How about Catch-22 and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

I'm just finishing up a facinating book:

"Big Bang" by Simon Singh.

It covers the scientific discoveries that led to the Big Bang theory, and also touches upon the beginning of scientific thought. Excellent book.

Anything by Richard Powers is great!

http://www.richardpowers.net/novels.htm

I recently read The Echo Maker... it was about a man who had Capgras Syndrome-- extremely rare syndrome in which people think that the loved ones in their lives are imposters due to a head injury that disconnects facial visual recognition from emotional recognition.

In my city there's an annual massive garage sale that attracts people for hundreds of kilometers away. It was this past Saturday, and I found some awesome books for dirt cheap.

Among them were four of Carl Sagan's for a total of $5 for the lot: "Contact", "Cosmos", "A Demon Haunted World", and "Billions and Billions". My inner geek was thrilled at the find.

In addition I also got Stephen R Donaldson's Gap sequence (5 hardcovers) for $4, "Feast for Crows" by GRRM (in hardcover) for a buck, and about a dozen other good finds. My summer to-read list is healthy now.

I'm still meaning to pick up the Holmes and Watson (ha!) books recommended by Jabster and LMNOP.

In the history vein I always found Toynbee to be very informative and not very biased religiously...though more so perhaps culturally his abridged version should only take a few days to a week and a half depending on how fast you read. The reason I suggest him is his whole premise about civilizations,which kind of suggests that no religion is right or at the least has all the awnsers.

I have that one in audiobook form, Darwin. For those long car rides.

If you're going to buy just one Dawkins book may I suggest The Ancestor's Tale?
It's not as new as The Greatest Show on Earth, but I found it full of so many fascinating beautiful facts about evolution.
Greatest Show on Earth is more like a handbook on how to refute creationism. It's great, and interesting, but if reading pleasure is what you're after I'd go with Ancestor's Tale. Or both.

Michio Kaku, Hyperspace is an oldie but a goodie if you're interested in physics.

Thanks, Elemenope, that`s really useful.

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder is a good place to start.

"The American Evasion of Philosophy" by Cornel West, is a good place to get some background and info on the Pragmatist school, which tends to be overlooked in other philosophy texts.

Walter Kaufmann's translation of Nietzsche's works is my personal favorite, and the companion book Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist is important for that reading.

Stanford's Online Philosophy Encyclopedia is good for specific topics or concepts, though the articles can be a bit opaque if you're not already well-versed in the topic.

It might be a little too specific if you`re looking for something broader, but "Genome" by Matt Ridley is very interesting. Each chapter focuses on a different chromosome and how it has affected human history and behaviour.

On a similar note, Ive recently become interested in philosophy. Im not a complete novice, I know a little about Kierkegaard, the Is-Ought Problem, the trolley problem etc. Can anyone recommend a good book that may be useful to me?

You learn a lot by reading Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything'.

I'm reading "You Said What? Lies and Propaganda Throughout History" by Bill Fawcett. It is an interesting read if you want to get your mind off things.

Can't go wrong with Sagan. His 'Demon Haunted World' changed my life.

Awesome suggestions guys, keep 'em coming. I found the Peter Watson book for cheap on my favourite overstock / scratch & dent vendor, bookcloseouts.com.

Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud by Peter Watson.

My suggestion, The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes.

Pick up books about neuroscience and the amazing beautiful brain.

"The Body Has A Mind Of Its Own" was a good read....and rather easy.

We've got a book shop in Chicago called Marbles, I'm addicted to it.

In another thread Ty said "I tend not to read books *about* why religion is wrong or atheism is right. I read lots of books on science and history, which tell me the same thing." Which started me thinking that I'd like to improve my library in those areas.

Also, my summer vacation this year will involve a trip to the inlaws' cottage in the middle of northern Manitoba, meaning I'll have to do a lot of reading in order to stay sane.

So can anyone suggest some good books up this alley? I'll definitely be picking up Carl Sagan's "Cosmos", as I've been going through the TV series and am loving it. But it's 30 years old so wondering if anyone has something more current.

Also thinking about Dawkins' "The Greatest Show on Earth".

But beyond that I don't know of too many books or authors to look up. Any suggestions? Again, more interested in a secular view of science and history, and less interested in simply debunking religion, as that gets boring.