I've been doing a lot of reading lately and am looking to expand my horizons out of the stuff I normally read. Any of you guys read something recently that was mind blow and you would recommend taking a look at?
Obviously, I don't know what you normally read, but I just got "The Big Short", I haven't read it yet as I'm finishing off another book, but my friend is reading it and he's liking it.
I only really read autobiographies. I am currently re-reading This Wheel's On Fire by Levon Helm from The Band
I generally read sci fi and fantasy. Just finished the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson and read the first two Hunger Games books because everyone said they were amazing but I'm taking a break from that trilogy to read a real novel again. I also like mystery and thrillers, so I'm thinking about Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I have wanted to read a really good non fiction for a while but don't know of any.
I kid, I kid. Seriously though, it is a very insightful book that teaches how to govern people. There is even a term "Machiavellian" that is used to describe one's behavior; http://dictionary.infoplease.com/machiavellian Machiavelli, although considered evil wasn't really malicious ultimately not such a bad guy. For example; http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89153809 This book is great and I will recommend it to everyone, regardless if they are an avid or casual reader. I've read it twice and still plan on reading it again. Plus, it is a short book. Not too long by any means.
Michael Moorcock: Elrich series (fantasy) Carlos castenda: Chronicals of Don Juan series (Phsycodelics and philosiphy) HP Lovecraft, any of his short series (horror) All deep stuff but easy reading except lovecraft uses lots of big words
Here's the Ammazon.com description: The #1 New York Times bestseller: a brilliant account—character-rich and darkly humorous—of how the U.S. economy was driven over the cliff. When the crash of the U. S. stock market became public knowledge in the fall of 2008, it was already old news. The real crash, the silent crash, had taken place over the previous year, in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn’t shine, and the SEC doesn’t dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can’t pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren’t talking. The crucial question is this: Who understood the risk inherent in the assumption of ever-rising real estate prices, a risk compounded daily by the creation of those arcane, artificial securities loosely based on piles of doubtful mortgages? Michael Lewis turns the inquiry on its head to create a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 best-selling Liar’s Poker. Who got it right? he asks. Who saw the real estate market for the black hole it would become, and eventually made billions of dollars from that perception? And what qualities of character made those few persist when their peers and colleagues dismissed them as Chicken Littles? Out of this handful of unlikely—really unlikely—heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our times.
This X 100000000 GREAT BOOK! Nowhere near as creepy as most King books. You could always read Swing Your Sword by Mike Leach, I have heard nothing but good things about that.
A Land Remembered. Such a great book. I had to read it for summer reading like 7 years ago, but its one of the better books I've read.
You can never go wrong with "Green Hills of Africa" by Hemingway. Hemingway, on safari in Africa. He's the king of not "over-writing" to get his point across. Hard to put down...
If you like sci-fi in the very least bit you should read Dune by Frank Herbert. Probably the best book of any genre ever in my own opinion.
If you're into fantasy, than A Song of Ice and Fire is a must read. 5 books in the series so far with 2 more on the way.
I've heard that Robert Martin has a penchant for just killing of characters needlessly. I could be wrong, but that tends to put me off a bit about the series.
Catch 22 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Illegal Aliens by Nick Pollotta and Phil Foglio (This book is out of print. I bought my own copy a 10 years ago for $30 used because it is so great. A very funny book. Very cheap on kindle.) Has anyone read John Dies at the End?
