But let's keep religion and politics out, please.
For me, as far as books that really had an impact on me.
1. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
2. The Ugly American bu Eugene Burdick.
Indeed, I would say the Ugly American, which I read when I was a kid, was pivotal in first shaping my belief that "my team" is not always "right"
and that ideology often causes myopia.
Posted on 4/14 11:47 AM | IP: Logged
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no religion or politics, huh? It dawns on me that I'm a bit two-dimensional.
I have enjoyed Robert Ludlum books over the years for pure entertainment. I guess they don't qualify as something everyone should read though.
Posted on 4/14 1:10 PM | IP: Logged
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The first three Bourne books were by Ludlum, right? Really enjoyable.
Key books I'd recommend everyone read:
1) A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
2) To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
3) The Winner's Guide to Fantasy Baseball - Chris Lee
As for pure enjoyment, but with a bit of a fantasy or dystopian edge (so not for everyone):
1) A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) - George RR Martin
2) The Road - Cormac McCarthy
3) The Passage - Justin Cronin
Posted on 4/14 2:45 PM | IP: Logged
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Originally posted by NewYorkDore:
The first three Bourne books were by Ludlum, right? Really enjoyable.
Key books I'd recommend everyone read:
1) A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
2) To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
3) The Winner's Guide to Fantasy Baseball - Chris Lee
As for pure enjoyment, but with a bit of a fantasy or dystopian edge (so not for everyone):
1) A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) - George RR Martin
2) The Road - Cormac McCarthy
3) The Passage - Justin Cronin
I've read every book on that list but one, sadly that one being Chris Lee's.
Posted on 4/14 3:00 PM | IP: Logged
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Originally posted by SpiveyDore:
But let's keep religion and politics out, please.
For me, as far as books that really had an impact on me.
1. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
2. The Ugly American bu Eugene Burdick.
Indeed, I would say the Ugly American, which I read when I was a kid, was pivotal in first shaping my belief that "my team" is not always "right"
and that ideology often causes myopia.
No religion or politics and you name The Ugly American and The Fountainhead! ROTFLMAO
Could you amend your post to "Let's keep overtly religious and political books out, please." Let me think about this and I'll come up with some subtly but not overtly religious and political books I think everyone should read.
Posted on 4/14 4:21 PM | IP: Logged
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You can find political and or theological messages in just about anything you choose to interpret so, except for Chris lee's book.
So I should have said "no singularly political or religious books". If you reread both The Fountainhead and Ugly American you might just find there are life lessons in there that go for beyond political interpretations.
Posted on 4/14 4:44 PM | IP: Logged
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Originally posted by NewYorkDore:
The first three Bourne books were by Ludlum, right? Really enjoyable.
Yes. He wrote quite a few more too and I never read a bad one.
Posted on 4/14 5:05 PM | IP: Logged
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A River Runs Through It by Norman F. Maclean
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The Name of The Rose by Umberto Eco
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Children of Men by P.D. James
Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger
Any Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child
And just for Spivey:
Paul Krugman on Ayn Rand: “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.”
I kid because I love. Absolutely despise Rand so this is really directed at her. She's a good reason to hope NYD is right about it all.
Posted on 4/14 6:23 PM | IP: Logged
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My suggestion:
The Prince by Machiavelli
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Great thread! Keep the suggestions coming. I'm about to finish "Unbroken" (tonight) and I will begin the PGA golfer, Boo Weekley's book. It should be pretty humorous, nothing serious. I will need something after that.
Posted on 4/15 12:50 AM | IP: Logged
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I really enjoyed A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. And of course all the Harry Potter books :)
Posted on 4/15 9:24 PM | IP: Logged
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Originally posted by phillips8110:
I really enjoyed A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. And of course all the Harry Potter books :)
Just as an aside the chaplain in A Prayer for Owen Meany is based on one of my favorite authors/preachers Frederick Buechner. I thought about suggesting a book by him that's fairly obscure now Godric but it touches the line of being overtly religious. At the same time it demonstrates Buechner's literary talent and his ability to touch on spiritual themes that are accessible to believer and non-believer alike. And I loved Owen Meany in its own right. My daughters liked Harry Potter. ;-)
Posted on 4/16 8:20 AM | IP: Logged
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"How the Irish Saved Civilization" by Thomas Cahill. (I actually like virtually every book in his "hinges of history" series.
"The New Cold War : Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West" by Edward Lucas
"The Looming Tower : Al Qaeda and the Road to Nine Eleven " .
"The Tipping Point" and "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell.
Posted on 4/16 11:35 PM | IP: Logged
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Free to Choose by Milton Friedman (the economics category).
Anything by Lewis Grizzard.This post was edited on 4/18 8:00 PM by Doreking
Posted on 4/18 7:57 PM | IP: Logged
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Thinking, Fast and Slow -- Daniel Kahneman
One of the smartest books ever written for laypeople, and will change the way you think on a daily basis.
Posted on 4/20 12:27 PM | IP: Logged
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Phil Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros -- because much of the advice in it is terrible, and i would like you to try out what you've read in your local cardroom, preferably one close to me.
Posted on 4/21 3:09 PM | IP: Logged
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I don't think "everyone" should read these, but people who are into reading good books on interesting topics should for sure:
Fiction
- Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky
- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (and really anything he has written, he is far and away my favorite author and Blood Meridian is far and away my favorite book)
- Sheepshagger by Niall Griffiths (guy is the closest thing I have found to McCarthy)
Non-fiction
- The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard Evans (and The Third Reich in Power and The Third Reich at War by Evans as well)
- The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris (and Theodore Rex and Colonel Roosevelt by Morris as well)
- Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides (MUS grad)
- American Lion by Jon Meachem (McCallie grad)
This post was edited on 4/23 9:59 PM by ATL14straight
Posted on 4/23 9:56 PM | IP: Logged
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Atlas Shrugged has my vote as best book written in English language. On lighter note, would recommend 3 books in Grail Quest series by Bernard Cornwell --begins with The Archer's Tale
Posted on 4/24 9:35 AM | IP: Logged
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I've never read Atlas Shrugged, but after this thread I may have to pick it up. What intrigues me is that I've always been told that Rand's writing was actually not very good (apart from the story and ideology). The praise here has me reconsidering that.
Posted on 4/24 10:53 AM | IP: Logged
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I think it's a must read and I even have a John Galt shirt. That said, the writing does drag on a bit in places. If you come to a romantic/love scene, you might want to go ahead and flip forward about six or seven pages and see if you're near the end.
Posted on 4/24 4:05 PM | IP: Logged
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DON'T read "The Wolf on Wall Street."
Posted on 4/24 4:57 PM | IP: Logged
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The Stand by Stephen King has not been mentioned yet and it shouldPosted from Rivals Mobile
Posted on 4/24 9:23 PM | IP: Logged
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Atlas Shrugged is a must read. Relevant today more than ever. Take your time to enjoy and process. I'm not sure a person can be truly educated if he has not examined the question, "Who is John Galt."
Posted on 4/24 9:24 PM | IP: Logged
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And vadore is absolutely right -- read Lee Childs and meet Jack Reacher
Posted on 4/24 9:28 PM | IP: Logged
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Atlas Shrugged is the most overrated book I've ever encountered. If you must dive into Rand, at least do so with the far-more-bearable The Fountainhead.
Posted on 4/24 9:32 PM | IP: Logged
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I disagree -- not even a close call for me, but I have run into others who prefer Fountainhead-- they happened to read ir first (I read Atlas Shrugged first).
All of this suggests that it is the ideology rather than the story that is so powerful and unconventional.
Posted on 4/24 9:47 PM | IP: Logged
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Originally posted by vandystu:
Atlas Shrugged is the most overrated book I've ever encountered. If you must dive into Rand, at least do so with the far-more-bearable The Fountainhead.
Plus sixteen-trillion. I've said the same words but with more pronouncement between the two. Absolutely love Fountainhead. Atlas rambled on way too much and was ultimately unreadable for me.
Posted on 4/25 4:59 PM | IP: Logged
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"Devil in the White City" - Eric Larson
"Into Thin Air" - Jon Krakauer
Both read like suspense fiction but are based on true events. And both enlighten the reader about a certain field: "Devil in a White City" - about city development/world's fair planning in the late 1800's; and "Into Thin Air" - about the ins and outs (or ups and downs) of extreme mountain climbing. I loved those two books. Both are page turners with life or death suspense, and both take you to a unique time, place, and situation.
Posted on 4/27 12:58 PM | IP: Logged
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"I've never read Atlas Shrugged, but after this thread I may have to pick it up. What intrigues me is that I've always been told that Rand's writing was actually not very good (apart from the story and ideology). The praise here has me reconsidering that."
It is hard to find people who have an opinion of Rand's writing which is the opposite of their view on her philosophy. Both people I've met who fit in the category consider Rand's writing to be poor, despite having libertarian or objectivist leanings. I've never met a liberal or progressive who thought Rand's writing was very good.
Posted on 5/1 8:16 AM | IP: Logged
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Originally posted by Jake.Lowery:
I've never met a liberal or progressive who thought Rand's writing was very good.
I'm liberal about many things (conservative about some others) and I thought she was phenomenal in The Fountainhead.
Posted on 5/1 8:38 AM | IP: Logged
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"I'm liberal about many things (conservative about some others) and I thought she was phenomenal in The Fountainhead."
OK, you might have me on the semantics of "liberal", because most libertarians/objectivists consider themselves socially liberal / fiscally conservative, etc. So let me rephrase:
I've never met anybody with a political philsophy generally opposed to objectivism/libertarianism who thought Rand's writing was very good. Everybody I've met who thought that Rand's writing was very good also favors limited government, as a whole, to a greater degree than the official platform of either major party.
I do not know much about your views, so prehaps you are the first exception I've encountered.
5/2 8:43 AM | IP: Logged |
I've been considering reading a Rand novel this year. Looks like I'll pick between the two mentioned at random. I also might try to fit in "Blood Meridian" as well something this year. If you're looking for a light read and really enjoy music, give Klosterman's "Killing Yourself To Live" a try.
5/2 1:24 PM | IP: Logged |
Originally posted by ATL14straight:
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (and really anything he has written, he is far and away my favorite author and Blood Meridian is far and away my favorite book)
ATL, I'm sure you know that Suttree is considered his opus. Personally, I am all about Child of God. Must have read that book six times and may read it again this year if I can ever put down the George R.R. Martin books.
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By the time I finished Suttree for the first time, I nearly had tears in my eyes. It's such an awesome book and Cornelius Suttree is such an amazing character. I'd take a bullet for the POTUS, Coach Franklin, and Ole Sut.
Child of God, Outer Dark, and The Orchard Keeper are some awesome books for people looking for relatively quick reads
5/5 9:44 AM | IP: Logged |
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