Authors & Readers Unite discussion

This is a place to add your favourite Non-Fiction Books and to list whay you liked it and why you think others should read it.

Authors can also list their books here.

One thread per book please

My six-book boxed set "Joe Bruno's Mobsters" is a bargain at $2.99.

If it were a print book, Amazon estimates the length at 681 pages.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009CGA74M

All six of my books in the "Joe Bruno's Mobsters" boxed set sell individually for 99 cents.

The first is:"Mobsters, Gangs, Crooks and Other Creeps-Volume 1 - New York City."
http://www.amazon.com/Mobsters-Gangs-...

For all you mystery readers (or writers), read Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series (17 books in all). If you like to laugh a little while you read, read Block's "Burglar" series.

All classics.

The Holy Blood and the Holy GrailMichael Baigent

The story that must have inspired the Da Vinci Code. Probably not the most accurate of stories regarding the story of Jesus and his possible marrriage to Mary Magdalen, his mortality and Mary's flight to Gaul and her sunbsequent settlement there after bearing Jesus a daughter. However I loved the way Michael Baigent delves into the history of the Carolingian and Merovingian kings. ITs a thoroughly absorbing read, but whether you can believe it or not is another matter

For all those who enjoy well written memoirs or just a really good read, Look the World in the Eye is available on Amazon for just $2.99. I think you will find it inspiring. Harriet O'Reilly.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Look-World-Ey...

Business Book on Supplier Diversity

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BSKW64Y/r...This Business of Supplier Diversity - A Business Diversity Fable

Some four or so years ago a friend of mine—a retired educator from the business school of SDSU— and I were bemoaning how very few people understood capitalism, the economic system with which our nation operates and that has enabled our wealth. We both thought that this ignorance was hurting the nation because it led too many people to mistrust it and not be a bit bothered to see it attacked and weakened. So we decided we should write a short, easy to read, explanation of what it is and how it operates. I set out to do so.

I discovered I couldn’t do it. My “explanations” got so involved and complex that nobody could possibly understand them—worse, including me. It was too easy to confuse the central ideas with all the bells and whistles— and rocks and bitter pills—that governments hang on it.

It finally occurred to me that maybe it would easier to understand if one told the story as a history, a history that illustrated how each of its elements came into being as a consequence of the needs of the time.

I had for years also been interested in the question of how we got so wealthy: 10,000 years ago our ancestors were living in raw nature and inventing stone tools. I knew that one of the big steps in getting from there to here was the Industrial Revolution, but didn’t appreciate just what magic it provided, nor why it even happened. A history might throw some light on such questions.

So I set out to write the history of how we got from there to here, and how today’s economic practices accumulated over time. The result is The Evolution of Wealth: An Economic History of Innovation and Capitalism, the Role of Government, and the Hazards of Democracy. The first 54 pages cover the history to date, and the last 80 a discussion of where we are now and the major issues we face in our continuing evolution. I tried to write it so that it was easy to read, requiring no special knowledge to understand. I wanted any reader to come away with a much clearer understanding of how our nation functioned economically and some of the issues with which is has to cope. The most important of these in my judgment is education, and I devoted a whole chapter to a proposal to take better advantage of improving technology, to both make it more effective and to make quality education more readily available to everyone.

by Jerry D. Ward

Hi all, Here is one of the reviews of my book, a memoir with universal themes that tells my story through essays, which can be read as stand-alone short stories -- important for the busy person who has insufficient time to read a book from cover to cover in a short amount of time! My book is Know that I have Lived, and you can read more at www.jill-zima-borski.com.
Meanwhile, here's a review from R. Mowery: If you were a fan of "The Wonder Years", which aired from 1988 to 1993, or even if you weren't, you will enjoy this book. It was one of my favorite weekly programs, so the author's childhood memories reminded me again of those wonderful bygone years. She shares her life's journey in a very up close and personal front row seat kind of way, which I found very enlightening and entertaining. By no means did the author have a spoiled or pampered life, nor did she live on easy-street, because she experienced many bumps in the road, but she did not give up, she persevered. As a teenager, she earned her own money to pay for a once in a lifetime opportunity to be an exchange student with a family in Switzerland. When she was given her first bicycle, it gave her the freedom to soar to heights that most of us only dream about, which led to excruciating pain during many treacherous triathlons and bike races, for the pure joy of experiencing it, not only to win the race. This is not a bragging book, it is a heartfelt journey down memory lane, that was lived and experienced and endured in a very humbling way, which leaves the author with appreciation of everyone and everything around her. This is a beautifully written memoir that I highly recommend!