<p>since no mentioned it, I’d say the Bible, Quran, and Torah. scriptures are also books if I’m not mistaken.</p>
<p>Joyce too is awesome. You only realize how carefully he “places” the themes in his story upon a second read–particularly with his stories containing epiphanies. There are so many small details that lead directly back to the end of that story, that collection of stories, etc. The Dubliners is fantastically crafted, in those respects. I haven’t read anything by Woolf or Hemingway; I have so many books to read and so little time to read, haha! </p>
<p>I would recommend rereading The Odyssey before tackling Ulysses. I liked Catch 22 but felt that it got repetitive by the end. </p>
<p>I recently went to my local Borders that is closing and picked up 10 books, from the likes of Kerouac to Victor Hugo. Should be interesting. I’m currently on Pride and Prejudice; I don’t care so much for romanticism as a plot element but Austen’s way of crafting conversations and sentences in general is just beautiful.</p>
<p>I really like anything by Margaret Atwood, not because of her feminine discourse, but because her prose and diction is so beautiful, she has a real control of the English language. I learned a lot about writing just from reading her books. ( Edible Woman and Oryx and Crake were especially well written.) </p>
<p>I also have to give a shout out to Mohsin Hamid. His actual writing isn’t legendary or anything, but his subject matter is very thought-provoking. He has two mainstream novels that I know of: Moth Smoke, and the lesser-known Reluctant Fundamentalist. RF is one of my favorite novels, and very controversial to say the least. </p>
<p>My favorite author, however, is Milan Kundera. I will stop there, because I could go on and on about him. Seriously pick up The Joke, Immortality, and/or the Unbearable Lightness of Being. It’s an intellectual orgasm.</p>
<p>TomWolfe: it’s pretty good. I do feel like I’m missing some major themes, or not completely understanding them. I’m only half way through though.</p>
<p>To Kill a Mockingbird. Granted, it wasn’t a school assignment, but I felt it impacted me enough to make it’s protagonist the topic of my college essay.</p>
<p>Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Sula by Toni Morrison</p>
<p>Kindred is probably the best book you could ever read if you want to understand the impact of slavery on the actual people.</p>
<p>I’m really selfish and like to pretend no one’s read my favorite book because it was written solely for me 
one book that truly sucks- longitude.</p>
<p>oh and I finished the fountainhead recently. Ayn rand’s ideas are so different that it’s hard to digest but I’ve fallen in love with Roark’s integrity.</p>
<p>^Did you read Atlas Shrugged too? I started it, got 50-60 page in a gave up. It’s slow and boring. Does it get better? And how does Fountainhead compare</p>
<p>Ayn Rand’s a great writer, but is out of her mind when it comes to her political philosophies.</p>
<p>I got to around page 200 in Atlas Shrugged before my brother wrested it away from me for a school project back in high school. I actually found it to be an extraordinarily easy read.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard about the Atlas Shrugged movie they’re making? Heh.</p>
<p>haven’t read atlas shrugged but I’m planning to soon (in the summer maybe after all this school nonsense.)
ayn rand spends half of the fountainhead spitting on charity work haha.
but I’ve used her for literally every essay in English and I owe her quite a bit of A+'s. I have to give my thanks by reading.</p>
<p>I read Fountainhead and felt really empowered for about a week. I intended to read Atlas Shrugged but gave up that dream after I heard there was a 70+ page monologue…</p>
<p>Planning on reading Atlas Shrugged and a lot of other books this summer. As for books that change lives I also have to add the Harry Potter books for me personally. Its because of those books that I love reading.</p>
<p>Ayn Rand is one of the worst writers of all time. Clumsy, lifeless prose, utterly unrealistic characters, and absolutely no insight into life as a human being. It actually disturbs me that people like this kind of ****. </p>
<p>I mean I get that Americans are all primed from birth for something glorifying the individual but if that’s what you’re looking for read Nietzsche not some third-rate hack with a rape fetish.</p>
<p>Catcher in the Rye, hands down. Read it when I was 12 and it really caused me to question the validity of grown-up “phonies” who think they’re right about everything “because I said so” and because I should look at them and “respect their authoritahh!” :D</p>
<p>I did a project on the theme of star-crossed/ill-fated/different-worlds lovers that included cases from films as well as books. Twilight (just the book – won’t go anywhere near the film) was one I had to stomach through just for the “current” example; the book itself is awful but the premise is sort of unique, in that Romeo is already dead. Among films, I included West Side Story and Say Anything (which has a happy ending and a kickass 80s soundtrack – Peter Gabriel for the win!). <em>lol</em> But there’s also the disturbing, tragic love story of Winston and Julia in 1984, fighting for love in a world where it just doesn’t exist.</p>
<p>If you want a real eye-opening, mind-blowing experience read On the Road or Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. Anything either Beat Generation or '60s counterculture is a trip in itself. :D</p>
<p>I tried to read Tropic of Cancer when I was 12, just to see what all the fuss was always about. It was mentioned on an episode of Seinfeld, and at that age, you’re curious to see what makes a dirty book so “dirty.” (Thinking of things we shouldn’t read, that’s a lyric from a Panic at the Disco song – but it’s one of the main themes of major dystopian literature too.) 'Course, my mom read a passage or two and marched me right back to the library to bring it back. She probably wouldn’t have reacted as badly if she’d found drugs in my room as anything having to do with S-E-X. As such, because of my upbringing, I’m now horribly repressed as an adult, and will never be a rebel from the waist down – because from the neck up, I’ve got an over-the-shoulder Bowdler holder! ;)</p>
<p>On the Road.</p>
<p>Man, can’t believe this thread has gotten so far and nobody’s mentioned any of Dale Carnegie’s books. Especially How to Win Friends and Influence People.</p>
<p>I can’t agree with you about the prose Jan, I actually enjoy the way she writes.
about the characters being unrealistic, I think that’s the point, that she’s making a protest over the fact that the human ideal doesn’t exist in our world’s reality.</p>
<p>It wasn’t for school but I just finished reading 100 years of solitude and it was beyond amazing.</p>