The Autodidact's Favorite Books? What are yours?

Every self-learner comes to lean on certain books that have withstood the test of time
(even if it might begin and end with a book by John Bear)!

THE AUTODIDACT’S FAVORITE BOOKS?
What are the best books for the autodidact’s library?

My favorites are two.
The late Mortimer J. Adler’s _How to Read a Book_ is one. It IS padded, but read with the methodical skills developed, it remains a key pedagogical tool for any self-learner who refers to or reads books.

Secondly, anything by Walter Pauk. This reading professor at Cornell University develops and reviews methods for
lecture note-taking, outlining textbooks, and taking tests. No matter whether or you attend college or not, Pauk covers the basics and tells you—according to psychological research—what techniques work and why. For example, why not relieve stress the night before an exam by seeing a movie? Because to do so interferes with consolidation—the conversion of short-term memory into long.

Pauk has authored many many works. The one I see currently in print I’m not familiar with (_Essential Study Strategies_, 160 pages,
2000). But I bet it’s a combination of the two I do have (now out of print):
_A User's Guide to College : Making Notes and Taking Tests/Conversations With Professor Walter Pauk_ (1987).
In only 72 pages, Pauk discusses note-taking skills, matching quizzes, true-false quizzes, multiple choice quizzes, short answer tests, and essay tests. The booklet itself models the clarity and confidence of the memory and study techniques
taught. It even has a short quiz at the end of each chapter, with answers in the back so you can test your comprehension.(Feedback is the autodidact’s best friend.) And—surprise!—amazon.com states that it CAN be ordered from the publisher.


Subjects not covered like how to study math, foreign languages, time management, and more, are covered in the somewhat
padded _How to Study in College_. From amazon.com:
"Not just for school, for life!" August 30, 1999 *****
Reviewer: A reader from Canada
"Before I bought this book, I was a borderline 2nd year engineering student, and that's putting it lightly. After reading through it, my grades jumped high enough to get me into grad school, and I got straight A's in all my MSc courses. I also got an MBA later on."

--Orson

 

My favorite books of all time would have to be THE COMPLETE WORKS OF KAREN HORNEY, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF HARRY STACK SULLIVAN, LES MISERABLES and THE SCARLET LETTER.

 

My favorite book is the Congressional Record of the United States. It is full of interesting historical tidbuts. I plan to read it over the Christmas holiday; however, I may not finish it unless I skip the filibustering bits. (Besides, I already have a recipe book.)

 

Fine and good.
But what books help the self-learner become
a better self-learner (apart from psychotherapy)?
Ergo, what books would you recommend to others of the autodidactic set?
To excel at one's own self-development as a learner?

--Orson

 

Ronald Gross, The Independent Scholar's Handbook, 2d ed. -- thoughtful and inspirational.

Ronald Gross, Peak Learning, 1999 ed. -- lots of good stuff on lifelong learning.

John Coyne and Tom Hebert, This Way Out (out of print) -- written in the early 70s, it was targeted at college-age kids who were looking for non-college learning alternatives. But it's a great read for independent learners, with some fascinating write-ups of alternative colleges.

Various books by Charles Hayes -- check out his website, autodidactic.com or autodidact.com or something very similar.

 

OK, here's 2 for the list:
"How To Think Straight: An Introduction To Critical Reasoning" by Anthony Flew
"How We Know What Isn't So: The Fallibility Of Human Reason In Everyday Life" by Thomas Gilovich
Both are small books and quite affordable. While we're on the subject of valuable reading material...I once had a college Professor who was fond of saying, "You can't consider yourself to be well educated until you've read the 200 most important books in the world." When asked for the list he would reply, "What? You want me to do the hard part for you?" Have fun with your list.
Jack

 

I'm about halfway through "The Craft of Research" by Booth, Colomb, and Williams and have found it pretty useful. It covers the gamut from term paper writers to doctoral researchers. It recently appeared at a Barnes & Noble near you. (Pause) I just looked at the reviews on Amazon.com and they were pretty positive. One reviewer reminded me of the point that this book is about research and semantics of academic writing; it is not a style guide. That is what I was looking for.

 

The reason I listed the Horney and Sullivan books is that both collections contain useful and valuable information on developing a good, healthy self esteem, developing self-discipline and guides to "becoming a whole person," all important ingredients for the distance learning student where self-discipline, etc. is the key to success.

 

The Man of La Mancha by Miguel De Cervante's is a great great great story of a man's escape from reality and the ability to live a fantasy! I wish my imagination was that vivid because i need a break!

Canterbury Tales by Chaucer...I think we all have been down that road a time or two! Maybe this forum is a parallel to the road to Cantebury!

Finally, a poem...

The Road not taken by Robert Frost! Makes me wonder what my life would have been like at that fork if I would have just gone right. Actually, I don't remeber ever reaching the fork!

Two Universities lie on different ends of a fork in the road...The one to the right is an RA/DL school the other, well you guys fill in the blanks.

Mike

 

THANKS all for your contributions.
Another recent choice that I read just last spring is Wendy McElroy, "The Reasonable
Woman: A Guide to Intellectual Survival" (1998). Wendy is a certified successful autodidact.
Although addressed to other women, of this this book is eqaully applicable to any self-learner aiming to be better.
Chapters on reasoning, logical falicies, statistics, and a subsection on learning math
are all very good.
But most important of all are the themes of selg-growth and overcoming bad habits and forming new ones. This is done empatetically and without the New Age cant typical of the genre.
Four especially worthwhile chapters are devoted to self-evaluation, books as friends, and about forming and doing "intellectual Therapy" as part of developing and suceeding at whatever intellectual project one has on one's plate!
In short, one's goals involve character building in the best sense.
Highly recommended.

--Orson

 

There is no better place for the autodidact than the Autodidactic Press, in Wasilla, Alaska (http://www.autodidactic.com).

Charles Hayes, a high school dropout who has spent much of his life working in the oil industry in Alaska, has written some really splendid books, including

Proving You're Qualified: strategies for Competent People without college degrees; Self-University: the price of tuition is the desire to learn; and, recently, Beyond the American Dream: lifelong learning and the search for meaning in a postmodern world.

 

"Volkswagen Repair for the Compleat Idiot" (various editions) by John Muir.
Nosborne