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The Year Without Summer by William K. Klingaman and Nicholas Klingaman

This book is ostensibly about the 1815 volcanic explosion and lava ejection from Java's Mount Tambora, but what really happens in this book is a drowning: the authors positively drown readers in a relentless heap of anecdotes on weather conditions, weather reports, peoples' comments about the weather, peoples' diary entries on the weather, reports on failed crops, explanations of weather phenomena and more meteorological minutiae from that era than you can possibly imagine. The book goes nowhere and at just over halfway through I decided to stop taking any more punishment.

I could not finish this book and I'd only recommend it to serious, serious meteorology geeks--even then with great hesitation.

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Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter

A wonderful, beautiful work. Ask me about it, and I'll start nattering at you about sphex wasps, fugues, isomorphisms and "jumping out of the system." And my voice will trail off and you'll see me get a faraway look in my eyes. It's actually quite difficult to describe what this book is about--at least, impossible to describe in a few short sentences. [1] But there are so many ways to read Godel, Escher, Bach , and such a wide range of ideas and insights one can get out of it, that it becomes a different book for every reader. And let me confess, if you haven't read GEB  yet, I am jealous of you. [A quick  affiliate link to Amazon  for those readers who would like to support my work here: if you purchase your Amazon products via any affiliate link from this site, or from my sister site  Casual Kitchen , I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!] First of all this book can be understood on many levels. You can read it a...
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Marshall McLuhan: The Medium and the Messenger by Philip Marchand [biography]

"Instead of scurrying into a corner and wailing about what media are doing to us, one should charge straight ahead and kick them in the electrodes. They respond beautifully to such resolute treatment and soon become servants rather than masters." Plenty of insights throughout this capably-written biography of Marshall McLuhan. And the book really develops some genuine heft as it documents McLuhan's intellectual gestation as he turns away from the predictable life of an English lit professor to study modern media. McLuhan would grow into one of the more idiosyncratic and controversial minds of the 20th century. You'd never guess, but McLuhan was revolted by television, and utterly sickened by advertising. But he also believed that careful study of these domains enabled him to understand, and more importantly resist, their influence. As the author puts it, McLuhan "was one of those men who, without any prompting, find observation of the world an excellent strategy ...
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Grow Young with HGH by Ronald Klatz and Carol Kahn

Most readers will get 90% of the value of this book just from reading chapters 16-19, which deal with things you can do you increase/enhance your own GH levels naturally via diet, exercise, (non-pharmacological) supplements and other practices.  The bulk of the rest of the book covers "studies show" theories, explanations and speculations of how and by what mechanism GH works in the body, and since the book was published in 1997, I'm certain most of these studies have been either debunked or better explained by more recent research. Notes:   1) Key supplements to keep in mind:  Melatonin: for sleep/recovery from training Glutamine: up to 2,000 mg/day plus weight training L-Carnitine: one to two grams a day Ubiquinone (Co-enzyme Q10): 60 mg up to 100 mg. Chromium (binds to insulin) 200 micrograms per day Creatine: 45 g per day after heavy exercise Ginseng: for cognition and recovery from stress, 200 to 400 mg a day Dibencozide (coenzyme B12): 1000 micrograms a day Gamma Or...
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