Three boks I’ve read in the last few months that were solid:
The Kite Runner- a few years old now, but a very good read, about a boy growing up in Aghganistan. The movie does not do the book justice.
Sway- NY Times bestseller, just a pop-psychology book on group-think, why people make irrational decisions, etc. Good quick read.
The Tipping Point- another pop-psychology book, also on NY Times bestseller list. All about how thoughts, ideas, fads, etc, gather and gain momentum.
Books I WANT to read: Atlas Shrugged, and The Gates Of Fire. They’ve been on my to-do list for a while now. Atlas Shrugged is not light reading, so I need to prepare for it.
You can pretty much apply the principles in this book to anything and make it much more useful than the majority of people ordinarily think about. I definitely think its a must read even though it is relatively young.
Ill put another vote for Slaughterhouse 5, I have yet to read a Vonnegut book I didn’t enjoy, or at least find entertaining. I feel the same way about Bill Bryson, he has some funny stuff, A Walk in the Woods is about him trying to hike the Appalachian Trail, and The Thunderbolt Kid is about his childhood and the superhero he invented, both are very entertaining.
For military stuff, this is about the Alamo Scouts who had insane success in the Pacific Theater during WWII, no deaths on missions (I think they did 250+ missions).
Killing Bin Laden is an account of the Battle of Tora Bora written by the c/o of the Delta Force operators who were assaulting it. Very interesting stuff.
I’ve also found anything by Dick Marcinko to be very entertaining. Founder of Red Cell and Seal Team 6, lots of shit in it is overblown but it is good stuff.
1984-George Orwell
Brave New World-Aldous Huxley
A Clockwork Orange-Anthony Burgess
The Warren Commission Report
American Psycho-Bret Easton Ellis
The Naked and the Dead-Norman Mailer
An American Dream-Norman Mailer
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear…on the Campaign Trail, '72-Hunter S. Thompson
The Sun Also Rises-Hemingway
Better Times Than These-Winston Groom
Dispatches-Michael Herr
A Rumor of War-Philip Caputo
In Retrospect-Robert McNamara
Six Days of War-Michael B. Oren
It Can’t Happen Here-Sinclair Lewis
Main Street-Sinclair Lewis
Tropic of Cancer-Henry Miller
Harlot’s Ghost-Norman Mailer
An American Spy-E. Howard Hunt
White Noise-Don DeLillo
Underground-Don DeLillo
Animal Farm-George Orwell
Rogue State-William Blum
On the Trail of the Assassins-Jim Garrison
My Favorite Summer, 1956-Mickey Mantle
All the Shah’s Men-Stephen Kinzer
Don’t know what your really into, but I recently finished all of The Black Company books and thought they were really great if your not looking for something too intellectual. Very gritty war stuff with a fantasy twist.
Sidenote: I found out about these books because of picking of the Malazan Books of the Fallen and really liking them. So if you know/like one you will probably like the other.
Interesting suggestions so far, I’ll put a few of these on my reading list.
Recently I’ve been reading Voltaire’s Philosophical Dictionary which is a bit of a gem.
Im looking forward to reading:
Obliquity: Why our goals are best achieved indirectly by John Kay
Capital Volume 1 by Karl Marx
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
I recommend:
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, this is great it gives you a really materialist (not as in consumerism) view of the world.
How to See Yourself as You Really Are by the Dalai Lama, it has some mind opening parts in it, if you’re willing to give it a chance.
I just finished reading Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. Very quick read and interesting. How he connects the dots is very cool,ie:most NHL players are born in the months of Jan,Feb,March. The 10,000 hour rule is explained also. His interpretation about why some people are successful and others are not you might find interesting.
Some of the subjects he touches on have statistics that I will remember years down the road, not that it’s going to get me anyware lol, but thats why I will consider it influential.
All Quiet on The Western Front: Erich Maria Remarque (Greatest book ever imo)
The Fight: Norman Mailer
The Naked and the Dead: Norman Mailer
Maus: Art Spielgeman
Barefoot Soldier: Johnson Beharry (Living Victoria Cross reciever)
The Things They Carried by Tim O’ Brien
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut
Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
A Seperate Peace by John Knowles
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
and if I were to try and order those in some way for “Every person should read” I think it would go:
That’s what I call a Large Question. Here are a few good books I’ve read or referred to recently:
Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics, and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence
A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates
Tacitus (Annals and Histories)
Prehistory: The Making of the Human Mind
Boxiana