Summer Reading – Top 10 books that you should drop everything to read now…

Looking for some good summer reading, fellow Christian libertarians? I gave this list to a friend in mid-July (a reader of LCC, incidentally) when he asked what 10 books I would recommend that he drop everything to read right now… Ok then, here they are! Some I’ve mentioned in previous articles, but some will be new to you, I hope. In fact, not all of this list is straight libertarian philosophy or theological treatise… there’s some fiction, some personal finance, and some business productivity stuff too. Enjoy!

1. Ron Paul, The Revolution: A Manifesto – If you haven’t read this yet, you should. Become a part of the R3VOLUTION!
2. Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty – This is a great way to delve into libertarian thought. It’s freely available online as a PDF, HTML, or MP3 audiobook. (BONUS: A cheaper alternative if you want a paperback would be Linda and Morris Tannehill’s The Market for Liberty. It’s shorter than Rothbard, and slightly randian-sounding, but awesome.)
3. Tom Woods, Meltdown – The best quick way to understand the current economic crisis, its causes/solutions, and a bunch of Austrian econ.
4. Frederic Bastiat, The Law – Essential classic reading in the classical liberal tradition.
5. John Cobin, Christian Theology of Public Policy – There isn’t much out there better than this when it comes to Christian libertarian stuff. (BONUS: Cobin’s Bible and Government is less expensive and covers a lot of the same.)
6. Boldrin and Levine, Against Intellectual Monopoly – This is the book I am currently reading, and boy am I excited about it. B&L just thrash the notion that intellectual property is necessary for innovation to be maintained in an economy, and in fact history shows exactly the opposite! IP is an invention of the state to give legalized monopolies, nothing more. Abolish it! (BONUS: Make sure to read Stephan Kinsella’s awesome Against Intellectual Property, a paper from the Journal of Libertarian Studies, in conjunction with B&L.)
7. Ramit Sethi, I Will Teach You To Be Rich – Ramit is great on personal finance, and I highly recommend his book and his blog. Highly informative and fun to read. You *will* learn a lot. I pride myself on being a very good money manager and yet I’m learning tons of useful things!
8. Robert Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress – A fun, fun book about revolution on the moon by the master of science-fiction. Incidentally, this book is where we get the acronym/phrase “TANSTAAFL”, which means, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Heheh.
9. David Allen, Getting Things Done – This book revolutionized the way I work. GTD is all about getting things out of your head and into an organizational system you can trust and review regularly in order to operate at maximum productivity as much as possible. For all you busy professionals out there, you MUST check this book out and see what you can learn and apply in your work.
10. Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death – I reviewed this book on LCC a short time ago, so check that article out for more information. It is enough to say that Postman has delivered an excellent cultural critique that should pique the interest of anyone in pursuit of truth.

So, what are you reading this summer, and what have you already finished? Let everybody know in the comments. All books welcome, libertarian and otherwise! Don’t be shy!

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Tags: christian libertarian, history, philosophy, recommended books, theology

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