835472-o-alquimista

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.

another option

Two:



and



Take it from me, I'm in the media and we know things

pshaw......fear mongerers you are x

The Idiot or Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Haha on your second Ben :-)

'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins. With no exaggeration I mean it when I say it opened my mind like never before and changed my life.

If the world read this book with no preconceptions and their defences down I genuinely believe we'd be living in better world right now.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steaming-Classic-Account-Football-Terraces/dp/1471126048






http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9188586/In-the-Shadow-of-the-Sword-by-Tom-Holland-review.html





http://www.amazon.co.uk/Forbidden-Archeology-Hidden-History-Human/dp/0892132949





http://www.ianmortimer.com/histbiogs/perfect/perfect.htm

Any book by Paul Brickhill.

My bookkyy wookey and anything else by Russell brand.

Ben_Reilly wrote:
Two:



and



Take it from me, I'm in the media and we know things

I have 3 of Lofty Wiseman's titles sitting on my bookshelf...

THE latest revised and updated edition of that SAS guide pictured is due out sometime in the next few weeks, according to Amazon..

Bras, I hope you're not too attached to "Forbidden Archeology" -- I got curious and looked into it, and I found this and other damning reviews:

The work is frustrating because it mixes together a genuine contribution to our understanding of the history of archaeology and paleoanthropology with a bewildering mass of absurd claims and an audaciously distorted review of the current state of paleoanthropology.

http://talkorigins.org/faqs/mom/lepper.html

Ben_Reilly wrote:
Two:



and



Take it from me, I'm in the media and we know things

I have 3 of Lofty Wiseman's titles sitting on my bookshelf...

THE latest revised and updated edition of that SAS guide pictured is due out sometime in the next few weeks, according to Amazon..

I have another one
the Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff



“You can't save time. You can only spend it, but you can spend it wisely or foolishly.”

“If people were superior to animals, they'd take good care of them," said Pooh.”

“Do you really want to be happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you've got.”

“Lots of people talk to animals...Not very many listen though...that's the problem.”

Lone Wolf wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:
Two:



and



Take it from me, I'm in the media and we know things

I have 3 of Lofty Wiseman's titles sitting on my bookshelf...

THE latest revised and updated edition of that SAS guide pictured is due out sometime in the next few weeks, according to Amazon..        

You need this

In the apocalyptic world we live in, Mother Nature is angry. Danger waits at every turn, and catastrophes like the Los Angeles sharknadoes have taught us that we need to be ready for anything. Too many lives have already been lost. But fear not. How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters is the first and only comprehensive guide to surviving the very worst that Mother Nature can throw our way. Inside this life-saving reference

See now when I saw this thread title I thought you meant what book was so shit you'd give it away!!

But if we are talking a good read (and not a novel) I'd say "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" which insides the fantastic 'Conversation with God' (or similar title)

eddie wrote:.................

..."The man who mistook his wife for a hat"

MISTAKING one's wife for a hat ?!?

AN easy mistake to make when one is in a bit of a hurry, to be sure to be sure..

Lone Wolf wrote:

eddie wrote:.................

..."The man who mistook his wife for a hat"

MISTAKING one's wife for a hat ?!?

AN easy mistake to make when one is in a bit of a hurry, to be sure to be sure..

My hubby often mistakes me for someone who cares, when he's moaning

I would give people From the corner of his eye and One door away from heaven by Dean Koontz.

On a day when I was optimistic that people would actually read what I gave them I would give them Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

I CAN'T think of any one particular title to begin with, as it depends so much on the subject at hand, but if I was giving some books to someone to help them with how they think about certain topics, a small 'starter' collection might include some of the following :

Sphinx, what's wrong with those two books by Dean Koontz? I thought they were OK, i'v got 23 of his books, love em.

nicko wrote:Sphinx,  what's wrong with those two books by Dean Koontz?  I thought they were OK, i'v got 23 of his books,  love em.

There is nothing wrong with them - the opposite in fact. I have read this thread as being about books that are so wonderful you would give them away free to share them with the world. While I love all of Koontz work (OK have not read some of his early fantasy stuff but what I have read) I think it is those 2 books that best express his wonder at the world and the incredible quantum truths suggesting a created universe. Those 2 books give me faith - they teach me to see the glimpses of pattern in a weave so hugely beyond us as is 1000 square ft carpet is beyond a microbe living on it - patterns that say there is a carpet there even if it is beyond our comprehension.

At the same time they also demonstrate how badly wrong eugenics and its companions like assisted dying really are, even when they seem to make sense on the surface. I used to have a quote from The corner of his eye as my signature - it is a quote I try hard to live up to.

Each smallest act of kindness—even just words of hope when they are needed, the remembrance of a birthday, a compliment that engenders a smile—reverberates across great distances and spans of time, affecting lives unknown to the one whose generous spirit was the source of this good echo, because kindness is passed on and grows each time it’s passed, until a simple courtesy becomes an act of selfless courage years later and far away. Likewise, each small meanness, each thoughtless expression of hatred, each envious and bitter act, regardless of how petty, can inspire others, and is therefore the seed that ultimately produces evil fruit, poisoning people whom you have never met and never will.

nicko I think the idea was to pick books you think people 'should read' because they are so brilliant/influential/important in your opinion, that you would give it away to make sure everyone did.

Must admit your choice of Russell Brand came as a shock haha :-)

Sorry if people mistook the title I meant

what book would you give for free?
to make the reader/world better through reading it

Plague dogs is definitely a good choice Wolf



Eddie asked what the smilie was for, ben said you'll know when you need it

wolf - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? ???? are you kidding me? I hate that book....drove me nuts in 10th grade Honor's English.....and yes I tried to re-read it many times over the years......I still hate it. And Siddartha........yuck yuck yuck.

I must admit I got the wrong "end of the stick" there, I thought it was books you didn't like.-------it's me age you know

Cass wrote:
wolf - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? ???? are you kidding me? I hate that book....drove me nuts in 10th grade Honor's English.....and yes I tried to re-read it many times over the years......I still hate it. And Siddartha........yuck yuck yuck.

THE "trick" to handling 'Zen...' is to keep in mind while reading it that the author was as mad as a meataxe when he was composing/'living' the back-story to the book, and supposedly sat down and wrote it after coming out a mental hospital...

WHILE it is supposed to be largely fictionalised, over the years it has still been regarded by many as one of the better 'Introduction to Zen' tombs..

AND irregardless of the philosophical bent [or not..] of the reader, at the same time it has always been a great relaxation/entertainment read for anyone in the least interested in riding, motorbikes, machinery maintenance and/or two-stroke engines.      

sphinx wrote:......................

On a day when I was optimistic that people would actually read what I gave them I would give them Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein.

MY likely choice for a Robert Heinlen novel would be     <'clicky'>     Stranger in a Strange Land ...      

NOT ONLY my favourite Heinlen novel, but one that actually makes the reader think more deeply at the same time as they are reading it..

Hate two-stroke engines. Exhaust fumes. Pollution. No power.

Lone Wolf wrote:

sphinx wrote:......................

On a day when I was optimistic that people would actually read what I gave them I would give them Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein.

MY likely choice for a Robert Heinlen novel would be     <'clicky'>     Stranger in a Strange Land   ...      

NOT ONLY my favourite Heinlen novel, but one that actually makes the reader think more deeply at the same time as they are reading it..

Sometimes for a fraction of a fraction of a second I think I grok "though art god" - then its gone again.

The understanding I sense behind Stranger is very similar to the understanding I sense behind the Koontz books I said about..

Although I understand nothing I do know that there is something to be understood.

Now my brain hurts and I am going to go and get the red wine.

Fly fishing by J R Hartley....

Freddy the Detective (1932)

Eilzel wrote:Haha on your second Ben :-)

'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins. With no exaggeration I mean it when I say it opened my mind like never before and changed my life.

If the world read this book with no preconceptions and their defences down I genuinely believe we'd be living in better world right now.

--------------------------------------
Hi Eilzel and everyone. As you found Dawkins book enlightening, here's another one that should finally put Creationists in the right category, mythology. The book pictured, 'Why Evolution is True,' explains evolution without too much technical jargon, it's lucid and easy to read and I'd recommend it to all and everyone. And for those who continually say: 'It's only a theory.' The book explains the difference between scientific theory and the commonly accepted interpretation.

As for a book I'd chuck or give away as worthless, the Bible and other religious works.



'

Stardesk I think calling the Bible and other religious works worthless is not only unfair it is incorrect.

If a book can be the difference between a person taking their own life and choosing to keep living then it cannot be worthless. People with no religious history have found themselves at the lowest point in their lives when they are considering suicide reading a religious text simply because they have not tried before and whether that text converts them and whether they believe it or not they find they take comfort from the words and it gives strength to continue living. No different from the comfort I can take from the books I put above.

If you take religious texts not as attempts to prove the existence of a super natural being but simply as advice on dealing with lifes stressful bits then they are anything but worthless.

sphinx wrote:Stardesk I think calling the Bible and other religious works worthless is not only unfair it is incorrect.

If a book can be the difference between a person taking their own life and choosing to keep living then it cannot be worthless.  People with no religious history have found themselves at the lowest point in their lives when they are considering suicide reading a religious text simply because they have not tried before and whether that text converts them and whether they believe it or not they find they take comfort from the words and it gives strength to continue living.  No different from the comfort I can take from the books I put above.

If you take religious texts not as attempts to prove the existence of a super natural being but simply as advice on dealing with lifes stressful bits then they are anything but worthless.

But religious works are nothing more than plagiarized stories, seen throughout ancient history.
To view a book, lets say either the bible or Quran are both steeped in nothing more than to form an ability to control. These books may have some beautiful passages, that speak wisdom, yet you cannot get to these passages without first reading through the hate and violence that surrounds the concept of this belief.

To read a book means you also cannot ignore what else comes to pass within its pages and thus there is nothing of worth in these books, that cannot be already found within life. The wisdom thus found within these books is overshadowed by the hate, hence they are very worthless, as you cannot just ignore the hate. People have thus only been inspired by views already known to history and traditions, thus the inspiration comes not from these religious books but elsewhere.
Stardesk is very correct, they are worthless. What is not worthless is the views later plagiarized by these books. That wisdom never required a religion to understand its concept.

So yes take the views found within the Bible and Quran, because they are formed from a bygone era, the iron age, where people were treated poorly. Those views are ugly, and sadly have been mixed with passages of wisdom. Plagiarizing wisdom, does not make a book meaningful.

Brasidas wrote:

sphinx wrote:Stardesk I think calling the Bible and other religious works worthless is not only unfair it is incorrect.

If a book can be the difference between a person taking their own life and choosing to keep living then it cannot be worthless.  People with no religious history have found themselves at the lowest point in their lives when they are considering suicide reading a religious text simply because they have not tried before and whether that text converts them and whether they believe it or not they find they take comfort from the words and it gives strength to continue living.  No different from the comfort I can take from the books I put above.

If you take religious texts not as attempts to prove the existence of a super natural being but simply as advice on dealing with lifes stressful bits then they are anything but worthless.

But religious works are nothing more than plagiarized stories, seen throughout ancient history.
To view a book, lets say either the bible or Quran are both steeped in nothing more than to form an ability to control. These books may have some beautiful passages, that speak wisdom, yet you cannot get to these passages without first reading through the hate and violence that surrounds the concept of this belief.

To read a book means you also cannot ignore what else comes to pass within its pages and thus there is nothing of worth in these books, that cannot be already found within life. The wisdom thus found within these books is overshadowed by the hate, hence they are very worthless, as you cannot just ignore the hate. People have thus only been inspired by views already known to history and traditions, thus the inspiration comes not from these religious books but elsewhere.
Stardesk is very correct, they are worthless. What is not worthless is the views later plagiarized by these books. That wisdom never required a religion to understand its concept.

So yes take the views found within the Bible and Quran, because they are formed from a bygone era, the iron age, where people were treated poorly. Those views are ugly, and sadly have been mixed with passages of wisdom. Plagiarizing wisdom, does not make a book meaningful.

Evidence shows clearly that actually people can do do ignore the hate and violent texts within the books.

You have drug addicts who read the book and give up the drug. Therefore it has value.

It is irrelevant how the book was read, what part of it was read, whether its contents were taken from elsewhere, all that is relevant is that the person who read it has benefited from reading it.

You can declare there is no god - you can state the Bible (or whatever) is simply a demonstration of historic fallacy (which incidentally is a different kind of value) if a person who does not believe in god reads it and benefits then that book has value or worth.

The fact that you hate the book or view it with contempt and that it has no value or worth to yourself does not mean that the book has no value or worth as an absolute.

sphinx wrote:

Brasidas wrote:

But religious works are nothing more than plagiarized stories, seen throughout ancient history.
To view a book, lets say either the bible or Quran are both steeped in nothing more than to form an ability to control. These books may have some beautiful passages, that speak wisdom, yet you cannot get to these passages without first reading through the hate and violence that surrounds the concept of this belief.

To read a book means you also cannot ignore what else comes to pass within its pages and thus there is nothing of worth in these books, that cannot be already found within life. The wisdom thus found within these books is overshadowed by the hate, hence they are very worthless, as you cannot just ignore the hate. People have thus only been inspired by views already known to history and traditions, thus the inspiration comes not from these religious books but elsewhere.
Stardesk is very correct, they are worthless. What is not worthless is the views later plagiarized by these books. That wisdom never required a religion to understand its concept.

So yes take the views found within the Bible and Quran, because they are formed from a bygone era, the iron age, where people were treated poorly. Those views are ugly, and sadly have been mixed with passages of wisdom. Plagiarizing wisdom, does not make a book meaningful.

Evidence shows clearly that actually people can do do ignore the hate and violent texts within the books.

You have drug addicts who read the book and give up the drug.  Therefore it has value.

It is irrelevant how the book was read, what part of it was read, whether its contents were taken from elsewhere, all that is relevant is that the person who read it has benefited from reading it.

You can declare there is no god - you can state the Bible (or whatever) is simply a demonstration of historic fallacy (which incidentally is a different kind of value) if a person who does not believe in god reads it and benefits then that book has value or worth.

The fact that you hate the book or view it with contempt and that it has no value or worth to yourself does not mean that the book has no value or worth as an absolute.

You clearly missed the point. The people who have been inspired can learn all this wisdom outside the religious sources. What then is the problem is why the people are spoon fed this wisdom through a claim it is religious, when it is found way before they were written. To then place a view these people have been inspired by religion is thus false, because the bases for their inspiration is not religion itself, but previous views or traditions.

So again you propose a false premises, you are basing the inspiration down to the book, which is false, it is the wisdom plagiarized found within the book that inspires, and thus not the book itself. You do not even have to hate the book because historically it is very important to show the problems and wrongs with religions. How on the one hand people do ignore the violence and go off the wisdom, showing even more so it is not the religious aspect even followed. If religion was the aspect then nothing would be discounted. Thus the element is based on the words and not the reasoning behind the book or the concept of that faith.
You do understand this of course?
Words and wisdom have been portrayed in many works, but when there is great conflict as there is in the Bible and Quran to moral and ethical views, then the faith based around the book had no meaning and is worthless. Going off the wisdom thus proves the religious aspect manipulates people with previous wisdom, then passes it off as its own. You then are falsely led to believe it was the religious book and faith that inspired you.

Your poor attempts at distraction to know belief in a deity is irrelevant, what is irrelevant is when people try to claim wisdom off religion, when that wisdom precedes religion itself. You may not admit it sphinx, but I know you are a Christian by your words, even though you attempt to try an hide it well. That is not to distract fro the debate, because the fact is there is no inspiration from a book when it never formed many of those ideas of wisdom.

Thus the book is not only redundant, but very worthless, as you can find that same inspiration elsewhere.

If a person can find coffee in supermarket does that make coffee from a cafe valueless?

sphinx wrote:
Stardesk I think calling the Bible and other religious works worthless is not only unfair it is incorrect.

If a book can be the difference between a person taking their own life and choosing to keep living then it cannot be worthless...............

    I AGREE with you inasmuch and sofar as deliberately disposing of books by throwing them away or burning them is the wrong way to go about things, Sphinxy...

RELIGIOUS, Philosophical and political differences and arguments put aside for the moment ~ THE VERY ACT of destroying books/music/artworks, reminiscent of Hitler, McCarthyism, the KKK and the the more-intolerant Evangelist churches of the 'Mid West' and 'Deep South' Bible belts ~ is the easy way out for those who are struggling to compose and articulate rational dialogues as to just WHY they consider those items so bad, wrong or "evil"..

IF somebody wants to be rid of books that they no longer agree with, then there are always those local charities that can take them off your hands ~ around here, the 'Friends of Newcastle Uni' have a book sale every 2 or 3 years, where they take in donations for a few months beforehand, and where I have given them dozens of books over the years. Every other year there's always some church, scout or school fund-raising committee holding a smaller-scale book, DVD and music sale happening somewhere..      

Agree with Sphinx
there are lessons in all things, take enlightenment wherever you may find it.

The Bible is 'lowly' but it the message some souls have to hear, personally I don't know why they don't just listen to the trees

sphinx wrote:If a person can find coffee in supermarket does that make coffee from a cafe valueless?

Somethings can taste good, but are they good for you?
Absurd reply, just because a book copies others wisdom, does not mean it portrays this wisdom, but borrows it.
If it borrow it, then it never invented that wisdom, thus the religion never made that person change, the wisdom did, leaving you with a problem to your claim.

Some times didge you are too "deep" for your own good!

Brasidas wrote:

sphinx wrote:If a person can find coffee in supermarket does that make coffee from a cafe valueless?

Somethings can taste good, but are they good for you?
Absurd reply, just because a book copies others wisdom, does not mean it portrays this wisdom, but borrows it.
If it borrow it, then it never invented that wisdom, thus the religion never made that person change, the wisdom did, leaving you with a problem to your claim.

So you are saying that because the wisdom is borrowed it becomes valueless?

sphinx wrote:

Brasidas wrote:

Somethings can taste good, but are they good for you?
Absurd reply, just because a book copies others wisdom, does not mean it portrays this wisdom, but borrows it.
If it borrow it, then it never invented that wisdom, thus the religion never made that person change, the wisdom did, leaving you with a problem to your claim.

So you are saying that because the wisdom is borrowed it becomes valueless?

Did I say that?
Think you need to read back to what I did say.

Good morning all. We seem to have gone off track a little bit, but never mind because the topic is now very interesting. Whilst we must agree with Sphinx that many people have found a way out of a negative life situation through reading the Bible, or other religious works, getting oneself out of a depressing situation can be done with a change in one's mental outlook and understanding. I found a way out of my negative life even after ditching God in the bin, and I'm sure Brasidas also did. If there's one important fact I learned, which helped me along, it was that neither positive and negative can exist without the other. Therefore, take heart that though today is crap, tomorrow will be sunny. Get a grip on yourself, analyse yourself, ask yourself who am I, what am I capable of? Do something positive, take control of your life and of course, lead a good life even if it be by religious moral teaching, but let it end there, for God doesn't exist, don't cloud your mind with a load of mythological nonsense.

Gd one Star.

I particularly like No. 6. Just what is going on in Ferguson today.

Hi Qill, yes that's a good one. If you abuse your poweror position then eventually it'll swing round on you.
Talking of books and religion, here's a web site run by Atheists highlighting books that debunk christianity and religion generally.
http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.co.uk/

Yeah it seems that everyone is missing my point.

The statement was made that the bible (insert choice of religious text) is worthless.

I say if people find their lives improved by reading the bible it cannot be worthless.

This has led to people demonstrating the fallacy of religion

That is not and was not my point.

The the bible (religious text) out of religion. If necessary give it another title and describe as fiction or whatever. Put it on the same shelf as 50 shades of grey, lord of the rings, spot the dog or whatever. Consider it as nothing but a book - a collection of pages with words on them bound together.

As a book (and nothing but a book) the bible (religious text) is not worthless.