<p>Gossip Girl (just kidding…=P)</p>
<p>Im currently reading The Professor, by Charlotte Bront</p>
<p>Does anybody have any must read social commentary books such as Freakonomics and the like?</p>
<p>Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is an excellent book on instantaneous decision making. I’m currently starting Godel, Escher, Bach and it is excellent.</p>
<p>The Ornament of the World, by Maria Menocal. It’s non-fiction, about Al-Andalus and the culture there in the 8th-11th centuries. It’s a fast and light read. Why am I recommending it? Because I spent years in humanities coursework where my professors and texts pretended that Islamic culture was some sort of walled garden “over there” in the middle east that had no impact on “Western Civ” at all, except in certain parts of mathematical and astronomical naming. </p>
<p>Hah! The Western poetic tradition has among its sources some roots in Persio-Arabic poetry. Dante? Petrarch? Chretien de Troyes? It’s in there. Dante is both reacting to Averroeism <em>and</em> the Kitab al-Miraj’s depiction of the levels of heaven. Additionally, Menocal is one of the voices challenging the idea that Jews, Muslims, and Christians cannot get along. </p>
<p>Alternatively, “In an Antique Land” by Amitav Ghosh, for similar reasons.</p>
<p>the pillars of the earth by ken follet
the spy who came in from the cold by john lecarre
then sound of waves by yukio mishima</p>
<p>There’s Superfreakonomics</p>
<p>If your into more political economy books I reccomend Superfusion (China and USA economy), and The End of the Free Market by Ian Bremmer (similar)</p>
<p>Anything by Chuck Palahniuk. They’re quick reads which is nice when you don’t have tons of time.</p>
<p>Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Very weird, very interesting outlook on why successful people are successful.
Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. This is one of my FAVORITE books and I can’t even tell you how many books I’ve read in my life.
Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton, a quick-read, kind of like Pirates of the Caribbean in book form/ten times better.
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, if you’re into weird stuff
like that.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley was one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read but also one of the best.
If you’re into history, anything by Steve Berry- cute quick-read novels based on people, places, and events in history.
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. It was hard and confusing but an amazing book once it started to make sense.</p>
<p>The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
-Very good plot, well-written, and interesting. The reader gets a look into the lives of a dysfunctional Midwestern family (although all of the kids moved to the East coast). I don’t know, look up a summary.</p>
<p>Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
-It will make you laugh, and it will make you sad. It is written at the POV of a nine year-old boy, but it has parts written by his grandparents… it’s really good! Again, look up a summary.</p>
<p>Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut
-I’m a huge fan of his works, but if you’re looking for a book that is an easy read and funny, check out this one. Look up a summary.</p>
<p>I could sit here all day recommending books, but these are three I really have to let people know about!</p>
<p>I’m in the middle of My Apprenticeship by Maxim Gorky. It’s definitely not the most interesting book I’ve ever read.</p>
<p>Summer Reading List:
Transparent Things by Vladimir Nabokov
King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov
The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky</p>
<p>I’m taking two summer classes and volunteering at the local library, so I don’t know how far I’ll get.</p>
<p>I second Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. His writing is very informative, and each chapter is a case study on success and the circumstances that led to it. A great read.</p>
<p>Another good one is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It currently holds the world record for most translated book by a living author, and has sold more copies than any of the Harry Potter books. It is a favorite of many celebrities, including Will Smith, Russel Crowe, and Aishwarya Rai. It’s awesome.</p>
<p>This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald :)</p>
<p>Are parental readers welcome here? I hope so, because I have read and enjoyed many of the suggestions here and will be adding some to my list for the coming months.</p>
<p>For those looking for works of nonfiction that relate to our present world, I do not hesitate to suggest:
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen
I am currently reading Stones Into Schools by the same author</p>
<p>If you liked other works of Magical Realism, you may enjoy **Garden Spells **by Sarah Allen</p>
<p>More later!</p>
<p>I’d recommend Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami as a good summer read: a fantastic, extremely well written novel that moves along at an easygoing pace.</p>
<p>I’d also recommend:</p>
<p>“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver
“A Northern Light” by Jennifer Donnelly - one of my all-time favorites
“The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov
and literally ANYTHING by Annie Dillard. She’s like my all-time favorite writer, especially “An American Childhood,” “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek” and (IMO) the best one, “For the Time Being.”</p>
<p>The two books I like best this year were:</p>
<p>The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
The Help by Kathyrn Stockett</p>
<p>I loved Jonathan Coe’s The Rotters’ Club (I’ve been on a bit of a modern British kick…I’m currently reading The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher).
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (if you haven’t already)
Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz (not the best, but is a really good look into admissions)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (definitely one of my favorites…although it’s a bit…heavy)</p>
<p>Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann</p>
<p>Best book I have read this year.</p>
<p>I second:
The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
This Side of Paradise - F. Scott Fitzgerald</p>
<p>I recommend:
Anything by H.G. Wells</p>
<p>The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
If you like James you’ll like it, too. But even if you don’t like James read it anyway; the writing style is easier although the themes are very similar. About New York high society in the 1890s and the tragic fall from grace of Lily Bart, the most real, sympathetic heroine I’ve ever encountered.</p>