What are your "Must Read" books

[MNDude]

Everyone's opinion, what would be three books that every adult should read?

How about three books every kid should read?

(besides the Bible, since that's a given for most)

[pops88]

My mother was a reading specialist. Summer vacation was a stack of books and reading on the beach. I could not possibly come up with the 3 best books.

Atlas Shrugged- I took senior novel class as a sophomore in high school. I thought she was a horrible writer, but made a point. The bigger question- why was everyone else in class assigned The Fountain Head?

Iron Coffins- a book about German U boats in WWII from the diary of a captain. It was outstanding, and I’m a woman. I couldn’t put it down.

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett

The Great Influenza

The Stand

And some other book about Bio warfare written by a Russian scientist that defected.

(I’m a nurse, what can I say? LOL)

[pops88]

“The Gulag Archipelago, by Solzhenitsyn.”

I think that’s in my denial vault. Definitely a must read.

[Humbug]

For anyone, but especially a mature and motivated teen:
Chronology of the World by Isaac Asimov
Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare (along with an annotated volume of Shakespeare’s works)
The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich

[Fiji Hill]

Some of the books I enjoyed as a teenager:

• Way of a Fighter by Claire L. Chennault (G. P. Putnam's, 1949)--The autobiography of the general who commanded the Fourteenth Air Force during WWII.

• The Great Pacific War: A History of the American-Japanese Campaign of 1931-1933 by Hector C. Bywater (Houghton Mifflin, 1925)--a fictional account of a future Japanese-American war.

• Up Ship! by Charles E. Rosendahl (Houghton Mifflin, 1931)--the case for building a fleet of airships.

• Total Terror: An expose of genocide in the Baltics by Albert Kalme (Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1951)--an account of Stalinist misdeeds in the Baltic states.

[Biblical Calvinist]

John Calvin’s INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION is an essential work, it’s one of the few books that has literally “shook” the world, and shaped western civilization.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

"The Theory of Moral Sentiments" by Adam Smith

"The Book of the Courtier" by Baldassare Castiglione

"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu

[Bhoy]

“Remember the professor and the books HE squirreled away?”

Is that the scene of wrapping books — mostly reference and technical — in plastic and burying them in septic tank?

[Wyatt's Torch]

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

The Road - Cormack McCarthy

AnimAl Farm - Orwell

[Artemis Webb]

Lord of the Flies
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

[ExSoldier]

Is that the scene of wrapping books — mostly reference and technical — in plastic and burying them in septic tank?

Yep. I would have included in that a copy of The Way Things Work as well.

[Bhoy]

Hey thanks for remnding me as i have thought of that scene often. I used to read sci-fi a a lot & then got silly.

[Jack Deth]

Seek out and consume any novels written by the late, great Ross Thomas. The man had an absolute genius for laying bare the machinations of liberals and unions in general and the Democrat Party in particular. Try The Yellow Dog Contract, China's Chance and The Money Harvest

Also any of P.J. O'Rourke earlier works. Particularly, Republican Party Reptile, Give War A Chance and Parliament Of Whores


Jack.

[mountainfolk]

Some of these books I have listened to on audio as well as having read. > Witness by Whittaker Chambers for sure. I think his other, less well known book, Cold Friday, is also very good.
Answer As A Man by Taylor Caldwell is as timely as Atlas Shrugged in that history is repeating itself and Caldwell wrote it in 1980. She was a prolific writer and took great pride in the amount of research she did for each book. For fun there is the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross and the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters.
One that lingers in my mind because it was well researched and gave insight into college students and their campus life is, I Am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe. Children would relate to Black Beauty and Beautiful Joe very early on. Good stories and an important introduction to kind treatment of animals.

[mountainfolk]

How could I forget Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton? I read it every once in awhile and am now listening to it on tape while walking etc. A must read for college students.

[ProvenWays]

“Chronicles of Narnia” - C.S. Lewis
“A Wrinkle in Time” - Madeleine L’Engle
“Fellowship of the Ring” - J.R.R. Tolkein
“The Hobbit” - J.R.R. Tolkein

[FreeKeys]

As A Man by Taylor Caldwell is as timely as Atlas Shrugged in that history is repeating itself and Caldwell wrote it in 1980. She was a prolific writer and took great pride in the amount of research she did for each book.

Oh, yes -- you reminded me -- Taylor Caldwell's "A Pillar of Iron" -- based on the life of statesman, orator, dictatorship opponent Marcus Tullius Cicero -- was incredible. Sends chills up my spine just remembering it.

[GOPJ]

Anything by:

CS Lewis

or

Martin Buber

[Lynne]

Atlas Shrugged
The Gulag Archipelago
Dostoyevski

[bigjoesaddle]

Animal Farm free, book or audio book

http://www.openculture.com/freeaudiobooks