# Do you have any go-to books...? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871 "2016-02-23T11:51:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/1 "2016-02-23T11:51:16Z")
…for personal inspiration? I’m sure many Dopers will not regularly consult the traditional texts of organized religions, but are there works you like to keep by you for intellectual or moral uplift from time to time? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/2 "2016-02-23T12:47:24Z")
The Discworld and Oz series. I also have several good biographies of Teddy Roosevelt in the permanent collection of the bedside book pile. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/3 "2016-02-23T13:23:13Z")
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/4 "2016-02-23T13:32:28Z")
Jane Eyre. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/5 "2016-02-23T13:38:05Z")
Emma Bull’s Bone Dance. There’s a paragraph about working for love I liked so much that, having read the book at the library, I spent several years searching for a copy. Finally found one, yay! Cordelia’s Honor. It’s got several permanent page markers, including one defining my “issues with authority” (paraphrased from memory, “I don’t need to be in charge, I just refuse to take orders from idiots”). Well, about everything in the Voskosigan series, really. Some books are lighter, some darker, but they’re all good to reread at different times. Discworld has been mentioned. Any of the Witches books is good, but I tend to enjoy the Guard best (then again, my first Discworld book was “Guards, guards!”, so it might be a case of imprinting). American Gods and Anansi Boys (both by Neil Gaiman) manage to suck me in every time. I really shouldn’t start them late in the day, because that’s a night I’m likely to end up skipping sleep. I don’t know if I’d call them “personal inspiration” but they’re darn good at getting me out of my head. Not necessarily “inspiring”, but I still haven’t read a Pérez-Reverte book I didn’t like and many provide food for thought. Special kudos for being the only non-IT-guy writer from whom I’ve seen a believable IT-based novel (he does work a lot on getting stuff he doesn’t know about checked by someone who does). ---
**Author:** ![ElderSign](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eldersign/32/8263_2.png) [@ElderSign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElderSign)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/6 "2016-02-23T13:48:50Z")
Anything by Alan Watts, who is also all over youtube. Tony Robbins may be criticized, but he is inspiring to read and listen to. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/7 "2016-02-23T14:03:22Z")
Any of Elmore Leonard’s books. Yes, I’m a simple sort. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/8 "2016-02-23T14:10:43Z")
Whenever I am feeling particularly discouraged about the state of the world, I reread a book about Hans and Sophie Scholl and their friends. If they could display so much courage in the face of such evil, there must be hope for the world. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/9 "2016-02-23T14:49:20Z")
The singularity is near by Ray kurzweil, and the rational optimist by Matt ridley. Both claim human problem solving abilities will continue to grow and make like better, that we are on a reliable trajectory in this direction. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/10 "2016-02-23T14:51:51Z")
The Machinery’s Handbook ---
**Author:** ![Nightfall1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@Nightfall1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightfall1)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/11 "2016-02-23T15:03:53Z")
Looking out for #1 By Robert Ringer Whenever I get down about the world or about my place in the world. Picks me right up. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/12 "2016-02-23T15:51:14Z")
A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelsson Howard’s End by E. M. Forster ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/13 "2016-02-23T16:17:25Z")
Pretty much anything by Dr. Seuss ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/14 "2016-02-23T18:08:16Z")
Anything by P.G. Wodehouse. Also, some of the Raymond Chandler Philip Marlowe novels. (That’s the author followed by the main character. I can’t figure out how to punctuate it.) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/15 "2016-02-23T18:56:23Z")
I will mention religious texts – St. Therese’s autobiography since she talks about her Little Way of making small everyday things a spiritual exercise. That, and the collected Calvin and Hobbes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/16 "2016-02-23T19:00:30Z")
_A Wrinkle In Time_ by Madeleine L’Engle. I’ve been reading it to the Firebug at bedtime over the past few weeks. We’re with Aunt Beast now. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/17 "2016-02-23T19:27:44Z")
Norton Juster’s _The Phantom Tollbooth._ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/18 "2016-02-23T19:34:25Z")
Chilton manual. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/19 "2016-02-23T19:42:06Z")
I have found a fair number of passages from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations to be directly applicable to my own life, especially the very first lines of chapter 5. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871/20 "2016-02-23T19:46:36Z")
Stephen King’s “The Stand”, the long version. SM Stirling’s “Dies the Fire” and “Island in the Sea of Time” Harry Turtledove’s “How Few Remain” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-any-go-to-books/746871.md?page=2)