What non-religious book would you place in hotels ?

[Gymnopithys]

What non-religious book of international scope would you place in hotels ?

I was surprised when I first saw bibles in hotels. I think of them as propaganda for a religion.

Personally I believe that many more people would rather read a few pages of The adventures of Tintin or some short stories.

[markdash]

The Moral Animal, by Robert Wright.

[Der Trihs]

Something from the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series? People don't go to hotels to be preached at, but they do go to the bathroom. And if they like whatever book you put there they'll probably take it away with them so why not pick a book people won't want to share with strangers anyway?

[Freudian Slit]

Samuel Delany's Hogg.

[Knorf]

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

[Shirley Ujest]

Penthouse.

[Harmonious Discord]

Yellow Pages

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

Something from the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series? People don't go to hotels to be preached at, but they do go to the bathroom. And if they like whatever book you put there they'll probably take it away with them so why not pick a book people won't want to share with strangers anyway?

Hey, I share my Bathroom Readers. (Admittedly not with strangers, but no stranger's ever asked).

Other than that, I totally agree.

[ralph124c]

I'd put a book there that would help people fall asleep..something like G.W.F. Hegel's "Phenomenology of Mind".
30 seconds of that and you are under.

[ShibbOleth]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might be useful.

[phouka]

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Boecker.

[Thudlow Boink]

Something from the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series?I actually like this idea.

But you all are missing the most obvious answer (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0345333152?tag=thestrdop-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0345333152&adid=1YER05BWF68WNZ3J6G5A&).

[automagic]

Origin of Species

[Nancarrow]

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

+1.

[mac_bolan00]

the life and times of the incumbent president. either that or george washinton's.

[Nava]

One of the Mafalda collections... chained to the table so people don't take it home. If they want a copy, we'll be happy to sell them one!

For people who don't speakee Spanish we'll offer Asterix - they can choose between their language's version of Asterix a l'Hispanie or, if available, the one where Asterix visits their own country :)



Mafalda: a newspaper strip series from Argentina which was published for 10 years, rescued a couple of times for special events such as a book for UNICEF, and which is very popular among Hispanics and therefore often used as conversational shorthand. I like Quino's other work, but Mafalda is... special. "The finger is his"; "sexy truck"; "got no time, BOOM!"; "the mother of the farmer!"; "he's the kind of dude who falls down and does like Guille" are meaningless to people who haven't read that jewel of literature, but speak volumes to those who have.

[CalMeacham]

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics



Dave Barry's Guide to Guys




Red Cross First Aid and Emergency Preparedness Guide

http://www.redcrossstore.org/Shopper/Product.aspx?UniqueItemId=12

[Thudlow Boink]

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and PhysicsDoes a hotel really want to encourage people to be doing chemistry or physics in their rooms?

[CalMeacham]

Does a hotel really want to encourage people to be doing chemistry or physics in their rooms?




The CRC "Bible" doesn't actually do that. It just tells you the Facts of LIfe -- melting points, boiling points, ionization potentials, X-ray lines. You know, the important stuff.

[Elmer J. Fudd]

I was surprised when I first saw bibles in hotels. I think of them as propaganda for a religion.



I think propaganda (or at least marketing) is kind of a criteria for distributing free books to almost every hotel and motel in the country. If the hotels had to pay for them (rather than a group like the with an agenda like the Gideons) I don't think very many rooms would be provided with any kind of reading material.

So if we assume that whatever reading material is going to have to be provided to the hotels for free, I propose that comic book companies include hotels and motels when they ship out their comics for "Free Comic Book Day."

[Sampiro]

Samuel Delany's Hogg.

This made me instinctively look for the "Like" click.:D

I second 'Bathroom Reader' but you'd have to replace them at least 5 times per month because guests would take them. (Cite: I probably would.) This would be a problem in fact with most books that are interesting to a broad audience, especially if it wasn't nutshell sized.

I have worked at hotels that had lending libraries. The books were usually good quality and either donated by employees and patrons or left in rooms and screened to make sure there were no coverless "Chinchilla Diseases and How to Treat Them: 1968 Edition" type stuff and ideally light quick reads (e.g. Grisham, Danielle Steele). It was used fairly often, and if the books weren't returned no biggie.

[robert_columbia]

Perhaps something relevant to the local area or state?

So in Mississippi the hotels could have The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Virginia hotels could have The Red Badge of Courage or another Civil War book, and Illinois could have some of the writings of Abraham Lincoln or something.

[Thudlow Boink]

The CRC "Bible" doesn't actually do that. It just tells you the Facts of LIfe -- melting points, boiling points, ionization potentials, X-ray lines. You know, the important stuff.But I meant, isn't that the kind of info you'd want to have on hand while you were actually doing chem/physics?

[kenobi 65]

I think propaganda (or at least marketing) is kind of a criteria for distributing free books to almost every hotel and motel in the country. If the hotels had to pay for them (rather than a group like the with an agenda like the Gideons) I don't think very many rooms would be provided with any kind of reading material.

Exactly so. The Gideons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideons) are the ones who place Bibles in hotel rooms; their intent is to have it there for someone who might find themselves curious, or in a moment of crisis. It's fundamentally a passive form of evangelism.

[Spoons]

I have worked at hotels that had lending libraries. The books were usually good quality and either donated by employees and patrons or left in rooms and screened to make sure there were no coverless "Chinchilla Diseases and How to Treat Them: 1968 Edition" type stuff and ideally light quick reads (e.g. Grisham, Danielle Steele). It was used fairly often, and if the books weren't returned no biggie.I stayed in such a place once. The "library" was a few shelves in the bar/lounge, and a sign said to help yourself. Many of the books were indeed light: popular novels and whatnot; but there were a few non-fiction as well (sports, history, nature, etc.). I thought it was a great idea!

[tdn]

Everybody Poops

[MsRobyn]

One of the major chains (IIRC, Hilton) used to put a book of contemporary writing in its rooms. This was back in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My parents stole the copy from their room; the book floated around the house for a while. This was also back when hotels used to give you free stationery and postcards.

[CalMeacham]

But I meant, isn't that the kind of info you'd want to have on hand while you were actually doing chem/physics?

I'll bet you're the kind of person who never reads the Encyclopedia. Or the dictionary.



Hey -- that's another book to put there -- The Dictionary.

[romansperson]

An almanac would be great. I love miscellaneous facts. :)

[Docta G]

Twilight of the Idols—Friedrich Nietzsche

[Sampiro]

One of the major chains (IIRC, Hilton) used to put a book of contemporary writing in its rooms. This was back in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My parents stole the copy from their room; the book floated around the house for a while. This was also back when hotels used to give you free stationery and postcards.

Conrad Hilton was a famous egomaniac and had copies of his autobiography, (http://www.amazon.com/Be-My-Guest-Conrad-Hilton/dp/0130715980) which he had no problem identifying as one of the greatest stories ever told, in all of the rooms. They stopped soon after he died.

[Knorf]

À la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust.

[Panurge]

Gargantua & Pantagruel by Rabelais. If something smaller is needed, perhaps Candide by Voltaire.

[Lsura]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy might be useful.

I came into this thread to say this. :)

[kopek]

Starship Troopers

[Elendil's Heir]

One of Cecil's weighty tomes, the latest World Almanac, or Tolkien's The Hobbit (which would be an appealing tale for most travelers, I should think).

[SSG Schwartz]

I suppose The Shining would be in poor taste?

SFC Schwartz

[Lynn Bodoni]

I'll bet you're the kind of person who never reads the Encyclopedia. Or the dictionary.

Hey -- that's another book to put there -- The Dictionary. Heh. When I was in fifth grade, I loved to go to the classroom dictionary and look up words. In fact, my teacher eventually told me to ask before I did so, and she'd look up the word and tell me the definition. Part of the fun was opening the dictionary at random places and reading a random entry.

Now, of course, I have Wikipedia.

[grama]

Why does it have to be a book there in the first place...?

[silenus]

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.

[Lynn Bodoni]

Why does it have to be a book there in the first place...? Well, most readers will have at least a couple of books with them, but a book is a necessity of life, for me.

[Chimera]

Grimm's Fairy Tales

And acid laced pages.

Nighty night!

[Namkcalb]

Starship Troopers

Well, it's an excellent book, but it's still a polemic for Heinlein's political views wrapped up in the oh-so-approachable military SF genre.

Basically, it's like a saner, more readable(but still quite unapproachable) peer to Atlas Shrugs.

[panache45]

The Kama Sutra.

[cmyk]

The Demon-Haunted World, for sure. Runner's up:

Cosmos (http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Carl-Sagan/dp/B000055ZOB) and A Brief History of Time. (http://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Time-Stephen-Hawking/dp/0553380168/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319440844&sr=1-1)

Failing that,You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News. (http://www.amazon.com/You-Might-Zombie-Other-News/dp/0452296390/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319441041&sr=1-1)

[mnemosyne]

Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Short read, good for all ages and a wonderful story, too.

Bonus: it's available in 230 languages and dialects, so it's useful for worldwide hotel chains!

[installLSC]

For serious reading: books about the American Revolution or the Civil War (Sanburg's biography of Lincoln would be a good choice).
For light reading: The Billboard Book of No. 1 Hits. Each of 800-or-so chart toppers gets its own page of trivia and song history. A fun browsing book right before falling asleep.

[Valgard]

The Kama Sutra.

I came in to suggest this. The naughty chapters, at least.

[It's Not Rocket Surgery!]

The Anarchist's Cookbook.

[code_grey]

Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Fascism)

[bartleby]

The Old Farmer's Almanac

[RadicalPi]

Something from the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series? People don't go to hotels to be preached at, but they do go to the bathroom. And if they like whatever book you put there they'll probably take it away with them so why not pick a book people won't want to share with strangers anyway?

I concur here. I don't think any heavy reading is a good idea at all. I couldn't tell you how many times I've bored in a hotel room, and opened up the Gideon Bible, and read, "In the beginning God created the heaven andthe earhafjkalasdkfjaksdjafksdkf," and put it back.


I think the local history idea is good too. I have read the emergency situation facts section of the local yellow pages on occasion. It's interesting how they vary from place to place. (California's yellow pages will say stuff about what to do in earthquakes, Florida's about hurricanes, Minnesota's about snow and cold, etc.) And there's maps. I like maps. All this stuff helps me realize that I'm not in a nowhere place but an actual somewhere.

[Guinastasia]

Does The Necronomicon count as religious?

[ultrafilter]

Abramowitz & Stegun (http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Mathematical-Functions-Formulas-Graphs/dp/0486612724/)

[Nava]

Short stories, different ones in different rooms. Reading Cervantes' Exemplary Tales is less involved than reading his Quijote; being faced with 10-20 page stories is attractive, whereas two volumes 400-500 pages each is kind of scary and certainly not one night's work. I'd also try to have books available in several languages.

One of my favorite hotels, which is family-owned, takes any books guests leave behind to the breakfast-room/TV-room. You can take any you want, leave any you're done with, and there's a wide selection of languages and subjects.

[jem~]

Living in a state that has several cities with epidemic levels of bed bug infestations has made me very paranoid about staying in hotels. :eek: Therefore:

The Bed Bug Book: The Complete Guide to Prevention and Extermination
by Ralph H. Maestre

[lieu]

The Farmer's Almanac

Whole Earth Catalog

[deadindays]

Hesse's Siddhartha

[Romeo and Whatsherface]

One of Cecil's weighty tomes, the latest World Almanac, or Tolkien's The Hobbit (which would be an appealing tale for most travelers, I should think).

I can't believe it took until post #36 for someone to suggest the Straight Dope books. I ask you, how can we continue to fight ignorance if we don't get the Dope to the masses? And after we get an SD into every hotel room, we can start sending out missionaries in white shirts and clip-on ties to knock on doors. :)

[EvilTOJ]

Does a hotel really want to encourage people to be doing chemistry or physics in their rooms?

People already do chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy and French class in motel rooms :D

[SmellMyWort]

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook or the Things You Never Knew Existed catalog.

[Tapiotar]

Our Bodies, Our Selves
Books of condoms (they do come in books, don't they, like stamps?)

[Clothahump]

A Brief History of Time.
(http://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Time-ebook/dp/B004WY3D0O/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1319598907&sr=8-1)

[Guinastasia]

Can I choose a different version of the Bible (http://www.amazon.com/LOLcat-Bible-beginnin-Ceiling-stuffs/dp/1569757348/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319603155&sr=8-1)?

:D

[Sampiro]

Go The Fuck to Sleep (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/81588689/)

[Grestarian]

People already do chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy and French class in motel rooms :D

...which is precisely why responses #44 and #48 are so appropriate.
Spice-up the spicing-up....

Or, for those with less exotic appetites, the Westernized Joy Of ____ Sex variants.

--G!

[Really Not All That Bright]

Penthouse. Just to balance out the Bibles.

[Erdosain]

Living in a state that has several cities with epidemic levels of bed bug infestations has made me very paranoid about staying in hotels. :eek: Therefore:

The Bed Bug Book: The Complete Guide to Prevention and Extermination
by Ralph H. Maestre

Now that's a book you really don't want to buy used. I used to think books of erotica or Bathroom Readers were the worst possible books to accidentally pick up at used book sale, but that's got them beat.