For an explanation of what I'm doing, go here.

Black Gun strikes me as a fascinating book.

The others... I'm gonna mostly refrain from comment, but I will point out that I've never seen an entire paragraph by Dinesh D'Souza that didn't make me want to weep for humanity. Seriously, I put Chainsaw over him.

Assuming you want to avoid Chainsaw, I'd say go with the Brick Bible.

Yes, well, you've known for a while that we live in completely different neighborhoods where philosophy is concerned.

True. That said, most of the other books on the list looked like serious efforts at philosophy, and I might even be interested in flipping through them myself. D'Souza, OTOH, only pauses his smugness long enough to be insulting and dishonest. I critique not his position, here, but rather his intellectual integrity.

Skip Dinesh D'Souza; I've seen several of his debates and when he wasn't embarrassing himself, he was being used to wipe the floor by his opposing debater.

He's not an asshole and he's very enthusiastic, and that's about it.

I didn't really feel enthusiasm for the list. One of my favorite non-fiction books is 1776, which chronicles the first year of our nation from the perspective of John Adams. Lots of original letters are included in the text. Or read John Adams, also by McCullough.

For philosophy, try the Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama.

Yeah, it's very much my list, to be sure.

Yeah, personal taste is kinda self-reinforcing. Right now I'm reading the 656 page biography of Steve Jobs. Next to Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, he's one of my biggest heroes. In between, I read short chapters from a book of Mother Theresa's anecdotes and speeches.

Because I like irony that much.

Nah, none of the above.

Black gun seems like it could be really fun, provided the author is any good. That said, if you get into COS territory on your blog I would really like to hear your thoughts on the theory of inclusivism or whatever it was called. If not, stick with Black Gun or Primal Blueprint.