Your Most Influential/Favorite Book

[Angie]

And I've read all of the Harry Potter books multiple times. I absolutely love them, they are incredibly well written, especially toward the end of the series. It's second behind A Song of Fire and Ice as my favorite series.

Both of these series do an exceptional job at building on little things in the earlier books that seemed throwaway at the time.

I'm admittedly sort of a book snob - I generally don't read many books unless they're about 75 years old or older, but both of these series captivated me.

 

[InAWord]

Great Expectations - Dickens (original ending) This was the first book I remember reading as a teen that didn't have the usual 'happy or perfect' ending.

Catcher in the Rye - Salinger

To Kill a Mockingbird - Lee

In Cold Blood - Capote Absolutely brilliant writing.

 

[JP4CY]

Lot's of Sci Fi mentioned and no Hitchhikers Guide yet?
Loved the book, hated the movie (a la previously mentioned Starship Troopers)

 

[bawbie]

Both of these series do an exceptional job at building on little things in the earlier books that seemed throwaway at the time.

I was utterly floored at the way Rowling tied everything together in Book 7. It was absolutely amazing.

 

[JP4CY]

Never read The Chosen​, but the other two are fantastic.

It was a powerful book when I read it as a young teen.

 

[cowgirl836]

Little Women, Little House on the Prairie, and the Harry Potter series.

Not life-changing, but I enjoy reading them and they all have a good message.

 

[DistrictCyclone]

I'll also throw out
Fear And Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 - Hunter S. Thompson
-everybody knows about his other Fear and Loathing book, but Campaign Trail is an incredible glimpse of the inside of a presidential campaign. If you're a political junkie at all, left or right, it's worth a read.

It's a good read, for sure. He kind of gives up after McGovern got the nomination and it was easy-street for Nixon, but his "coverage" of the Democratic primaries is great.

Another good book from that era is All the President's Men...and the movie is awesome, too.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Also wanted to add The Iliad and The Odyssey. The fact that these are such good reads after 2800 years is simply amazing.

 

[FarminCy]

Forgot to add that I had to read Lolita for a class. It was memorable in a very weird creepy uncomfortable sort of way. I was very happy to be done reading that one.

 

[bawbie]

Lot's of Sci Fi mentioned and no Hitchhikers Guide yet?
Loved the book, hated the movie (a la previously mentioned Starship Troopers)

No! You can't compare the Hitchhiker's movie to Starship Troopers! That's just blasphemy. It wasn't a great movie, but I thought i followed the spirit of the books quite well. And I'm a sucker for all things Zooey Deschanel, so maybe that's part of it.

but yes, the Hitchhiker's series is another favorite of mine.

 

[DistrictCyclone]

I was wondering how long it would take for a book thread to appear, and I'm pretty impressed at the posts.

There are 2 "books" that I rank as the most influential to me...one is the Federalist Papers. The outright brilliance and forethought of this government's Founders is astounding. It also makes me wistful for an era in which the limited means of communication ensured that ideas were well communicated, mulled over, and thoughtfully debated. I often think about how profound men like Jefferson and Hamilton would be in today's world, where they could discuss their visions through Twitter and blogs and such...and my guess is that they'd be much less cogent. By essentially hand-writing letters back and forth to each other, they really had to think about what they were saying.

The other is Administrative Behavior, by Herbert Simon. As one who studied government, it's the opposite end of the spectrum from the Federalist Papers; rather than outlining broad ideals that government should be built upon, it digs into the actual structure of government to find out how it works, and how it should work. Simon is an absolute genius, but I don't recommend it to anyone who's not interested in how organizations function.

As far as favorite books go, Orwell's 1984 and Dashiel Hammett's The Maltese Falcon are two books that I cannot put down once I start reading them. It's amazing how the way words are arranged on a page can be so suspenseful and captivating.

 

[carvers4math]

I have read King Lear many times. Not sure exactly why, it is sort of a downer, but the tragic politician theme of so much of Shakespeare's work translates well today too.

For fun, I love reading the Harry Potter books over and over again.

 

[Al_4_State]

"Killing Yourself to Live" Chuck Klosterman

I absolutely love reading Klosterman's stuff. A very interesting perspective, and one that I relate to strongly. He's better at being able to identify his own bull **** than anyone else I've ever seen. His stuff has made me a lot more objective regarding my own bull ****.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I was wondering how long it would take for a book thread to appear, and I'm pretty impressed at the posts.

There are 2 "books" that I rank as the most influential to me...one is the Federalist Papers. The outright brilliance and forethought of this government's Founders is astounding. It also makes me wistful for an era in which the limited means of communication ensured that ideas were well communicated, mulled over, and thoughtfully debated. I often think about how profound men like Jefferson and Hamilton would be in today's world, where they could discuss their visions through Twitter and blogs and such...and my guess is that they'd be much less cogent. By essentially hand-writing letters back and forth to each other, they really had to think about what they were saying.

The other is Administrative Behavior, by Herbert Simon. As one who studied government, it's the opposite end of the spectrum from the Federalist Papers; rather than outlining broad ideals that government should be built upon, it digs into the actual structure of government to find out how it works, and how it should work. Simon is an absolute genius, but I don't recommend it to anyone who's not interested in how organizations function.

As far as favorite books go, Orwell's 1984 and Dashiel Hammett's The Maltese Falcon are two books that I cannot put down once I start reading them. It's amazing how the way words are arranged on a page can be so suspenseful and captivating.

I started reading the Federalist papers, but sadly, I bought a copy with tiny, tiny print, and it killed my old eyes. I need to buy another copy or get it on Kindle (same with the Anti-Federalist papers).

 

[Mr Janny]

One of the interesting things about science fiction is which of the predictions came true. The example I point to a lot is Heinlein writing about a device called a "universal pantograph." It is pretty much a dead-on description of what we now call a 3d printer.

or, Orson Scott Card's depiction of what basically is an IPAD in Ender's Game, 30 years earlier.

 

[Rabbuk]

Oh man I've read most of these and loved them all...my friends always call me a nerd cuz I always have a book going and I always write questions and little tidbits in the margin for the next reader. A few off the top of my head:
The electric koolaid acid test
Zen and the Art of motorcycle maintenance
Julius Caesar or Othello
The Stranger or The Plague by Camus
The Bible- for it's message
The Tao Te Ching and the I ching.

 

[carvers4math]

I started reading the Federalist papers, but sadly, I bought a copy with tiny, tiny print, and it killed my old eyes. I need to buy another copy or get it on Kindle (same with the Anti-Federalist papers).

The US Constitution is a pretty good read. There are actually 9 other amendments in the Bill of Rights besides the 2nd one, who knew?:biglaugh:

 

[VeloClone]

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit have been my escape since I was in junior high. Whenever things get really bad for me I pick them up and read them again. They are so far removed from our world that they afford a total escape for me. I have probably read them all close to two dozen times.

 

[Angie]

Also wanted to add The Iliad and The Odyssey. The fact that these are such good reads after 2800 years is simply amazing.

Have you ever read Metamorphoses by Ovid? It's long, but it's just amazing. Worth a read.

"Killing Yourself to Live" Chuck Klosterman

I absolutely love reading Klosterman's stuff. A very interesting perspective, and one that I relate to strongly. He's better at being able to identify his own bull **** than anyone else I've ever seen. His stuff has made me a lot more objective regarding my own bull ****.

I have to agree - Klosterman is great. Just loved Sex, Love, and Cocoa Puffs - the format makes it a great airplane read if you're traveling a lot.

 

[Wesley]

the karma sutra

Did you read it or just study the pics?