So many good books out there but I have two favorites and not because they are really anything special but they have special meaning or give a great memory.

The Giver by Lois Lowery
This book has always been one that I enjoyed but I believe it is what set me on the path to being a conservative.
It is a quick read and I was assigned to read it in sixth grade.
Long story short it is about the "perfect utopian society" everyone has their role and are given only what they need.
The main character is given a position to hold the memories of before utopia was set in place.
As he is given the memories he begins to realize that this utopia is really the exact opposite and that it sucks as there is no fun, free will, or choice.

That was when I began to realize that government meddling in everything and trying to direct everything is not a good thing.

The 2nd book is A Catcher in The Rye by JD Salinger
Surprisingly enough I was never required to read this for school.
This book while good just brings back memories of a really good summer in High School. Every summer starting in 6th grade I went on a mission trip somewhere.
Summer before sophomore year of High School we headed out to live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota quite a lengthy road trip for 30 high school kids and chaperones.
There were no iPhones or tablets to pass the time and no personal CD players were allowed on the trip.

My buddy had to read a Catcher in The Rye for summer reading. For whatever reason he just started reading it out loud. He created a voice for every character and it was awesome.
While I was lucky and had great summers traveling and doing mission work that one stands out because of the drive.

Weird how stuff sticks with you for years and years.

Different purposes; entertainment, education, insight.

The Good Soldier Schweik, a long book that lampoons the Austro-Hungarian army and society during WWI. Very funny.

A Confederacy of Dunces, a comedy set in New Orleans. A cast of chaeacters. Very funny.

The True Believer, a description of the irrationality of mass movements and the mentality of the fanatic.

The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality, the fount for Hayek, Buckley, Sowell.

Atlas Shrugged.
If every college student and professor had to read this, we might not be in the mess we see today.
The book is too long at over a thousand pages but still a great book, even with it's flaws. Shows that human nature hasn't changed much. Most people seem to want other peoples stuff and are jealous of the accomplishment and success of others. We may think this is a new problem but it isn't as this 1950's novel shows.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
Not a war story but an inside description of how civilization went off the rails.
One thing the Germans were good at was record keeping. The author got access to those records, and more, and was even able to interview some of the surviving Nazis after the war. Before the war he lived and covered Europe for CBS news and fled in 1940, just before he would have been arrested.
The book almost makes it feel like you are in the room, listening as they plotted and planned the takeover of the world.
Another book that should be required reading in school.

old man and the sea.

95 pages. I read it every vacation. Succint, well written, and suspenseful.

Probably an emotional connection since it was the firs book I read that I actually enjoyed and couldn't put down.

Two of my favorite books that I have read numerous times are:

One Tough Marine by Donald Hamblen

Marine Sniper by Charles Henderson

Homicide by Charles Sasser

April Morning by Howard Fast

When I face adversity, or have self doubts I turn to the book One Tough Marine and read what Donald Hamblen went through. This is especially true when I blew my knee out the first time in the Army, and was contemplating re-enlisting in 2009.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mrapteam666,

I have a bunch of favorites, for a wide variety of reasons.

Some all time favorites, in no particular order:

A Confederacy Of Dunces
The Prince Of Tides
Atlas Shrugged
House of Leaves
Infinite Jest
On Bullshit
1984
Catch 22
Brave New World
The Handmaid's Tale
Running With Scissors
Me Talk Pretty One Day
The Debt To Pleasure
Misery
Heart Shaped Box

and several others...

Two of my favorites in recent years that are vastly different in terms of "weight":

The Curious Incident Of The Dog in the Night-Time, a feel good story meets murder mystery with a dash of Sherlock Holmes told from the perspective of an autistic boy. Light, funny, mildly tear jerky, intended for a wide range of readers.

The Dante Club, a murder mystery meets historical fiction meets literary history set in early America with various famous figures including some of the Founding Fathers, which basically requires a fair degree of familiarity with Dante's Inferno to get many nuances.

Favorite book from my childhood is Where the Red Fern Grows. Just a great story about a boy and his dogs. Its joyous and heartbreaking... quintessential boyhood stuff.

My favorite novel is To Kill a Mockingbird. It is expertly written, has great characters, is morally intriguing, etc. And being a southern person, so much of it is relatable even though it is set 40 years before my birth.

Lots on this list that I have read, or really should.

A couple that I keep going back to.

• A Land Remembered. Likely the best historic fiction I have read.
  
• Pillars of the Earth. Long but good.
  
• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Too much common sense in this one.
  

Sister Carrie (1900) by Theodore Dreiser. It is one of the earliest novels of realism/naturalism in American Literature. It presents the story of a young woman who struggles to escape humble circumstances and rise up in economic status. She latches on to an older man, Hurstwood, who falls for her and commits a crime to be with her. Literary naturalism presents characters who cannot overcome their weaknesses to succeed. It is a modern tragedy of urban survival. It holds up well and is an American classic.

I don't make the time to read much anymore, but some that have always stuck with me are:

Of Mice and Men, and Flowers for Algernon. Both dealing with somewhat difficult or sensitive topics, I read them both at a young(er) age, maybe late elementary or middle school. My mother taught special education & later resource room and has had her fair share of mentally challenged students, and I have a good friend whose younger brother is autistic and another friend whose older brother has Downs Syndrome.

They are some of the neatest people I have known, in their own ways and maybe the books opened my eyes to the cruel reality of the world. I like to think I was raised well, and most definitely knew right from wrong and never tolerated people picking on or being mean to kids with disabilities.

Another few, happened because I read Shogun by James Clavell, and was hooked. Which led to one year of reading anything of his I could get my hands on. While Shogun is up there, my favorite book of his is actually King Rat, the story of WWII POW camp. If you haven't read it, I don't want to give anything away.

My favorite novel of all time is East of Eden. I've read it 6 or 7 times now.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
Heart Shaped Box

That's a good one. Really liked NOS4A2 too.

Found my favorite Stephen King short story collection:

Full Dark No Stars

If you like revenge stories (four of them), it'll be a fast read.

In the past year, I have enjoyed:

Ordinary Grace - William Kent Krueger
I Am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes

I also like authors that create series, like:

WEB Griffin - Numerous Sets
William Kent Krueger - Cork O'Conner
CJ Box - Joe Picket
Michael Connely - Harry Bosch

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
As a young man, most anything by Andre Norton.
Science fiction novel about a young man marooned with a knife, cannot remember the author or the title?
Takes place on another planet in the future, and a group of young people go on a camp, and various adventures about how important a good knfe allows one to survive and proper!

Trinity by Leon Uris.

Great story and it was the inspiration for naming our youngest son Conor. A common name today but we were way ahead of the curve 32 years ago when we picked it. That and everybody spells it wrong these days, LOL!

James Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific”. What’s not to like? exotic settings, war, sex, good, evil, comedic interludes, hero’s and zeros. Absolutely one I read every few years. No wonder it was a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Another, Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles.”
Classic 50’s science fiction, dealing with some subjects that would be politically incorrect now, but well told. Interesting insights into how human behavior never changes, regardless of time or place.

Exodus and Battle Cry by Leon Uris

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein (ok, really just about any of his books as I grew up reading them)

Dune by Frank Herbert

Ender's Game is one I've probably read 10-15 times & have read the whole series 3-4 times through.

The Art of Racing in the Rain is another that I can read over.

Both are on the shelf near the bed.

quote:

Originally posted by Stirek:
Exodus and Battle Cry by Leon Uris

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein (ok, really just about any of his books as I grew up reading them)

Dune by Frank Herbert

+1 for Battle Cry.

Also like The Old Man and The Boy. Need to regularly re-read it. Also by Robert Ruark, the Honey Badger.

Shogun

Although it’s a long book I’ve read it a half dozen times. I enjoy the grander, the scope of the book, the character development, the multiple plots and twists. Also, probably because I was in Japan the first time I read it I probably am able to put myself more deeply into the book.