<p>I'm looking to actually take up reading as a hobby. Any recommendations for a fellow college student? (sports book would be wonderful, but not required)</p>
<p>Count of Monte Cristo. If you don't like it go see a doctor, there is something seriously wrong.</p>
<p>catch-22 by joseph heller.
-hysterical!</p>
<p>harry potter 1-7</p>
<p>EDIT: nvm, the first three are too kid oriented. The rest are nice and sinister.</p>
<p>BEST SPORTS BOOK EVER:
Maybe I'll Pitch Forever by Satchel Paige.</p>
<p>Its an autobio, his life was truly amazing--not too mention REALLY entertaining. It's hard to believe that he actually lived like that. </p>
<p>2nd Best BIO ever:
Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis.
(He's the lead singer from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, for anyone who doesn't know)
This is really incredible because it is soooo hard to believe that ANYONE could still be sane after going through everything that Kiedis went through. Really well written, a super good read.</p>
<p>I tend to endorse non-fiction like Free to Choose by Milton Friedman or Flat Tax Revolution by Steve Forbes. But there is some interesting fiction too, like the Bible, the Quran, or other religious texts. And it provides the added bonus of giving you a better frame of reference when you argue with religious fundamentalists (or perhaps if, since I rather doubt most enjoy it quite as much as I do).</p>
<p>A Confederacy of Dunces-John Kennedy Toole
funniest book ever written</p>
<p>Ender and Bean series by Orson Scott Card</p>
<p>Lets see...</p>
<p>Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Anthem is good as well)
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is always good
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The Iliad and the Odyssey
The Divina Comedia by Dante(or at least the Inferno)
The Autobiography of Ben Franklin
19 Stars (can't remember who it's by, but a great book on leadership)
The Sea Wolf by Jack London
The Nightingales Song by Robert Timberg
Carnage and Culture by Victor David Hanson</p>
<p>Out of those, the best ones are Gates of Fire and Atlas Shrugged</p>
<p>Another GREAT sports book is Ball Four by Jim Bouton.
It's a reflection on the playing days of a mediocre Knuckleballer. REvealing what MLB life was ACTUALLY like, which oweners and players didn't want the public to know about. </p>
<p>If you haven't read it, it is by FAR the funniest sports book ever written. It causesed SO much controversy in the MLB and the author was banned from things such as the Old Timers game.</p>
<p>k314sig09, I love Ayn Rand. The Fountainhead is definitely my favorite though. Add this to your list, chckn440, it will change your life.</p>
<p>I just read Warriors Don't Cry for my History of the South class. It's a beautiful autobiography and an easy read, by Melba Pattillo Beals, one of the Little Rock Nine.</p>
<p>Also recommend (though none of these are sports books-not my type):
The Time Traveler's Wife: looks girly, but it's really not; my 2nd favorite, only after The Fountainhead
Slaughterhouse-Five: 3rd favorite; mixes aliens with WWII
Mountains Beyond Mountains: great biography
His Dark Materials (aka The Golden Compass) Trilogy: supposedly kid/teen books, but trust me, they are very mature
The Great Expectations School: we had to read this for my Intro to Education class, but it's very good
Anthem: I second this recommendation; you can read it in like an hour
Devil in the White City: another history book; about the Chicago World Fair and the notorious serial killer H. H. Holmes; reads like a novel most of the way through
Mothers of the South: another required read for History of the South; about tenant rural farmers' wives in the South during the Great Depression
A Clockwork Orange: so interesting and thought-provoking
The Bell Jar: a true classic about mental illness
The Perks of Being a Wallflower: you will cry at the end. I don't care who you are, but you will.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: more mental illness
For Whom the Bell Tolls: great novel about the Spanish Civil War
The Catcher in the Rye: I love Holden's name...:)
To Kill a Mockingbird: very likely that you've already read this for school, but if you haven't, you should
Breathing Underwater: a teen book, but it was still good
Speak: another teen book; very easy to relate to
anything by James Patterson</p>
<p>Oh, I thought about one about sports! Home of the Braves, by David Klass. Another of his books, You Don't Know Me, is excellent too.</p>
<p>As you can see, I'm an avid reader. PM me if you want any other suggestions; that's just off the top of my head.</p>
<p>Hey, thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I'm definitely going to request some of these for Christmas. My mom will faint lol.</p>
<p>As for sports books...any sports book by Dan Jenkins is worthe the read. Dead Solid Perfect is my favorite. Semi Tough is a classic and Baja Oklahoma is great as well..</p>
<p>Check out How the 1984 NBA Draft Changed Basketball Forever by Filip Bondy, Can I Keep My Jersey? by Paul Shirley, Taking Shots by Keith Glass for starters.</p>
<p>Then some stuff like Jordan Rules by Sam Smith, and some team/player specific stuff, like Aspire Higher by Avery Johnson, 7 Seconds or Less, etc.</p>
<p>Iron & Silk, by Mark Salzman is AMAZINGGG. Funniest book I've ever read. It happens to be about martial arts, but you'll love it whether you're into martial arts or not.</p>
<p>If you like the thriller/action genre, Executive Orders by Tom Clancy is one of my favorite books. 1100 pages of amazingness. Also, whoever said the Ender series above was right, that is a good series. However I hate Ayn Rand (mostly for her philisophical ideas; she's a cold hearted person). Slaughterhouse 5 is REALLY good, but the more times you read it the better it gets (so the first time you read it it might not seem very good, I read it 5 times). And while you read it you need to constantly be asking yourself what each thing symbolizes (and I do mean that every little thing in that book is a symbol for something else).</p>
<p>If you're looking for something in the sports realm that has an interesting take on political events try reading How Football Explains the World by Franklin Foer.</p>
<p>I second the Ayn Rand recommendation. She gets a lot of flak but I loved the Fountainhead and also Atlas Shrugged.</p>
<p>the mysteries of pittsburgh by michael chabon</p>
<p>doitdoitdoitdoitdoit</p>
<p>"A Civil War: Army-Navy Football" is great book about two teams where football is great and all, but in the big picture football plays a whole other role..</p>
<p>"3 Nights in August" is co-authored by Tony LaRussa I believe. I haven't read the book, but my parents and sisters have. It was written during the 2006 season when the Cardinals won the World Series after having one of the worst records in baseball in August and September and finished the regular season 83-79!</p>