101 Books you must read and why.
 

One book at a time please, but post as often as you like, so long as someone else posts first. ;)

The List Thus Far...

Page 1 (at default post count per page)
1. War and Peace - Tolstoy
2. Paradise Lost - Milton
3. All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
4. The Princess Bride - Goldman
5. Watchmen - Moore & Gibbons
6. The Odyssey - Homer
7. The Secret Life of Bees - Kidd
8. The Malazan Book of the Fallen - Erikson
9. The Arrival - Tan
10. House of Leaves - Danielewski
11. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
12. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - Konigsburg
14. Anthem - Rand
15. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Verne

Page 2
16. This Book Will Change Your Life - Carey
17. The Chocolate War - Cormier
18. Frederick - Lionni
19. Speak - Anderson
20. Unwind - Shusterman
21. The Brothers Lionheart - Lindgren
22. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha - Cervantes Saavedra
23. The Bible (compilation)
24. The Epic of Gilgamesh
25. The Sanctuary - Khoury
26. The Giver - Lowry
27. The Alchemist - Coelho

Page 3
28. Inferno - Alighieri
29. Flowers for Algernon - Keyes
30. The Quran
31. At The Mountains of Madness - Lovecraft
32. The Inheritor - Bradley

Page 4
33. The Fault in Our Stars - Green
34. The Romance of Arthur - Eds. Lacy and Wilhelm
35. Clockwork Angel - Clare
36. I Am Legend - Matheson
37. Breakfast of Champions - Vonnegut

Page 5
38. Saga - Vaughan and Staples
39. The Victorian City - Flanders
40. Whipping Boy: Search For My 12 Year Old Bully - Kurtzweil
41. Death by Video Game - Parkin
42. reMIND - Brubaker
43. Puddle Pug - Norman & Yamaguchi
44. Good Omens- Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Page 6
45. V for Vendetta - Alan Moore
46. Carry On - Rainbow Rowell




1. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

Starting with a big'un! Yes, you must read this because it's just a good book, and a surprisingly easy read once you have all the characters straight. The story of Prince Andrew really shows how life and circumstance can change someone over the course of a story. He's on the list of my favourite literary characters.

2. Paradise Lost -- John Milton

It isn't considered the greatest poem written in English for nothing. (Dante fans will quite ferociously dispute its crown as the greatest in *any* language).

Milton wasn't a humble guy, and he didn't aim low. The first stanza of the poem is him calling Homer and Virgil amateurs and claiming to have Almighty God as his personal muse (and the implication that he himself is a prophet...)

Regardless, he wanted to write the greatest epic ever, and, well, between the War in Heaven and the Fall of Man, you can't really get much more epic.

The man's breadth of knowledge is staggering, his abilities as a poet are at times sublime, and the sheer achievement in not only creating such an incredible epic, but at the same time deconstructing the epic form with the satirical portrait of Satan as a hero, provides endless depths of study.

3. All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

This book was banned in Nazi Germany for failing to glorify German warfare, if I recall correctly. The author arguable was exiled over it, though not officially, again, if I remember correctly.

The book offers a veteran's view of warfare in WWI, and is just a fascinating read. It was, for me, the first time I had read anything personal that wasn't from the Allied side of the war (North America, Britain, and France). If shifted my perspective on warfare and the lives of soldiers.

I should read this again. I'd read more of Remarque's books if I were able to find copies in English, or any copies at all. He wrote many. As it is, this and one other have been the only books of his that I've been able to get.

4. The Princess Bride: S. Morganstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, by William Goldman

If you've only seen the movie, you don't even know half the story. It's hard to really say which version is better -- Goldman wrote both, and he's a screenwriter by trade, the movie is a simple and complete, while the book is dizzying and leaves nothing but questions.

Don't get me wrong, the entire charming plot of the movie is there in the book, just like you remembered it, but there's also a frame of postmodern meta-fictional boon-within-a-book-within-a-book going on... and no, S. Morganstern never existed.

Regardless! One should read it just for experience, there's really nothing else like it, at least that I've come across.

5. Watchmen - Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons.

A series of 12 comics usually found together in graphic novel format. It's hard to describe everything there is to be found in the comic, and there's a lot, from the overarching plot line to the small details and stories that happen in between. The movie was an excellent visual representation of the book, and many lines are verbatim from the comics, but it toned things down in terms of ending, some character details, and the alternate universe in general.

One can look at Watchmen as an alternate take on the superhero comics. Really, what compels someone like Superman to fight for the benefit of human kind?

I've read this book three times, spending a fair amount of time just looking at it, as -not being an avid comic reader- I took me a while to realize that the illustrations have as much to contribute to the story as the writing.

Are classics allowed?

6. Odysseia (The Odyssey)

Okay, so the Odyssey is one of the foundational pillars for the journey in an adventure. In addition, it is the source to coin the phrase "between a rock and a hard place." The Odyssey is also (besides the Illiad) one of the best sources for how the gods and values were portrayed in ancient Greece...which was a major influence on Rome...which influenced most of the Western World.
Also, with a transforming demi-goddess misandrist, a nymph/sea monstress, sirens, and a host of other mythological beasts, it is a fine read.

7.The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd.

Set in South Carolina of the United States in 1964, and focused on 14-year old girl coming from a broken family. All I can say is I constantly had to put the book down to cry a little.

Okay, breaking the trend of literary classics here.

8. The Malazan Book of the Fallen -- Steven Erikson

Quite simply the most ambitious fantasy series ever written. In a narrative that spans upwards of 22 books now (10 for the main cycle), chronicling a history that sprawls across 300,000 years and myriad worlds, it is a novel that in every possible way deserves the title of "Epic". (except for the part about epics being sung in dactylic hexameter...)

The story follows (among many, many other things) the fate of the Malazan Empire, and it is the tale of soldiers, generals, empresses, peasants, mages and gods. Like the Homeric tales Erikson draws from, the gods (and demigoddal "Ascendants") play a large and active role in the narrative.

This is military fantasy at it's best, featuring an eclectic cast of grizzled, crusty veterans of the Malazan military machine, and the horrible trials they go through in the various wars they're forced to fight. Make no mistake: these are brutal and bleak books that fully illustrate the horror of warfare and the difficulties of a soldiering life, but there's also a thread of heroism, self-sacrifice, and compassion that gives meaning to it all.

It's a world a high magic, with continent-wrecking clashes of sorcery and ritual magic that can enact genocide on entire races. And speaking of races, Erikson blows away his competitors with the intricacy and imagination of his invented cultures (he's an archaeologist by trade). Nowhere to be found are one-note orcs and stereotyped elves, but instead fully fleshed-out unhuman societies treated with a surprising humanity in their portrayal. The T'lan Imass, in particular -- Erikson's brand of undead, stand out as a true achievement within the genre for what he manages to do with them.

Now it must be said, these books are massive. We're talking 10,000 pages and 3.5 million words, featuring a cast of literally thousands of characters. It is a tale not to be undertaken without commitment, but the rewards are like nothing else I have ever read. Erikson has made me weep both in joy and sorrow, rage at injustice, induced crippling depression at the unfair deaths of truly noble characters, made me howl with laughter (and how often does epic fantasy manage that?), surge with excitement in breathtaking battle scenes, and somehow somehow after spending SO much time in this world, left me ravenous for more at the end of The Crippled God. I could read nothing but this series for the rest of my life, and be content. (And thankfully Erikson is even now releasing a prequel trilogy with plans for a sequel trilogy after, as well as spin-off novellas and companion books. His world is truly so vast and intricate, that there is no limit to the stories that can be told within it, and he never fails to deliver.

If you're looking for the evolution of fantasy, finally casting off the fetters of Tolkien and growing into something very much approaching true literature (not that Tolkien wasn't literary, rather the genre has declined from that for some time and is only now beginning to reach those heights once more) -- this is it. Right here. This is not escapist adolescent power fantasy by any mark. This is the human condition writ large across a larger-than-life canvas soaring to the most majestic of heights and plummeting to the uttermost depths.

For anyone who is a fan of the genre (and especially of "door-stopper fantasy"), and even for those who think fantasy is childish and irrelevant to the literary canon, I can give it only my most sincere recommendation. These books changed my life.

9. The Arrival - Shaun Tan

A story told in pictures, the only "words" are written in a gibberish language that, in places, resembles bits and pieces of languages that do exist. It's set in an imaginary world and tells the story of an immigrant trying to adapt to life in a world he knows nothing about.

The story is told in the artwork, which is fascinating in and of itself. It varies from eerie to whimsical, quirky, or just strange. Colour ranges from sepia to greyscale and resembles old photographs or journal pages. It's a book that can effectively be read by anyone, from anywhere.

10. House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski

I wouldn't say this is a book, so much as an experience.

Much of this text is not in the traditional format. Which at first I thought would be annoying. Turning the book around in a circle to read a for a moment.

Side note, there is a 'soundtrack' to the book created by POE, who is actually Mark's sister. It is actually how I found the book.

Thanks Wikipedia!
So anyway. Yes there is a house, that is bigger on the inside. I would say this is a story about the house. But that would be leading you down a 'five and half minute hallway, that keeps going...'

Honestly there is nothing I can say that will prepare you for this book.
I tried to read this book almost 10 times before I actually got into it and finished it and I wondered what took me so long. I guess it's a slow start. But a grand book nonetheless.

If I could choose any book to get a first edition of... this would be on the top of that list.

11. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Brave New World could be said to be the older but usually ignored cousin to Orwell's 1984. It takes a more realistic approach to a dystopian society, where constant distraction and instant gratification keep the masses pacified. A 'savage' from the outside world is brought in to this society, and is horrified to see what man has become while he is paraded around as some sort of curiosity. The book itself deals with serious subject matter and what 'values' really mean to different peoples as well as how they deal with conflicting cultures.

Also there are happy pills called "Soma" and in the 1960's a muscle relaxant named "Soma" was introduced, so Aldous either gets points for accuracy or someone in a pharmaceutical company is a real bookworm.

I see your Brave New World and raise you

12. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin

Brave New World's piecemeal predecessor, We was written by Zamyatin around the 1920's but it was published in pieces by a press in Chechnya as Bolshevik Russia wasn't all that fond of it. Zamyatin himself was exiled multiple times from Russia, if memory serves. I think it was around 1960 before the book saw print in its full form.

Society is now modeled after machines, with people physically separated from nature following mass genocide that killed 97.8% of the population, I think. We is a document written by "D503," a character in charge of building a space faring vessel that will bring their civilization to other planets. The intention behind the document it to praise the system and show others why their world order is ideal. The writing style is a little odd, with half finished sentences here and there. I can't help but find the "reasoning" behind how this society works to be understandable, creepy, weird, and sinister. It's definitely an unusual book.

13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg

So this book is a *young adult* novel. But it is a classic. This is the book that helped me want to become a museum curator. It's about kids that run away from home - and stay in the Met, in New York.

This is an easy read for most adults, but fun. A little mystery, a little humor, a lot of classic story.

*Seeing as how Brave New World and We are present*

14. Anthem - Ayn Rand

Anthem is likely the only book by Rand that I'll like. It is a shorter novel, placed in a "utopian" caste society. Technological progress is strictly monitored, if not in decay, and all concept of the individual has been stripped. However, one optimistic tunnel-worker (Equality 7-2521) has a curse: he thirsts for knowledge beyond his caste.

Overall, the way the setting of the story goes, it echoes both We and Brave New World, but with a slightly more optimistic/realistic turn, in my opinion. The rebels neither win (We) nor lose (B.N.W.), but find a place for themselves. The ending is beautiful to me (I won't spoil it), and I am more sympathetic towards Rand's other works after reading this one.

Were there to be a corner for Dystopian Works: 1984, Brave New World, We, Anthem, and 'Timaeus' and 'Critias'(Atlantis)

You can hardly say that in We the rebels win.

Haven't read most of those books but what I liked about We, and in part what was creepy about it, was that it still felt relevant to my time, while I couldn't help but get a dated feel from Brave New World.

*Shrugs* - In relativity. We: Minor uprising started| Anthem: upstarts survived| 1984: Crushed the upstart| Brave New World: Slaughter the upstarts|
...anywho...

15. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
Just...yes! Okay, to explain why I love this (and other Verne works), I'll have to explain about Verne's influences. You see, Jules Verne wrote science fiction based on scientific journals and articles he would read. He combined that with the realms of possibility in his works.

In Journey to the Center of the Earth, Verne took data on the geological findings of his time, along with the various new creatures we were discovering, a Snorri Sturluson, and his own inventive mind to create a chaotic, beautiful, and wonderful realm under the Earth. He altered the formula for the heat as one approached the core to instead make it a searing tropical/jurrasic interior underneath a "root system" of lava.

Now, this is an odd thing for me to like, because as some of you may know I can be rather rigid about facts and the like, but wondrous places and the exploratory feel would be what I love, and Verne's professor is funny as I'll get out. Journey through the Center of the Earth was a book I wanted and worked to understand, enjoyed an adventure in, and came away learning about as much as I would from an introductory textbook. Honestly, I wish that modern sciences could feel that way.

I guess it depends on what one considers more pertinent to the genre or book: the society or how people react to it. That there will be upstarts seems pretty much a given. I think that in We, the uprising, though much smaller, had more meaning to it. Brave New World was certainly more dramatic, but I found We felt more personal and eerie. Of course, given that We is first person, it focuses on the character and shows his thought process as he talks and thinks about his perfect society.

Please wait until someone else posts a new book suggestion before posting the next one, Lawtan. No need to remove it, just keep it in mind for next time. :).

16. This Book Will Change Your Life - Ben Carey

So this book isn't so much a read as it is a do. I pick it up and flipped through, being skeptical that it would change my life. It's mainly things you should try. I have not done them all yet. Which could be why it has not changed my life really.

I have used it and gotten some great conversations out of it.

I generally photocopy the pages and use them as stationary for my pen pals.

I'm not quite sure it changed my life, but it's a fun little book!

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

This book even as an adult is my absolute favorite book. For a while I would pick it up once year and read through it until I gave my copy away to a friend. Cormier is one of the premiere psychological thriller writers in the YA genre. Of his novels The Chocolate War exemplifies him as a writer. This book also made it on the banned book list and there for I highly recommend it.

The story follows young Jerry Renault as he struggles to find away to fit in, he does so however by realizing he must not conform. From there the story only grows in complexity as the race to sale chocolate in the school’s fundraiser suddenly finds many of the characters questioning their individuality. Ultimately the story climaxes in a standoff that really makes you wonder “Do I dare disturb the universe?”

The importance of this book to me is not really its plot but more its characters. Cormier has an uncanny ability to do a decent job of giving the reader incredible emotional insight for a novel that is considered young adult. Not only can you sympathize with the main character but you find yourself in the Lolita dilemma, where in you cannot decide if the main antagonist Archie has you captivated in his own persona/psychosis/product of circumstances, or if he is just a fucking bastard. Long and short go read it.

18. Frederick, Leo Lionni

Something a little different here, as this is a child's book. I actually didn't like it all that much as a kid, I preferred Swimmy. It's my sister's copies of both that I still have around. I never really thought much about Frederick until much later, when I think I started to appreciate a little more of what the story was getting at, or maybe my brain is just thinking about it more. Habits from school and all...

I'm sure I could pull up some manner of literary reading of the thing, (Frederick is a bard; Frederick shows the impact of art on life; Frederick illustrates the need for feeling and beauty etc. in one's life along with what is practical, etc.) or Lionni's books in general, but I don't think there's any reason to bother. They're cute, and I was always fond of the artwork that resembles little pieces of construction paper.

Since the next generation is popping up around me, I've acquired a new copy of Frederick for my nephew, and am still hanging on to the old one.

19: Speak by Laurie Halsey Anderson
I believe this is a story everyone should read. I first read it when I was a freshman and it changed how I looked at things. I wont spoil anything but its a short book, my version is almost 200 pages but with big print and ample spacing. Also some pages are done as a report card. And the book I have counts blank pages as pages. So yeah. Very short. If you're a fast reader like me you could pound this down in a day. (:

Updated!

Yeah, I dropped off the face of the earth again for a bit. Need more books!

Unwind - Neal Shusterman

Its a series (currently of 3 books) that takes place in the United States, after a civil war somewhere in the near future. After a civil war—known as the Second Civil War or the Heartland War—is fought over abortion, a compromise was reached, allowing parents to sign an order for their children between the ages of 13 and 18 years old to be unwound—taken to "harvest camps" and having their body parts harvested for later use. The reasoning was that, since 100% (actually 99.44% taking into account the appendix and "useless" organs) was required to be used, unwinds did not technically "die", because their individual body parts lived on. In addition to unwinding, parents who are unable to raise their children to age thirteen for retroactive abortion have the option to "stork" their child by leaving it on another family's porch. If they don't get caught, the "storked" baby then becomes the other family's responsibility.

Ive read each of them, and can say its one of the best series ive read in quite some time. The central idea of unwinding is something that peaked my interest from the first book, and i havent read anything like it.

@Asami: I love Anderson. Have you read Wintergirls by her? I really like the way she did that one as well.

@Kawaii: XD this is a thread where the people are building a book list of what they think people should read. Also when you post in a thread you have to post at least a sentence other wise its considered spam.

21: The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren (Swedish Bröderna Lejonhjärta)

I expect most people in North America would recognize Lindgren as the creator of Pippi Longstocking if nothing else (I certainly had no clue who she was prior to University). I read The Brothers Lionheart for class and it's one of those that I'm both happy and annoyed with at the same time. It's a good book, but not really a happy one. I was just rereading a few passages and they still make me cry.

The Brothers Lionheart is labelled "fantasy" and I'd put it in the same vein as LOTR, or The Dark is Rising, in the sense that it deal more with the myth and folklore end over generic wizards and unicorns. The book opens with Johnathan Lion comforting his sickly younger brother, Karl, by telling him about Nangiyala, a place of heroic adventures and where people go after they die. Nangiyala is the place where the sagas happen.

The book is fairly dark in terms of subject matter, and caused some controversy if I recall correctly, particularly with how it approaches death. Karl is dying, and the story is taking place in the afterlife. If one wants to get literary about it, it also deals with oppression (fairly realistically in my view), warfare, honour and character. The narrative feels a little clunky, but that could be because I'm reading a translation, or because it's being told by a nine year old boy.

Good book, but I'm still deciding on how I feel about the ending.

22. The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra


This is one of my favorite stories. Don Quixote is the story of a Spanish gentleman from the La Mancha region of Spain by the name of Alonso Quixano, who has retired from working life. He has spent so much time reading about the age of knights and chivalry since then that he has apparently gone mad. The story is a telling of his adventures, his highs, his lows, and eventually the inevitable, and is considered one of the finest Spanish literary works of all time.

23.Bible Compilation work.

History, poetry, really cool proverbs (I guess they're poetry too). A donkey who says things that a pet donkey might be realistically expected to say, if given the ability. A man who threw down his staff in the desert, and then ran from it when it stopped being a staff. Editions varied enough to grace any bibliophile's shelf. The chance to say, "I read the whole thing!"

Even if you don't believe it's the inspired word of the creator of the World, I think this book is worth reading. Just get a modern translation unless you're really really into King James English. It also reads pretty neat in Spanish (from the little Spanish I can understand).

24. The Epic of Gilgamesh

One of the earliest works in existence, the Epic of Gilgamesh does not suffer for it as an ill-developed work. Centering around civilization of the wild man Enkidu, and the humanization of the arrogant, vile God-King Gilgamesh, the first half of the Epic Poem works like Beowulf, fighting the beast Humbaba, spurning the goddess Inanna, and saving Ur from her wrath (a Boar). It also depicts the Sumerian culture's treatment of priestesses of love, and sort of mixes Enkidu and Gilgamesh...and Enkidu and a priestess of Inanna...

However, death spurs a ravening madness in fear of death and its mystery. The most memorable scene between Gilgamesh and a common Bar-lady takes place. You have the first example of the immortal snake, and tales of a Flood. There are also Scorpion Men.

The characters seem so...human in personality, even if their feats are superhuman.

Overall, it is one of the most memorable things I have ever read, even though it is Beowulf-level weird wording.

@AutobotDen - I sailed on a ship named after Don Quixote for a week. xD

25. The Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury

I read this book about 4 years ago. I found it when I was on my quest to collect all of the late, great Michael Crichton's books. Unfortunately, some of his works I was unable to find in bookstores near me, so I had to order them online. But I found this book at one of those bookstores, so I guess it wasn't a total loss. As I said, I read this when I was a bit younger so it might not be as good now as I remember it being. It's very Da Vinci Code-esque, so fans of that book might like this one as well. It's the type of book that really makes you think. The thriller brings light to a scientific, yet sadly still fictional, possibility of immortality. Awesome book, would highly recommend.

@Lawtan, Anthem is awesome. Love Ayn Rand.

26. The Giver by Lois Lowry

I'm not just suggesting this because it's a movie and whatever. I mean, I guess that's why I remembered that this book existed. I really /hated/ it on my first reading, probably because I was way too young to be reading anything of that level, but after I read Brave New World, I got hooked on that utopia-turned-dystopia setting. (If anyone remembers another kid's book with this setting, with some sort of really tall tripod-like robot things probably on the cover, please tell me.)

And then I kind of stumbled upon it at Costco, bought it, and read it again. It's really good. I love how it points out so many things that we take for granted and kind of says "Hey, this is important, pay attention to this" without /shoving/ it in our faces. Ending to the first book is ambiguous, but apparently there are three more in the series, which I should...attempt to find asap.

27. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

This is a short book, but I would recommend it as a very spiritual work. Coelho outlines the narrative of a shepherd boy who dreams of finding treasure in the distant Pyramids.

It is very distinctive in differing between manners of work in faith. A merchant who sets a destination (Mecca) with no intent on reaching it, but using it as inspiration to do his work. An Englishman (a scientist) looking into Alchemy. An alchemist/shaman who lives off of the desert land. A self-sacrificing monk. And a group of nomads guarding a desert spring.

It has such concepts as: Personal Legend (or the story of your life), True Love (which is love that does not interfere in each person's Personal Legend), Nature communion/spirituality (Heart of the World), etc.

They may not be fun to read but some religious books are a must read. The Bible and Quran are the two big ones to read personally but it depends on where you live. They help you understand the mindsets of many people and help you out with a lot of books since many books are inspired by religion. For instance C.S. Lewis has many christian themes in his work. Reading both helps you understand an integral part of around half of the worlds population.

28. Inferno by Dante Alighieri

An epic poem written while Dante was exiled from his home city due to political reasons. It's a long, intense read, but it gave rise to a lot of the popular tropes and imagery that many people have about the Christian Heaven and Hell. Also known for having many of Dante's political enemies suffering painful fates in his vision of Hell.

New guy! I know that name. ;)

I remember part of the description of Hell in my lit class. That was certainly memorable.

Will get to updating this thread in just a moment.

29. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

Both a short story and a novel, Flowers for Algernon is a piece of science fiction with a focus on treatment of mental disabilities.

Algernon is a rat on whom a medical process is used to exponentially increase his intelligence. A janitor of below-average IQ, Charlie Gordon, is the first human test subject. After initial success, both begin to exceed the "acceptable" realm of intelligence - becoming unable to associate with their peers, and unintentionally earning much resentment for their genius.

To say much more is a spoiler, but the story is heartbreaking.

The writer, Daniel Keyes, was a writer who was pushed towards the medical field by his family. He wound up teaching English to special needs children at one point, and some asked if they could work their way out of the program and into regular classes.

I highly recommend this book.

I read it when I was young. I still think about it sometimes.

Flowers For Algernon is one of the most haunting stories I read as a kid >.>

I cried so hard in class when I read it.

<.< That's somewhat the point...to me, it is a very close story.

As a note, jaguarlyra, if you want the Koran in this list, you need to give a review of it, and number it on the list. :)