Waoh! Are you guys Nigerians?! I thought they said we don't read!

I've read some of the ones you guys have recommended and will try and get the others.

My own recommendation is two: first is Revolutionary Wealth by Alvin Toffler. Absolutely fantastic book that talks about the wealth of the future, how it's going to be created and who is most probably going to create it. It's a powerful book that changes one's content and context of viewing the world. Toffler's other books [Powershift, Third Wave, Future Shock] are also powerful...google them.
The second is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I know it's a novel but I think it's a philosophical book masquerading as one. Absolutely powerful book that gives a philosophical backing to capitalism.

adaora20: half of a yellow moon by chimanda aniche

Don't you mean Half of a Yellow Sun?

@Ajanlekoko, loooong time bro.

I have a lot of non-fiction books here in my room.
Infact, because of book, I don't have a TV!

I'm re-reading Business @ D speed of thought by Bill Gates

I have Donald Trump's books all here with me.

I'd like to get paper back of The millionaire fastlane couldnt get
that in lag here... painful.

I also need Chris Guillebeau's book as well. $100 start up. Tim Feriss'
4 Hour work week... painful they are not here.

Hey, I have 2 books (non-fiction) on amazon kindly but under a pen name.
I'll be publishing 2 new books next month under my real name...

Sheyi
www.ivblogger.com

cant remember some authors but some books I have really enjoyed are
1. The arms bazaar- was a look into the international arms market, very revealing.
2. In God's Name by David Yallop
3. To the ends of the earth by David Yallop
4. This House has fallen by Karl Maier
5. Gideon's Spies- cant rem the author but its an analysis of the Isreali Mossad
6. Too Big to Fail- A blow by blow account of the financial crisis
7. Confessions of an economic hitman
8. Chain of Command
9. The world is flat
10. Liars' poker
11. My command
12. Built to last
13. Good to great

Nimshi:

doja: interesting post.

Most posters aren't posting African authors; I am having a renewed interest in African authors and hope you'd write some more about these two books.

First, Adebanwi: A paradise for maggots - I can't find this book on amazon.co.uk, neither at amazon.com; any leads?

Second: Wole Soyinka 'Interventions 1 & 2' - couldn't find this either; where could one get it?

I find biographies sometimes tedious; a poster above wrote of Bill Clinton's 'My Life'; couldn't get far with this bulky book; perhaps it's just that some familiarity with the subject robs of the enjoyment of reading it. Soyinka's biographies are different though; he explains why . . . But if you have any recommendations, be kind to drop them here


.

Nimshi,

Sorry I have not been here in days. I got Wole Soyinka's 'Interventions 1&2' from Cafe Crystallis in Ibadan(7500 Naira) and Adebanwi's 'Paradise of Maggots' from Booksellers also in Ibadan(5000 Naira)

Paradise of Maggots chronicles the story of africa's most courageous and most succesful anti corruption czar.This riveting narrative of one of Africa's biggest cesspits of graft will leave you gasping for breath,shocked at how our country with abundant resources,was turned into laughing stock of the entire world by its thieving elite.You are likey to be inspired by one man's dangerous battle to reverse the history of graft in the country.

Interventions--- The themes of the series vary literally from the sublime to the ridiculus, from national foibles to the tragic face of nation existence, from citizens derilictions and delinquencies to government criminalities and betrayals of trust,from the celebration of life and other eulogies to lamentations.

doja: thanks for your response.

Thanks for the price details of the books. I searched and found more about APFM here:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=177485788936086; It was also advised on nairaland last year: https://www.nairaland.com/811755/paradise-maggots

Regarding 'Interventions 1 & 2'; please: is it a collection of essays/lectures/writings of Soyinka over the years? Or is it a book of new material?

.

It is a collection of essays/lectures/writtings of Soyinka.some of the subject discussed include the following

- Cults,Counter culture and the Perils of Ignorance.
-Dancing on Ige's grave
- Of Power, Doctrine and Freedom
-The limits of knowledge
-The Politics of Rituals of Atonement
-An Ecumenical spirit
-Gani: Bridging the Regeneration Gap
-Coons, Baracoons and Barack
And many more.

manosteel: The Great Controversy by Ellen White. My all time favourite.

Are you an Adventist?
You reminded me of the controversial heaps I garnered on top Ellen G White's head when I dug her on net.
Meanwhile, I found the book to be a bit tardy to rummage through! Quite surprised it could turn up as someone's favourite. You must be quite intelligent & gifted in world of arts.

OzReal:

Don't you mean Half of a Yellow Sun?

No she means Half of a yellow moon by chimanda aniche...LOOOOOOOOL

We no say, she no read the book. Keep dulling

suxes2005: @Ajanlekoko, loooong time bro.

I have a lot of non-fiction books here in my room.
Infact, because of book, I don't have a TV!

I'm re-reading Business @ D speed of thought by Bill Gates

I have Donald Trump's books all here with me.

I'd like to get paper back of The millionaire fastlane couldnt get
that in lag here... painful.

I also need Chris Guillebeau's book as well. $100 start up. Tim Feriss'
4 Hour work week... painful they are not here.

Hey, I have 2 books (non-fiction) on amazon kindly but under a pen name.
I'll be publishing 2 new books next month under my real name...

Sheyi
www.ivblogger.com

Read both. Are you a businessman?



Frawzey

gorociano: Waoh! Are you guys Nigerians?! I thought they said we don't read!

I've read some of the ones you guys have recommended and will try and get the others.

My own recommendation is two: first is Revolutionary Wealth by Alvin Toffler. Absolutely fantastic book that talks about the wealth of the future, how it's going to be created and who is most probably going to create it. It's a powerful book that changes one's content and context of viewing the world. Toffler's other books [Powershift, Third Wave, Future Shock] are also powerful...google them.
The second is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand . I know it's a novel but I think it's a philosophical book masquerading as one. Absolutely powerful book that gives a philosophical backing to capitalism.

Read.

Said to be the most influential book in the world after the Bible. She try small sha.



Frawzey

@ AjanleKoko.

Please where can I get Dambisa Moyo's books.
A couple of my friends who travelled to the UK and USA could get it.
I'll be very grateful if you can help.

@ AjanleKoko.

Please where can I get Dambisa Moyo's books.
A couple of my friends who travelled to the UK and USA couldn't get it.
I'll be very grateful if you can help.

tijehi: @ AjanleKoko.

Please where can I get Dambisa Moyo's books.
A couple of my friends who travelled to the UK and USA couldn't get it.
I'll be very grateful if you can help.

Just order on Amazon. I ordered them all on Amazon.

@ AjanleKoko.

Where they good reads as claimed by a lot of people?

tijehi: @ AjanleKoko.

Where they good reads as claimed by a lot of people?

It depends on your interest in the subject matter.
It's not too academic, though.

adaora20: half of a yellow moon by chimanda aniche

Half of a yellow sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

[b][/b]

naijababe: The richest man in Babylon for the 100th time or so. I am surprised you like Covey so much, i have not been able to get myself to finish it. It's one of those fluffy books jare.

Hoping to move on to Plato's republic, hopefully I won't be bored to death.

naijababe: The richest man in Babylon for the 100th time or so. I am surprised you like Covey so much, i have not been able to get myself to finish it. It's one of those fluffy books jare.

Hoping to move on to Plato's republic, hopefully I won't be bored to death.

hey, some cool lists here. Ajenlekoko I think you should give fever pitch by nick hornby a try. I hear its a great soccer read. Some non fiction books I've read lately :

1. white mans burden by William easterly
2. Guns, germs and steel by Jared Diamond
3. Worldly philosophers by r l heilbroner
4 the story of philosophy by will Durant
5 the big three in economics by mark skousen
6 Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua foer
7. Hitch-22 by Christopher hitchens
8 Mere xtianity by c s Lewis
9 Africa must be modern by olufemi taiwo
10 Harmattan haze on an African spring by Wole Soyinka

I'm also an impulsive buyer of books and would need more than ten lifetimes to plod thru my entire physical and e-library. it would be interesting to know what medium people prefer. Personally, I do most of my reading with a kindle touch but I'm begining to rue the likelihood of not handing over a physical library/books to my kids and grand kids, just the way an old relative of mine handed his box of books to me. ebooks are a convenient means to access good literature-- especially in naija where every book store seems devoted to spirituality and self help books-- but ebooks lack the personal sentimental value hard physical books provide.

Horayce: interesting list there. Easterly's White Man's Burden is an 'excellent' book. But I wonder if you've also read Dambissa Mayo's books (I haven't, and it appears - from a brief interview I viewed on TV featuring Moyo - Moyo's views aren't very far from Easterly's; but I'd like to read the opinion of one who's read both. Also: is Jared Diamond correct? I recollect feeling Guns, Germs and Steel was the best book I'd read at the time I read it; the felling didn't last very long.

Re printed books/ebooks: there're good arguments for both, but I still prefer to manually turn the page; but e-copies offer amazing flexibility; one (expensive) solution is to have both... For now, my 'important' books are printed, the dispensables are e-versions only.

Thanks for introducing Olufemi Taiwo.

"Harmattan haze on an African spring by Wole Soyinka" - When was this book published?

.

.

No I haven't read Dambissa Moyo,the only notable "homegrown" economist (I see you, Ayittey!) in the development debate that has so far been driven by 3 old white men: Paul Collier, William Easterly and rusty old Jeff Sachs( End of Poverty). I hope to crack open some of the mounting works of the Zambian born Moyo eventually though. On the point, I think you should also consider Collier's bottom billiom; to be sure, it sucks hearing another white man's econbabble on the way forward for africa, but seeing the issue attacked from diverse viewpoints won't hurt. And a top harvard econ historian recommends Collier as the more masterful and practical of the three.

I'm a history buff, and Jared Diamond was a good introduction into geographical determinism: His profoundly researched (took him 25 years across a broad range of disciplines such as anthropology and archeaology) central argument is that history took a different course for different people because of differences among people's environments, not because of biological differences among people themselves as we've become accustomed to believe. Is he correct? Well, thought provoking certainly. As the literature swells I'm diving further into similar works such as the wealth and poverty of nations by David Landes and Civilization by Niall Ferguson to evolve my views further. Jared Diamond wrote a follow up to GGS called Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed which I curently own but haven't read.

Harmattan Haze was published this year. If you can, get Olufemi Taiwo's book, if for nothing but to see a bold african intellectual's no-holds-barred arguments for eschewing our "traditional" values which he argues stand as the core reason why Nigeria and Africa, by extension has so far not taken off. He argues that african govts should embrace modernism, reason and individuality squarely even at the risk of being branded western.

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.

Technically, this book is fiction but it's one of my favourite books if not my favourite. Read it first about 10 years ago and at the time I read like a novel but in time I have read it many times for what it really is; 'a history of philosophy' - that's the literary tag the book is given. If there's ever a philosophy for dummies book, this is it.

I have a lot of free time on my hands and this book is the singular reason why I decided to read Plato and Aristotle ........ don't ask me how much of that I have read yet . I am mulling through Plato and Siddartha just now; don't understand why I am reading such heavyweights simultaneously, it just sorta happened.

ayox2003:

Read both. Are you a businessman?



Frawzey

Internet entrepreneur

Grow Rich With Peace Of Mind...Napoleon Hill.
A Very Good Read.

naijababe: Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.

Technically, this book is fiction but it's one of my favourite books if not my favourite. Read it first about 10 years ago and at the time I read like a novel but in time I have read it many times for what it really is; 'a history of philosophy' - that's the literary tag the book is given. If there's ever a philosophy for dummies book, this is it.

I have a lot of free time on my hands and this book is the singular reason why I decided to read Plato and Aristotle ........ don't ask me how much of that I have read yet . I am mulling through Plato and Siddartha just now; don't understand why I am reading such heavyweights simultaneously, it just sorta happened.

Wow!!!

I wanted a philosophy primer some time ago and researched around. I decided to go with the philosophy classic -- the story of philosophy by Will Durant-- published in the 1920s. I've just looked up Sophie's and I see that it has over 600 favourable reviews on amazon! Sweet Jesus! Off to piratebay

Secret of the ages.... that book is powerful and
better than good!

Sheyi

tijehi: @ AjanleKoko.

Please where can I get Dambisa Moyo's books.
A couple of my friends who travelled to the UK and USA could get it.
I'll be very grateful if you can help.

If you have any iDevice you can check Itunes, Got winner take all there tonight

@ AYANDEE

GOOD INITIATVE! Can you please expand your list to include some poetry, some teen fiction, some african history and some other genres and not just self-help. I understand as a business man you are skewed towards the markets' needs but it could do you a world of good if you have a more diverse offering.

I'm currently in the market for some rare set of books and would pay you if you can get them : The Great Ideas (3 vols) Syntopicon of Great Books Western World

I'm reading Jeff Rovin's Unbelievable Truth. Witty but packed with facts !




Frawzey

Horayce: I'll certainly read Moyo, but when I have a lot of time. And yes, Collier's Bottom Billion was quite a read; he's got a bunch of insightful papers with useful data on his website too. And I agree: Collier's prescription for landlocked countries is excellent; I've considered it a workable solution for a dismembered Nigeria. Who's the Harvard commentator to whom you refer?

Diamond; thought-provoking, but the truth's probably less confined. His book is well-researched (and I must confess to not having completed even a first reading of it. . . ), but the one-mindedness of his theory diminishes the book. It is hardly correct that only a single explanation exists for what has been observed; at a point, I was tempted to think he was pandering in an intellectually attractive manner; but his position is seriously considered, yet, the book can be robustly criticised. In any case, a profound contribution to knowledge. I'll check out David Landes and Niall Ferguson . . . The sub-title of Collapse sounds engaging. . .

Olufemi Taiwo: to which book do you refer? I own 'How Colonialism Preempted Modernity in Africa', but have yet to read it (that's lazy, because the book that's pushing it off is Achebe's 'There was a country'; I've had to suspend a reading of Jack Miles' 'God: A Biography'. . . to accommodate that), but I suppose you're referring to 'Africa Must be Modern' (or a book of that title by Professor Taiwo - edited: forgive me for not following your post; of course, your Item #9 is precisely this book); I haven't seen the book anywhere online for sale; could you give a hint on where to find it? Neither have I found Soyinka's 'Harmattan Haze'. . .
.