Read. It makes people nervous...

[reprobayt]

seferin asked me in another post what my 10 favorite books I ever read were.

This list is subject to change without notice, but off the top of my head I came up with:


The Truth Machine - James L. Halperin
Pet Semetary - Stephen King
The Stand - Stephen King
Think and Grow Rich (A Black Choice) - Dennis Kimbro and Napoleon Hill
Transmetropolitan - Warren Ellis
Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki
Debt of Honor - Tom Clancy
Executive Orders - Tom Clancy (2 books that link together so tightly you can almost consider as one)
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
I, Martha Adams - Pauline Glen Winslow

Most of these books were starting points. They pushed me to find other books which either confirmed or changed my thoughts on various subjects throughout my life (many with opposing views). Others showed me there were different ways of thinking. Others were just plain pure entertainment I can go back to when I need a comfortable break from reality.

What would be on your list?

Comments

[seferin.livejournal.com]

The Truth Machine - Read
Pet Semetary - Read
The Stand - Read

Think and Grow Rich (A Black Choice) - I haven't read this, but I might, for the differing perspective

Transmetropolitan - Read
Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Read
Debt of Honor - Read
Executive Orders - Read

Great Expectations - Tried it, lost insterest

I, Martha Adams - Not familiar, I'll pick this up.

[reprobayt.livejournal.com]

I Martha Adams was one of my first "US vs Russia" Cold War paperbacks. About a seemingly typical housewife that becomes much more...

*insert dramatic music*

[mobobocita.livejournal.com]

My top ten? That would be hard, I read a ton as a child/teen, then life got in the way... I've finally hit the adult stage where I feel like I can *make* time in the schedule to read again, isn't that sad?

As a child I loved:
Stranger in Strange Land - Heinlein
Jayne Eyre - Brontë
Little Women - Alcott
Incarnations of Immortality (come on, you can't pick just one) - Anthony
Anything by Eddings (mostly the quest series though)
Everything by King (seriously, read all of it till like 1999)

And sadly, I was someone who loved reading Shakespeare for fun... *hangs head in shame*

As an adult a I really liked The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom... but as I said, I haven't made a lot of time to ready in a decade or more.

[house-pundit.livejournal.com]

The Scarlet Letter
Dragonsong
Friday
Drawing Down the Moon
The Bible
Childhood's End
Honor of the Queen
Unintended Consequences
Without Remorse

Atlas Shrugged -- Not for the usual reasons, but as an object lesson of what happens when you mix Mary Sue, delusional grandiosity (redundant) with an otherwise more-or-less philosophically sound combination of unabashedly meritocratic capitalism with maximum individual freedom. I.e. Rand had something, but she was nuts and, like most charismatic cult-figures, the "nuts" portion of her memes infected otherwise (mostly) sane people making them, to a greater or lesser extent, (more) nuts. It is and was a great modern day example of how messianic "prophets" form a religion around them. Isn't it great she wasn't born two thousand years ago. Think of all the holy wars and streets knee deep in blood.

[house-pundit.livejournal.com]

Those were the first ten books that came to mind as making some kind of major difference in my life. Oh, "The Women's Room" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" deserve at least honorable mention.

[shes-not-there.livejournal.com]

OOOOOoooooh, Unintended Consequences! I love it, but I need to get an e-book version of it somewhere -- trying to carry it around breaks my crippled wrists these days. :S

Several others on your list are intriguing. :)

[strega42.livejournal.com]

The Book of Three - Lloyd Alexander
The Stand - Stephen King
Friday - Robert Heinlein
On Basilisk Station - David Weber
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
A Hymn Before Battle - John Ringo
1632 - Eric Flint
Sten - Cole and Bunch
Executive Orders - Tom Clancy
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkein

I will pretty much read anything any of these authors has ever written; I just generally love their work. I've either listed the first in a series, that kicked me into their worlds, or in a couple of cases, my favorite books out of their backlists.