The Xenu bookstore

100 Hot Books

Books Popular Music Classical Music Video

100 Hot CDs

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Skepticism

• James Randi: Flim-Flam! Psychics, Esp, Unicorns, and Other Delusions (also in audio)

Exposes all sort of super-natural frauds, including but not limited to Uri Geller. Excellent book to begin with, also very useful for high school, to teach students skepticism.
• Martin Gardner: Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science

Another classic skepticism book. Although written 40 years ago, it is still useful! And of course, it has a chapter on "Dianetics".
• M. Lamar Keene, Allen Spraggett, Ray Hyman: The psychic mafia

A former "medium" exposes the methods of the spiritualist "churches". This book appeared in 1976.

Scientology and other dangerous groups

• Jon Atack: A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed

Visit also a web page for the author
If the book is not available on that link, you can find it here:
• Booksamillion
• Barnes & Noble
If you don't get it there, you can order it for $21.95 from the Leo J. Ryan Education Foundation, PO Box 700, Bridgeport, CT 06601-0700, e-mail: [email protected]

You can also read it online!

• Steven Hassan: Combatting cult mind control

The basic work on how to identify cults and getting people out of them peacefully
• Steven Hassan: Releasing The Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves

His next book.
• Flo Conway, Jim Siegelman: Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change

read an excerpt about statistics about life after the cult, and about the early days of deprogramming.
• David E. Kaplan, Andrew Marshall: The cult at the end of the world

Shows that the Tokyo subway gassing was only the last of a long series of crimes (including fraud, drug dealing, kidnapping and murder) that the japanese police ignored.
• Note that I am not including Corydon's "Messiah or Madman". The 2nd edition does not have an index, and the third edition is not sold by amazon.com.
• Nansook Hong: In the Shadow of the Moons : My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family

The sad book by the ex-wife of Moon's oldest son. It provides a look behind the scenes of the "true family", and shows that the Moon's are neither "true" nor "good parents". What made me very sad is that the Moon clan never showed any care or respect for Nansook, they did not consider her as a human being with an own will.
• Maria Del Carmen Tapia: Beyond the Threshold: A Life in Opus Dei

Opus Dei is the inhouse cult of the catholic church. It is an evil, highly secretive, political organization that has been involved with the Pinochet regime. It is mostly present in spanish language countries, but there are members in other countries too, that promote arch-conservative ideas.
• Deborah Layton: Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple

The author left Jonestown before the mass deaths and was instrumental in getting Rep. Leo Ryan to investigate Jonestown with her affidavit about The threat and possibility of mass suicide by members of the people's temple. Sadly, all she said became true.

Weird groups

• Christopher Hitchens: The missionary position

exposes Mother Teresa's dilletantism ("you are suffering so much - this is wonderful, like Jesus") and her shady money sources (Charles Keating!), and her philosophy "lecture the poor and be friendly to the rich".
• Marvin J. Wolf: The Japanese Conspiracy: The Plot to Dominate Industry Worldwide

Although this book is now decades old and out of print, I think it shows wonderfully which dirty tricks the japanese industry used.

Magic exposure

• William Poundstone: Big Secrets: The Uncensored Truth About All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know

This author exposes not only magic secrets, but also other things that are not well-known.
Exposes Uri Geller and how-to-saw-a-lady-in-half.
• William Poundstone: Bigger Secrets: More Than 125 Things They Prayed You'd Never Find Out

Exposes Anthony Robbins, levitating lady, newspaper precognition, zig-zag-girl, DC's vanishing of the statue of liberty, 3 card monte scam, Scientology "Xenu" scam.
• William Poundstone: Biggest Secrets: More Uncensored Truth About All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know

Exposes Houdini's escapes, vanishing elefant, metamorphosis
• James Randi: Flim-Flam! Psychics, Esp, Unicorns, and Other Delusions (also in audio)

Exposes all sort of super-natural frauds, including but not limited to Uri Geller. Excellent book to begin with, also very useful for high school, to teach students skepticism.

• Abracadabra! Secret Methods Magicians & Others Use to Deceive Their Audience by Nathaniel Schiffman and Henry Gordon
• The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot: this is the first book on magic ever written!

Recreational philosophy

• Richard Bach: Jonathan Livingston Seagull (also Hardcover or Audio)

A philosophical fairy tale about breaking your own limits
• Richard Bach: Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (also as Hardcover or Audio)

Same as above but more for adults.

Humor

• Woody Allen: Without Feathers

This book is as good as his old movies (the ones that were funny). My favourite is an essay "If the impressionists had been dentists", a parody on the life of Vincent Van Gogh.
• Roald Dahl: Switch Bitch

Four erotic stories with a surprise ending.
• Ed Regis: Great Mambo Chicken and the Transhuman Condition: Science Slightly over the Edge

A fun look at rocket scientists, cryonics, nanotechnology, large explosions, moonlightning coroners and Keith Henson.

Computer Science

• Jacques Vallee: The Network Revolution: Confessions of a Computer Scientist

A fun book from 1982 with stories from the past in computer science (but I wouldn't call it an "history book"). My favourite parts are about an evil computer consultant trying to pressure a young developer, and about a company whose employees are told to get into EST.

Scary stuff

• Stephen King: Needful things (also Audio)

A guy comes into a town and sells "needful things" to people in exchange for a prank against another person. Soon, the people in town begin to kill each other as revenge. Much better than the HBO movie.
• Philip K. Dick: Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

Harmless guy suddenly finds himself in a fascist state.
• Lara Cardella: Good Girls Don't Wear Trousers

The sad life of a girl in the conservative island of Sicily, Italy. The author got in big trouble for writing this book and her family had to relocate.
• George Orwell: 1984 (also in Hardcover and Audio)

In this book from 1948, the author describes a totalitarian state where total obediance is required and no privacy exists - televisions are monitoring every move. History is constantly rewritten, sex is forbidden, free speech is non-existant. Except for the technology, the world described is similar to scientology. This book is strongly recommended by Robert Vaughn Young, former scientology media twister.
• Stanley Milgram: Obedience to Authority

A scary experiment that showed how far people will go when they are "just following orders".
• Miep Gies: Anne Frank remembered

This is the story by one of the secretaries of Otto Frank. It is a very moving account of her life with the Frank family, and her time before and after, and not just a "companion book" to the Anne Frank diary.

Science-Fiction

• Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (aka Blade Runner)

Like the movie, but much more, e.g. a new religion and a second (parallel) police department.
• Philip K. Dick: UBIK

The story of "Joe Chip", a guy who suffers from a pathological lack of money in a money-hungry world investigates the death of his boss while time and reality crumble. Will the mysterious product UBIK help him?
• Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (also in Hardcover and Audio)

In a future world, everyone is happy and you get enough food, drugs, entertainment and free sex. But what happens when an outside is introduced in this world? I loved that book, and it didn't scare me at all (although I don't take drugs).
Many years later, Huxley wrote Brave New World Revisited, in which he compares today's life with the predictions of his book.

For children and adults

• Daisy Spedden: Titanic the polar bear

The story of a little Steiff bear who was on board of the Titanic. The story is told by the bear to his owner, a little boy. Wonderful book with illustrations and fotos.
• Paul Zindel: The pigman

Two bored high school students befriend the scurrilous Mr. Pignati.
• Akif Pirincci: Felidae

A novel written from the point of view of a cat who investigates various cat murders. Hilarious because of the way the owner of the cat is named: "can-opener".

Books that are useful

• Paulette Cooper: 277 secrets your dog wants you to know and 277 secrets your cat wants you to know

Yes, this is the same Paulette Cooper who wrote The scandal of Scientology. But cats and dogs don't sue.
• Timothy Garton Ash: The File: A Personal History

It is about a British historian who had the experience of reading his STASI file after the wall came down. He then interviewed the people who had spied on him. Scientologists might feel familiar with this.

Management books

• C. Northcote Parkinson: Parkinson's Law

Parkinson was an english bureaucrat who sat on a lot of committees and made a lot of funny observations. His most famous findings was that work takes exactly the time that was scheduled for it.
• Laurence J. Peter: The Peter Principle

In an hierarchy, everyone rises to the level of his own incompetence.

Cool stuff

• Patrick Süskind: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

In 18th century France, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with no scent of his own, but with with a supernatural ability to detect the scent of others, is driven to murder in order to create the perfect perfume. [from amazon.com review] What fascinated me that this is the first book ever where I have read the "description" segments, which I normally skip. I was hooked after the second page.

Cool CDs

• Pavarotti Greatest Hits

Has many famous opera songs that you've heard "somewhere", even if you're not an opera fan. Luciano Pavarotti is my favourite of the "three tenors" because his singing brings me a feeling that he really puts his heart and soul into it.
• Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya

Forget the fan sites who claim that this is some sort of "ethnic minority music". It is just good music for romance and relaxation. I had good results after being coerced to install Office 97 on my PC. The CD has five really good songs - exactly those presented by amazon.com in RealAudio.
• Leonard Bernstein conducts "West Side Story", with Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras

So you like West Side Story. Here's the opportunity to get it directed from the Maestro himself, with high-quality professional singers.
• Supertramp live in Paris
• A night at the Ballet: French Ballets

This unexpensive CD contains segments of Giselle, Coppelia, Sylvia and Faust. Sylvia has a "funny" music that is often used in cartoons; the other have a few good moments where you can actually imagine the girls dancing.
• Peter Tchaikowsky: The Sleeping Beauty / Swan Lake / The Nutcracker

Don't bother wasting your precious time with attending a complete ballet to hear the music. Buy this CD instead, which contains all the good parts.
• The Best Of John Williams and the Boston Pops

Has the music from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ET "flying", etc.
• The Simpsons: Songs In The Key of Springfield

A "must" for all Simpsons fans. This is a bit like a "musical" CD, it has the original songs of the show.

Videos (NTSC only!)

• The Great Dictator, by Charlie Chaplin

An hilarious parody of Adolph Hitler and other small dictators

Books not on this list

 

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