Suggest a book to read thread

Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer [Paperback]

Phyllis Bennis

Phyllis Bennis (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Palestinian-Israeli-Conflict-Phyllis-Bennis/dp/1566566851

'rich dad poor dad'

i live by the principles of this book and it changed my life.

Two I've read recently:

Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory by Peter Hessler

Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray

The Best of Penthouse Forum, volumes, 1-3, and 5. Number 4 sucks bad!

Slaughterhouse Five, Bluebeard, and likely the rest of Vonnegut's canon, although I can't recommend any that I haven't read.

Mr E-man wrote:

Slaughterhouse Five, Bluebeard, and likely the rest of Vonnegut's canon, although I can't recommend any that I haven't read.

Slaughterhouse Five is the crowning achievement, unless you really like it I wouldn't move on to the rest of his works, I though Cat's Cradle was pretty weak. It had it's moments, but didn't stand up the way Slaughterhouse Five does.

One of my personal favorite "niche" books is "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wilder. I'm a huge fan of the author, I think his writing style is very good, and he does an excellent job of raising philosophical questions without biasing the reader toward any opinion.

Other books I thought were solid that might not get a mention (admittedly I did not read the thread)...

Notes from the Underground- Dostoevsky

It is a relatively short book and isn't as daunting as his more famous works. The neurosis of the main character should make him appealing to the running audience.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce

This book is not as inaccessible as Ullysses or Finnegan's Wake, but I think it does an astounding job of digging into the protagonist's mind. This is one of the books that turned me on to reading serious literature.

Portnoy's Complaint- Phillip Roth

The appeal of this book is hard for me to summarize in a few sentences, but I think it is another great study of the human mind, played out in a series of sexually deviant acts.

All the books I discussed are in the same vein, as they are classic explorations of the human mind. I think anyone who enjoys one of these books would enjoy the rest.

[quote]out of my league wrote:

This isn't profound or classic but it's a great read:

Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" - WWII survival story about a guy who had been a very good runner.

[quote]

I got that book for Christmas and am reading it right now. Excellent.

Good calls all, Mr. Whelan. I like your choices.

If anyone else liked those books, check out Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man to accompany Notes from the Underground. They are most certainly companion texts.

Otherwise, I suggest The History of Love by Nicole Krauss and Great House, also by Nicole Krauss. And to throw some poetry out there, how about Lighthead by Terrance Hayes?

1998 wrote:

'rich dad poor dad'

i live by the principles of this book and it changed my life.

fantastic book. I read this in 8th grade and had a brilliant page of reference notes on it. Of course I lost them and don't feel like rereading the book. ugh.

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt.

Marcelo Figueras - Kamchatka

Ah yes, classic... not to be confused with classical literature. If you want to find out if the ancient Greeks were funny, read something by Aristophanes - I would recommend Frogs, in which Dyonisus travels to Hades to bring back one of the great poets, Euripides, but ends up taking Aeschylus instead; or The Acharnians, a satire in which an old Athenian man brokers a private peace with the Spartans and then welcomes otherwise banned produce and people within his compound even though the government tries to stop him.

A Clockwork Orange Burgess

Tortilla Flat Steinbeck

Rites of Passage Golding

Down and Out in Paris

& London Orwell

Rebecca du Maurier

Goobye Mr Chips Hilton

Room at the Top Braine

Roots Hailey

The Right Stuff Wolfe

Bravo Two Zero McNab

Touching the Void Simpson

The Loneliness of the

Long Distance Runner Sillitoe

All The Devils Are Here

Infinite Jest - Wallace

I just started it, so I can't comment on very much about it, but it is a hip book that has gone through the entire hip life-cycle (cool, played out, now ascending back to cool), so there is an opportunity there to use it as a substitute for a personality if that is the sort of thing you are looking for.

parallel worlds by michio kaku

"Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Windows Powershell Cookbook. Great read on the topic. Practically turns the page itself in my house.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz