Top 5: Books

[Bada0Bing]

I couldn't pick five so I divided into three categories. Still, I will likely rethink this and would answer it differently if you asked me an hour from now.

Literature Category:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
A Separate Peace
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Slaughter House 5
To Kill a Mockingbird

Non-Fiction Category:
Unbroken
Endurance - Shacklton's Incredible Voyage
Killer Angels
Wild Swans
A Short History of Nearly Everything

Popcorn Category
Harry Potter Series
Jack Aubrey Series
Ender's Game
The Shining
Battlefield Earth

I loved that one. I read it and then listened to it on audiobook.

 

[AzStevenCal]

My list would definitely fall in the popcorn category:

1. The Corps series (W.E.B. Griffin)
2. Brotherhood of War series (W.E.B. Griffin)
3. Amber series (Roger Zelazny)
4. Enders Game (Orson Scott Card)
5. Seafort Saga (David Feintuch)
5.a Blood Destiny series (Connie Suttle)

Steve

 

[Southpaw]

1. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Greatest American novel. Like most have mentioned, it tops my list. Darkest comedy and such a shame the movie did not do the novel justice. I was disappointed in Heller's follow up, Something Happened. On its own, it was fine, but nothing could follow Catch 22.

2. Godel, Escher & Bach an Eternal Golden Braid - Douglas R. Hofstadter

Great Minds Think Alike

It's rare enough to read a good book. Still rarer is a great book that expands not just human understanding but also human thought. Perhaps not as groundbreaking a work of science as Darwin's Origin of Species, Godel, Escher, Bach comes close to it in reforming the way we think about the world. If you have read it before, you know its strength (and after 20 years, it is well worth revisiting). If you have not read the book, here is a simple summary of what you've missed.

By looking at the brilliant minds of mathematician Kurt Godel, graphic artist M. C. Escher, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach, computer-science and cognitive-science professor Douglas Hofstadter ties together the aesthetic gift of pattern recognition and manipulation with theories on artificial intelligence, human intelligence, and the essence of self-awareness. Does that do the book justice? Not at all; Godel, Escher, Bach cannot be explained without delving deeply into the structure of the book itself and the analysis of self-representation Hofstadter weaves through his appreciation of the art of Bach, the designs of Escher, and the theories of Godel.

Godel, Escher, Bach is not a simple read. The ideas are complex and the logic subtle. But it is a completely satisfying book, and reading it is one of those rare experiences when you leave feeling smarter than when you started.

—Greg Sewell

I keep my copy on hand and love to reopen my mind. It is a challenge to read, but well worth the effort. It is one of those works that forces you to complicate your own thought process. Priceless.

3. Dragons of Eden - Carl Sagan

Very timely given the redux version of Cosmos that is currently programming for our entertainment and enlightenment. So far ahead of its time. Deals with the evolution of human intelligence. Science presented on an entertaining level and done so well it received a Pulitzer prize. What Sagan did was compile the works of the scientific arena, organized them into a logical sequence and presented them in a very readable form that easily reaches a diverse audience.

4. The Last Empire - Gore Vidal

Hard to choose one of Vidal's works as the one I like best. The man had such brilliant insight and perspective, and this is one of his finest examples. His forays into the political world are unparalleled.

5. Letters From Earth - Samuel L. Clemens

Can't remember how I stumbled upon this piece of his, but I keep it on the shelf. Published posthumously, it was extremely controversial while presenting one of the strangest peeks at his views on a deity and religion. Sort of a different version of Genesis is only one of subjects he presents. It is a compilation of his personal notes, letters and previously unpublished manuscripts.

This was tough to narrow it to 5.

have to include a 5a.

A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller

A post apocalyptic science fiction novel. Recommended by a grad school professor in a future studies class I was taking. Not one of your typical Sci fi genre pieces. For an in depth insight into Miller's creation go here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz

 

[Heucrazy]

Mine are trilogies or more.

1: Song of Ice and Fire. Now if he could just finish it before he dies or HBO catches up.

2: The Wheel of Time series: case in point Robert Jordan died and the books had to be finished by Brandon Sanderson.

3: Dragonlance, The Legends trilogy: The betrayal and pain Caramon went through in these books was just heart breaking.

4: The Deathgate Cycle: Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman just knocked it out of the park with this one. I even named my cat Haplo.

5: The Sword of Truth series: When Richard smashed the statue was one of the most moving scenes I'd ever read. It actually got to me.

6: Lord of the Rings/ The Hobbit: The Hobbit was the first fantasy book I'd ever read and it made me a fan for life.

7: Ender's Saga: You can't just stop at Ender's game and truly appreciate the series. Speaker for the Dead was my favorite book in the series.