What are some must read books?
I’m looking for some good books to read and want to know what you all consider to be some must read books. I love classic books, but I’m also open to some new ones. I’m looking for something that will make me think or perhaps that I can learn something from.
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Well, I don’t know how educational this is, but I’m really enjoying a new modern urban fantasy book series by Eric Nylund. The first book is Mortal Coils, and the second is All That Lives Must Die. It will be 4 or 5 books total when he’s done.
If you like romantic, love sexual books like me then I would deffinetley recommend Forever by Judy Blume:D
To kill a mockingbird
Night
The Stranger
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.
There are tons of classics that people will encourage you to read, but I suggest you look for newer books. Books that I think get way too little attention are ones that talk about sociological ideas. I go to a huge bookstore and their sociology section may be the smallest in the entire store—strange because sociology is probably the single most important subject for people to be aware of . . . socially. and it’s mostly a bunch of whiny feminist books
Anyway, I’m reading a couple of really good books, one I would say is a must read: A People’s History of the World by Chris Harman. It’s obviously a long book, but it doesn’t seem to be too drawn-out thus far (I’m about an 8th into it.) Not exactly a sociology book, but I’m reading to begin forming a basis for viewing more specific sociological ideas. It’s all about viewing history focused on the people, not on generals and kings.
The other book I’m reading and enjoying is Beyond Civilization by Daniel Quinn. It’s a much shorter read. I wouldn’t say it’s a “must read” because it’s biased and written in a way that isn’t for everyone, but if you consider yourself an optimistic cynic, you’d probably like this book. Oh, it might also save the world, I guess.
I also read a bit of The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo. And it’s meh. It’s good, but meh. I don’t get riled up over crime mysteries, I guess. Actually, I haven’t been able to find a fiction book that I really liked since I was a kid. kind of sad. . .
The Last Minute by Justin Time. I’m sorry, I really should find that book on maturity in adults…..now which way’s the library?
Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children
Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe (recommended to me by a fellow flutherite) Great!
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
Wild Swans, Jung Chang
The Education of Little Tree
The Bean Trees
Poisonwood Bible
To Kill a Mockingbird
Gone with the Wind
Anything by Jane Austen (of course!)
Jane Eyre
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played with Fire
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
the Artemis Fowl series (so they’re kids books….they’re still funny!)
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Passage
the Sigma Force series by James Rollins, because they’re a lot of fun
The Stand
The Eye of the Dragon
I might think of more later, but I have to put the kids to bed!
Anything by Rumer Godden, my favorite is In This House of Brede
Anything by Nevil Shute
@MissAusten Oooh, I’m with you on many of your choices. Reading “The Poisonwood Bible” was like eating a piece of decadent chocolate cake.
@JilltheTooth My problem is that I read so many books so quickly that I often have a hard time remembering titles!
Some others:
Cutting for Stone
The Kite Runner
Skeletons at the Feast
Midwives
Lolita
Cyrano de Bergerac
Les Miserables
Salem’s Lot (actually, I love a lot of Stephen King’s older books!)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Time Traveler’s Wife
So many books, so little time! Right now I’m reading The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva. It’s the first in a series of books featuring the same character. I just started it, so the jury is out, but if I like it I’ll have to read the others. There isn’t a certain type of book I like best, and I’ll read just about anything that’s (by my standards) well written. Except romance novels.
Classic
Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1984 by George Orwell
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway
Modern
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea – Daniel C. Dennett
Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk
High Fidelity – Nick Hornby
American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Time’s Arrow, or The Nature of the Offence by Martin Amis
Persepolis (graphic novel) Marjane Satrapi
Mary Roach’s stuff is all excellent.
@aprilsimnel ; I recently saw a stunning stage rendition of The Bluest Eye at Long Wharf in New Haven. Can’t wait to read it now.
Daniel Quinn “Ishmael” Thomas Mann “Death in Venice” and anything by Goethe.
Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy- Douglas Adams
The Outsider – Albert Camus
Indira: The life of Indira Nehru Gandhi – Katherine Frank
The Argumentative Indian – Amartya Sen
White Fang
the call of the wild
wolves of the beyond lone wolf
My favourite of all time is The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Intelligent Universe by Fred Hoyle and Voices In The Dark by Leslie Flint.
Salt: A World History – Mark Kurlansky
No relationship to the movie by the same name. It’s a fascinating look at the role and historical importance of this most vital condiment. No kidding, it’s a great read!
Awesome suggestions from everyone. Now I have to make a trip to the library.
Take a really BIG bag! :-)
White Fang is the best of the three i mentioned.
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