<p>1Q84. An interesting take on 1984.</p>
<p>A Wild Sheep Chase. </p>
<p>Sent from my HTC VLE_U using CC</p>
<p>Love the guy who suggested “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality”</p>
<p>That’s actually a Harry Potter Fanfiction, and you will be so confused if you read it without reading the original books first. </p>
<p>I also agree with those who are suggesting “Life of Pi” if you’re interested in religion at all.</p>
<p>Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card is extremely thought provoking, though I recommend reading Ender’s Game first, which is a lighter, more child-like read.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks everyone! I’ll have to check out “Life of Pi”, lol. And I’ve read almost all of Orwell’s works already (he’s amazing). </p>
<p>By the way, not to sound overbearing/sappy/stupid or anything but do you guys know of any good romance novels? I have a strange penchant for them being a girl and all, but intellectually stimulating + romance novels usually aren’t very compatible LOL.</p>
<p>Twilight</p>
<p>Oh wait.</p>
<p>You said good. ;)</p>
<p>Sorry, don’t know of any good ones, I don’t really read them, but all my friends read Nicholas Sparks, but maybe you read them before since they’re popular and all, they’re supposed to be good.</p>
<p>… Uhh… Ehh… Eee…!</p>
<p>Intellectual and a romance…? </p>
<p>FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON.</p>
<p>… Uuhhh</p>
<p>Ummmm…!</p>
<p>Yeah that’s all I got.</p>
<p>Make sure you read Life of Pi. That was amazing. And I agree, I love Orwell too.
Now lets see:</p>
<p>The Stranger - Albert Camus
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Spirit of Laws - Charles Montesquieu (If you enjoy political philosophy)
Silent Spring - Rachel Carson
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (LOVE!)</p>
<p>And a bunch more I can’t think of right now.</p>
<p>Someone said Killing Lincoln. I second that.</p>
<p>Life of Pi. Really, it’s the best. I just read it in my AP lit class this year, and I still find myself thinking about it all the time. It made me rethink a lot of my religious perspectives.</p>
<p>Don’t read Dickens.</p>
<p>The Gone Series by Michael Grant…</p>
<p>Godel, Escher, Bach.</p>
<p>By far the most intellectually stimulating (boy do I hate that phrase) novel I’ve read. A second here for the Steve Jobs bio (Walter Isaacson, of course). It’s not intellectual, but that man has probably shaped our world more than any other – Apple lover or not.</p>
<p>I forgot that may (very small) town is actually mentioned in 1984 
Tha really got me excited whilst reading it :D</p>
<p>Romance + Intellectual- Any Jane Austen. Especially Pride & Prejudice
I second The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. One of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. I loved it, even though it is fairly disturbing in parts. Also by her, Beloved is really good, though imo a harder more complicated read.
The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne) is one of the few school books I’ve actually truly liked.</p>
<p>I second A Separate Peace… I thought it was phenomenal. I just started Life of Pi! I swore that I’d read it before I go see the movie, haha. I strongly recommend As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. It’s absolutely incredible, in my opinion. Aaannndddd… Animal Farm - my favorite book of all time!!</p>
<p>I used to be an avid reader, but I have a lot of homework these days and it’s extremely time-consuming, so I don’t have the time anymore to make enough of a commitment to any novel. Nevertheless, here are some recommendations that you might appreciate:</p>
<p>I don’t know how many times people have recommended Slaughterhouse-five and Cat’s Cradle, but I’d definitely suggest reading those if you haven’t already. Vonnegut’s works are great, seriously: not only are they relatively short (I blew through SH5 in three days and I’m a dreadfully slow reader), but they’re also incisive and carry a sort of sincerity that I have yet to find in a lot of other novels. </p>
<p>Also, try Siddhartha if you want something “philosophical” (thought-provoking can mean quite a few things) - it’s really short and you can probably read it in like a day or two if you think it’s worth the effort. I’ve been reading The Brothers Karamazov on and off for about a year, and if you think you’re up for a very thorough inquisition of the nature of organized religion, I’d recommend picking it up. Be aware that it’s extremely long, though: it’s one of the most rewarding novels I’ve ever come across, but my edition is upwards of 750 pages. I know the Penguin edition is something like a thousand pages. I’ve heard that most of Dostoyevsky’s novels are thought-provoking, though I’ve only read Karamazov. That might be something that you could explore if you like TBK. I’ve heard that Crime and Punishment is really good, so by all means, do a bit of research on it and dive in if you’re interested.</p>
<p>I read Catch-22 in sophomore year and actually ended up doing my extended essay on it. Though I regret choosing to analyze the book at length, it’s still really good. The humor is recondite and maybe it won’t be your sort of thing, but if you like the concept of paradox, I think you might enjoy it. The “thought-provoking” aspect of things comes in the criticism of war and bureaucracy in the book, so if that seems like something you’re interested in, you should definitely read it. It’s one of my favorite novels.</p>
<p>and that’s the end of my biased spiel, haha</p>
<p>Upheaval by Qasim Raza. It’s a personal favorite and it really stimulates and the stuns your intellect, you don’t even see it coming. It’s a grand twist on a pretty classic medieval setting/tale.</p>