by XJW4EVR 68 Replies latest jw friends
Be Here Now
Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Teachings of Don Juan--A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (Castaneda's first book)
The Doors of Perception
Lord of the Flies
A Clockwork Orange
Flowers for Algernon
Crisis of Conscience
Jehovah's Witnesses & the Problem of Mental Illness (in some ways even more revealing to me personally than the Crisis book).
That's just a few. I realize that I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of all the great reading that is out there..
DR
At the time I read it, "Your Erroneous Zones" by Wayne Dyer gave me some perspective that was very helpful in getting my head clear while I was going through Watchtower withdrawl.
That was in the late '70s. Since then if I pick it up and read a few paragraphs it reminds me of just how stunted I was in the ability to do critical thinking at that time. It was baby food, but that's all I could handle and it was perfect.
Catcher in the Rye - Salinger
Brave New World - Huxley
World According to Garp - Irving
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - Shirer
Blue Highways - Moon
Razor's Edge - Maugham
It's usually whichever books my wife is throwing at the time... HA!
Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I tried that couldn't get into it! I really wanted too it came very highly recommended!
As to which books IMPACTED me... Hmmmmmm That's hard! I've Loved lots of books I've read HUNDREDS of books (Our 'library' is something in the realm of 1000-1500 books. It would be a lot more if only we had the space!
I LOVE Bill Bryson, 'Short History of Nearly Everything' 'Walk in the Woods' 'In a Sunburned Country' All are phenomenal all are MUST reads!
Douglas Adams is a HOOT! His final book 'Salmon of Doubt' if you were a witness or are a witness this book is such a huge eye opener!
Beryl Markham's 'West With the Night' Stunning book! Hemingway said reading it made him feel like he was a drunken lout building a pig pen being compared to a master carpenter!
'IT' by Stephen King. Yes he writes a lot of 'trash literature' but IT is in my opinion his master work! Awesome and terrifying!
Wheel of time series by Robert Jordan. Very good!
Harry pooper series, duh!
"tallpenguin, I am curious how this book (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) impacted you. If you wouldn't mind."
As a kid I didn't read much fiction. I was too much in the real world with its real world problems. But I did read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And I loved it. It was fantastical but still I could relate to the main character and his dreams. Gave me hope that, in the end, maybe the good, quiet kids do get noticed and rewarded.
It has been my favourite book since then and I read it once a year to remind myself of being a child, and not to take life too seriously. I have since read most of Roald Dahl's other stuff and am actually just re-reading The BFG right now. I like Dahl's crazy sense of humour. It was my dream as a kid to meet him. Alas he died in 1990 and I didn't get to, but I can imagine that he would've been pretty cool.
tall penguin
Good book for single and married women is
Proper care and feeding of your husband
The Good Earth
The Psychology of Winning
The Bible
Crisis of Conscience
In Search of Christian Freedom
Goldminer - Yes, The Good Earth, it's been so long since I read it. Along with The Grapes of Wrath and My Left Foot it makes you appreciate how tenacious and noble people can be in the face of tremendous hardship.
I going to make a point of reading it again. Thanks
The Dragons of Eden Cosmos Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors Martian Chronicles The Chalice and The Blade The Red Tent Drawing Down The Moon The Spiral Dance 1984 Brave New World A History of Pagan Europe The Dancing Wu Li Masters Womens Encylopedia of Myths and Secrets
Crisis of Conscience by Ray Franz and I just finished reading "Left to Tell" by Imaculee Ilibagiza. I whole-heartedly recommend both books to anyone and everyone.
