5 Books Everybody Should Read

[swede123]

Lots of good suggestions, here are a few of my personal favorites.

Catch 22
To Kill a Mockinbird
Watership Down
Don Quixote

...and somewhat out of leftfield, but a complete must read for sci-fi buffs: Encounter With Rama.

Swede

[patrick_mcmurray]

1. History - The History of the World by JM Roberts
2. History of religion - eg The Historical Figure of Jesus by EP Sanders
3. Evolutionary psychology - eg The Moral Animal by Smith
4. Science - I don't know enough to recommend a book - what would others suggest?
5. Philosophy. Again I don't really know enough to recommend a book, but I got a lot out of reading Straw Dogs by John Gray. It is a critique of humanism, suggesting that lot of its ideas are essentially religious, and that if religion is no longer accepted, then we are left with a rather more bleak picture than humanism suggests.

6. Literature. I am not really into fiction. But The Lord of the Flies is a must read.

[camerondiggs]

Dont contribute here alot but here goes:

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

2. The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall

3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - This book is unbelievably genius. about a boy coming to grips with his father's death in the 9/11 attacks. Maybe the best book I have ever read.

4. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - if you feeling like getting depressed then look no more

the other suggestions on this thread are mostly spot on in my opinion except for the OP's selection of The Alchemist by Coehlo. I thought it was ridiculous. has anyone else had feelings about this book. Maybe I will start a new thread about it

[Sod_a_You]

I don't know if everybody should read these, but my 5 favorites are:

1. Atlas Shrugged
2. Watership Down
3. The Fountainhead
4. Catcher in the Rye

and (sigh), 5. Harry Potter series.

[camerondiggs]

crap, forgot about the HP series. No need for sigh in front of that, wizardry is an art form

[amplify]

[ QUOTE ]
4. Science - I don't know enough to recommend a book - what would others suggest?

[/ QUOTE ]
If I could have only one, The Discoverers, Daniel Boorstin. The history of science in grand spectacle, easily one of the best books I have ever read.

[Buckmulligan]

Emerson essays
Brothers Karamozov
Ulysses
Divine Comedy
I like the sound and the fury

[John Cole]

Both you and Wren listed Emerson's essays--some of my faith in humanity is restored. If you hadn't listed Ulysses, I would have been shocked. But, don't you think it a bit much to say a mass before shaving--even in the days before safety razors. Surely, a short prayer would suffice.

[headturner1]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know if everybody should read these, but my 5 favorites are:

1. Atlas Shrugged3. The Fountainhead




[/ QUOTE ]

i read atlas and i must say that it was over 1000 pages of excrutiating hell. i cant imagine trying to tackle fountainhead.

my top five:

on the beach, nevil shute
tale of two cities, dickens
C&P, dostoevsky
war and peace, tolstoy
grapes of wrath, steinbeck

currently, i am reading all quiet on the western front, but am having a hard time getting into it.

[MicroBob]

Travels with Charlie is an interesting choice.

I liked this book too although I'm not sure I could list in top 5 'must reads'.