Read
Because reading is fun.
If I know you, hell if I don't know you, and you're interested in one of the following books you can have it.
Some I've already given away or left for others to find. I have a tendency to force literature and documentaries upon kids like a deranged school teacher.
In no particular order…
- A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
- Sierra Leone child soldier tells his story. This book was suggested to me by my cousin after she saw this list. Read it.
- Paper Towns by John Green
- About how everyone misimagines everyone. That's not me guessing at what it is about that's what the author says it is about. If I had to summarize it, it's the literary equivalent of the movie The Girl Next Door.
- Blindness by Jose Saramago
- Along with the optional sequel Seeing. I guess you could say both are about anarchy. Well ones about a world without government and the other is about a world where people act without government.
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Everyone's favorite dystopic novel by a peyote loving Englishman.
- 1984 by George Orwell
- If only for the quote "War is Peace."
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- My copy of 1984 also contains this short novel as well.
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Because banned books are always worth reading.
- Allegory of the cave by Plato
- This is only an excerpt from a larger work and I'm sure the rest of it is nice, but I would just read this bit.
- Night by Elie Wiesel
- One of the few assigned books I was ever really into. Well, I was assigned Brave New World, but I read it before I was assigned it.
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
- Bought my copy in China and the translation is poor, but it's a quick read and you'll get something out of it.
- An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina
- If you've seen the movie Hotel Rwanda, this is an autobiography by the real Paul. Who managed to kick ass when surrounded by suck.
- Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks
- Random pick off a library book shelf, turned out pretty solid.
And some stuff I haven't read, but would like to eventually…
- Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
- When someone that historically crazy writes a book you might as well read it.
- The Turner Diaries by William Luther Pierce
- Associated with a bunch of crazy people. Timothy McVeigh was found with this book.
Those are the two I can think of while I write this. Taboo books are appealing. Did you know Judy Blume is like one of the most banned authors in America, bad ass.
Things I have been assigned or picked up and didn't read/finish…
- The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
- I really wished I liked this book, I really did. Got no time for you J.D.
- Qur'an by Muhammad by way of Gabriel
- I tried, but fuck religious texts. To me they all read like advertisements.
This is actually probably a much much longer list because I stop reading a book if I'm not interested in the first maybe 10-20 pages. Had I read them maybe I would remember them. But I suggest none of them.
If you have a book you think is quality let me know because I'll find it and probably read it. I haven't read everything people have suggested to me, but I have obtained every book suggested to me with the intention of reading it. I think I have about an 8-10 book backup right now. It should thin out though because I probably won't like half of them and as stated above I'm not going to waste my time grinding through a book that bores me.