# Lifestyles & Discussion > Family, Parenting & Education > Books & Literature >  RPF Book Club

## Suzanimal

One of my Resolutions for 2015 is to expand my mind. My goal is to read at least one book (1 hard/long or 2 or 3 short/easy) every month. I'm starting this thread for discussion/questions on educational reading material.   

My first selection is _The Law_ by Bastiat. It's been years since I read it and figured it would be a short, easy selection to knock the dust off my brain.

The list. Read all or a few and join in when you can.

*The Law by Frederic Bastiat*

http://mises.org/library/law

*Against the State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto by Lew Rockwell*
I started it but didn't finish.
http://www.amazon.com/Against-State-...inst+the+state


*Give Me Liberty by Rose Wilder Lane*

http://mises.org/library/give-me-liberty-0

*From Aristocracy to Monarchy to Democracy: A Tale of Moral and Economic Folly and Decay by  Hans-Hermann Hoppe
*
http://mises.org/library/aristocracy-monarchy-democracy

*The Discovery of Freedom by Rose Wilder lane*
http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/discovery.pdf

*The Double Helix by James D Watson*
You'll have to buy it or borrow it, ya cheapskates.
http://www.amazon.com/Double-Helix-J...e+Double+Helix

*We by Yevgeny Zamyatin*
http://mises.org/library/we


*The Road to Serfdom (condensed), Hayek*
http://mises.org/sites/default/files...%20serfdom.pdf

*The Nature of Man and His Government by Robert LeFevre*
http://mises.org/library/nature-man-and-his-government

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## Lucille

I'm paying my youngest to read that!  He got $25 for _The Double Helix_, plus got extra credit in science and his teacher even decided to include it in her lesson plan the following semesters.  He loved it.  It reads like a thriller.

I keep meaning to read _Give Me Liberty_ by Rose Wilder Lane.

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## Suzanimal

> I'm paying my youngest to read that!  He got $25 for _The Double Helix_, plus got extra credit in science and his teacher even decided to include it in her lesson plan the following semesters.  He loved it.  It reads like a thriller.
> 
> I keep meaning to read _Give Me Liberty_ by Rose Wilder Lane.


Good idea! Care to read it with me this month?

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## Lucille

You mean _Give Me Liberty_?  Sure!  I'll re-read _The Law_ with you too!

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## Suzanimal

> You mean _Give Me Liberty_?  Sure!  I'll re-read _The Law_ with you too!


Yup! We'll read both this month.

Yay! I got a reading buddy. Join in folks, don't be shy, we don't bite...hard.

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## Lucille

They're both short!  We'll have to drink a lot and eat while we discuss them like my mom's book club used to do, only it won't be the same seeing as we're on the internet.  I tried to get a book club going in my neighborhood, but the ladies looked at me like I had two heads.

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## Suzanimal

> They're both short!  *We'll have to drink and eat while we discuss them* like my mom's book club used to do, only it won't be the same seeing as we're on the internet.  I tried to get a book club going in my neighborhood, but the ladies looked at me like I had two heads.


Definitely!!! 

I was in a book club when my kids were little but it kind of sucked. The books were lame (we actually read a Harlequin Romance one month) and the ladies in the club were kind of boring.

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## Lucille

My mom and her friends had a blast!  I don't know that they talked about the books much--it was just an excuse to have a party.  LOL

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## Lucille

Here's another short one!

Hans-Hermann Hoppe: From Aristocracy to Monarchy to Democracy 
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...y-to-Democracy

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## Suzanimal

> Here's another short one!
> 
> Hans-Hermann Hoppe: From Aristocracy to Monarchy to Democracy 
> http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...y-to-Democracy


Another excellent selection. This will be the third book we read.

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## Ronin Truth

Lane's classic, "_The Discovery of Freedom_".

http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/discovery.pdf

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## Suzanimal

> Lane's classic, "_The Discovery of Freedom_".
> 
> http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/discovery.pdf


Nice. Added to list.

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## Lucille

Is it only political books?  I haven't read _The Double Helix_ yet, but I did grab it off DS' book shelf a couple days ago and it's been sitting on the coffee table ready for me to get 'er done.

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## Suzanimal

> ...


I added it after you suggested it. I figured it would be nice to have a list in one place. I also added Hoppe and Ronin's suggestion.

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## Lucille

> I added it after you suggested it. I figured it would be nice to have a list in one place. I also added Hoppe and Ronin's suggestion.


I know I realized that after I posted it!  Did you see my edit?




> Is it only political books?  I haven't read _The Double Helix_ yet, but I did grab it off DS' book shelf a couple days ago and it's been sitting on the coffee table ready for me to get 'er done.

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## Suzanimal

> Is it only political books?  I haven't read [I]*The Double Helix[*/I] yet, but I did grab it off DS' book shelf a couple days ago and it's been sitting on the coffee table ready for me to get 'er done.


By James D Watson? If so, sure. 

As long as it's educational, it makes the list.

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## Lucille

I have _Against the State_ too.  We could do that one first since you already started it, which is fine by me.

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## heavenlyboy34

If you want to add a novel in, try "We", by Yevgeny Zamyatin.  One of the best books I read in college and is generally considered the most influential dystopian novel of the 20th century (of all time, IMHO).   Let me know if you start discussing it.  I've read it 2 or 3 times and it's good discussion material, IMO.

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## Lucille

> If you want to add a novel in, try "We", by Yevgeny Zamyatin.  One of the best books I read in college and is generally considered the most influential dystopian novel of the 20th century (of all time, IMHO).   Let me know if you start discussing it.  I've read it 2 or 3 times and it's good discussion material, IMO.


Mises has everything.  I need to donate to them.

http://mises.org/library/we

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## kcchiefs6465

You know what I always wanted to do was start a book shipping deal where once you read a book, someone else interested can pay the shipping to receive it.

I have a $#@! ton of books I'd be willing to lend people.... just with it being the internet and all, never figured anyone really wants their address known.

Maybe a local endeavor?

Anyone in the Phoenix area looking for some reading material I'll happily send it out, or meet somewhere.

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## kcchiefs6465

Oh, and Gutenberg.org gets a shameless shout out.

They have quite a bit of Spooner, Bastiat, Acton, etc.

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## amy31416

> Oh, and Gutenberg.org gets a shameless shout out.
> 
> They have quite a bit of Spooner, Bastiat, Acton, etc.


Clicked on this thread just to post that.

Here's a direct link:  http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Category:Bookshelf

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## Suzanimal

> I have _Against the State_ too.  We could do that one first since you already started it, which is fine by me.


I updated the reading order. I'm still going to read The Law first, it's been so long since I read it, I need to give it another look.

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## Suzanimal

> You know what I always wanted to do was start a book shipping deal where once you read a book, someone else interested can pay the shipping to receive it.
> 
> I have a $#@! ton of books I'd be willing to lend people.... just with it being the internet and all, never figured anyone really wants their address known.
> 
> Maybe a local endeavor?
> 
> Anyone in the Phoenix area looking for some reading material I'll happily send it out, or meet somewhere.


My sister-in-law uses this site and loves it.
http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php

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## kcchiefs6465

> My sister-in-law uses this site and loves it.
> http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php


Should have figured they already had one.

I want to set one up for liberty related material. Where the shipping addresses are unknown to the two parties.

Really I'd pay for shipping, depending, but ideally those who want the book should be the ones paying. I have a half a bookcase full and what I've read I'd gladly loan.

If anyone reading this thread has an idea on how to set up a method of payment for shipping where the buyer and seller remain anonymous, PM. I'm sure for more expensive books some would be worried about it not being returned and the condition etc. Really I like my references but they aren't doing $#@! but just sitting.

I do think maybe local circles might be the best with what I'm thinking about. Kind of set up deals to swap books after read... liberty minded folks. Idk. I value what little privacy I have as much as the next.

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## amy31416

> Should have figured they already had one.
> 
> I want to set one up for liberty related material. Where the shipping addresses are unknown to the two parties.
> 
> Really I'd pay for shipping, depending, but ideally those who want the book should be the ones paying. I have a half a bookcase full and what I've read I'd gladly loan.
> 
> If anyone reading this thread has an idea on how to set up a method of payment for shipping where the buyer and seller remain anonymous, PM. I'm sure for more expensive books some would be worried about it not being returned and the condition etc. Really I like my references but they aren't doing $#@! but just sitting.
> 
> I do think maybe local circles might be the best with what I'm thinking about. Kind of set up deals to swap books after read... liberty minded folks. Idk. I value what little privacy I have as much as the next.


I like the idea in theory, but I don't generally read books that I'd give away--so once I got it and if I liked it, I probably wouldn't share it.

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## Ronin Truth

*The Road to Serfdom (condensed), Hayek
*http://mises.org/sites/default/files...%20serfdom.pdf

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## specsaregood

> I like the idea in theory, but I don't generally read books that I'd give away--so once I got it and if I liked it, I probably wouldn't share it.


I'm the opposite.  I like giving out books I've read to friends/family.  Fiction I don't generally ask to be returned and encourage them to pass the book on to somebody else when they are done.   Non-fiction I generally like to have returned but always encourage the reader to use a highlighter on interesting parts or use a pen/pencil and make notes in the margin, or even just dog-earing the bottom of the page for pages they found interesting/informative so I can reread them later -- just as I have already done to the book being loaned out.   I feel having them do so adds to the value.

Lucky for me all my family and friends are "readers" so finding somebody to pass a book onto is no problem.

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## Ronin Truth

*The Nature of Man and His Government

Here is Robert LeFevre's classic argument (1959) for a purely free society, the essay that made him a leading, if controversial, spokesman for the libertarian position on government and society in the 2nd half of the twentieth century. He argues that government is in its essence a violation of rights, one that makes life brutal, poor, and short. He demonstrates that no government anywhere has lived up to its basic promises, and calls on all people to contribute to building a new kind of freedom.*

http://mises.org/library/nature-man-and-his-government

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## amy31416

> I'm the opposite.  I like giving out books I've read to friends/family.  Fiction I don't generally ask to be returned and encourage them to pass the book on to somebody else when they are done.   Non-fiction I generally like to have returned but always encourage the reader to use a highlighter on interesting parts or use a pen/pencil and make notes in the margin, or even just dog-earing the bottom of the page for pages they found interesting/informative so I can reread them later -- just as I have already done to the book being loaned out.   I feel having them do so adds to the value.
> 
> Lucky for me all my family and friends are "readers" so finding somebody to pass a book onto is no problem.


Heh. I generally don't want to give away the books that I've written notes in because I figure I'd be ruining their reading experience. Plus, the ones I've made notes in I intend to leave to my kid. Most of my family, aside from my brother, are fiction/magazine/sports people. They wouldn't like my "weird" fiction (I gave all that away to a neighbor who was into that sort of thing), my brother got all my history books, and pretty much just kept my reference books--which I generally wouldn't lend out, and only one person in the family is interested in them anyways. I offered to lend him some books, but he valued those type of books so much that he wouldn't (have some really old science/engineering/reference books.)

It's kinda one of my things that I want a library some day too. It hurt to give away the pretty big collection that I had. But eh, used books are cheap and that's usually what I get. Too many remodeling projects in this house before I'll have the room for it anyways--small house, I have to build shelves. It amazes me how ugly and expensive most pre-made shelving is.

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## Tinnuhana

I'm reading Salvos Against the New Deal, a collection of essays, etc. by Garet Garrett (edited by Bruce Ramsey). These were in the Saturday Evening Post from 1933-1940. I have even gotten Neocon and Tea Party people who think Obama's the worst president ever to get this book. It was possibly on the reading list for one of Tom Woods's courses through Mises Academy (FDR and the New Deal).
Anyone else read it?

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## tommyrp12

Just ordered some books. I also just received and started Human Action and its a lot at once but i am determined to absorb everything, eventually. There is just a lot of historical facts and development of the Austrian school of thought that i have not been aware of. I wish i was more versed but i wont let it stop me. 

I am waiting on Man Economy and State/ Power and markets, paper back. Also Elementary Lessons In Logic by W. Stanley Jevons and An Introduction to Economic Reasoning by David Gordon. 

I will try to let you all know how i feel about them and their difficulty.

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## axiomata

Moral Case for Fossil Fuels
By Alex Epstein

http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Case-Fos...dp/1591847443/

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## Natural Citizen

I kind of accidentally stumbled upon a link to an author's web site. 

He has written a book entitled ‘Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs’ . I might buy it. I don't know. It is supposed to be released this month. Or so the site says.

I don't really know the author but his site seems interesting. 

http://johannhari.com/

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