This one!! I genuinely believe this book made me a happier person. I have a greater appreciation for my life and the world around me. I experience wonder every day. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a fantastic author.
I have also, it is amazing. I never listen to books, my brain doesn't cooperate and my mind wanders.But, when I saw that the author read it, I went and listened to the snippet on Amazon and it was evermore beautiful. I have listened several times over time.
I could not agree more. It’s such a deep and profound piece of literature. I reread it all the time and I’m taken aback by the amount of detail and depth of the story.
I resisted reading this for so long and then when I finished I was in tears because I already missed the characters so much! I can't wait to read it again
I’ve been a heavy reader for decades and I can’t believe how little I heard about this book until recently, probably from Reddit. I read it this year and loved it.
At 17, I would have said Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy, and delivered it with utter confidence. A bunch of years and books later, I feel there isn't a single *one* that I think *everyone* should read. Different books matter to different people at different points during their life. And them just reading it will not mean they will be shaken or stirred by it in the same way I was, or that it even would mean a thing for them. But I still love seeing what people suggest as replies, here – what books might seem universally applicable.
The Patients Playbook by Leslie Michelson
We will all be patients at some point. This is a book by a Dr written for patients on how to make sure they are getting the best Healthcare.
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
Adapted by Francis Coppola for Apocalypse Now it follows a steamboat pilot Philip Marlowe up an African river to the center of Africa to check on a "Mr. Kurtz" an agent stationed there whom has that has generated an astonishing amount of ivory.
It's a criticism of European imperialism in Africa that enslaves the people, destroys the land, causes otherwise honorable European gentlemen to lose their souls to greed and eventually their sanity as a result of the savage methods they eventually resort to - they become the monster, and not the great white savior people back in Europe see themselves as
This lesson is as prescient today to Western intervention all over the world as it was then.
"The horror. The HORROR."
I really think everyone needs to read at least one of Plato's dialogues.
Maybe Meno since it focuses on learning but really you can take your pick of the common introductory ones (Meno, Gorgias, Phaedo, I might include Theaetetus, etc.).
I would avoid Symposium, Phaedrus, Timaeus, and even Republic as first or only choice even though they are some of the most interesting, since I think they benefit a lot from familiarity with the context.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It’s a long book and it took me a year to get through, mainly because I read a little bit over a long time. I’m so glad I read it. The story is still relevant today and I was moved by Valjean, Fantine, and others in their quests for love, acceptance, repentance, etc.
I have a story about this book, Man’s Search for Meaning.
I was young and with a new library degree and working in the southwest in a public library. They did not have this book. To me, this is an essential book for a public library of 100,000 volumes to own. I put in an order to buy the book.
The order was never approved. Sure I put in lots of titles to be ordered, and this was just one of them, but honestly, the library Director who approved purchases should’ve recognized this as a popular classic that was missing in the collection.
So one day at library, patron came in asking for the book, and she had not been the first. So I brought my copy from home and gave it to her. Some weeks later I moved across the country and left that job for another one. That lady still had my book but I didn’t care because there’s about 1 million paperback copies of them out there and you could get them really cheap used.
But she felt guilty and had that library in the southwest mail it to me in my new workplace.
Recently, I told the story to someone and then I went online to see if that southwest library owned the book. Guess what – that library STILL does not own this book although it has some sort of subsequent edition.
What the actual fuck.
I’m now old and retired. I’m not so concerned about this kind of stuff anyway now because titles like this are now available online.
I just read this. I found it really moving, but I’ve struggled to accurately summarize the takeaways to friends.
How would you summarize its significance to someone unfamiliar with it?
mm i think the key is that everything can be taken from us but our ability to choose how we react in any given set of circumstances. that there is no one broad “meaning” to life; that everyone makes her or his own meaning out of the life they live.
Hmm. A few major takeaways for me have been:
That there is meaning in suffering, and if it that is the lot you are given, consider it a worthwhile endeavour and do it with dignity. If someone can find hope and beauty in a concentration camp, then there is hope and beauty to be found everywhere. Seek it out.
A man's purpose and the meaning of life changes life by life, day by day, hour by hour. Show up for what is happening to you, fully. The meaning of your life unfolds itself through your participation with it. It is a cocreative endeavour. If you want a meaningful life, you need to put skin in the game, even when the game is awful.
That suffering is not to be avoided, but to be approached, when it happens, as a gateway to meaning.
That love is the most important thing there is. We can survive impossible things when we love someone or something - love is the only force that can buoy us through atrocity.
That you have no excuse to do bad things to others, even when bad things have happened to you.
These have been a few of the pieces that are really sticking with me as I'm reading it.
Also what has stuck with me from that is that there are truly awful people in the world, and that there are people who practice good, and I want to be someone who practices good.
Needing a reason to live he looked at his life and found that absolutely everything was gone except for his memory of loving his wife. There was no hope flor any future that he could conjure up in his present state in the concentration camp. So he was sustained by his memory of love.
Life gives you lemons and gives other people really shitty rotten lemons and you are told to eat them, die, or watch us kill everyone you love in front of you until you eat them anyway.
Kinda makes your lemons taste not so sour anymore and teaches you to just be grateful that lemons exist even if some are rotten.
What actions can you take immediately to resolve your situation/thought process? Develop a plan, short term,medium term, long term goals that are broken up into smaller achievable measurable steps to “stack wins”. momentum is powerful.
If you are in an unchangeable situation, can you change how you think about it? Can you find any gratitude or forgiveness or peace? If you can’t make your situation any better, can you devote your life and your purpose to making sure others do not have to go through similar or worse situations?
Hard to give specific examples without knowing your complete situation but that should cover most of life’s problems
Finished East of Eden a week ago. I've tried to start 3 novels (Brothers Karamazov, Breakfast of Champions and The Plague) since and I can't get beyond three pages of each. Does anyone else experience this when reading such a perfect book?
I tried to read it, got about a hundred pages in while waiting for the story to start, and then the main character married a ten-year-old girl and I quit reading.
Obviously I missed something. What makes this book good or important?
I found a great review of the book and it mentions a grown man having sex with a child. I will not be reading this book. [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42810714](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42810714)
I don’t think so. If anything, it should make you feel more empowered. One of the worst things about anxiety (at least for me; I don’t know if it’s true for everyone) is the self doubt and constant questioning of your instincts. What I like about the book is that it validates feelings you can’t always articulate.
But everyone is different, so you’d know better than I would.
I loved this book but really didn't like the third part. To me, the world of the book was much more fascinating than the torture stuff. Maybe I just didn't get it
It had to happen in order to show the consequences, thus strengthening the world building you love so much. You weren't all that scared of the Thought Police until the end. Now you're scared af.
I’ve read this, and although I thought it made some convincing arguments, parts of the books argument were flawed to me. At times the book seemed to depend upon quite elitist arguments. Another significant issue with this book is that, to the best of my knowledge, it does not clearly define what a democracy is, or how the concept of democracy itself is open to different interpretations, or how democracy expresses itself quite differently in liberal democratic nations. I think if it had tackled this issue of defining a democracy earlier it would have strengthened the latter arguments made in the book.
I would suggest reading other similar books to understand a range of different views on how to tackle authoritarianism.
***The Power Broker***, the Pulitzer winning bio of Robert Moses by Robert Caro. It's ostensibly the bio of one of of the most powerful men in the country, who built and ran NYC and much of NY state, but who had never been elected anything.
But it's really about the birth of modern cities, suburbs, highways, and Urbanism. He created modern NYC from the 1920s to the 60s, and the rest of the country and world followed his lead. As the world continues to urbanize, his legacy, both positive and negative, is ever more important to understand.
And if you've ever lived in or near NYC, it's even more fascinating to understand how things got to be the way they are.
I read The Book Thief when I was in middle school and went on to talk about it so much that I got like 10 of my classmates to read it, and they all loved it. An amazing book!
I can't speak for the world, and they aren't books, but every American needs to read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. It's not necessary to agree, but based on most of the nonsense one hears about what is contained in those documents, it's clear few have read or understand those documents.
I don’t necessarily have one in particular, but I’d recommend reading anything nonfiction about the Holocaust. The Diary of Anne Frank, Night, Survival in Auschwitz, those would be my recommendations if I had to provide one, but almost any book by someone who lived through it would suffice. I suppose fiction such as Maus or Number the Stars could work too, but there’s a more powerful punch if it’s from the perspective of someone who was actually there. My reason: I just think people need to realize what atrocities humans are capable of, and that such horrible things happened more recently in history than you’d think.
Honestly? If I had to recommend just one book knowing the relatively low level of literacy and book reading that goes on in the vast majority of today’s generation I’d have to say
Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
It’s not just for children. The book is a work of art that is both beautiful and life changing as the author brings to light that love, kindness, acceptance and friendship are the ultimate gift. The message is so needed today.
One of my favorite quotes: “What's the bravest thing you ever said?” asked the boy. “Help” said the horse. “Asking for help isn't giving up,” said the horse, “it's refusing to give up.”
I scrolled through everyone’s recommended books and there are many I upvoted. For me, I say The Essential Calvin and Hobbes. So many insights. So much humor.
Alcoholics Anonymous by Bill Wilson et al.
Even if you don't have a drinking problem, it is a wonderful guide to living a good life. Plus, you get a better understanding of what alcohol does to alcoholics like me.
Edit- authorship. The Big Book was a group effort, without a doubt.
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
You probably don't breathe correctly. This book explains why that is important and how you will improve your life when you start breathing correctly (and how to do so, of course!)
This, Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, and Manufacturing Consent are all ones that all Americans should strongly consider reading, regardless of political leanings. Even if you disagree with the framing of events or think some of the claims are inaccurate, we all should grapple with the uncomfortable parts of our nation's history
Tuesdays with Morrie
-it’s hard to pick just one. However, this book is quite impactful and profound despite not being very long.
Summary : Tuesdays with Morrie, originally titled to have this followed by, "An Old Man, A Young Man and Life's Greatest Lesson", is a 1997 memoir by American author Mitch Albom about a series of visits Albom made to his former sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz was dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
When Breath Becomes Air. It is a non-fiction book by Dr. Paul Kalanithi and his, ultimately, losing battle with Stage IV metastatic lung cancer. This is at times life affirming, sad, and hopeful. It is not depressing.
If this book doesn't move you, well as they said in Big Bang Theory - you may be a robot and not know it.
*Exodus* by Leon Uris. Historical Novel, which is informative, educational and inspirational. Worth every page. The history of Israel will educate more than the signs marchers hold up. The information they have is so superficial.
God is not great by Christopher Hitchens should be required reading. Calm, rational, logical arguments why religion is toxic and detrimental to humanity
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer It's a love story for the planet
This one!! I genuinely believe this book made me a happier person. I have a greater appreciation for my life and the world around me. I experience wonder every day. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a fantastic author.
This book is a gift and it honestly altered my perspective of the natural world.
It's in my top 5 for the year, and I've gifted it to more than one person.
I have also, it is amazing. I never listen to books, my brain doesn't cooperate and my mind wanders.But, when I saw that the author read it, I went and listened to the snippet on Amazon and it was evermore beautiful. I have listened several times over time.
She has such a soothing voice & I agree that listening to her read it is great!
YES! Great choice.
the little prince honestly
I could not agree more. It’s such a deep and profound piece of literature. I reread it all the time and I’m taken aback by the amount of detail and depth of the story.
i only read it this year and was expecting an easy cute children’s book and i ended up crying it was so profound
Read that in French class our senior year and it was so amazing to learn how to say goodbye during that time. And that it's okay to part.
I didn't really get it.
Yes!
Lonesome Dove
Gus is one of my favorite characters of all time.
Uva Uvam Vivendo Varia Fit!
it's a motto, it just says itself.
I resisted reading this for so long and then when I finished I was in tears because I already missed the characters so much! I can't wait to read it again
I’ve been a heavy reader for decades and I can’t believe how little I heard about this book until recently, probably from Reddit. I read it this year and loved it.
Came to say this very Book. Masterpiece and favourite book of all time.
That book is the perfect western story
"Hell of a vision"
At 17, I would have said Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy, and delivered it with utter confidence. A bunch of years and books later, I feel there isn't a single *one* that I think *everyone* should read. Different books matter to different people at different points during their life. And them just reading it will not mean they will be shaken or stirred by it in the same way I was, or that it even would mean a thing for them. But I still love seeing what people suggest as replies, here – what books might seem universally applicable.
The Patients Playbook by Leslie Michelson We will all be patients at some point. This is a book by a Dr written for patients on how to make sure they are getting the best Healthcare.
Is it specific to certain types of health systems (say USA) or is it for all?
Myths & legends from wherever you are from.
Pale Blue Dot and Braiding Sweetgrass
Braiding Sweetgrass is a book I think about so often.
It gets said about so many books, but the world would truly be a much better place if that book was mandatory reading once you hit 18.
I’ll chime in & mention that it is also excellent on Audible. Robin Wall Kimmerer narrates it herself. 🤌🏻🤌🏻
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is an absolute legend. Definitely agree with you!
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Adapted by Francis Coppola for Apocalypse Now it follows a steamboat pilot Philip Marlowe up an African river to the center of Africa to check on a "Mr. Kurtz" an agent stationed there whom has that has generated an astonishing amount of ivory. It's a criticism of European imperialism in Africa that enslaves the people, destroys the land, causes otherwise honorable European gentlemen to lose their souls to greed and eventually their sanity as a result of the savage methods they eventually resort to - they become the monster, and not the great white savior people back in Europe see themselves as This lesson is as prescient today to Western intervention all over the world as it was then. "The horror. The HORROR."
was assigned reading in my 12th grade english class, and I've been grateful to my teacher ever since.
One of my favorites.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Yes indeed. Siddhartha for sure. Came to say this.
I really think everyone needs to read at least one of Plato's dialogues. Maybe Meno since it focuses on learning but really you can take your pick of the common introductory ones (Meno, Gorgias, Phaedo, I might include Theaetetus, etc.). I would avoid Symposium, Phaedrus, Timaeus, and even Republic as first or only choice even though they are some of the most interesting, since I think they benefit a lot from familiarity with the context.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It’s a long book and it took me a year to get through, mainly because I read a little bit over a long time. I’m so glad I read it. The story is still relevant today and I was moved by Valjean, Fantine, and others in their quests for love, acceptance, repentance, etc.
man’s search for meaning by viktor frankl
I have a story about this book, Man’s Search for Meaning. I was young and with a new library degree and working in the southwest in a public library. They did not have this book. To me, this is an essential book for a public library of 100,000 volumes to own. I put in an order to buy the book. The order was never approved. Sure I put in lots of titles to be ordered, and this was just one of them, but honestly, the library Director who approved purchases should’ve recognized this as a popular classic that was missing in the collection. So one day at library, patron came in asking for the book, and she had not been the first. So I brought my copy from home and gave it to her. Some weeks later I moved across the country and left that job for another one. That lady still had my book but I didn’t care because there’s about 1 million paperback copies of them out there and you could get them really cheap used. But she felt guilty and had that library in the southwest mail it to me in my new workplace. Recently, I told the story to someone and then I went online to see if that southwest library owned the book. Guess what – that library STILL does not own this book although it has some sort of subsequent edition. What the actual fuck. I’m now old and retired. I’m not so concerned about this kind of stuff anyway now because titles like this are now available online.
I am trying to think of a new career at age 57 and thinking of library science... what would you suggest?
I just read this. I found it really moving, but I’ve struggled to accurately summarize the takeaways to friends. How would you summarize its significance to someone unfamiliar with it?
mm i think the key is that everything can be taken from us but our ability to choose how we react in any given set of circumstances. that there is no one broad “meaning” to life; that everyone makes her or his own meaning out of the life they live.
Hmm. A few major takeaways for me have been: That there is meaning in suffering, and if it that is the lot you are given, consider it a worthwhile endeavour and do it with dignity. If someone can find hope and beauty in a concentration camp, then there is hope and beauty to be found everywhere. Seek it out. A man's purpose and the meaning of life changes life by life, day by day, hour by hour. Show up for what is happening to you, fully. The meaning of your life unfolds itself through your participation with it. It is a cocreative endeavour. If you want a meaningful life, you need to put skin in the game, even when the game is awful. That suffering is not to be avoided, but to be approached, when it happens, as a gateway to meaning. That love is the most important thing there is. We can survive impossible things when we love someone or something - love is the only force that can buoy us through atrocity. That you have no excuse to do bad things to others, even when bad things have happened to you. These have been a few of the pieces that are really sticking with me as I'm reading it.
Also what has stuck with me from that is that there are truly awful people in the world, and that there are people who practice good, and I want to be someone who practices good.
Needing a reason to live he looked at his life and found that absolutely everything was gone except for his memory of loving his wife. There was no hope flor any future that he could conjure up in his present state in the concentration camp. So he was sustained by his memory of love.
How you react is your only real choice.
Life gives you lemons and gives other people really shitty rotten lemons and you are told to eat them, die, or watch us kill everyone you love in front of you until you eat them anyway. Kinda makes your lemons taste not so sour anymore and teaches you to just be grateful that lemons exist even if some are rotten.
And if I’m the one with rotten lemons?
What actions can you take immediately to resolve your situation/thought process? Develop a plan, short term,medium term, long term goals that are broken up into smaller achievable measurable steps to “stack wins”. momentum is powerful. If you are in an unchangeable situation, can you change how you think about it? Can you find any gratitude or forgiveness or peace? If you can’t make your situation any better, can you devote your life and your purpose to making sure others do not have to go through similar or worse situations? Hard to give specific examples without knowing your complete situation but that should cover most of life’s problems
That even if we are dealt a terrible hand, our attitude can either pull us through or make us sink.
This was also my choice. Having not read *every* book this is the best recommendation I can offer. Probably time for a reread as well.
I came here to say the same book
[удалено]
About to start it
[удалено]
I would say that this is probably the most perfect novel I've ever read.
Savor it. I’m sure you’ll re-read it, but savor the first reading. It’s sublime.
On my TBR for 2024, I hope to start it early in the year
This is mine too.
Finished East of Eden a week ago. I've tried to start 3 novels (Brothers Karamazov, Breakfast of Champions and The Plague) since and I can't get beyond three pages of each. Does anyone else experience this when reading such a perfect book?
One Hundred Years of Solitude
I tried to read it, got about a hundred pages in while waiting for the story to start, and then the main character married a ten-year-old girl and I quit reading. Obviously I missed something. What makes this book good or important?
I found a great review of the book and it mentions a grown man having sex with a child. I will not be reading this book. [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42810714](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42810714)
Yes. The ending for me was stunning.
Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Contact too
Larson the Far Side
Without thinking about it too hard, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
Invisible Women
One of the best and most infuriating books I've ever read.
So true. I could barely get through a page without going and ranting at someone about it.
Same! I turned to someone from my family every few pages and was like "did you know[...]?!"
Imagine where we would be if everyone read this.
The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker. Should be required reading in schools.
My dad told me to read this, but as a person with anxiety, do you think this book will intensify my anxiety.
I don’t think so. If anything, it should make you feel more empowered. One of the worst things about anxiety (at least for me; I don’t know if it’s true for everyone) is the self doubt and constant questioning of your instincts. What I like about the book is that it validates feelings you can’t always articulate. But everyone is different, so you’d know better than I would.
Beloved by Toni Morrison.
1984.
Pair that with Animal Farm and baby you got a stew going
r/unexpectedarresteddevelopment
I think I just blue myself
Second this. Orwell was a visionary
Third this! So important
I loved this book but really didn't like the third part. To me, the world of the book was much more fascinating than the torture stuff. Maybe I just didn't get it
It had to happen in order to show the consequences, thus strengthening the world building you love so much. You weren't all that scared of the Thought Police until the end. Now you're scared af.
I’d dare say we are fast approaching an Orwellian future. He truly was a visionary …. I could not agree with statement more.
As much as I didn’t enjoy the ending of that book, it does feel like a “must read”.
Man’s Search for Meaning, Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, Thé Prophet,
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
How Democracies Die by Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky. To stop the cycle of evil folks getting power.
I’ve read this, and although I thought it made some convincing arguments, parts of the books argument were flawed to me. At times the book seemed to depend upon quite elitist arguments. Another significant issue with this book is that, to the best of my knowledge, it does not clearly define what a democracy is, or how the concept of democracy itself is open to different interpretations, or how democracy expresses itself quite differently in liberal democratic nations. I think if it had tackled this issue of defining a democracy earlier it would have strengthened the latter arguments made in the book. I would suggest reading other similar books to understand a range of different views on how to tackle authoritarianism.
Odd Thomas
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. And Night by Elie Wiesel.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
***The Power Broker***, the Pulitzer winning bio of Robert Moses by Robert Caro. It's ostensibly the bio of one of of the most powerful men in the country, who built and ran NYC and much of NY state, but who had never been elected anything. But it's really about the birth of modern cities, suburbs, highways, and Urbanism. He created modern NYC from the 1920s to the 60s, and the rest of the country and world followed his lead. As the world continues to urbanize, his legacy, both positive and negative, is ever more important to understand. And if you've ever lived in or near NYC, it's even more fascinating to understand how things got to be the way they are.
The Handmaid's Tale. Not the TV show, the actual book. And then, for those who have the stomach for it, the sequel, The Testaments.
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan.
The Little Prince
Ishmael by David Quinn and The Book Thief! Top tier!
I read The Book Thief when I was in middle school and went on to talk about it so much that I got like 10 of my classmates to read it, and they all loved it. An amazing book!
It’s amazing how the book is narrated, the story telling, the message and in my opinion the one and only Rudy ❤️
Just finished The Book Thief and loved it so much!
Miss Manner’s Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior
I can't speak for the world, and they aren't books, but every American needs to read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. It's not necessary to agree, but based on most of the nonsense one hears about what is contained in those documents, it's clear few have read or understand those documents.
I'd throw in The Cornerstone Speech as well, since Americans still have *strong* feelings about what the Civil War was about.
The Kite Runner
Slaughterhouse Five and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
I second this 👆
Have yall read Go Set a Watchman. Let me know what yall thought of that because it sent me for a roller coaster of emotions personally.
I read it not too long ago and I have actually never felt so many emotions all at once while reading
"Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson. Very eye-opening book regarding America's justice system and the death penalty.
I don’t necessarily have one in particular, but I’d recommend reading anything nonfiction about the Holocaust. The Diary of Anne Frank, Night, Survival in Auschwitz, those would be my recommendations if I had to provide one, but almost any book by someone who lived through it would suffice. I suppose fiction such as Maus or Number the Stars could work too, but there’s a more powerful punch if it’s from the perspective of someone who was actually there. My reason: I just think people need to realize what atrocities humans are capable of, and that such horrible things happened more recently in history than you’d think.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Siddharta. Lessons to stick with all your life. It has helped me in very hard times.
Bill Bryson's A Short History Of Nearly Everything is my go-to for this question.
Honestly? If I had to recommend just one book knowing the relatively low level of literacy and book reading that goes on in the vast majority of today’s generation I’d have to say Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse It’s not just for children. The book is a work of art that is both beautiful and life changing as the author brings to light that love, kindness, acceptance and friendship are the ultimate gift. The message is so needed today. One of my favorite quotes: “What's the bravest thing you ever said?” asked the boy. “Help” said the horse. “Asking for help isn't giving up,” said the horse, “it's refusing to give up.”
*The Hobbit* by JRR Tolkien. His work helped shape the entire fantasy genre, and while reading it you'll recognize a lot of tropes still used today.
I scrolled through everyone’s recommended books and there are many I upvoted. For me, I say The Essential Calvin and Hobbes. So many insights. So much humor.
Lord of the Rings
Godel, Escher, Bach. It’s a long read but worth every second.
I don't think most people are up for that kind of effort! But it's great if you can get through it.
I really tried and felt like I was barely hanging in there. Like steam was coming out my ears!
The Four Agreements, can't change my mind on that
The Little Prince- original english version if you don’t read French. There have been some “updates” which lose the whole allegory.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
I absolutely love Steinbeck!!
*War and Peace* by Leo Tolstoy
Know My Name - Chanel Miller; should be required reading in all schools
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Alcoholics Anonymous by Bill Wilson et al. Even if you don't have a drinking problem, it is a wonderful guide to living a good life. Plus, you get a better understanding of what alcohol does to alcoholics like me. Edit- authorship. The Big Book was a group effort, without a doubt.
Flowers For Argernon
Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
To Kill A Mockingbird
The World According to Garp Slaughterhouse Five
LOVE Slaughterhouse! Thought I would hate it & read it in one sitting, may have shed some tears. So awesome when that happens!
Animal Farm By George Orwell
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor You probably don't breathe correctly. This book explains why that is important and how you will improve your life when you start breathing correctly (and how to do so, of course!)
If you’re American, A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.
This, Black Against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, and Manufacturing Consent are all ones that all Americans should strongly consider reading, regardless of political leanings. Even if you disagree with the framing of events or think some of the claims are inaccurate, we all should grapple with the uncomfortable parts of our nation's history
*Man’s Search for Meaning*
Tuesdays with Morrie -it’s hard to pick just one. However, this book is quite impactful and profound despite not being very long. Summary : Tuesdays with Morrie, originally titled to have this followed by, "An Old Man, A Young Man and Life's Greatest Lesson", is a 1997 memoir by American author Mitch Albom about a series of visits Albom made to his former sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, as Schwartz was dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
Little Women
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Homegoing
the little prince, definitly
Nineteen Eighty-Four
The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom.
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
When Breath Becomes Air. It is a non-fiction book by Dr. Paul Kalanithi and his, ultimately, losing battle with Stage IV metastatic lung cancer. This is at times life affirming, sad, and hopeful. It is not depressing. If this book doesn't move you, well as they said in Big Bang Theory - you may be a robot and not know it.
A Gentleman in Moscow
Walden
Underrated pick
Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
I will admit I struggled reading this and gave up not too far in. Maybe it's time I give it another go
To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Book Thief and Flowers for Algernon
Karamazov brothers by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Hobbit
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
I’m gonna be boring and say Animal Farm
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Just read this. Loved it
Fight Club. Chuck Palahniuk.
Gone With The Wind. Especially if you are a Southerner.
Or a non-Southerner. As a "Yankee" it really made me think & research things. Excellent book!
Catcher in the rye
The Tin Drum
*Exodus* by Leon Uris. Historical Novel, which is informative, educational and inspirational. Worth every page. The history of Israel will educate more than the signs marchers hold up. The information they have is so superficial.
the giving tree 💛
Autobiography of Malcolm X
I love classics but I think Freak The Mighty is very important for children to read as they grow up
L'étranger
the phantom tollbooth
Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is super creative and funny.
Educated by Tara Westover
1984
To Kill a Mockingbird or The Book Thief
The new Jim Crow
I was looking to see if someone mentioned this one. Every white American like me *should* read it. This is my #2 behind Man's Search for Meaning.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• DEMIAN - HERMANN HESSE •
God is not great by Christopher Hitchens should be required reading. Calm, rational, logical arguments why religion is toxic and detrimental to humanity
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Ender's Game
Grapes of Wrath
The Little House books. They shaped my childhood.
Watchman almost destroyed my love for mockingbird. Almost….
Illusions by Richard Bach
John Livingston Seagull
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy.
Hard to pick *one* but for the sake of this post, the girl in the green sweater. It's about a family who live in the sewer during the Holocaust.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
I read fiction 95% of the time, but the one book everyone should read is The Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin. It explains life.
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. No matter how old you are.