Nerds and Dorks Rejoice! It's That Time of Year Again! -- Book Recommendation Time!

[Received]

State some excellent books you've read in the past year or so, and try and include at least a sentence or so on what it is about, and/or why you recommend it.

As for me:

1) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy -- because it is a tribute to existence, and contains basically every imaginable impulse and action of man, written in prose that simply is incomparable. People have often called it a philosophical study, and that it is, especially with reference to Tolstoy's views on causality and predestination and it affected the Napoleonic opposition to Russia, which is the center of the book. But it would better be called a psychological study, especially with reference to eros and marriage, for this is what the book is given significant focus, much to the dismay of most. Highly recommended; one of the greatest books I've ever read.

2) The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg -- a moderate's exposition on the subject of Christianity, with slight emphasis on mysticism. This is a book that makes clear such ignored and befuddled concepts throughout Christian history as salvation (which Borg defines as something Jesus spoke of as having primary focus on this life), faith, and consciousness and interaction with God. Short and precise.

3,4) Awareness and The Way to Love by Anthony de Mello -- here is mysticism at its absolute best. According to de Mello, the angst of this world is cured by a fundamental practice, which he calls awareness: the realization of existence involved in every facet of our experience, and it is here that eternal life is found. Both books deal with the necessity of being conscious of existence and the negation of desires, for it is in desires that blur our perception of reality, and ultimate keep us from loving -- which is emphasized in repetitive detail in The Way to Love. These books will change your life, I absolutely promise you.

5) The poems of Alexander Pushkin (published by Everyman's Library) -- by far the greatest and deepest poems I have ever read, even after a translation from Russian.

6) Memoirs from the House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky -- this deals with Dostoevsky's real-life experience with prison and exile in Siberia after he was charged with conspiracy during his younger days prior to the publication of his major novels. Anything by Dostoyevksy is beyond fantastic, but here we have the nasty details of the distorted human psyche expressed from the pen of genius. I always advise the Brothers Karamazov (which I regard as likely my favorite book of all time), and Crime and Punishment; but here is a different angle little known by contemporary readers. Tolstoy actually stated that he knew of no other book in modern literature that compares with it.

There are many others, but here are the notables that immediately come to mind.

Please share.

 

[Eudaimonist]

1) The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. This controversial novel is about an architect who refuses to compromise away his artistic integrity and vision, and who steadfastly pursues his dreams despite a hostile culture and those who would destroy him. Whether you agree or not with Ayn Rand's ideas, this philosophical novel is packed full with food for thought for the intelligent reader.

2) Personal Destinies, by David Norton. This philosophy/psychology book defends an ethics of self-actualization and individualism with great subtlety. (In case you were wondering, David Norton is not an Objectivist.)

3) Fellowship of Reason, by Martin Cowen III. The author presents his views of what is good about religion, and what the prospects are for nontheists to achieve the same benefits without becoming theists.

 

[loves god]

Journal of the unknown prophet by wendy Alec : Holy spirit inspired prophecy and revelation of Jesus christ which presents the believer and unbeliever with an accurate picture of the heart of God. It answers some of the questions regarding god's opinion on hell, homosexuality, street kids, the current state of the church, babylon, the media and the falling away.
I believe its an essential read by everyone who is interested in finding out more about jesus and his existence.

Against all odds by wendy Alec: A biography of europe's first Christian tv channel and its amazing growth from 1996 to 2005.
It poses some challenging questions as why should it be so difficult for a christian station with pure wholesome material to set up than it is for producers of pornography and violence and unrighteousness.
She gives insight as a prophet as too the spiritual battle in the heavenly realms it took for the tv station to be able to set up. All Christians know that Satan rules the media.

Ive also read conversations with god, which was the biggest pile of rubbish ive ever read.

 

[loves god]

If anyone wants to know where to get a copy of the Journal of the unknown prophet please pm me and ill send you the details.
I cant post the link directly on the forums.
I will say again that it is probably the most amazing and earth shattering book you will ever read, and i dont believe anybody could read it cover to cover and not be touched by it.

 

[P4g4nite]

Shogun, james clavell- I read this at least once a year, god knows why, but I love it. Feudal Japan & ///4d 5vv0rd 4<+10|\| !!!111one
Across the nightingale floor- Some weird mix of feudal Japan, magic a pseudo and amishness. Sucked like a starving leech.
Survivor, chuck palahnuik -Tells a really bizzare tale from the perspective of a cult raised mind. Utterly brilliant, watch for the film starring Madonna.
The Bush hater's handbook, Jack Huberman - As the caption suggests it's"an A-Z guide to the most appalling presidency of the past 100 years", funny and disturbing ...very very disturbing.
The Haynes manual- BMW 5 series, A K Legg - You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder what the dickens a wiring diagram is on about and if a 'Clutch slave cylinder' is a piece of S&M equipment and why it would be standard for your Bimmer.
Run baby run, Jamie Birminham - The biography of Nicky Cruz, one time gang leader and total nutcase. A bloodthirsty and thus highly entertaining story, until about page 115, which is coincidently where Nicky starts converting to christianity. I would liken the last 130 odd pages to swimming through tar -only with bitter betrayal of reader trust instead of fumes.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

1) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood -- a dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic world, where the sole(?) human survivor of a genetically engineered plague re-traces the steps of his life that culminated in the catastrophe. Wrapped in a bedsheet, he resembles a character straight out of Greek drama yet adds a comical note to it - without easing the all-encompassing tragedy of his existence.
Atwood managed something that is very rare indeed: She created a novel that is deeply philosophical, disquietingly realistic, funny, tragical, entertaining, frightening, sci-fi and yet all-too-familiar. All the elements that ultimately lead to the fictional catastrophe are already present in our current society.
Undoubtedly one of the best cotemporary novels I've ever read, providing deep insights into the human condition without offering easy answers.

2) The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber -- a novel set in 19th century London, and yet as un-Victorian as you could ever imagine, going where Dickens and Eliot couldn't have gone due to the conventions of that age. It tells the story of the young prostitute Sugar, and grants the reader an unflinching and disillusioning look at the underbelly of that (all too often romanticized) age, its hypocrisy, double-standards and peculiarities. "Unputdownable".

3) Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge -- these two are all-too-easily dismissed as overly idealistic and, well, romantic. But I think that the cynical disillusionment favored and embraced since the traumatic beginning of the 20th century may be just as unrealistic as the optimistic mysticism embraced by these nature worshippers - if not more so.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

"All Christians know that Satan rules the media"???

Compared to this, the simplistic mysticism embraced by Walsch doesn't sound like that much rubbish at all...

 

[loves god]

"All Christians know that Satan rules the media"???

Compared to this, the simplistic mysticism embraced by Walsch doesn't sound like that much rubbish at all...

Ok well it seems to me like it is

 

[Hydra009]

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov - Awesome book. All an entire planet has known is perpetual sunlight from its six suns. Now, it's on the brink of nightfall for the first time in recorded history. Nightfall will call forth a madness that signals the end of civilization. Witness Nightfall and learn what happens at Daybreak.

The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov - I've read the first two books in this series. Very imaginative storyline and captivating universe. If you like science fiction at all, reading this series is mandatory. Seriously. It's that good.

I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just convey the info on the back of the first book: The Galactic Empire has ruled supreme for 12,000 years of peace and prosperity. But one man - Hari Seldon - using the new science of pychohistory, has predicted its imminent demise. When the Empire falls, mankind will be thrust into a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last 30,000 years. So Seldon gathers the best minds in the galaxy - scientists and scholars - and sets up a colony called Foundation on the periphery of the galaxy. Its goal: to preserve the knowledge of the Empire against the outbreak ignorance and barbarism.

But the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. Mankind's last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: Submit to the barbarians and be overrun - or fight them and be destroyed.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy by Douglass Adams - There is no praise that I can give to this 5 book trilogy that would do it justice. By far the best science fiction humor I've ever read. I'm currently on a deadline to finish this before the movie comes out.

 

[Godless Pirate]

My knowledge of the greats comes from book a minute, but that is not to say that I am not an extremely well-readified and scholartastic personification of epiphenomenal deportments. My careful scholartation of myriadinal classicalities such as Goosebumps: Say Cheese and Die by R.L. Stein is both extensified and uncountificated!


Suggested Books


Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places by Brad Steiger. This book provides REAL PROOF that there all sorts of nasty ghosts. Read about the mysterious axetoplasm of Philadelphia, a giant gelatinous glob of axes that wants to make you into a Philly Steak!

The Secret In The Bible by Tony Bushby: In later times, high initiates secreted the essence of the sacred secret into the Bible and developed a series of ciphers that enabled the hidden wisdom to be unlocked by the privileged few, many of who are amongst the most prominent people in history. What is this secret, you ask? The secrets necessary to build an extradimensional stargate, as seen in the prolific and soul-challenging film Stargate.

Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area-51: This book contains everything the government DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW! It's time to start stockpiling hundreds of cheaply made assault weapons and a little canned food in your basement, because the next apocalypse is coming and it's going to involve laser beams!

 

[The Seeker]

The Dirk Gently books by Douglas Adams, hillarious stuff, shame he died before he finished the third one
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, heavy going, but sheer genius.
Granny Made Me An Anarchist by Stuart Christie, autobiography of one of the most famous anarchists of modern times, witty, humane and deep, enjoyable reading, even if you don't share his politics.

 

[QuidTempusEst]

The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America[font=verdana,arial,helvetica]by Louis Menand - great first half about pre-Civil war Boston and the culture that led to the Civil War. Discusses the development of modern American values. But the first half is by far the best, the part before everyone becomes bitter and jaded.[/font]

Adam Bede by George Eliot - about Methodists, women preachers, betrayal, silly women, strong stalwarth men, meddlesome mothers and the British countryside. Contains a lot of historical information about the Methodist movement in England.

The Wind in the Willows - about animals living around a river and a forest; has a very unusual chapter about the animals' consciousness of a higher power that cares for them.

 

[Hands Open]

Yay books!


Russell on Religion Selected works of Bertrand Russell.
Short and powerful. This book touches on his personal past, his famous article "why I am not a christian," mysticism and logic, religion and history, religion and morals, I think there's even religion and you studabaker in their somewhere....

How to think about the Great Ideas by Mortimer Adler. Hello boys and girls, do you like to think? Well you should read this book by Mortimer Adler, one of americas greatest philosophers,(even a christian) but you don't have to take my word for it! Read it yourself.

The European Philosophers form Descartes to Nietzshe edited by Monroe C. Beardsley, published by The Modern Library.
Nothing like actually reading what Decartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Lebiniz, Rousaeau, Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Comte, Mach and Nietzshe actually wrote and thought! A book for anyone who is tired of people quoting philosophers ideas and then having no clue what they actually said.

The Fourth Crusade and the sack of constantinople by Johnathan Phillips
What happens when religious belief is at it's height? Well aside from inquisitions and witch trials you get crusades! Read about the last one and remind yourself what religious intolerance can do for you!

Guns, Germs, and Steel the fates of human societies by Jared Diamond
Besides being astounding in it's depth and explanitory power of human history I'll just let the PULITZER PRIZE speak for itself.

Happy reading!

 

[morningstar2651]

Note: This list is by no means comprehensive - most books I have read would either have relevance only to practitioners of magick or are reference materials regarding herbs, plantlife, medicine, etc. and therefore have been voluntarily excluded from this list.

Also, Posting my Amazon wish list would probably be "promoting non-Christian religion".

Some good Books I've Read or am Reading (from the last year):

Non-Fiction
The Long Hard Road out of Hell -- The autobiography of Brian Warner. I highly recommend it. (New York Times Bestseller)

Black Elk: The Sacred Ways of a Lakota -- The biography of Wallace Black Elk, a Native American -- it's pretty short but may be difficult to read because Lakota, not English, is Black Elk's native language. I recommend it.

Oglala Religion -- More information on Black Elk's religion and way of life. I recommend it for use with the previous book.

Drawing Down the Moon -- Objectective reporting. It clears up stereotypes of paganism and makes no attempts of conversion -- I recommend it, especially to anyone who feals uneasy at the mention of paganism or witchcraft. It's a bit dated.

Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey's season as a park ranger at Arches National Monument. I recommend it.

Walden - The story of Henry David Thoreau's 2 years & 2 months living by Walden Pond. I highly recommend it.

Sand County Almanac - The classic statement of the joy and beauty found in a style of life that protects the environment. I highly recommend it.

Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams - In 1983, the author's mother is dying of cancer. Meanwhile, the Great Salt Lake begins to rise to record heights, threatening the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I highly recommend it.

Poetry Comes Up Where It Can - A lot of poems about nature.

The Norton Book of Nature Writing - If you were to only read one of the books I recommend -- this is it.

Fiction
A Clockwork Orange - It's a tale of good, evil, and the meaning of human freedom. I recommend it.

Gabriel Knight (2 book series) - Based off of the PC game series. I recommend it.

Death Gate Cycle (7 book series) - I'm in the first book, but I like it thus far.

 

[warispeace]

Shogun, james clavell- I read this at least once a year, god knows why, but I love it. Feudal Japan & ///4d 5vv0rd 4<+10|\| !!!111one

I've never read Shogun, but I just finished a biography on Will Adams, the guy that Shogun is based off of. It was really entertaining. Fascinating man. The book was called Samurai William, if anyone's interested.

 

[Scholar in training]

I don't read very much (gasp), but if I were to recommend two books in particular, I would recommend these:

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: a psychological thriller about Raskolnikov, an impoverished Russian student who, after killing an old pawnbroker and struggling within himself whether he should confess, finally discovers what he's really about and how to turn his life around. The action in the book is a little slow, but the book builds on its wonderful theme until the very last chapter.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: an very eloquent book about a sailor who travels to the Congo looking for work; while there sees the brutal reality of imperialism in action. Kurtz, the antagonist (and European genius) in the book was brilliantly revealed. While reading Heart of Darkness I felt as if I could understand each character to the letter; I was pulled into the story in such a way that very few writers can accomplish.

 

[Bradford]

This is the General Apologetics forum. Please do not start threads in this forum that are not related to the subject of the forum.

 

[Bradford]

We're going to try this over here.

Thread moved from General Apologetics to The Book Club.

 

[brightlights]

3) Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge -- these two are all-too-easily dismissed as overly idealistic and, well, romantic. But I think that the cynical disillusionment favored and embraced since the traumatic beginning of the 20th century may be just as unrealistic as the optimistic mysticism embraced by these nature worshippers - if not more so.

INDEED! I just got into Coleridge. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is absolutely breathtaking. Wordsworth, an admirer of William Blake, is also quite the poetic giant.

My recommendations:

1) The Once and Future King by T.H. White -- White is the King of satirical writing (I prefer him over Twain, forgive me). His prose is strikingly beautiful and he tells one of the greatest King Arthur stories that has ever been published.

2) Leaving Las Vegas by John O'Brian -- Written by an alcoholic himself, this beautifully written novel expresses the dire longing for death that a "hopeless" alcoholic feels. He moves to Las Vegas to drink himself to death, but ends up meeting a woman who brightens the last days of his life. Depressing, but good.

3) Metamorphosis and other selected stories by Franz Kafka -- Read anything you like by this man. Moreso than Poe, I consider him to be the master of macabre.

4) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller -- Neo classic. Intelligent slapstick humor at its very best.

 

[PaladinValer]

On Christian Teaching, by St. Augustine of Hippo. The one volume handbook to how to read the Holy Bible mindfully, faithfully, and knowledgefully. Non-Christians would find it especially intreguing to learn how the Earth Church Fathers (St. Augustine himself was a bishop) and the Early Church itself read and interpreted the Holy Scripture.