# What are your must-read book recommendations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527 "2001-08-28T15:04:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/81 "2001-09-05T20:56:04Z")
I’m glad someone mentioned **Carl Sagan’s Demon-Haunted World**. Although not his best writing, it’s an excellent guide to critical thinking. I’d also recommend Sagan’s **Pale Blue Dot** which is the sequel to Cosmos (of course, Cosmos is best appreciated in video form). His fiction **Contact** is well worth it too…better than the movie. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by oliversarmy \* > \*\*I don’t know why, but the first book to pop into my head when I saw the OP was “The Cuckoo’s Egg” by Clifford Stoll. > > A very interesting read. \*\* Did the book-on-tape for this one. It was read by the author who did a good job giving the story a personal touch. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/82 "2001-09-06T22:09:08Z")
The Mars Trilogy (Red Mars,Green Mars,Blue Mars) by Kim Stanley Robinson is fantastic! Well, the first two are; the third drags just a bit in the middle, but you’ll want to read it after the first two. Also, it’s been said several times, but will chime in again: anything by Orson Scott Card, especially Ender’s Game. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/83 "2001-11-16T15:42:18Z")
_sorry to revive an old thread, but this didn’t fit into the ongoing book topics_ Just wanted to recommend one of my favorites… [Soul of the Night](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1886913110/qid=1005924646/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_15_8/002-5790156-0276068) by Chet Reymo. Professor of astronomy. Naturalist. Skeptic with a spiritual eye. Excellent author. His writings (several books and weekly articles in the Boston Globe) show how deep a scientific appreciation of the universe can be. ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/84 "2001-11-16T17:56:38Z")
Well, I’m glad to see that someone mentioned the Mars trilogy, that was great. I’d like to thank everyone for their great suggestions, I’ll be hitting B&N tonight. Here are some of my favorites… Michael Crichtons books… If you’re a WWII history buff, The Rise and Fall of the Third Riech I really like most of the books by …what is his name… oh yeah **James Michner** The Source This may sound strange, even though I’m an atheist, I read The Bible. There are some good stories and it’s great to help understand Christianity a little bit more. Have a great day. p.s. oh yeah, read the Harry Potter books too! ---
**Author:** ![jharding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jharding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharding)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/85 "2001-11-16T19:55:56Z")
Missed this thread the first time around, so I’ll just chime in late with my selection and a few comments. **Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance** Hated it–think Holden Caulfield all grown up with an equally whinny and morose son. **The Monkeywrench Gang** by Edward Abby: Good call and a thumbs up for just about anything by Abby. My own choice for a must read is **A Sand County Almanac** by Aldo Leopold. It’s billed as a nature book, but it’s much more than that. Beautiful, lyrical, tragic, thought-provoking, and ultimately humbling. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/86 "2001-11-16T20:23:43Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* \*\* > [@](#): > > If you MUST read Ellroy (and I don’t recommend it. the man is a grossly egotistical self-publicist, not a serious novelist) … > \*\* What does ego have to do with whether he’s a good writer or not? And if I only read _serious_ novelists, I wouldn’t have enjoyed all those Robert Ludlum novels growing up. I’d like to recommend “The First World War” by John Keegan. It is a facinating and elegant history of WWI. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2001, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/87 "2001-11-16T21:01:38Z")
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevetsky The Bible The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats Moby Dick – Herman Melville The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett anything by Peter S. Beagle Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison Mythology – Edith Hamilton East of Eden – John Steinbeck A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens ---
**Author:** ![velouria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ac91a4/32.png) [@velouria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velouria)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2001, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/88 "2001-11-17T04:16:19Z")
I have to suggest: The Professor and the Madman I can’t remember who wrote it, and I’m too lazy to look it up. It made me buy the OED. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2001, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/89 "2001-11-17T05:38:24Z")
**The Stand** , by Stephen King. **Swan Song** , by Robert R. McCammon **The Kent Family Chronicles** , by John Jakes **And I Don’t Want to Live this Life** , by Deborah Spungeon (Nancy Spungeon’s mother; Nancy was the girl murdered by Sid Vicious.) Those are just a very few I recommend. I could go on for days. 🙂 Sheri ---
**Author:** ![Playdeaux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@Playdeaux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Playdeaux)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2001, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/90 "2001-11-17T08:11:35Z")
In addition to many already listed: **The God of Small Things** , Arundhati Roy **Postcards** , E. Annie Proulx **Stones From the River** , Ursula Hegi **The Kitchen God’s Wife** , Amy Tan **Chesapeake** , James Michener **The Source** , James Michener **Waiting to Exhale** , Terry McMillan **Smila’s Sense of Snow** , Peter Hoeg Anything by Ann Tyler ( **The Accidental Tourist** , **Breathing Lessons** ) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2001, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/91 "2001-11-17T08:56:15Z")
Many good books have been recommended. I won’t repeat them except to say that **Catch-22** is my most favorite book of all time. My two favorite _new_ books (both still available only in hardcover) are **Fast Food Nation** by Eric Schlosser and **The Noonday Demon** by Andrew Solomon. The latter was just awarded the National Book Award for non-fiction, so it’s not just me. Read these books! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2001, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/92 "2001-11-17T15:34:17Z")
Fiction: **The Phantom Tollboth** by Norton Juster **Time and Again** by Jack Finney Non-Fiction: **Geography of Nowhere** by James Howard Kunstler **The Gift of Fear** by Gavin DeBecker ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/93 "2002-04-16T15:10:53Z")
Catcher in the Rye was a terrible book, firmly agree. But… Albert Camus - The Stranger/Outsider Jack Kerouac - On the Road Robert Persig - Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath Aldous Huxley - Brave New World William Burroughs - Naked Lunch Jostein Gaarder - Sophies World Charles Darwin - Voyage on the Beagle Douglas Hofstadter - Godel, Escher, Bach…Eternal Golden Braid Victor Papanek - Green Imperative Bryan Appleyard - all Jung Chang - Wild Swans Harper Lee - To kill a mockingbird Keri Hulme - The Bone People Friedrich Nietzsche - all Gabriel Garcia Marquez -all Milan Kundera - Unbearable lightness of being Brett Easton Ellis - American Psycho Irving Welsh - Trainspotting All these books moved me in some strong emotive way, whether with love, hate, anger, depression etc… And many, many more. How do you define a favourite? BTW, you can get free books on-line here for those who don’t know: [www.promo.net/pg](http://www.promo.net/pg) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/94 "2002-04-16T18:29:43Z")
I’m astounded that no one has mentioned Watership Down. I loved it and reread it often. E.R. Chamberlin’s The Bad Popes. Some of the interesting parts of the history of the Papancy. Thanks everybody, I have a birthday coming up and this thread has filled up my wish list nicely! (though a Playstation 2 would be good too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/95 "2002-04-16T20:18:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pugluvr \* > \*\*If you like sci-fi, you’ve probably already read these titles. I cite them because like “Mona Lisa Overdrive”, they are both sci-fi and hard-boiled gumshoe detective fiction: > > “The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton” by Larry Niven > “Ringworld” by Larry Niven \*\* “The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton” has been out of print from some time. The original three Gil the Arm stories have been collected into FLATLANDER, which also include two of Niven’s latest pieces, which suck just as bad as most of his post-1980 Known Space stuff (every try making it through Niven’s THE RINGWORLD THRONE? Well, it’s “Niven’s” if he actually wrote it. It was possibly ghostwritten) UnuMondo ---
**Author:** ![shagadelicmysteryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@shagadelicmysteryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shagadelicmysteryman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2002, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/96 "2002-04-16T22:30:15Z")
Well I guess it all depends on which genre you belong to, but I throw out a list for everybody. **"Wise Blood"** by Flannery O’Connor. That’s good for a nice blasphemous laugh. **"Slaughter House Five"** by Kurt Vonnegut. A nice little riddle for the average man/woman’s mind. **Hearts in Atlantis** by Stephen King. Any Tom Clancy novel, as always. Also, don’t hesitate to pick up an Ernest Hemingway book if you see it at the library. I’ve read about three or four of them, and I haven’t been disappointed yet. And another note, look in any Literature book you can find or look on the internet for “A Shocking Accident”. I don’t recall the author’s name, but it is a hilarious short story. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/97 "2002-04-17T00:43:14Z")
I’d reccommend anything by Laurell Hamilton…good fantasy stuff ---
**Author:** ![DaPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DaPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPearl)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/98 "2002-04-18T02:30:04Z")
On The Road by Jack Kerouac The cross-country journey to end all road stories. A masterpiece. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson I’m a huge fan Doctor Gonzo, and out of the stuff of his I’ve read, his drug riddled account of his savage journey to the heart of the American dream is his best. Hell’s Angels by HUnter S. Thompson Thompson’s account and reportings of the year he spent with the Hell’s Angels before getting the crap beaten out of him. Informative on the lives and habits of the Hell’s Angels, but also about the press, attitudes in the class structure, society, and more. The Stand by Stephen King My favorite book of all time. Stephen King’s masterpiece about the apocalypse is almost a satiracal study of society. King is exceptional in his descriptions and character developement. Hell, just about everything in this book is excellent. 1984 by George Orwell Orwell’s terriying vision. Should be required for everyone everywhere. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Perhaps the prototype for the road story, a great read and story that still is to this day. Wiseguy by Nicholas Pillegi The biography of Henry Hill (later made famous in _GoodFellas_). Great look into mob life. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk Chuck’s first book is great, dark, funny satire on the world in which we live today. Made famous through the excellent film adaptation. Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk Although Fight Club is more widely known, mostly due to the movie, this is possibly better. This is Chuck’s wild and dark look at religion, faith, and undercooked culinary delacacies. Very dark and perhaps not for the faint of heart. ---
**Author:** ![Read\_Icculus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Read\_Icculus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Read_Icculus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/99 "2002-04-18T02:55:05Z")
Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbit. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527/100 "2002-04-18T03:00:58Z")
I’m with **Dangerosa** and **hardygrrl**. _The Robber Bride_ is one of my all-time favorite books, and I just finished Byatt’s _The Biographer’s Tale_. Now I want to go to Norway! I also heartily recommend _To Kill a Mockingbird_. It’s surprising how much fun it is when you’re not reading it for school. For fun non-fiction, I really like Antonia Fraser’s histories, especially _The Wives of Henry the Eighth_. It’s a fascinating read. I have to confess that I really don’t get John Irving. I read _A Prayer for Owen Meany_ and started _Ciderhouse Rules_. I think he’s okay, but I’m not sure why he’s so beloved. My main impression is from the one and a half books that I read was that he was extremely creeped out by women and sex. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-must-read-book-recommendations/78527.md?page=6)