(Part 2) Top products from r/malelifestyle

Wislawa Szymborska, who won the 1996 Nobel Prize for Literature, is pretty great. Check out a collection of her work titled "View with a Grain of Sand" (https://www.amazon.com/View-Grain-Sand-Selected-Poems/dp/0156002167)

Pablo Neruda, who won the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature, is maybe my favorite writer of any kind. He's the king of imagery, IMO. One of his most famous books is "100 Love Sonnets." You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/100-Love-Sonnets-sonetos-American/dp/0292760280

Ovid, who never won a Nobel Prize because he is like 2000 years old, is really funny and writes a lot about how to pick up girls - in ancient Rome. He lived around the time of Christ and it's cool to read something from that period that's so vividly human. "The Erotic Poems" are winners. (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/35010/the-erotic-poems/)

Other commenters have suggested Whitman, Emerson, and Bukowski. Those writers are all killers too.

>misc books from my amazon wish list

This is exactly what i'm doing since I'm flying back home for the holiday and seeing a lot of family that I haven't seen in nearly a decade. I figure most of the books are around $5-28, so it's not breaking anyone's bank and I get some old texts I haven't felt like truly spending money on. ...and then The Flavor Bible for both work and fun is the one book I'm really hoping someone picks up before I do.

There was a thought of getting a kindle which drops a lot of the prices for said books but I prefer hard copies too much =\

Oh, and from myself I'm picking up these chukka since my boots have started to fall apart and I don't know enough about having them resoled.

Do you guys feel weird making holiday lists as adults? On one hand I feel it helps family and friends who do enjoy the holiday and spirit of giving rather than them possibly wasting money on something you have no use or really don't like, such as cologne or that wicked flame watch I got years ago.

On the other hand ... The things I want, the few, I feel I should be capable of purchasing myself anyhow.

Not exactly "how to be a man", but general non-fiction I've really enjoyed:

Benjamin Hoff - The Tao of Pooh -- Sounds childish perhaps, but its a fantastic read. Worth the time.

http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Pooh-Benjamin-Hoff/dp/0140067477

Biography of E=MC2 -- Einstein's famous equasion, told biography style. Great read, not too "sciency".

http://www.amazon.com/mc2-Biography-Worlds-Famous-Equation/dp/0425181642

Tim O'Brian - If I Die in a combat zone -- http://www.amazon.com/If-Die-Combat-Zone-Ship/dp/0767904435

Also, military field guides / training manuals are non classified and excellent resources for any sort of camping / survival you may do. Most surplus type stores carry them, or you can download and print your own!

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is really great, but be warned that the book lives up to its title.

Also, I love reading about Robert Kennedy (one of the last true American politicians IMO). I suggest reading The Last Campaign. Pay attention and learn from Bobby, and you'll live a good life.

They all seem to be for 8-14yr olds...

Edit: Oh. Maybe that's what the OP meant. I got excited because I thought it would be a bunch of great books for guys, not for kids.

In case that's what you came looking for too, here's a couple of greats:

Beat the Reaper It's like House meets the Sopranos, except better.

Altered Carbon The most bad ass futuristic sci-fi book, ever.

I hope people read this, especially the last section. In the past I used to just pester my bosses until they gave in and tried my ideas. It's much easier to influence them by saying something like: "Hey, a lot of people are starting to do things this way ..." or "This other design company was awarded for using this process to cut their development time in half." Managers have a tough time swallowing advice from inferiors. Convince them the idea isn't yours and their ego doesn't need to take such a big hit. Frame it like everyone else is starting to use that idea and they'll be scared into acting even quicker. BTW: this advice truly isn't my own. Learned most of it by reading Nudge.

EDIT: isn't instead of is

I'd recommend Quiet for any reader considering themselves leaning towards the introverted side of the spectrum. It's a very good book for gaining a better understanding of yourself, (especially if you find yourself feeling guilt or inferiority at not being the idealized charismatic socialite that is so often espoused in Western culture).

AHWOSG is a great book. Read it last winter.

Also check out Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Awareness. Two favorite reads of mine.

not that i completely agree with either of you of course

The 4 Hour Body has a section on testosterone with natural supplements and food recommendations.

In this interview he credits Brazil Nuts with raising his testosterone. I personally wouldn't eat more than 2 if you get a lot of zinc from another multivitamin.

http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Years-Well-All-Chicks/dp/0307717380

Gabriel's Story by David Anthony Durham

the alphabet of manliness

The Buffalo Hunters.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

The Last of The Mohicans

Animal Farm

1984

A Brave New World

The Red Badge of Courage

Moby Dick

Treasure Island

The Pigman

Killer By Joey

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

My Side of the Mountain

There are so many books that you must read so little time...

Ernest Shackleton's South - the early 20th century polar explorer's account of the ill-fated Endurance voyage that was trapped in Antarctic ice.

Yamamoto Tsunetomo's Hagakure: The Way of the Warrior - the 18th century Japanese book on the samurai code that gets quoted a lot in the 1999 Jim Jarmusch movie "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai".

Erik Larson's Devil in the White City and Isaac's Storm - two excellent non-fiction accounts of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the gruesome murders that surrounded it and the 1900 storm that destroyed Galveston, Texas.

Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire - it may be fiction, but it doesn't get any manlier than 300 Spartans facing off against thousands of invading Persians at Thermopylae.

$2400, WTF?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Salt-book-Lobstering-snowshoes/dp/0385114222

All of The Last Lion books about Winston Churchill. Took me 5.5 months to read.

If you want to learn about what it means for sticking to your guns and staying true to what you know is right even when everyone around you is against you, Churchill faced it with consequences none of us can really comprehend. Much like Roosevelt, he did more in 10 years of his life than you will probably do in 80. He influenced politics, technology, world affairs, and was a head of his time on nearly every major issue. He saw the cold war happening before anyone else did. He saw the threat of Hitler before anyone else did (Thats right, USA wasn't always so happy to go killing Nazi's as Inglorious Bastards would have you believe). He recognized the value of tanks in warfare when generals were debating calvary charges. He lead command of troops during battle when he was sent as a journalist. He flew planes at great risk to himself because fuck you he's a man and will do what he wants. He lived to 90 despite smoking, drinking, never exercising, and eating whatever he felt like.

He is responsible for some of the classic insults of all time. Like this great exchange:
Nancy Astor: “Sir, if you were my husband, I would give you poison.”
Churchill: “If I were your husband I would take it.”


Here is the box set. Read all of them. http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Lion-Box-Set/dp/0316227781/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1375932902&sr=8-3&keywords=the+last+lion