Recent Reads

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan: This book can be summed up in one passage: "It was not the sea that was cruel, but the people." The novel was entertaining enough, but it was on the predictable side and didn't offer anything I haven't read before.  If I could go back and read it again, I wouldn't.

My Ideal Bookshelf by Thessaly La Force (art by Jane Mount): I found this one at Half Price Books and scooped it up immediately. It was so much fun to read about the favorite books of Dave Eggers, Judd Apatow, and Patti Smith, among others; the books that shaped them and those that helped them grow and rethink the world around them. Best of all, it got me thinking about my own ideal bookshelf. 

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole: I didn't know much about this novel before I picked it up, with the exception of the incredible story behind its publication. Turns out, I was in for quite the treat. Ignatius J. Reilly is obnoxious and crude and utterly hilarious. This book had be laughing out loud - a lot. Fortuna was on my side when a friend gifted me this novel a few months back. I am also traveling to New Orleans in May and I'm so happy to have read this before my trip.

Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner: This book kept popping up on "Favorite Love Story" lists around Valentine's Day and I'm so glad it fell on my radar. This is a sweet, charming love story about two Russian children who meet in ESL class and are forever connected. Tanner writers in simple language and a fresh voice; you could probably finish this one in a day if you wanted to.

Favorite Books Read in 2012

2012 was a pretty good year in reading for me. I set a goal to read 50 books and as of today I'm at 45, which puts me a little behind pace but I'm alright with that. Below is a list of my favorite books I read in 2012, listed in order. Some are new releases and others are much older.

1 . Native Son by Richard Wright, 1940: This might be the most powerful book I've read in my adulthood thus far. Not only is this an explicit and heart-wrenching account of the perils of the black man in 1930's America (and in some cases, they story is also relevant today), but it is truly a page-turner. Despite the brutal and affecting details, I was completely engrossed in this book.

2. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple, 2012: I don’t have anything profound to say about this novel, except that I enjoyed it immensely. Bernadette is certainly one of the more memorable characters I’ve read this year; she has her flaws but is completely likeable at the same time. The novel as a whole is funny, sharp-witted, and immensely readable.

3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King, 2011: The premise of the novel is what initially drew me to this book, but in the end the reasons I adored it so much was not because it was a time travel novel (I'm a serious sucker for those) but because it was truly moving and really made me think about destiny how the choices we make today change our future in a way we can't even imagine.

4. East of Eden by John Steinbeck, 1952: Steinbeck's prose is straightforward and his setting rich. The novel spans three generations of two families and although it's a thick book, it is not at all hard to follow and reads a lot quicker than I thought it would. The novel delights and engages from start to finish.

5. People Who Eat Darkenss by Ricahrd Llyod Parry, 2012: I didn't expect to read this one in just a few days, but it was just so fascinating. This non-fiction book reads like fiction and follows the disappearance of Lucie Blackman; a young English woman who moves to Toyko in hopes of a more exciting life. It turns out, this is much more than a true crime book. It's also a lens for what happens behind closed doors in eastern culture, like an anthropological look at the darker, hidden aspects of this culture and their obsession with ritual and role play.

6. The Round House by Louise Erdrich, 2012: When I first heard about this novel I pegged it for a powerful book that could expose me to a way of living with which I was not very familiar and Erdrich delivered. This is a story that will pull at your heart strings and make you reconsider the rights and tangle of laws surrounding Native Americans.

7. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, 2012: This was probably the most widely talked about book of 2012, and for good reason. I had so much fun reading it mostly because Flynn is really good at setting you up to believe one thing and then turning it around completely, leaving your head spinning.

8. Moon Palace by Paul Auster, 1990: This is a book that offers unlikely adventure, a bit of mystery, and a whole lot of heartache. As always, the characterization of Auster's main character is incredibly believable, but also unconventional. The plethora of characters and events of the novel are whimsical and odd, but also complex and exuberant, making for a fun and intelligent read.

9. Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski, 1982:  Ham on Rye is a semi-autobiographical novel of Bukowski's childhood; it's a coming-of-age story, but it's quite different from most other novels I've read in that genre. The prose is straightforward but powerful, the diction is crude but intriguing. The novel as a whole is about the awkwardness that is adolescence and growing up in a time when there was little opportunity and making the most out of it.

10. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1985: There is so much to examine throughout this novel. It explores a myriad of human emotions. It's a novel about love, loss, sex, passion, hope, and obsession. Although the chapters go on forever, there is careful attention to detail that I really enjoyed. But this isn't your mushy-gushy love story, not even close. This novel takes patience, but it's worth the effort.

Book Riot Readers’ Top 50 Favorite Novels

You know I'm a sucker for lists! Awhile back Book Riot asked its readers to vote on their top 3 favorite novels. They complied the list and posted the results. Only one of my votes made the list - The Time Traveler's Wife. The other books I voted for were Richard Wright's Native Son and Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake. 

1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (126 votes)
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien
7. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
10. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
11. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
12. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
13. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
14. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
15. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
16. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
17. The Stand by Stephen King
18. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
19. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
20. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
21. Persuasion by Jane Austen
22. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
23. The Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
24. The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon
25. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
26. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
27. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
28. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
29. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
30. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
31. 1984 by George Orwell
32. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
33. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
34. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
35. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
36. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
37. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams
38. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
39. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
40. Ulysses by James Joyce
41. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
42. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
43. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
44. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
45. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
46. Dune by Frank Herbert
47. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
48. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
49. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 
50. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (13 votes)

How many have you read? Go over here and let BookRiot know!  

Also, if you voted, which books did you vote for?

Books That Make You Think

This week's top ten Tuesday gives me a chance to highlight some of my favorite kinds of books; those that make you think. Allow me to elaborate - these are books that examine an issue that doesn't have a "right" or "wrong" answer ; these books present both sides of an issue, open your eyes to it, and make you really think about about where you stand, or make you question what you thought you believed in the first place. For me, these books tend to be the most powerful and the most memorable.

Native Son by Richard Wright / What you'll consider: Civil rights; discrimination in the American judicial system; racism; generational poverty

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers / What you'll consider: What in means to be an American Muslim post 9/11; racial profiling; hypocrisy of governments

People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Llyod Parry / What you'll consider: Eastern vs. Western culture in terms of media, law, sexual behavior and government; how culture determines gender roles

The Submission by Amy Waldman / What you'll consider: What it means to be an American Muslim post 9/11; government propaganda; the non-apologetic attitude of modern-day America; the irrationality of certain post 9/11 fears

them by Joyce Carol Oates / What you'll consider: Poverty in America; class struggle; the role of women

Animal Farm by George Orwell / What you'll consider: The problems that arise from absolute power/totalitarian regimes; political corruption; the human desire for power

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugindes / What you'll consider: Cultural history; divided identities; the impact one has on the lives around him or her; gender vs. sex

11/22/63 by Stephen King / What you'll consider: The power of "what if;" the idea that the past it obdurate; 

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid / What you'll consider: What it means to be a Muslim in post 9/11 America; the ever-changing American landscape and its consequences

Life of Pi by Yann Martel / What you'll consider: Faith; religion; free will

As I said, these kind of books tend to be my favorite kind of read, so please feel free to leave any recommendations in the comments!   
image via weheartit.

On My Wishlist

It's about this time each year when I frantically add a few last books to my summer reading pile and begin to look forward to the Fall releases. As a result, my wishlist swells and my pocketbook wains. Below are the books at the top of my wishlist.

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn: Everyone has been talking about this book and I've yet to hear anything negative. I need this book and I need it now. Synopsis: Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what did really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was left in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war.

The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fford: I've had this one on my radar for awhile and it seems to be the perfect summer read: fun, imaginative, and smart. Plus, Alley from What Red Read has only been raving about Fford forever now. Synopsis: Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature. When Jane Eyre is plucked from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter the novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide.

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan: I read this short story awhile back and freaking loved it. It became so popular FSG offered Sloan a book deal. Fast-forward two years and the book is almost here! Release date October 2nd. Synopsis: The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never seem to actually buy anything, instead “checking out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr. Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he’s embarked on a complex analysis of the customers’ behavior and roped his friends into helping to figure out just what’s going on. But once they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, it turns out the secrets extend far outside the walls of the bookstore.

The Casual Vacancy, JK Rowling: I don't know if you've heard of this kind of famous author who goes by the name JK Rowling, but she's got a new book for adults coming out September 27th. Some people are kind of excited about it, myself included. Synopsis: When Barry Fairweather dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

The Round House, Louise Erdrich: This one is going on my "probably will be super powerful" list of books. Synopsis: One of the most revered novelists of our time—a brilliant chronicler of Native-American life—Louise Erdrich returns to the territory of her bestselling, Pulitzer Prize finalist The Plague of Doves with The Round House, transporting readers to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. It is an exquisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family. Riveting and suspenseful, arguably the most accessible novel to date from the creator of Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and The Bingo Palace, Erdrich’s The Round House is a page-turning masterpiece of literary fiction—at once a powerful coming-of-age story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.

Books That Shaped America

The Library of Congress has compiled a list of books that has shaped our nation to celebrate its National Book Festival. As stated in the press release, "This list of ‘Books That Shaped America’ is a starting point. It is not a register of the ‘best’ American books--although many of them fit that description. Rather, the list is intended to spark a national conversation on books written by Americans that have influenced our lives, whether they appear on this initial list or not," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "We hope people will view the list and then nominate other titles. Finally, we hope people will choose to read and discuss some of the books on this list, reflecting our nation’s unique and extraordinary literary heritage, which the Library of Congress makes available to the world."

If you ask me I think that's pretty admirable. I've copied the list below straight from The Library of Congress.Do you have any favorites on this list? Would you add or remove anything? I know the list specifies books that shapes America, but I can't help but think there are a few authors missing. No Poe? Vonnegut? Updike? Cather?

Experiments and Observations on Electricity	Benjamin Franklin	1751
Poor Richard Improved and The Way to Wealth	Benjamin Franklin	1758
Common Sense	Thomas Paine	1776
A Grammatical Institute of the English Language	Noah Webster	1783
The Federalist	anonymous	1787
A Curious Hieroglyphick Bible	anonymous	1788
A Survey of the Roads of the United States of America	Christopher Colles	1789
The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin, LL.D.	Benjamin Franklin	1793
American Cookery	Amelia Simmons	1796
New England Primer	anonymous	1803
History of the Expedition Under the Command of the Captains Lewis and Clark	Meriwether Lewis	1814
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow	Washington Irving	1820
McGuffey's Newly Revised Eclectic Primer	William Holmes McGuffey	1836
Peter Parley's Universal History	Samuel Goodrich	1837
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass	Frederick Douglass	1845
The Scarlet Letter	Nathaniel Hawthorne	1850
Moby-Dick; or The Whale	Herman Melville	1851
Uncle Tom's Cabin	Harriet Beecher Stowe	1852
Walden; or Life in the Woods	Henry David Thoreau	1854
Leaves of Grass	Walt Whitman	1855
Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy	Louisa May Alcott	1868
The American Woman's Home	Catharine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe	1869
Mark, the Match Boy	Horatio Alger Jr.	1869
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain	1884
How the Other Half Lives	Jacob Riis	1890
Poems	Emily Dickinson	1890
The Red Badge of Courage	Stephen Crane	1895
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	L. Frank Baum	1900
Harriet, the Moses of Her People	Sarah H. Bradford	1901
The Call of the Wild	Jack London	1903
The Souls of Black Folk	W.E.B. Du Bois	1903
The History of Standard Oil	Ida Tarbell	1904
The Jungle	Upton Sinclair	1906
The Education of Henry Adams	Henry Adams	1907
Pragmatism	William James	1907
Riders of the Purple Sage	Zane Grey	1912
Family Limitation	Margaret Sanger	1914
Tarzan of the Apes	Edgar Rice Burroughs	1914
New Hampshire	Robert Frost	1923
Spring and All	William Carlos Williams	1923
The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald	1925
The Weary Blues	Langston Hughes	1925
Red Harvest	Dashiell Hammett	1929
The Sound and the Fury	William Faulkner	1929
Joy of Cooking	Irma Rombauer	1931
Gone With the Wind	Margaret Mitchell	1936
How to Win Friends and Influence People	Dale Carnegie	1936
Idaho: A Guide in Word and Pictures	Federal Writers' Project	1937
Their Eyes Were Watching God	Zora Neale Hurston	1937
Our Town: A Play	Thornton Wilder	1938
Alcoholics Anonymous	anonymous	1939
The Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck	1939
For Whom the Bell Tolls	Ernest Hemingway	1940
Native Son	Richard Wright	1940
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	Betty Smith	1943
A Treasury of American Folklore	Benjamin A. Botkin	1944
A Street in Bronzeville	Gwendolyn Brooks	1945
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care	Benjamin Spock	1946
The Iceman Cometh	Eugene O'Neill	1946
Goodnight Moon	Margaret Wise Brown	1947
A Streetcar Named Desire	Tennessee Williams	1947
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male	Alfred C. Kinsey	1948
The Catcher in the Rye	J.D. Salinger	1951
Charlotte's Web	E.B. White	1952
Invisible Man	Ralph Ellison	1952
Fahrenheit 451	Ray Bradbury	1953
Howl	Allen Ginsberg	1956
Atlas Shrugged	Ayn Rand	1957
The Cat in the Hat	Dr. Seuss	1957
On the Road	Jack Kerouac	1957
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	1960
Catch-22	Joseph Heller	1961
Stranger in a Strange Land	Robert A. Heinlein	1961
Silent Spring	Rachel Carson	1962
The Snowy Day	Ezra Jack Keats	1962
The Feminine Mystique	Betty Friedan	1963
The Fire Next Time	James Baldwin	1963
Where the Wild Things Are	Maurice Sendak	1963
The Autobiography of Malcolm X	Malcolm X and Alex Haley	1965
Unsafe at Any Speed	Ralph Nader	1965
In Cold Blood	Truman Capote	1966
The Double Helix	James D. Watson	1968
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee	Dee Brown	1970
Our Bodies, Ourselves	Boston Women's Health Book Collective	1971
Cosmos	Carl Sagan	1980
And the Band Played On	Randy Shilts	1987
Beloved	Toni Morrison	1987
The Words of Cesar Chavez	Cesar Chavez	2002

Books I Wish I Would Have Skipped

Life is too short to read mediocre books. The list below details the ones that felt like a waste of time to me. Like many things, literary tastes vary among everyone; I am not insinuating these books hold no literary merit or are poorly written, rather I felt that I didn't get much out of them at the time when I read them. I know there are a handful of books on the list that are widely read and greatly enjoyed by many readers, I just wasn't one of them.

The Alchemist / Paulo Coelho: Put simply, I personally believe this to be the most overrated book in existence.

The School of Essential Ingredients / Erica Bauermeister: The book details the inner-workings of a cooking class, briefly delving into the lives and history of each student, with a focus on the cooking instructor. While certain phrases and ideas shined through every now and then, overall I found the story to be blunt and lacking depth. The characters felt contrived and everything wrapped up a little too neatly for my taste.

The Secret of Lost Things / Sheridan Hay: I found this book on Flashlight Worthy's list of Literary Thrillers for Book Lovers. Well, it was less literary than I'd hoped, and the "thriller" was more of a subdued mystery that detailed a long lost Melville manuscript. While the book-lover in me liked the details of the novel and its incorporation of all things bookish, I thought that the overall story was lacking.

The Weird Sisters / Eleanor Brown: I had high hopes for this but mostly I just felt disconnected from the characters and their struggles while reading this book; I wasn't invested or engaged. Also, the first person plural point of view just did not work. I'm not against it if done correctly (ieThen We Came to the End) but there were too many instances where Brown's sentences made me cringe.

The Magicians / Lev Grossman: I felt like this was a Harry Potter wannabe poorly executed. There I said it.

Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded / Samuel Richardson: I know this one is considered to have a whole lot of literary merit but I found the majority of it plain ole BORING with a misogynistic cherry on top.

Sugar In My Bowl / Erica Jong: There was a serious lack of diversity in this collection of essays and many of them felt inauthentic and a bit campy.

She's Come Undone / Wally Lamb: This one was a DNF so maybe it's unfair to put it on this list, but the list itself is pretty unfair so there - story line was lacking and writing was just okay. Mostly the book felt like one big cliche. If you're going to write about someone's big fat depressing life, at least make it worthwhile and interesting to read about, multidimensional even.

The Guernsery Literary and Potato Peel Society / Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: For me, the epistolary format seemed contrived and the vivacious tone wasn't realistic. As far as WWII novels go, the characters were quite upbeat and cheery compared to most. Overall, the novel felt flat.

The Da Vinci Code / Dan Brown: A pseudo-intellectual page-turner that is pretty much as cookie cutter as they come.

What would be on your list? Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

A List of Mid-Year Favorites

I can't believe we are already halfway through 2012.  The first half of the year has been pretty consistent, reading wise. I've completed 27 books as of last week, maintaining at least a book a week for the first half of the year. Among those books, these are my five favorite. 

1.Native Son by Richard Wright: This might be the most powerful book I've read in my adulthood thus far. Not only is this an explicit and heart-wrenching account of the perils of the black man in 1930's America (and in some cases, they story is also relevant today), but it is truly a page-turner. Despite the brutal and affecting details, I was completely engrossed in this book. This is a life-changing read. 

2. 11/22/63 by Stephen King: The premise of the novel is what initially drew me to this book, but in the end the reasons I adored it so much was not because it was a time travel novel (I'm a serious sucker for those) but because it was truly moving and really made me think about destiny how the choices we make today change our future in a way we can't even imagine.

3. People who Eat Darkenss by Ricahrd Llyod Parry: I didn't expect to read this one in just a few days, but it was just so fascinating. This non-fiction novel follows the disappearance of Lucie Blackman; a young English woman who moves to Toyko in hopes of a more exciting life. It turns out, this is much more than a true crime book. It's also a lens for what happens behind closed doors in eastern culture, like an anthropological look at the darker, hidden aspects of this culture and their obsession with ritual and role play.

4. Moon Palace by Paul Auster: This is the fourth novel of his I've read and once again he delivered. This is a book that offers unlikely adventure, a bit of mystery, and a whole lot of heartache. As always, the characterization of Auster's main character is incredibly believable, but also unconventional. The plethora of characters and events Fogg is met with are whimsical and odd, but also complex and exuberant, making for a fun and intelligent read. 

5. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: There is so much to examine throughout this novel. It explores a myriad of human emotions. It's a novel about love, loss, sex, passion, hope, and obsession. Although the chapters go on forever, there is careful attention to detail that I really enjoyed. But this isn't your mushy-gushy love story, not even close. This novel takes patience, but it's worth the effort.

*Gasp* I can't believe there isn't a single female author on this list. 

Another list

I know you all love lists as much as I do! I came across this one yesterday on the Divine Caroline; Thirty Books Everyone Should Read Before They're Thirty. She states " The thirty books listed here are of unparalleled prose, packed with wisdom capable of igniting a new understanding of the world. Everyone should read these books before their thirtieth birthday."

I've got four years left (err.. three and a half) to complete it! I've only crossed out seven so far.

1. Siddhartha by Hermann HesseA powerful story about the importance of life experiences as they relate to approaching an understanding of reality and attaining enlightenment.

2. 1984 by George Orwell1984 still holds chief significance nearly sixty years after it was written in 1949. It is widely acclaimed for its haunting vision of an all-knowing government, which uses pervasive, twenty-four/seven surveillance tactics to manipulate all citizens of the populace.

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeThe story surveys the controversial issues of race and economic class in the 1930s Deep South via a court case of a black man charged with the rape and abuse of a young white girl. It’s a moving tale that delivers a profound message about fighting for justice and against prejudice.

4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A nightmarish vision of insane youth culture that depicts heart wrenching insight into the life of a disturbed adolescent. This novel will blow you away … leaving you breathless, livid, thrilled, and concerned.

5. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest HemingwayA short, powerful contemplation on death, ideology and the incredible brutality of war.

6. War and Peace by Leo TolstoyThis masterpiece is so enormous even Tolstoy said it couldn’t be described as a standard novel. The storyline takes place in Russian society during the Napoleonic Era, following the characters of Andrei, Pierre and Natasha … and the tragic and unanticipated way in which their lives interconnect.

7. The Rights of Man by Tom PaineWritten during the era of the French Revolution, this book was one of the first to introduce the concept of human rights from the standpoint of democracy.

8. The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A famous quote from the book states that “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” This accurately summarizes the book’s prime position on the importance of individual human rights within society.

9. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezThis novel does not have a plot in the conventional sense, but instead uses various narratives to portray a clear message about the general importance of remembering our cultural history.

10. The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Few books have had as significant an impact on the way society views the natural world and the genesis of humankind.

11. The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas MertonA collection of thoughts, meditations and reflections that give insight into what life is like to live simply and purely, dedicated to a greater power than ourselves.

12. The Tipping Point by Malcolm GladwellGladwell looks at how a small idea, or product concept, can spread like a virus and spark global sociological changes. Specifically, he analyzes “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.”

13. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth GrahamArguably one of the best children’s books ever written; this short novel will help you appreciate the simple pleasures in life. It’s most notable for its playful mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie.

14. The Art of War by Sun TzuOne of the oldest books on military strategy in the world. It’s easily the most successful written work on the mechanics of general strategy and business tactics.

15. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. TolkienOne of the greatest fictional stories ever told, and by far one of the most popular and influential written works in twentieth-century literature. Once you pick up the first book, you’ll read them all.

16. David Copperfield by Charles DickensThis is a tale that lingers on the topic of attaining and maintaining a disciplined heart as it relates to one’s emotional and moral life. Dickens states that we must learn to go against “the first mistaken impulse of the undisciplined heart.”

17. Four Quartets by T.S. EliotProbably the wisest poetic prose of modern times. It was written during World War II, and is still entirely relevant today … here’s an excerpt: “The dove descending breaks the air/With flame of incandescent terror/Of which the tongues declare/The only discharge from sin and error/The only hope, or the despair/Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre–/To be redeemed from fire by fire./Who then devised this torment?/Love/Love is the unfamiliar Name/Behind the hands that wave/The intolerable shirt of flame/Which human power cannot remove./We only live, only suspire/Consumed by either fire or fire.”

18. Catch-22 by Joseph HellerThis book coined the self-titled term “catch-22” that is widely used in modern-day dialogue. As for the story, its message is clear: What’s commonly held to be good, may be bad … what is sensible, is nonsense. Its one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century. Read it.

19. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldSet in the Jazz Age of the roaring 20s, this book unravels a cautionary tale of the American dream. Specifically, the reader learns that a few good friends are far more important that a zillion acquaintances, and the drive created from the desire to have something is more valuable than actually having it.

20. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
This novel firmly stands as an icon for accurately representing the ups and downs of teen angst, defiance and rebellion. If nothing else, it serves as a reminder of the unpredictable teenage mindset.

21. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
A smooth-flowing, captivating novel of a young man living in poverty who criminally succumbs to the desire for money, and the hefty psychological impact this has on him and the people closest to him.

22. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
This book does a great job at describing situations of power and statesmanship. From political and corporate power struggles to attaining advancement, influence, and authority over others, Machiavelli’s observations apply.

23. Walden by Henry David ThoreauThoreau spent two years, two months and two days writing this book in a secluded cabin near the banks of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. This is a story about being truly free from the pressures of society. The book can speak for itself: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

24. The Republic by PlatoA gripping and enduring work of philosophy on how life should be lived, justice should be served, and leaders should lead. It also gives the reader a fundamental understanding of western political theory.

25. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
This is the kind of book that blows your mind wide open to conflicting feelings of life, love and corruption … and at times makes you deeply question your own perceptions of each. The story is as devious as it is beautiful.

26. Getting Things Done by David AllenThe quintessential guide to organizing your life and getting things done. Nuff said.

27. How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale CarnegieThis is the granddaddy of all self-improvement books. It is a comprehensive, easy to read guide for winning people over to your way of thinking in both business and personal relationships.

28. Lord of the Flies by William GoldingA powerful and alarming look at the possibilities for savagery in a lawless environment, where compassionate human reasoning is replaced by anarchistic, animal instinct.

29. The Grapes of Wrath by John SteinbeckSteinbeck’s deeply touching tale about the survival of displaced families desperately searching for work in a nation stuck by depression will never cease to be relevant.

30. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail BulgakovThis anticommunist masterpiece is a multifaceted novel about the clash between good and evil. It dives head first into the topics of greed, corruption and deception as they relate to human nature.

31. BONUS: How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman900 pages of simple instructions on how to cook everything you could ever dream of eating. Pretty much the greatest cookbook ever written. Get through a few recipes each week, and you’ll be a master chef by the time you’re thirty.

32. BONUS: Honeymoon with My Brother by Franz WisnerFranz Wisner had it all … a great job and a beautiful fiancée. Life was good. But then his fiancée dumped him days before their wedding, and his boss basically fired him. So he dragged his younger brother to Costa Rica for his already-scheduled honeymoon and they never turned back … around the world they went for two full years. This is a fun, heartfelt adventure story about life, relationships, and self-discovery.

Originally posted on Marc and Angel Hack Life.