Bumping this thread 'cause I'm looking for another book to add to my Amazon cart... I want to get Freakonomics and I want to toss in another book in for good measure so I can get the free shipping thing. Any good recent recommendations?

Freakonomics is an excellent read. Had I read it in school years ago I might have chosen a different career path...the term 'rogue economist' on the cover speaks nothing to Levitt's genius. There is definitely a controversial bit relating to Rowe v Wade and crime tapering in the 90s depending on your opinions but all really good fasincating stuff.

In sort of the same vein and year since I don't have anything recent to offer. Have you read 'Blink'? My sister recommended it to me with the caveat that it was NOT a self help book lol. Eye popping and insightful look into how we think and don't think. It starts out like a mystery about forged artwork and by the first chapter outlines the phenomenon of how an expert can declare a forgery at just a glance. Another interesting chapter explains how a certain researcher was able to predict couples future relationships just by studying a brief taped interview and if I remember correctly there is a chapter that touches on why Kenna didn't explode on the scene initially....but that could be another book that my aging memory scrambled -_-

Generally speaking I phail at recommendation but 'Blink' was definitely a good read so check out some other reviews if you havent read.

Really fantastic books:

Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior (short but interconnected stories)
Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies (short story collection, won the Pulitzer)
Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Really I recommend anything by these authors. They're all phenomenal imo.

Yeah that's what I heard about Freakonomics... that it was very provocative but interesting. I'm definitely not one for economics but that one sounds great. I have read Blink and loved it ;) I read that one after I finished the Tipping Point and have since become a HUUUGE Malcolm Gladwell fan. I wish he had more books out so I can get them too x]

Hehe Afwells I remember reading the Woman Warrior and Interpreter of Maladies in Asian Lit class in college ;D I can't say I remember much of the details of the two - apart from "enjoying" them - but there's just something about reading lit for class, the whole tearing it apart and analyzing thing that bars them from my fun reading list henceforth. A little sad I know. I picked up Lahiri's Namesake a little while back and sorta loved-hated it. Loved for beautiful and emotive writing, hated for depression factor. A little bit like how I felt about Kite Runner - awesome book, but not one I'd necessarily want to own just because it's such a tough read. Salman Rushdie is a fantastic recommendation though! I've been curious about Satanic Verses for a while, but Haroun and the Sea of Stories sound great. Thanks bunches, I think I'll check it out :D

I had a similar reaction to The Namesake. I read it, but it didn't grip me like her short stories did. And The Kite Runner...it was fantastic writing, but it took me ages to get through it because of the depressing beginning third of the book. I just couldn't find a reason to love it until the later third.

I do understand what you mean about dissecting things in lit class and not enjoying them because of it. It's a very different mindset to read something for pleasure and to read it with a mind toward dissecting it. It makes me wonder how many books I would have enjoyed more had I not studied them with such intensity.