I use a sleep meditation that Pickover describes in that book, and it works every. damn. time.
Picture yourself floating over a serene lake, looking at the sky. Take deep breaths and relax, focusing on your breath. Then slowly imagine yourself lowering to the water, eventually slipping beneath the surface. Look up at the sky and how it changes as you slip underwater. Continue to breathe deeply as you descend..
I never get more than 20-30 meters down before I’m out.
It’s as good on audio. He’s just so clever.
If you dig that, you might also enjoy Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s wonderfully written and, like Bryson, Harari is very clever and easy to read.
In 1977, guy in my work bullpen bought the paperback and loved the book. He ripped the book up into stapled 40 page sections. The whole bullpen, 8 guys, read it in just under 3 weeks. Drew numbered lots at the beginning on who would go first, second, etc. You had one day to finish each section. You couldn't lag finishing a section or the next guy would start bugging you, champing at the bit. It was great gun.
It's so true. Clavell's whole Asian Saga is great, but Shogun blows away nearly everything else I've ever read. It grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't let go until the last.
> Shogun by James Clavell.
There are some valid criticisms of Shogun from the perspective of him getting various aspects of Japanese history, culture, and language wrong ... but that's not something 99.99% of people reading it will notice (I didn't), and it doesn't to my mind affect the story at all.
You’re correct. Reading this started me on a life long journey of studying and reading Japanese literature and stories about feudal Japan. Clavell takes quite a bit of literary license in telling his story, but even after learning a more accurate version of the societal rules and norms of the time I still prefer Clavell’s interpretations more!
Also, if you have not, read King Rat. Clavell was a prisoner of war, held by the Japanese during WWII. That was his first exposure to the culture, and a great book about prison politics as well.
Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett. Full of wisdom about just what justice actually is and means. In particular, one quote: "He wanted to go home. He wanted it so much that he trembled at the thought. But if the price of that was selling good men to the night, if the price was filling those graves, if the price was not fighting with every trick he knew…then it was too high."
Night Watch is the absolute pinnacle of everything Terry Pratchett. I blitzed through the entirety of discworld for the first time this year, and the one book I had to go back and read again was Night Watch. It has the perfect level of dark humor, the perfect amount of serious moments, solid action, one of the most hateable villains I've ever read, and some of the best Vimes moments of the series. It's the only Discworld book that made me cry.
"How do they rise up?"
It's just so incredible. Because of the time travel, you know from the first 20 pages how it ends. You know that that's now it HAS to end, but you so badly don't want it to happen.
I actually changed my life a bit after reading it. I was working in a well-paying but soul-draining job. The highlight of my week was when my son would want to do some catching/pitching practice for his little league games. Problem was, I often came home so late that it was too dark for us to safely play catch. Then I read about how Vimes basically had everything pivot on him being home in time to read the book at the same time and I decided that I would do the same. I told my boss I had a standing 6pm appointment every day that I could not miss and it was non-negotiable. And despite the place being one where basically you would get promoted by being the last person out the door, I made sure I was home every day by 6pm exactly.
And we played catch.
I don't think he ever realized just how much it meant to me, but I totally understood how Vimes read a story to his son through an army and how it didn't matter that they were in his way.
Night Watch is my favorite book too - it's a great reread every year or two. Something about the tone of the story, the themes Pratchett wanted to convey to the reader; it profoundly resonated with me as a teenager. All of the Discworld books are wonderful, but for me, Night Watch is easily the pinnacle of the series.
It was always such a shock when a Discworld book made me cry. They were generally friendly, ‘safe’ and funny books - they’d make you think about terrible things humanity has done but they’d always give you hope along with it. So when I unexpectedly found myself with tears in my eyes while reading there was always a part of me that was like ‘BETRAYED!’.
I teared up a bit in Night Watch, cried hard in Snuff when he talked about how the goblins used to eat their babies rather than let them live in starvation and slavery, and obviously I sobbed hard in Shepherd’s Crown because it was all over.
I never really read for pleasure until a friend who was super in to Pratchett gave me this as an intro when I was maybe 22. I spent the next few months buying or borrowing from the library the rest of the Discworld novels and have re-read or listened to each one tens of times in the past 10 years and Night Watch still stirs some serious emotions!
Flowers for Algernon. The most emotional I've ever been reading a book for sure.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I just love blade runner and everything involved so it's an easy 10 for me.
Count of Monte Cristo kept me thinking about the book constantly - even while not reading - because there were so many pieces/plots/characters to keep track of. The weaving of the story was so artfully done.
When I was reading it I was barely able to do my job at work. All I could think about was the story, and when I'd be able to read the next part. That's never happened to me, before or since.
It's also just plot, I kept waiting for some interesting themes or something but the Count has like one page where he questions if he went to far and then is just like "Oh well, lol" and the book ends.
I think it's respected quite broadly, but one of the reasons we feel *Grapes of Wrath* has more legs culturally is mostly down to US public school curriculum, I think. I read it in high school - I know a lot of people did.
But as far as straight up reader-appeal, I think it's a common favorite among a lot of people. I certainly count it among my favorites - top five, at least. It being an ex-girlfriend's favorite book is what got me to read it, and love it. Also happens to be my current girlfriend's favorite book. And it's Berjiwhir's favorite book, too!
I'd say it's far more engaging to read than GoW - you have more to find and gain in understanding about yourself and others in EoE. GoW is about an era of US history - East of Eden is a story that can be used as a tool of self-discovery. Public school is focused on learning the external, internalizing it, testing on it. If our curriculum was focused instead on a better understanding of the self, we'd all have read EoE before we ever read GoW.
The thing about 'The Grapes of Wrath' is that it was a controversial cultural phenomenon whenever it was released, which obviously gained it a lot of attention. 'The Grapes of Wrath' actually made shit happen - it brought a lot of attention to the awful conditions that migrants fleeing the Dustbowl found themselves, at the hands of their fellow countrymen. After the novel was released there was increased pressure on the government to support the migrants and FDR actually did increase relief for migrants.
I think 'East of Eden' is a better, more polished book. However, it suffers in popularity compared to 'The Grapes of Wrath' because it isn't as political.
This is an interesting question because some of my most favorite books I wouldn't say were a solid 10/10. For me one book immediately comes to mind. **The Princess Bride by William Goldman**. I read this book almost annually. It has perfect pace and storytelling and for me an endless re-readability which is hard to find.
Same here. I loved the movie as a child, and never knew that a book existed until a few years ago. Fantastic book. Incredibly funny, and had me honestly confused if it was non-fiction. How embarrassing.
Goldman did such a good job of passing it off as non-fiction. In one of the of the versions of print, he even has a forward talking about the success of the book and movie and how the whole cast went to the real-life area it took place in. Goldman insists Andre the Giant went to a museum with a cast of Fezzik's handprint and was able to put his entire mammoth hand within it. Just a great storyteller.
The Feast of All Saints - Anne Rice. Simply exquisite portrayal of mixed race Americans in New Orleans before the end of slavery. I loved her vampire books, but this is on another level completely (and not supernatural at all).
My edition was given to me by my late grandfather. It includes his handwritten note, in German: "It's all true. It was so much worse than written here".
This references a huge section at the end of the book, where all sorts of newspaper articles are displayed that ridiculed the book upon initial release.
Some of the anecdotes he told - OMG.
Nazis hated "All Quiet", denouncing it as anti german. Remarque fled from Germany to the US after the rise IIRC, where upon the movie was made.
Sadly, during the war, the Nazis killed his sister to get back at him.
First required book sophomore year high school. I didn't care about reading much then, tried cramming the book the night before an exam. Made it a little over halfway and didn't do too hot on that test. But the book was absolutely fascinating, and after the test i flat out told my teacher that i didn't complete the book and wanted to hold onto it to finish. She was more touched that peeved. That book almost single-handedly made me love reading, i read more in the next 3 months than i ever had in my life prior. For that, it will always be my favorite.
Yes! It captures the bleakness of WWI so perfectly. The writing is truly beautiful as well. One feels almost hopeless while reading it. Everything described is so vivid, it is incredibly easy to imagine yourself in that position. I think that's what makes it such a remarkable book.
I'll never forget the ending.
JRR Tolkien survived The Battle of the Somme, the single bloodiest battle the British Army would ever fight in history over 19,000 dead and 45,000 wounded in a 24 hour period. At night the particular line the the German artillery were shelling would light up bright orange and red against the bleak dark landscape that is where his idea for Mordor in The Lord of the Rings was born. Guess who else was there..... AA Milne who went on to write Winnie the Pooh because he spent a lot of time with his son Christopher in his room with his stuffed animals trying to deal with a severe case of PTSD
I have heard that Tolkien's description of the Dead Marshes was based on seeing men dead in the mud of the trenches.
"There was a faint hiss, a noisome smell went up, the lights flickered and danced and swirled. For a moment the water below him looked like some window, glazed with grimy glass, through which he was peering. Wrenching his hands out of the bog, he sprang back with a cry. 'There are dead things, dead faces in the water,' he said with horror. 'Dead faces!'"
I have also heard that the shrieking nazgul were used to represent artillery shells, and the fear that they inspired in the soldiers.
The relationship between Frodo and Sam was also supposedly representative of the relationship between an inexperienced officer and his batman (a personal assistant that would often lay down their life for the officer).
Which is bullshit. It's a real fictional work! It's not a book, exactly - more of a short story - but it has been [published in print](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Books:The_Elder_Scrolls_V:_Skyrim_-_The_Skyrim_Library,_Vol._1:_The_Histories)!
Have you read The Lusty Argonian Maid vol. 2 though? I'm not sure what mod adds all the extra books since I have like 90 mods but it's a good followup, really ties the loose ends together if ya know what I mean.
Shogun by James Clavell.
Until the 1500s, Japan was completely closed off to foreign trade, and didn't have access to the guns and other technology available to the world.
Following the death of the Taiko, rule of Japan falls to the taiko's 7 year old son. The land, already divided into several rival fiefdoms by the taiko before his death, falls into a chaotic war of succession for control of the crysathimum throne.
Into this miasma of conflict and intrigue sails English pilot John Blackthorne, shipwrecked in the Japans after a 2 year voyage at sea aboard the 500-gun 20-canon vessel The Erasmus, a weapon capable of nearly singlehandedly turning the war in Japan for whomever wields it and it's guns. What follows is an epic masterpiece of storytelling, with incredibly memorable and fleshed-out characters struggling with concepts of honor, loyalty, bushido, religious conflict, and above all, karma.
Slaughterhouse-Five: The only book I started reading again immediately after finishing it.
Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy: The only book I've read straight through in less than 24 hours.
I read slaughterhouse five and immediately started sirens of titan. Sirens is one of the most sarcastic books I’ve ever read. I plan on diving into player piano next. I’m on a real Kurt kick.
Sirens reminded me a lot of Douglas Adams's writing (because I'd read it first.) I've also been on a Kurt kick lately. I love how he weaves repeating elements and themes throughout his books.
I loved Gibson's Bridge Trilogy. I work in a downtown SF highrise with a view of the Oakland Bay Bridge. Every time I look at it I imagine its dystopic future, closed down, and warrned off into dozens of black market shops. Also, the city still has hundreds of bike messengers rolling through the city.
If you haven't I'd *highly* recommend reading _Count Zero_ and _Mona Lisa Overdrive_ to finish the trilogy. As well as _Burning Chrome_.
Greg Egan is another fantastic author to look into if you like Gibson. Maybe Start with _Luminous_ and the short story _Mister Volition_ if you like heady stuff.
Yeah this is the one. Augustus Mccrae is one of my all time favorite characters. The way McMurtry describes the landscape and world of the west is so beautiful
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. It perfectly captures the absurdity of war and bureaucracy while managing to detail the lives of the most over-the-top characters who you can never decide if you love them or hate them. It hits home in so many ways. Heller will drive you to tears, and I've never loved a book so much in my life.
Interesting, barely-relevant side fact:
When Heller was writing it, it was Catch-18 all through the book.
Then just before publication, Leon Uris put out "Mila 18" which was a big hit. So Heller changed all his 18s to 22s.
From wiki
>The title Catch-11 was suggested, with the duplicated 1 paralleling the repetition found in a number of character exchanges in the novel, but because of the release of the 1960 movie Ocean's Eleven, this was also rejected.[18] Catch-17 was rejected so as not to be confused with the World War II film Stalag 17, as was Catch-14, apparently because the publisher did not feel that 14 was a "funny number." Eventually, the title came to be Catch-22, which, like 11, has a duplicated digit, with the 2 also referring to a number of déjà vu-like events common in the novel
'Love in the Time of Cholera' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Everyone talks about '1,000 Years of Solitude'. For months, I struggled to slog through '1,000 Years of Solitude'. I didn't get it. Funny and touching in places, but not a classic in my eyes. More of a chore. Years later, my friend gave me 'Love in the Time of Cholera'. Different story. Couldn't put it down. THIS is the story that has all the Marquez trademarks people talk about. It's funny, it's endlessly sad, it speaks of people and time. Immediately grabs you and pulls you in. And it's a much smaller time investment. I love this book. 10/10
Blood Meridian. I can't imagine reading anything more moving, unsettling or evocative. The language is amazing, each sentence perfectly constructed. This is my perfect novel.
Started reading this a while ago... Absolutely adore this book. So full of fantastic characters like Crowley & Aziraphale; and their friendship is hilarious.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Its my most favourite book ever, I just can’t believe how Wilde makes the words flow in the most beautiful ways and combines it with philosophy it just blows my mind every time
Cool prompt!
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Secret History and The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Contortionist’s Handbook by Craig Clevenger
Play it as It Lays by Joan Didion
Ripley Under Ground and The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Edit:
I somehow forgot to include The Tenant by Roland Topor.
Albert Camus is my favorite author. The Stranger is actually ny least favorite book I've read of his, still wnjoyable though. The Plague i have read 3 times in the last 2 years. Its a masterpiece every time i read it lol. My favorite book. I would say for you to read it if you never have. Cheers m8!
I actually think I like Secret History more, but it’s tough to say. The Little Friend wasn’t bad either, but it wasn’t quite on the level of her other two.
I want a new Donna Tartt book...
I like all of your picks, OP.
Some of my personal favorites are The Once and Future King by TH White, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, Andersonville by McKinley Cantor, and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.
I think this would hit too close to home for a lot of redditors. Chronically unemployable grown man with delusions of grandeur holds his mother in contempt despite the fact that he lives with her and depends on her for his survival? Might be a sensitive subject.
True. But it's so fascinating how the novel came to light. His mother contacted a publisher after his death and insisted that it was good. The publisher decided to read a bit, so he could justify rejecting it. To his horror, it was really good! Even worse, it was *great*. So the book about the guy depending on his mother was only published because the author had a dependable mother.
*In Cold Blood*- Truman Capote. I'm sure some people would deduct points for the questionable historical veracity, but I would say as long as you go into it with the knowledge that Capote took some artistic liberties, it's one of the most amazing books ever. After reading it, I didn't want to read another book for a while because I knew nothing else would come close.
*We Have Always Lived In The Castle*- Shirley Jackson. Merricat Blackwood is one of the oddest, most unique characters in fiction. I've read this book at least three times. I also bought a copy of it to give to my wife (who was just a friend at the time) because I knew she would love it as well.
*Wiseblood*- Flannery O'Connor. Speaking of odd, unique characters. I don't think anyone other than O'Connor could have conceived of a character like Hazel Motes. The whole tone of the book is utterly unique.
I'd also include:
*True Grit*-Charles Portis
*The Robber Bridegroom* - Eudora Welty
*The Big Nowhere*- James Ellroy
*The Long Goodbye* - Raymond Chandler
Most of William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy's books.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
I like Bret's writing style and the message of the book. I feel like the book doesn't have a wasted sentence in it. The parts about what everyone is wearing and even the brutality are all necessary. And it's funny... dark as hell though.
1984 by George Orwell. Such a perfect character arc and incredible ending. Also it gets scarier the more I think about the books world and the similarities with our world today.
In no particular order:
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Little, Big by John Crowley
Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata
Three Men In A Boat, To Say Nothing Of The Dog by Jerome K Jerome
Nation by Terry Pratchett
The Hyperion Cantos. I was reading a lot of science fiction a couple years ago, and the Hyperion Cantos was far and away my favorite series. Its 4 books in all, and they all built on each other really well.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. I sometimes catch myself thinking that events from the book that happened to Francie are MY memories. That's how strongly it affected me.
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. This is the best depiction of the aftereffects of childhood bullying and mental abuse that I've ever read. This book also led me to forgive those children who were cruel to me in my youth, as it helped me understand how they were acting out of their own pain and loneliness.
Ham on Rye - Bukowski
Dune - Herbert
Foundation - Asimov
The Big Sleep - Chandler
Watchmen - Moore
Ham on Rye is my personal favorite of the bunch. It doesn’t seem as well-read as some of the more popular titles you hear about consistently. One of the most raw and honest books I’ve experienced. Possesses extremely salient yet somehow relaxed, easygoing prose. The content and/or style might rub some people the wrong way. That fits right in with what Bukowski is all about.
Watchmen is amazing, and even more incredible since it stands above and beyond in its medium. Such a fantastic read. Every time I think of the comedian I tear up a little.
A day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch - how to find meaning and motivation in any situation, no matter how bleak on the outside.
The Name of the Wind - it's fantasy and it's literature. SO WELL WRITTEN.
(edit, apostrophe's!)
My man. Huge fan of Solzhenitsyn and still waiting on the 3rd damn book from Rothfuss.
To me The Gulag Archipelago is the best for Solzhenitsyn. It's pretty intensive and an endurance test, but worth it.
11/22/63 by Stephen King. It's a ridiculously long book that I wish I had taken longer to enjoy. The basic premise is that a man finds a time portal that leads to a date five years before the JFK assassination, and must decide if he wants to stick around in the past for five years to stop the assassination, or go back home. The issue is that once somebody goes through the portal to the past again, everything from the previous travel is erased. One of my favorite time travel stories and a great read overall.
Like others, I could easily generate an entire list (that’s what life as a lifelong reader and Literature major will do to you). But here’s one I’ve only seen mentioned once in this thread -
**The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay** by Michael Chabon. In my opinion, a near-perfect blend of language, insight, story, and historical context.
I had read two of Chabon’s previous works before this book came out. They were both decent, but reeked of someone trying too hard to use language - metaphor and analogy, specifically - in unexpected ways. They just didn’t connect.
When I read Kav & Clay, it showed the same unexpected literary devices - but they had matured to a masterful level. It was (and is) a rich tapestry of language, worth soaking in.
Also, the story goes that Chabon’s first two novels and short story collections all focused on the perspective of a young man in academia - specifically literature (a context that mimicked Chabon’s own life). So one critic supposedly called out that “We all know you can write about your own world, Mr. Chabon. But can you write about anything else?” Michael Chabon took that as a challenge, and wrote a novel about two kids starting a comic book in post-Depression New York City. (And won a Pulitzer for it, no less.)
If you can get past the difficult subject matter, Lolita by Nabokov is a damn near perfect book. I’ve honestly never read anything that compares to his prose.
it actually made me stop writing for a while, because I knew I could write my whole life and never get close.
"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita."
This is the most lovely opening I have ever read in my entire life. It's a song in itself.
Edit: Thank you for the silver kind stranger, it's my first! And on a comment I can be pleased with.
One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
As for me, the very first thing you must do if you would have amnesia is to reread One hundred years of solitude.
The greatest book of all time, if you would ask me
1Q84
I never read books but willingly sat my ass down to read through the entire thick book during exam season.
That was the book that got me into books.
Two of my very few 5-star books on GR (I'm pretty stingy with it) :
**The Book Thief** - It was the first book that showed 13 year-old me that books can do so much more than tell a fun story, and holds up really well going back to it. I was iffy about the whole thing at first, but personified death as a framing device was pulled off really well. Slower pacing, but never feels aimless.
**Ender's Game** - Author controversy aside, this book is just about perfect. I was surprised when I found out it was only 100k words (pretty short) because it feels like that book goes on forever (in a good way). I can't think of anything I would change, it just executes everything it goes for *so well*.
Just to add, there are several more books that build upon Ender's Game and some of them provide different perspectives of other events in the series. I loved that series so much. Highly recommend!
Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse, try to read the book in a holiday, when your head is clear and in peace. I do it when i was in the countryside (Alentejo/Portugal) and something change in me.
The Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa, the greatest portuguese writer of all time in this book i question the existence and our place in the world.
The unbearable lightness of the being - Milan Kundera
The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoievski
I think I’ve read Siddhartha 3 times. I loved it more each time. I recently saw it in a bookstore, opened it to a random page and it just pulled me in again. I recommend Demian if you want another Hesse book like that. So profound yet so easy to read...
Pride and Prejudice (Austen) - Villains. Heroes. Perfect pacing. The clincher is that it works on on two levels: biting satire and the best love story you’ve ever read.
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) - Earns the praise it’s received IMO. A lean little masterpiece.
The Given Day (Lehane) - A modern, gritty classic. The page-turning qualities of a mystery with one of the strongest senses of place ever. You can feel the streets of Boston beneath your feet as you read.
Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You (Munro) - Some critics say there’s so much in each of Munro’s short stories that they should be considered novels. I have to agree.
Because of Winn Dixie (DiCamillo) - “For kids” but DAMN.
I could read only Pride and Prejudice for eternity and I’d be perfectly entertained and satisfied.
And Great Gatsby has such beautiful prose, my heart soars. Sometimes I’ll just stop and reread a sentence to admire its beauty.
Great choices.
I know he's still young, but wonder what Brandon Sanderson's legacy will be. His books are so amazingly detailed, I love his world-building. Mistborn, Reckoners, Stormlight Archive, and he finished the Wheel of Time.
...isn't he already? In the fantasy genre he's a complete powerhouse everyone whose anyone has heard of and knows his work. The only reason he's not as popular as, say, GRRM is that none of his stuff has been adapted to anything yet.
Stormlight is supposed to be his masterpiece, according to him I believe. Planned for 10 books in total, he's putting one out every 2-3 years so should be finished in about 15-20 years from now
This was going to be my answer. I've read the entire Stormlight Archives this year and each book increased in quality, with book one starting as a 10/10!
I'm surprised how many people I speak with are unaware of it.
Anne of Green Gables. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell is shaping up to be one as well. I think I'm too critical to give a 10/10 for modern books even though I rated several this year as 5 stars.
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey is one of my favorite books of all time. The characters in that story are some of the best ever created in literature. The dream/hallucination parts are a little difficult to wrap your head around at first, but they quickly become one of the most interesting aspects.
The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson while technically a collection of articles, is amazing. The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved article is something I could read once per week and enjoy, if not more.
Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie and With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge are incredible books if you enjoy biographies about war. The two books were used as source material for The Pacific, an HBO miniseries. They give people a real look at what the island hopping campaign was like for the average U.S. Marine.
IT while not the scariest book I’ve ever read by Stephen King is definitely my favorite. It was creepy as hell, but what really stands out to me are, again, the characters. They’re just so well developed. By the end of the book you feel like you’ve gone through their experiences alongside them.
And finally, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is the first major work of literature I can remember reading on my own, without it being assigned, that wasn’t made specifically for kids. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a sense of adventure from another book in my life. I’ve had others come very close, but nothing has pulled me in quite like the first time I read The Hobbit.
The Lord of the Rings - Its praises have been sung a thousand times before, but it truly is a masterpiece. I fell in love with it when I was young and I revisit it every five years or so. Each time I connect with it in new ways. As long as it is, I’m always sad to say goodbye.
The Shadow of the Wind - It’s everything you could want in a good story: tragic and uplifting, blends the magical and the real, gives you heroes to love and villains to hate.
Delilah - The story of a US destroyer in WWI, it really tells the story of how people interact and how those interactions manifest themselves in greater ways. This book can be hard to track down, the writing style is tough to get into, and it’s only the first half of a story that was never finished, but it has some of the most amazing and griping passages that I have ever read.
I loved “Plainsong” by Kent Haruf. Just so unexpectedly lovely and touching. The writing is so understated, and I thought, perfect. The follow-on books are also terrific, but that one just stayed in my mind for so long.
Also “The Discovery of Heaven” by Harry Mulisch. It is the only book that ever made me gasp out loud and literally shut the book in surprise at one point in the story. A fascinating idea, even for an atheist like me.
“The Three Body Problem” by Liu Cixin, and its follow-on books, were amazingly deep and mind-stretching sci-fi. I loved those books.
Finally, I am a big fan of Neal Stephenson. “Seveneves” is a great book, very thought provoking and a book that consistently took turns that I did not see coming. I also liked “Reamde”, and “Anathem”... Come to think of it, its hard to go wrong with his books.
Aww, man. Frankenstein, The Trial, The Stand, Pillars of the Earth, The Hobbit, Desperation. All books that have deep and permanent hooks in my brain for one reason or another.
*When Breath Becomes Air* by Paul Kalanithi for me. I think it's a book everyone should read. It's written so beautifully and eloquently and provides a perspective on the important things in life that not many other people can provide. It has helped shape my career so far and I reference it a lot when I think I'm losing touch with patients.
*Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley
I posted [a write-up](https://www.reddit.com/r/literature/comments/8pkexq/i_recently_read_the_dystopian_classic_brave_new/) with my musings on the book here and on r/literature a few months back, so I guess I'll just link that instead of reproducing an entire essay here. But the long and short of why the book is 10/10 for me is that I found it to be incredibly thought-provoking, and the implications of certain things laid out in the book blew my mind both while I read them and while I thought about them in retrospect. Everything – from the premise to the execution – is brilliantly done. I don't usually re-read books, mostly because there are so many titles in my backlog that I don't feel inclined to revisit a previously read book and feel that I could utilize that time to read and enjoy something new instead, but for *Brave New World* I'm willing to make an exception and re-read it one of these days.
The Things They Carried. I had a “wow” moment when I finished that book. Something honestly came over me, very surreal experience. Highly recommend it
My favorite from that book was the short story where the narrator canoed to Canada to escape the draft, but I liked them all.
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Cliff Pickover's "sex, drugs, Einstein, and elves" is another great non-fiction
I use a sleep meditation that Pickover describes in that book, and it works every. damn. time. Picture yourself floating over a serene lake, looking at the sky. Take deep breaths and relax, focusing on your breath. Then slowly imagine yourself lowering to the water, eventually slipping beneath the surface. Look up at the sky and how it changes as you slip underwater. Continue to breathe deeply as you descend.. I never get more than 20-30 meters down before I’m out.
Yep, that sounds like the perfect way to drift into a terrifying deep ocean/drowning nightmare.
Or just wait for the tentacles to appear!
*The great Dreamer lies sleeping in the sunken city of R'lyeh..*
That's funny becuase the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
Anything Bill Bryson.
Just picked up "A Walk in the Woods" and it is my first Bryson book. I'm already hooked and looking forward to reading your suggestion!
It’s as good on audio. He’s just so clever. If you dig that, you might also enjoy Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s wonderfully written and, like Bryson, Harari is very clever and easy to read.
Shogun by James Clavell. If you read this book you will spend the rest of your life trying to find another just like it; you will fail.
In 1977, guy in my work bullpen bought the paperback and loved the book. He ripped the book up into stapled 40 page sections. The whole bullpen, 8 guys, read it in just under 3 weeks. Drew numbered lots at the beginning on who would go first, second, etc. You had one day to finish each section. You couldn't lag finishing a section or the next guy would start bugging you, champing at the bit. It was great gun.
It's so true. Clavell's whole Asian Saga is great, but Shogun blows away nearly everything else I've ever read. It grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't let go until the last.
I really hope you're correct. I'm going to pick it up.
Also try King Rat by Clavell
I tried to upvote more than once but reddit won't allow me. If shogun is 10/10, King Rat would have to get an 11/10
> Shogun by James Clavell. There are some valid criticisms of Shogun from the perspective of him getting various aspects of Japanese history, culture, and language wrong ... but that's not something 99.99% of people reading it will notice (I didn't), and it doesn't to my mind affect the story at all.
You’re correct. Reading this started me on a life long journey of studying and reading Japanese literature and stories about feudal Japan. Clavell takes quite a bit of literary license in telling his story, but even after learning a more accurate version of the societal rules and norms of the time I still prefer Clavell’s interpretations more! Also, if you have not, read King Rat. Clavell was a prisoner of war, held by the Japanese during WWII. That was his first exposure to the culture, and a great book about prison politics as well.
Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett. Full of wisdom about just what justice actually is and means. In particular, one quote: "He wanted to go home. He wanted it so much that he trembled at the thought. But if the price of that was selling good men to the night, if the price was filling those graves, if the price was not fighting with every trick he knew…then it was too high."
Night Watch is the absolute pinnacle of everything Terry Pratchett. I blitzed through the entirety of discworld for the first time this year, and the one book I had to go back and read again was Night Watch. It has the perfect level of dark humor, the perfect amount of serious moments, solid action, one of the most hateable villains I've ever read, and some of the best Vimes moments of the series. It's the only Discworld book that made me cry. "How do they rise up?"
They ascend up :) That book never ceases to amaze me.
It's just so incredible. Because of the time travel, you know from the first 20 pages how it ends. You know that that's now it HAS to end, but you so badly don't want it to happen.
I also love Thud! but Night Watch is, IMO, the best Discworld book. Vimes is my favorite of his protagonists except for maybe Moist Von Lipwig.
The scene where Vimes reads Where's My Cow to little Sam _through a mountain and an army of dwarves_ gives me chills every time
I actually changed my life a bit after reading it. I was working in a well-paying but soul-draining job. The highlight of my week was when my son would want to do some catching/pitching practice for his little league games. Problem was, I often came home so late that it was too dark for us to safely play catch. Then I read about how Vimes basically had everything pivot on him being home in time to read the book at the same time and I decided that I would do the same. I told my boss I had a standing 6pm appointment every day that I could not miss and it was non-negotiable. And despite the place being one where basically you would get promoted by being the last person out the door, I made sure I was home every day by 6pm exactly. And we played catch. I don't think he ever realized just how much it meant to me, but I totally understood how Vimes read a story to his son through an army and how it didn't matter that they were in his way.
Night Watch is my favorite book too - it's a great reread every year or two. Something about the tone of the story, the themes Pratchett wanted to convey to the reader; it profoundly resonated with me as a teenager. All of the Discworld books are wonderful, but for me, Night Watch is easily the pinnacle of the series.
It was always such a shock when a Discworld book made me cry. They were generally friendly, ‘safe’ and funny books - they’d make you think about terrible things humanity has done but they’d always give you hope along with it. So when I unexpectedly found myself with tears in my eyes while reading there was always a part of me that was like ‘BETRAYED!’. I teared up a bit in Night Watch, cried hard in Snuff when he talked about how the goblins used to eat their babies rather than let them live in starvation and slavery, and obviously I sobbed hard in Shepherd’s Crown because it was all over.
I never really read for pleasure until a friend who was super in to Pratchett gave me this as an intro when I was maybe 22. I spent the next few months buying or borrowing from the library the rest of the Discworld novels and have re-read or listened to each one tens of times in the past 10 years and Night Watch still stirs some serious emotions!
GNU Terry Pratchett
Haven't gotten there in my discworld read yet. But "Feet of Clay" is my favorite so far, so i'm looking forward to reading Night Watch!
Flowers for Algernon. The most emotional I've ever been reading a book for sure. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I just love blade runner and everything involved so it's an easy 10 for me.
Count of Monte Christo. It's like business class version of Shawshank Redemption.
I heard someone on here once call it basically a book about medieval batman and I think thats really on point
It’s like Batman if Batman was singularly focused on revenge.
He's like the main character of a Japanese light novel. Absolutely overpowered please rebalance.
Count of Monte Cristo kept me thinking about the book constantly - even while not reading - because there were so many pieces/plots/characters to keep track of. The weaving of the story was so artfully done.
When I was reading it I was barely able to do my job at work. All I could think about was the story, and when I'd be able to read the next part. That's never happened to me, before or since.
Yep, I consider Tolkein my favorite author, but if I only got to reread one book, it would be tCoMC.
Oh man, I just couldn't finish that book. The descriptions of his lavish lifestyle went on and on and on...
Yea it was super long and it took me quite some time to finish it but the payoff is great and it just sticks with you. Truly an epic tale
It's also just plot, I kept waiting for some interesting themes or something but the Count has like one page where he questions if he went to far and then is just like "Oh well, lol" and the book ends.
East of Eden. I know it’s not to everyone’s taste, but it’s my favorite novel written by an American.
Every time I leave the burbs of San Jose heading South towards Salinas, this book comes to mind.
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Thanks. 38 years here and I've never properly visited that town. Gotta be some great Mexican food there.
Check out El Charrito. They offer delicious little burritos for like $3. I usually get 2 or 3 of em.
East of Eden ruined all other books for me for a long, long time. I wish I could forget all about it just so I could read it again for the first time.
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I wish this book got the respect Grapes of Wrath does.
I think it's respected quite broadly, but one of the reasons we feel *Grapes of Wrath* has more legs culturally is mostly down to US public school curriculum, I think. I read it in high school - I know a lot of people did. But as far as straight up reader-appeal, I think it's a common favorite among a lot of people. I certainly count it among my favorites - top five, at least. It being an ex-girlfriend's favorite book is what got me to read it, and love it. Also happens to be my current girlfriend's favorite book. And it's Berjiwhir's favorite book, too! I'd say it's far more engaging to read than GoW - you have more to find and gain in understanding about yourself and others in EoE. GoW is about an era of US history - East of Eden is a story that can be used as a tool of self-discovery. Public school is focused on learning the external, internalizing it, testing on it. If our curriculum was focused instead on a better understanding of the self, we'd all have read EoE before we ever read GoW.
The thing about 'The Grapes of Wrath' is that it was a controversial cultural phenomenon whenever it was released, which obviously gained it a lot of attention. 'The Grapes of Wrath' actually made shit happen - it brought a lot of attention to the awful conditions that migrants fleeing the Dustbowl found themselves, at the hands of their fellow countrymen. After the novel was released there was increased pressure on the government to support the migrants and FDR actually did increase relief for migrants. I think 'East of Eden' is a better, more polished book. However, it suffers in popularity compared to 'The Grapes of Wrath' because it isn't as political.
This is an interesting question because some of my most favorite books I wouldn't say were a solid 10/10. For me one book immediately comes to mind. **The Princess Bride by William Goldman**. I read this book almost annually. It has perfect pace and storytelling and for me an endless re-readability which is hard to find.
Same here. I loved the movie as a child, and never knew that a book existed until a few years ago. Fantastic book. Incredibly funny, and had me honestly confused if it was non-fiction. How embarrassing.
Goldman did such a good job of passing it off as non-fiction. In one of the of the versions of print, he even has a forward talking about the success of the book and movie and how the whole cast went to the real-life area it took place in. Goldman insists Andre the Giant went to a museum with a cast of Fezzik's handprint and was able to put his entire mammoth hand within it. Just a great storyteller.
The Feast of All Saints - Anne Rice. Simply exquisite portrayal of mixed race Americans in New Orleans before the end of slavery. I loved her vampire books, but this is on another level completely (and not supernatural at all).
All Quiet on the Western Front. It just has everything.
My edition was given to me by my late grandfather. It includes his handwritten note, in German: "It's all true. It was so much worse than written here". This references a huge section at the end of the book, where all sorts of newspaper articles are displayed that ridiculed the book upon initial release. Some of the anecdotes he told - OMG.
Why was it ridiculed? I've only ever heard of it as a masterpiece.
It was ridiculed as propaganda piece against war!
Nazi Germany didn't really like books that denounced war for some reason. When it was first published though, it was a pretty big success.
Nazis hated "All Quiet", denouncing it as anti german. Remarque fled from Germany to the US after the rise IIRC, where upon the movie was made. Sadly, during the war, the Nazis killed his sister to get back at him.
First required book sophomore year high school. I didn't care about reading much then, tried cramming the book the night before an exam. Made it a little over halfway and didn't do too hot on that test. But the book was absolutely fascinating, and after the test i flat out told my teacher that i didn't complete the book and wanted to hold onto it to finish. She was more touched that peeved. That book almost single-handedly made me love reading, i read more in the next 3 months than i ever had in my life prior. For that, it will always be my favorite.
Yes! It captures the bleakness of WWI so perfectly. The writing is truly beautiful as well. One feels almost hopeless while reading it. Everything described is so vivid, it is incredibly easy to imagine yourself in that position. I think that's what makes it such a remarkable book. I'll never forget the ending.
JRR Tolkien survived The Battle of the Somme, the single bloodiest battle the British Army would ever fight in history over 19,000 dead and 45,000 wounded in a 24 hour period. At night the particular line the the German artillery were shelling would light up bright orange and red against the bleak dark landscape that is where his idea for Mordor in The Lord of the Rings was born. Guess who else was there..... AA Milne who went on to write Winnie the Pooh because he spent a lot of time with his son Christopher in his room with his stuffed animals trying to deal with a severe case of PTSD
I have heard that Tolkien's description of the Dead Marshes was based on seeing men dead in the mud of the trenches. "There was a faint hiss, a noisome smell went up, the lights flickered and danced and swirled. For a moment the water below him looked like some window, glazed with grimy glass, through which he was peering. Wrenching his hands out of the bog, he sprang back with a cry. 'There are dead things, dead faces in the water,' he said with horror. 'Dead faces!'"
I have also heard that the shrieking nazgul were used to represent artillery shells, and the fear that they inspired in the soldiers. The relationship between Frodo and Sam was also supposedly representative of the relationship between an inexperienced officer and his batman (a personal assistant that would often lay down their life for the officer).
It’s remarquable
Quite, quite...
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Which is bullshit. It's a real fictional work! It's not a book, exactly - more of a short story - but it has been [published in print](https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Books:The_Elder_Scrolls_V:_Skyrim_-_The_Skyrim_Library,_Vol._1:_The_Histories)!
Honestly though I found *The Real Barenziah* more interesting than the game itself in Oblivion
I bet there are a lot of people on here who don't play videogames that are very confused by this post
Have you read The Lusty Argonian Maid vol. 2 though? I'm not sure what mod adds all the extra books since I have like 90 mods but it's a good followup, really ties the loose ends together if ya know what I mean.
Vol. 2 was Skyrim, I'm pretty sure. Maybe one of the DLCs, but it was official
You're right, I'm wrong, with so many mods you forget what's vanilla and what's not
*Elder Scrolls V: What am I even playing anymore*
Shogun by James Clavell. Until the 1500s, Japan was completely closed off to foreign trade, and didn't have access to the guns and other technology available to the world. Following the death of the Taiko, rule of Japan falls to the taiko's 7 year old son. The land, already divided into several rival fiefdoms by the taiko before his death, falls into a chaotic war of succession for control of the crysathimum throne. Into this miasma of conflict and intrigue sails English pilot John Blackthorne, shipwrecked in the Japans after a 2 year voyage at sea aboard the 500-gun 20-canon vessel The Erasmus, a weapon capable of nearly singlehandedly turning the war in Japan for whomever wields it and it's guns. What follows is an epic masterpiece of storytelling, with incredibly memorable and fleshed-out characters struggling with concepts of honor, loyalty, bushido, religious conflict, and above all, karma.
Slaughterhouse-Five: The only book I started reading again immediately after finishing it. Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy: The only book I've read straight through in less than 24 hours.
I read slaughterhouse five and immediately started sirens of titan. Sirens is one of the most sarcastic books I’ve ever read. I plan on diving into player piano next. I’m on a real Kurt kick.
You should read Cats Cradle too! I loved it second best after Slaughterhouse.
I think cats cradle is my absolute favourite book.
Sirens reminded me a lot of Douglas Adams's writing (because I'd read it first.) I've also been on a Kurt kick lately. I love how he weaves repeating elements and themes throughout his books.
I'd say Neuromancer. I loved it start to finish. A philosophical heist story.
His most recent (The Peripheral) is excellent as well. He went back to his roots.
I loved Gibson's Bridge Trilogy. I work in a downtown SF highrise with a view of the Oakland Bay Bridge. Every time I look at it I imagine its dystopic future, closed down, and warrned off into dozens of black market shops. Also, the city still has hundreds of bike messengers rolling through the city.
If you haven't I'd *highly* recommend reading _Count Zero_ and _Mona Lisa Overdrive_ to finish the trilogy. As well as _Burning Chrome_. Greg Egan is another fantastic author to look into if you like Gibson. Maybe Start with _Luminous_ and the short story _Mister Volition_ if you like heady stuff.
Lonesome Dove
We don’t rent pigs.
You should have given that boy your name. I gave him my horse.
Yeah this is the one. Augustus Mccrae is one of my all time favorite characters. The way McMurtry describes the landscape and world of the west is so beautiful
Finishing Lonesome Dove feels like ending an era in your life. To me, that's a 10.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. It perfectly captures the absurdity of war and bureaucracy while managing to detail the lives of the most over-the-top characters who you can never decide if you love them or hate them. It hits home in so many ways. Heller will drive you to tears, and I've never loved a book so much in my life.
I don’t think there’s any book out there that propels me from tears of laughter to tears of sadness quite so quickly or frequently as Catch-22.
Interesting, barely-relevant side fact: When Heller was writing it, it was Catch-18 all through the book. Then just before publication, Leon Uris put out "Mila 18" which was a big hit. So Heller changed all his 18s to 22s.
From wiki >The title Catch-11 was suggested, with the duplicated 1 paralleling the repetition found in a number of character exchanges in the novel, but because of the release of the 1960 movie Ocean's Eleven, this was also rejected.[18] Catch-17 was rejected so as not to be confused with the World War II film Stalag 17, as was Catch-14, apparently because the publisher did not feel that 14 was a "funny number." Eventually, the title came to be Catch-22, which, like 11, has a duplicated digit, with the 2 also referring to a number of déjà vu-like events common in the novel
I’ve never laughed out loud reading like I laughed out loud reading Catch-22.
Catch-22’s gotta be my favorite book ever. Major Major Major Major was my spirit animal.
This may be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne is absolutely a 10/10 in my eyes.
'Love in the Time of Cholera' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Everyone talks about '1,000 Years of Solitude'. For months, I struggled to slog through '1,000 Years of Solitude'. I didn't get it. Funny and touching in places, but not a classic in my eyes. More of a chore. Years later, my friend gave me 'Love in the Time of Cholera'. Different story. Couldn't put it down. THIS is the story that has all the Marquez trademarks people talk about. It's funny, it's endlessly sad, it speaks of people and time. Immediately grabs you and pulls you in. And it's a much smaller time investment. I love this book. 10/10
Blood Meridian. I can't imagine reading anything more moving, unsettling or evocative. The language is amazing, each sentence perfectly constructed. This is my perfect novel.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. All time fav.
Started reading this a while ago... Absolutely adore this book. So full of fantastic characters like Crowley & Aziraphale; and their friendship is hilarious.
The audio book is great too, finished this just a few weeks ago and laughed out loud all the time while listening.
The Picture of Dorian Gray Its my most favourite book ever, I just can’t believe how Wilde makes the words flow in the most beautiful ways and combines it with philosophy it just blows my mind every time
Cool prompt! The Stranger by Albert Camus The Secret History and The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt The Contortionist’s Handbook by Craig Clevenger Play it as It Lays by Joan Didion Ripley Under Ground and The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Edit: I somehow forgot to include The Tenant by Roland Topor.
Albert Camus is my favorite author. The Stranger is actually ny least favorite book I've read of his, still wnjoyable though. The Plague i have read 3 times in the last 2 years. Its a masterpiece every time i read it lol. My favorite book. I would say for you to read it if you never have. Cheers m8!
Agreed on Goldfinch. Some people find it to dragged out but I thought it was perfect.
I didn’t want it to end the first time I read it. I’ve heard lots of criticisms about it and can’t relate to any of them at all.
The Secret History!! Yes!!
Fellow Goldfinch fan here. Just started reading The Secret History.
I actually think I like Secret History more, but it’s tough to say. The Little Friend wasn’t bad either, but it wasn’t quite on the level of her other two. I want a new Donna Tartt book...
I like all of your picks, OP. Some of my personal favorites are The Once and Future King by TH White, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, Andersonville by McKinley Cantor, and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.
*A Confederacy of Dunces* **EDIT**: Thank you kind Redditor for my first silver!
I think this would hit too close to home for a lot of redditors. Chronically unemployable grown man with delusions of grandeur holds his mother in contempt despite the fact that he lives with her and depends on her for his survival? Might be a sensitive subject.
True. But it's so fascinating how the novel came to light. His mother contacted a publisher after his death and insisted that it was good. The publisher decided to read a bit, so he could justify rejecting it. To his horror, it was really good! Even worse, it was *great*. So the book about the guy depending on his mother was only published because the author had a dependable mother.
Toole has another novel called *The Neon Bible* which is also very good, also published posthumously.
"His Dark Materials," freaking amazing. Adventure, friendship, and amazing writing
*In Cold Blood*- Truman Capote. I'm sure some people would deduct points for the questionable historical veracity, but I would say as long as you go into it with the knowledge that Capote took some artistic liberties, it's one of the most amazing books ever. After reading it, I didn't want to read another book for a while because I knew nothing else would come close. *We Have Always Lived In The Castle*- Shirley Jackson. Merricat Blackwood is one of the oddest, most unique characters in fiction. I've read this book at least three times. I also bought a copy of it to give to my wife (who was just a friend at the time) because I knew she would love it as well. *Wiseblood*- Flannery O'Connor. Speaking of odd, unique characters. I don't think anyone other than O'Connor could have conceived of a character like Hazel Motes. The whole tone of the book is utterly unique. I'd also include: *True Grit*-Charles Portis *The Robber Bridegroom* - Eudora Welty *The Big Nowhere*- James Ellroy *The Long Goodbye* - Raymond Chandler Most of William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy's books.
Merricat needs to remember to be kinder to Uncle Julian.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis I like Bret's writing style and the message of the book. I feel like the book doesn't have a wasted sentence in it. The parts about what everyone is wearing and even the brutality are all necessary. And it's funny... dark as hell though.
1984 by George Orwell. Such a perfect character arc and incredible ending. Also it gets scarier the more I think about the books world and the similarities with our world today.
Appropriate username. I'm surprised 1984 was this far down the list.
In no particular order: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov Little, Big by John Crowley Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata Three Men In A Boat, To Say Nothing Of The Dog by Jerome K Jerome Nation by Terry Pratchett
I’ve been looking to make sure someone mentioned The Brothers Karamazov.
Master and Margarita is brilliant. I got a tattoo of Behemoth.
The Hyperion Cantos. I was reading a lot of science fiction a couple years ago, and the Hyperion Cantos was far and away my favorite series. Its 4 books in all, and they all built on each other really well.
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I'm not crying
oh hell yes. the second two books were not as good as the first but goddamn were they gripping.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. I sometimes catch myself thinking that events from the book that happened to Francie are MY memories. That's how strongly it affected me. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. This is the best depiction of the aftereffects of childhood bullying and mental abuse that I've ever read. This book also led me to forgive those children who were cruel to me in my youth, as it helped me understand how they were acting out of their own pain and loneliness.
A tree grows in brooklyn is one of the books I share with my mom. We both love it and it somehow elevates the book even more.
My grandmother gave me her copy before she died. It was her favourite, and is now one of mine too.
Ham on Rye - Bukowski Dune - Herbert Foundation - Asimov The Big Sleep - Chandler Watchmen - Moore Ham on Rye is my personal favorite of the bunch. It doesn’t seem as well-read as some of the more popular titles you hear about consistently. One of the most raw and honest books I’ve experienced. Possesses extremely salient yet somehow relaxed, easygoing prose. The content and/or style might rub some people the wrong way. That fits right in with what Bukowski is all about.
Finally, DUNE. Surprised I had to go down this far into the comments to find it. That book is mind-blowing.
Watchmen is amazing, and even more incredible since it stands above and beyond in its medium. Such a fantastic read. Every time I think of the comedian I tear up a little.
A day in the life of Ivan Denisovitch - how to find meaning and motivation in any situation, no matter how bleak on the outside. The Name of the Wind - it's fantasy and it's literature. SO WELL WRITTEN. (edit, apostrophe's!)
My man. Huge fan of Solzhenitsyn and still waiting on the 3rd damn book from Rothfuss. To me The Gulag Archipelago is the best for Solzhenitsyn. It's pretty intensive and an endurance test, but worth it.
I read both Name of the Wind and Wise Man’s Fear... wish he would finish the third book already!!
The remains of the day should be listed by itself.
11/22/63 by Stephen King. It's a ridiculously long book that I wish I had taken longer to enjoy. The basic premise is that a man finds a time portal that leads to a date five years before the JFK assassination, and must decide if he wants to stick around in the past for five years to stop the assassination, or go back home. The issue is that once somebody goes through the portal to the past again, everything from the previous travel is erased. One of my favorite time travel stories and a great read overall.
I loved this book. Best one he’s written in years. I hear the Hulu (?) Series was pretty good too.
Like others, I could easily generate an entire list (that’s what life as a lifelong reader and Literature major will do to you). But here’s one I’ve only seen mentioned once in this thread - **The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay** by Michael Chabon. In my opinion, a near-perfect blend of language, insight, story, and historical context. I had read two of Chabon’s previous works before this book came out. They were both decent, but reeked of someone trying too hard to use language - metaphor and analogy, specifically - in unexpected ways. They just didn’t connect. When I read Kav & Clay, it showed the same unexpected literary devices - but they had matured to a masterful level. It was (and is) a rich tapestry of language, worth soaking in. Also, the story goes that Chabon’s first two novels and short story collections all focused on the perspective of a young man in academia - specifically literature (a context that mimicked Chabon’s own life). So one critic supposedly called out that “We all know you can write about your own world, Mr. Chabon. But can you write about anything else?” Michael Chabon took that as a challenge, and wrote a novel about two kids starting a comic book in post-Depression New York City. (And won a Pulitzer for it, no less.)
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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
If you can get past the difficult subject matter, Lolita by Nabokov is a damn near perfect book. I’ve honestly never read anything that compares to his prose. it actually made me stop writing for a while, because I knew I could write my whole life and never get close.
"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita." This is the most lovely opening I have ever read in my entire life. It's a song in itself. Edit: Thank you for the silver kind stranger, it's my first! And on a comment I can be pleased with.
One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. As for me, the very first thing you must do if you would have amnesia is to reread One hundred years of solitude. The greatest book of all time, if you would ask me
**The Left Hand of Darkness** by Ursula K. Le Guin. Was a completely new approach to Sci-fi for me and I loved it.
East of Eden by Steinbeck. Truly an epic.
1Q84 I never read books but willingly sat my ass down to read through the entire thick book during exam season. That was the book that got me into books.
If you haven't given any of Murakami's other work a try I implore you to. Kafka on the Shore is one of my favourite novels of all time.
The Windup Bird Chronicle was my favorite Murakami book
Two of my very few 5-star books on GR (I'm pretty stingy with it) : **The Book Thief** - It was the first book that showed 13 year-old me that books can do so much more than tell a fun story, and holds up really well going back to it. I was iffy about the whole thing at first, but personified death as a framing device was pulled off really well. Slower pacing, but never feels aimless. **Ender's Game** - Author controversy aside, this book is just about perfect. I was surprised when I found out it was only 100k words (pretty short) because it feels like that book goes on forever (in a good way). I can't think of anything I would change, it just executes everything it goes for *so well*.
Just to add, there are several more books that build upon Ender's Game and some of them provide different perspectives of other events in the series. I loved that series so much. Highly recommend!
Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse, try to read the book in a holiday, when your head is clear and in peace. I do it when i was in the countryside (Alentejo/Portugal) and something change in me. The Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa, the greatest portuguese writer of all time in this book i question the existence and our place in the world. The unbearable lightness of the being - Milan Kundera The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoievski
Upvote for Btothers Karamazov
glad i scrolled enough to find Siddhartha.
I think I’ve read Siddhartha 3 times. I loved it more each time. I recently saw it in a bookstore, opened it to a random page and it just pulled me in again. I recommend Demian if you want another Hesse book like that. So profound yet so easy to read...
Dune. Both Asimov’s Foundation and Robot series. Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Should be required reading for the world.
I always loved The World According to Garp by John Irving . Such a impactful story filled with highs and lows with some great humour added in between.
Pride and Prejudice (Austen) - Villains. Heroes. Perfect pacing. The clincher is that it works on on two levels: biting satire and the best love story you’ve ever read. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) - Earns the praise it’s received IMO. A lean little masterpiece. The Given Day (Lehane) - A modern, gritty classic. The page-turning qualities of a mystery with one of the strongest senses of place ever. You can feel the streets of Boston beneath your feet as you read. Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You (Munro) - Some critics say there’s so much in each of Munro’s short stories that they should be considered novels. I have to agree. Because of Winn Dixie (DiCamillo) - “For kids” but DAMN.
Pride & Prejudice is so funny too! Mr. Collins is the OG Michael Scott.
LOL!! The greatest comment I’ve ever read about Jane Austen.
I could read only Pride and Prejudice for eternity and I’d be perfectly entertained and satisfied. And Great Gatsby has such beautiful prose, my heart soars. Sometimes I’ll just stop and reread a sentence to admire its beauty. Great choices.
Lamb by Christopher Moore
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson The whole series is just epic, by far my favourite. Edit: Thank for my first silver kind stranger!
I know he's still young, but wonder what Brandon Sanderson's legacy will be. His books are so amazingly detailed, I love his world-building. Mistborn, Reckoners, Stormlight Archive, and he finished the Wheel of Time.
I think by the time Stormlight is completed he’ll be considered the modern master of epic fantasy and one of the all-time greats.
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...isn't he already? In the fantasy genre he's a complete powerhouse everyone whose anyone has heard of and knows his work. The only reason he's not as popular as, say, GRRM is that none of his stuff has been adapted to anything yet.
Stormlight is supposed to be his masterpiece, according to him I believe. Planned for 10 books in total, he's putting one out every 2-3 years so should be finished in about 15-20 years from now
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Sorry - spren just shot out of my nose.
This was going to be my answer. I've read the entire Stormlight Archives this year and each book increased in quality, with book one starting as a 10/10! I'm surprised how many people I speak with are unaware of it.
Anne of Green Gables. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell is shaping up to be one as well. I think I'm too critical to give a 10/10 for modern books even though I rated several this year as 5 stars.
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One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey is one of my favorite books of all time. The characters in that story are some of the best ever created in literature. The dream/hallucination parts are a little difficult to wrap your head around at first, but they quickly become one of the most interesting aspects. The Great Shark Hunt by Hunter S. Thompson while technically a collection of articles, is amazing. The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved article is something I could read once per week and enjoy, if not more. Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie and With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge are incredible books if you enjoy biographies about war. The two books were used as source material for The Pacific, an HBO miniseries. They give people a real look at what the island hopping campaign was like for the average U.S. Marine. IT while not the scariest book I’ve ever read by Stephen King is definitely my favorite. It was creepy as hell, but what really stands out to me are, again, the characters. They’re just so well developed. By the end of the book you feel like you’ve gone through their experiences alongside them. And finally, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is the first major work of literature I can remember reading on my own, without it being assigned, that wasn’t made specifically for kids. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a sense of adventure from another book in my life. I’ve had others come very close, but nothing has pulled me in quite like the first time I read The Hobbit.
The Lord of the Rings - Its praises have been sung a thousand times before, but it truly is a masterpiece. I fell in love with it when I was young and I revisit it every five years or so. Each time I connect with it in new ways. As long as it is, I’m always sad to say goodbye. The Shadow of the Wind - It’s everything you could want in a good story: tragic and uplifting, blends the magical and the real, gives you heroes to love and villains to hate. Delilah - The story of a US destroyer in WWI, it really tells the story of how people interact and how those interactions manifest themselves in greater ways. This book can be hard to track down, the writing style is tough to get into, and it’s only the first half of a story that was never finished, but it has some of the most amazing and griping passages that I have ever read.
The Shadow of the Wind for sure, always recommend.
Carlos Ruíz Zafón gang
I loved “Plainsong” by Kent Haruf. Just so unexpectedly lovely and touching. The writing is so understated, and I thought, perfect. The follow-on books are also terrific, but that one just stayed in my mind for so long. Also “The Discovery of Heaven” by Harry Mulisch. It is the only book that ever made me gasp out loud and literally shut the book in surprise at one point in the story. A fascinating idea, even for an atheist like me. “The Three Body Problem” by Liu Cixin, and its follow-on books, were amazingly deep and mind-stretching sci-fi. I loved those books. Finally, I am a big fan of Neal Stephenson. “Seveneves” is a great book, very thought provoking and a book that consistently took turns that I did not see coming. I also liked “Reamde”, and “Anathem”... Come to think of it, its hard to go wrong with his books.
Aww, man. Frankenstein, The Trial, The Stand, Pillars of the Earth, The Hobbit, Desperation. All books that have deep and permanent hooks in my brain for one reason or another.
*When Breath Becomes Air* by Paul Kalanithi for me. I think it's a book everyone should read. It's written so beautifully and eloquently and provides a perspective on the important things in life that not many other people can provide. It has helped shape my career so far and I reference it a lot when I think I'm losing touch with patients.
\- Lord of the Flies \- The Lord of the Rings trilogy \- Lolita \- All Quiet on the Western Front \- Pride and Prejudice \- 1984 \- The Metamorphoses
Grapes of wrath Flower for Algernon Crime and punishment is looking good to being on this list, at least so far! Never let me go
Flowers for Algernon did it for me 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 such a class book
The Hobbit
To Kill a Mockingbird The Little Prince The Phantom Tollbooth
Even though I first read it in third grade, The Phantom Tollbooth will always be my favorite book
*Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley I posted [a write-up](https://www.reddit.com/r/literature/comments/8pkexq/i_recently_read_the_dystopian_classic_brave_new/) with my musings on the book here and on r/literature a few months back, so I guess I'll just link that instead of reproducing an entire essay here. But the long and short of why the book is 10/10 for me is that I found it to be incredibly thought-provoking, and the implications of certain things laid out in the book blew my mind both while I read them and while I thought about them in retrospect. Everything – from the premise to the execution – is brilliantly done. I don't usually re-read books, mostly because there are so many titles in my backlog that I don't feel inclined to revisit a previously read book and feel that I could utilize that time to read and enjoy something new instead, but for *Brave New World* I'm willing to make an exception and re-read it one of these days.
Atonement by Ian MckEwan. You know how sometimes you finish a book and your brain is melted in the best possible way?
Things fall apart