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They are selections for everyone, including 'beginners' which I assume is the reason he selected them. They would have very little quoting other sources with little explanations why.

Not a bad selection imo, though I would have thrown in the Torah/Koran as well as the bible to inform you of all the major religions and differences. And maybe remove Art of War for a maths primer like Euclid's Elements or somthing.

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Sorry, but "Origin of Species" is not a good beginner's book on evolution theory. There are much better modern books on the subject, for example Neil Shubin's or Jerry Coyne's books.

Just a note: the Torah is a subset of the Tanakh, which is itself a subset of the Bible. (Christians refer to the Torah as the Pentateuch and the Tanakh as the Old Testament.)

Sure, although if you want to read the Torah / Tanakh as Jews understand it, I wouldn't just pick up a Bible. Assuming you don't read Hebrew, I'd get the New Jewish Publication Society translation.

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