100 Books Everyone Should Read (in no particular order)

The Dune Series - Frank Herbert (1965-1985)

(This is only the original series by Frank Herbert not the continuation published posthumously by his son, which is not of the same quality or tone) A vast saga of the distant future exploring the political, religious, ideological, technical, and genetic changes necessary for the survival of the human species and the often painful and occasionally wondrous moments upon which the universe hinges. "Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic."

The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett (1930)

A beautiful woman wanders into Sam Spade's detective office and hires him to retrieve a valuable statue of a bird. He soon realizes that he is in way over his head and no one is to be trusted. "Everybody," Spade responded mildly, "has something to conceal."

The Most Dangerous Game - Richard Connell (1924)

A big game hunter falls from a yacht and swims to an island where he soon finds himself the prey of an aristocrat intent on hunting the most dangerous game, man. "The best sport in the world," agreed Rainsford. "For the hunter," amended Whitney. "Not for the jaguar." "Don't talk rot, Whitney," said Rainsford. "You're a big game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?" "Perhaps the jaguar does," observed Whitney."

Jumper - Steven Gould (1992)

A boy escapes his abusive home by teleporting and goes in search of the mother that abandoned him. "Why is it easier to get men to go to war than to see a counselor?" "Great,' I said. 'Visit exotic Australia. Get bitten by an exotic snake. Die exotically."

The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams Bianco (1922)

A children's book that every adult should read. The tale of how a toy that has been deeply and truly loved becomes real. The rabbit's journey to realness is a clear and heart wrenching metaphor of growing up and growing old and how it is love that makes people really real as well. Anyone who can read this story and not feel their heart ache does not have one. "Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.' 'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit. 'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.' 'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?' 'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Aesop's Fables - Aesop (620-564 BC)

A collection of fables designed to teach simple truths or morals in a format easily understood by children and adults alike. These are the bedtime stories that are so deeply ingrained in the common lore that most know them but not where they came from or their original form. Every child should be gifted with this book before he or she can read and raised on it. "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." "Those who suffer most cry out the least." "In trying to please all, he had pleased none."

Grimm's Fairy Tales - Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm (1812-1852)

A collection of over 211 fairy tales that are now considered classic folklore including Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Red Riding Hood. Some were adapted from traditional oral tales and some were made up entirely by the Brothers Grimm. Most contain moral lessons and warnings of the dire consequences of misbehaving. "Then her envious heart had peace, as much as an envious heart can have." "He who helped thee when thou wert in trouble ought not afterwards to be despised by thee."

Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu (6th century BC)

A collection of quotes that form the heart of Taoism. "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power." "A leader is best When people barely know he exists Of a good leader, who talks little, When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, They will say, "We did this ourselves."

The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling (1894)

A collection of short stories set in the jungles of Africa and India featuring animals and children as the main characters including the popular "Mowgli's Brothers,""Riki Tiki Tavi," and "Kim." "Better he should be bruised from head to foot by me who love him than that he should come to harm through ignorance (3.5)."

The Swiss Family Robinson - Johann David Wyss (1812)

A family is shipwrecked on a deserted island in the West Indies. The story chronicles their survival, both triumphs and setbacks, and along the way the children learn valuable moral lessons. "A noble mind finds its purest joy in the accomplishment of its duty, and to that willingly sacrifices its inclination."

Comes the Blind Fury - John Saul (1980)

A family moves into a house and their young daughter finds a doll that once belonged to a blind girl who fell to her death after being taunted by locals. The ghost of the dead girl makes contact with the young girl and wants revenge. "There, like a dark shadow against the lights inside, stood the tall figure of Josiah Carson. Though he couldn't see the old man's eyes in the darkness, Cal knew they were fixed on him. He could feel them, boring into him, examining him."

The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger (1997)

A fictionalized account of the true story of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat caught in one of the most terrible storms in a century off the coast of Gloucester Massachusetts. "Meteorologist see perfect in strange things, and the meshing of three completely independent weather systems to form a hundred-year event is one of them. My God, thought Case, this is the perfect storm."

Rabbit, Run - John Updike (1960)

A former basketball star is trapped in a loveless marriage, a job he hates, and a life going nowhere. When he can take it no more he tries to break free and escape with sometimes comical results. "...hate suits him better than forgiveness. Immersed in hate, he doesn't have to do anything; he can be paralyzed, and the rigidity of hatred makes a kind of shelter for him."

Jaws - Peter Benchley (1974)

A great white shark wreaks havoc on Amityville Island during peak tourist season. " I could never demonize an animal, especially not an animal that is much older and much more successful in its habitat than man is, has been, or ever will be, an animal that is vitally necessary for the balance of nature in the sea, and an animal that we may—if we don't change our destructive behaviors—extinguish from the face of the earth."

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)

A grim sailor accosts a guest outside a wedding chapel and tells him a terrifying ghost story that begins with an act of cruelty and quickly becomes a nightmarish vision. "Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink." "He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all."

The Time Quartet - Madeleine L'Engle (1959-1989)

A handful of children must battle the forces of evil to save their world and all worlds from the unnaming. The most familiar title for most is the first novel, A Wrinkle in Time. "You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you."

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes (1958)

A heartbreaking tale of a developmentally challenged boy undergoing an experimental drug trial that is designed to enhance his intelligence to normal levels. Simply reading the last line of this story still has the power to move me to tears. "A child may not know how to feed itself, or what to eat, yet it knows hunger." "I don't know what's worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you've always wanted to be, and feel alone."

Tai-Pan - James Clavell (1966)

A historical fictional novel depicting two powerful families and the efforts of English settlers to establish free trade on the Chinese island of Tai-Pan (aka Taiwan and Formosa). It has man versus man, man versus government, man versus nature, love, family drama, political drama, and even a huge amount of very well researched historical fact. It is a massive read but more than worth it. "Love is like the sea, sometimes calm and sometimes stormy; it's dangerous, beautiful, death-dealing, life-giving. But never permanent, everchanging."

Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut (1963)

A humorous novel delving deeply into the nature of science, religion, love, and human nature as a reporter tracks the legacy of one of the masterminds behind the atomic bomb. "Maturity," Bokonon tells us, "is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything (88.19)"

The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag - Robert Heinlein (1942)

A husband and wife team of detectives are approached by a strange and innocuous looking man who asks them to investigate him and discover what it is that he does for a living. They think it's a crackpot offering easy money until they begin to investigate and things get weird. "Maybe the whole world held together only when you kept your attention centered on it and believed in it. If you let discrepancies creep in, you began to doubt and it began to go to pieces."

Tartuffe - Moliere (1664)

A hypocrite pretends to be a devoutly religious man to worm his way into a rich man's graces. "It's hard to be a faithful wife, in short, To certain husbands of a certain sort, And he who gives his daughter to a man she hates Must answer for her sins at Heaven's gate."

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott (1868-1869)

A novel following four sisters as they suffer the joys and pains of passing into adulthood. It also shows the travails of their mother having to raise four daughters without their father present. "I like good strong words that mean something." "There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.

Clouds Above the Hills - Ryōtarō Shiba (1969)

A novelized history of Japan during and after the war with Russia showing the struggle between an older, formal, isolationist worldview and the mad scramble to modernize and globalize and the pain and determination of both sides of the schism. "The deck was covered in blood." Saneyuki strove to keep his face blank, but the horror of that crimson deck spattered with torn fragments of flesh and bone would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life."

A Simple Plan - Scott B. Smith (1993)

A plane involved in a federal sting on a drug syndicate crashes in the woods. Three friends find it and it is full of sacks of cash. No one will miss a little if they are careful and stick to a simple plan to avoid capture, but nothing is simple once greed, paranoia, and fear enter the equation. "By doing one wrong thing, I thought I could make everything right."

A Modest Proposal - Jonathon Swift (1729)

A satire proposing an unthinkable solution to the problem of poverty in Ireland. "There is likewise another great advantage in my scheme, that it will prevent those abortions, and that horrid practice of women murdering their bastard children, alas, too frequent among us, sacrificing the poor innocent babes, I doubt, more to avoid the expense than the shame" (5).

Animal Farm - George Orwell (1945)

A satirical tale of animals who decide to take over the farm and drive out humans in hopes of a better life. "If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

Inferno - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (1976)

A sci-fi retelling of Dante's Inferno with an agnostic writer in place of Dante and a much more modern Hell. "We're in the hands of infinite power and infinite sadism." "Have at you, Builders! You can't keep a science-fiction writer in Hell!"

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (1890)

A self-centered and cruel man remains young while those around him grow old. Only when he sees the true corruption in his soul does he desperately seek salvation. "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."

I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was - Barbara Sher (1995)

A self-help book that explores the lost art of making up your mind. It discusses ways of deciding what it is that you really want, whether that goal is attainable, and how to begin the path to achieving it. "How can families harm us when they love us? Very easily, unfortunately. Most of us overlook one important fact when we think love is enough: Love and respect aren't the same thing. Love is fusion. As a baby, you belong to your parents, you're extension of them. Respect is differentiation: you belong to yourself, and you're an extension of no one. Differentiation is essential for happiness of adults."

Taboo - Franz Steiner (1956)

A social anthropologist traces the study of social taboos, human interest in the taboo, and the relationship of all things forbidden to social order in a collected series of lectures. "One might say that taboo deals with the sociology of danger itself, for it is also concerned with the protection of individuals who are in danger, and with the protection of society from those endangered-and therefore dangerous-persons" (20-1).

The Color Purple - Alice Walker (1982)

A story focusing on the women and female acquaintances of an African American family in Georgia exposing the casual acceptance of rape, incest, and abuse black women suffer at the hands of all the men in their life that also takes a deep penetrating look at the patriarchal nature of God. "Why any woman give a shit what people think is a mystery to me."

Evelina's Garden - Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1899)

A story of one love thwarted by misunderstanding, and another gained by losing everything. "One young man there was, indeed, who treasured in his heart an experience so subtle and so slight that he could scarcely believe in it himself. He never recounted it to mortal soul, but kept it as a secret sacred between himself and his own nature, but something to be scoffed at and set aside by others."

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (1899)

A strange and rather controversial tale of a Belgium agent working for a company colonizing the African Congo. He begins to hear about an agent who supposedly was captured by natives and revered as a god. He becomes obsessed with learning the truth of Kurtz. The novella is basically about the nature of good and evil and the hollowness of existence. How life dehumanizes humans. "He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible, which is also detestable. And it has a fascination, too, that goes to work upon him. The fascination of the abomination - you know, imagine the growing regrets, the longing to escape, the powerless disgust, the surrender, the hate."

Darwin's Radio - Greg Bear (1999)

A strange retrovirus SHEVA causes rapid evolution of fetuses in utero. The world scrambles to respond to the disease only to realize it is encoded into human DNA and the surviving infants are a new species of hominid with a different number of chromosomes. Then the questions of morality, speciation, coexistence, and extinction really begin. "For years I've been waiting for nature to react to our environmental bullshit, tell us to stop overpopulating and depleting resources, to shut up and stop messing around and just die. Species-level apoptosis. I think this could be the final warning—a real species killer."

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (1951)

A terrifying image of a future where all books are banned and firemen burn any they find. "The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies."

Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (1891)

A truly tragic tale of an ordinary girl tries repeatedly to raise herself and her family from squalor and find love only to lose it as soon as it is in sight. "If an offense come out of the truth, better is it that the offense come than that the truth be concealed."

Oscar Wilde - Richard Ellmann (1988)

A very human and sympathetic biography of controversial literary figure Oscar Wilde. "Drift beautifully on the surface, and you will die unbeautifully in the depths."

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (1932)

A vision of a future where genetic manipulation and behavior conditioning have produced a society of perfect order where almost everyone is content in their place and there is no need for free will. "Besides, we have our stability to think of. We don't want to change. Every change is a menace to stability. That's another reason why we're so chary of applying new inventions. Every discovery in pure science is potentially subversive; even science must sometimes be treated as a possible enemy. Yes, even science."

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain ( 1876)

A young Missouri boy's adventures and misadventures. There comes a time in every rightly-constructed boy's life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusack (2005)

A young child grows up in Germany in World War II. A powerful and moving look at life inside the Nazi regime. "I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right."

Coraline - Neil Gaiman (2002)

A young girl feeling neglected by her parents finds herself in a world where she has another mother and another father, with buttons for eyes, who are everything she dreamed of., but too good to be true. "There's a but, isn't there?" said Coraline. "I can feel it. Like a rain cloud."

Moby Dick - Herman Melville (1851)

A young man takes a summer job on a whaling vessel only to discover that the captain has gone mad with the desire for vengeance. "To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."

The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side - Agatha Christie (1962)

After a fall, iconic detective Jane Marple throws a party to honor the ambulance company that rescued her. At the party, a guest is poisoned and died with a look that a policeman compares to the face of the Lady of Shalott from Tennyson's famous poem. It is up to Mrs. Marple's keen observation and cutting questions to reveal the truth before it is forever silenced. "One never quite allows for the moron in our midst." "People laugh at Tennyson nowadays, but the Lady of Shalott always thrilled me when I was young and it still does."

Lightning - Dean Koontz (1988)

All through her life Laura Shane has had a guardian angel watching over her in times when she might have been killed or wounded. One day that guardian angel shows up wounded with an unbelievable tale of time travel and love. "But once an idea for a novel seizes a writer...well, it's like an inner fire that at first warms you and makes you feel good but then begins to eat you alive, burn you up from within. You can't just walk away from the fire; it keeps burning. The only way to put it out is to write the book."

The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling (1997-2007)

An abused boy learns he is a wizard and that he has a mortal enemy who tried to kill him as a baby. He goes to school, gains friends, grows up, and ultimately faces his enemy. "Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love."

It - Stephen King (1986)

An ancient evil lurks below the town of Derry Maine and it feeds on children. "She laughed at the stars, frightened but free, her terror as sharp as pain and as sweet as a ripe October apple."

The Art of War - Sun Tzu (5th century BC)

An ancient treatise on combat that focuses on putting resources to their best use, practical organization, and morale. These are time tested strategies studied by militaries and militias all over the world for thousands of years. Aside from that, the flow and dignity of the language is awe inspiring. "Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death!"

The Hunger - Whitley Strieber (1981)

An ancient vampire needs a companion to keep her in touch with the world, keep her from despair. Immortality is a curse rather than a blessing. Although she can extend her beloved's life, they do not last as long as they used to, and then there is the fact that no one likes being replaced. "Eumenes had been with her more than 400 years, Lollia nearly as long. Until now not one of her transformations had failed to last 200 years. Was she getting worse at it, or was the strength of the human stock in decline?"

Silent Spring - Rachel Carson (1962)

An environmentalist details the impact of pesticides on the ecology, particularly the effects of DDT. This book was considered alarmist and bad scientific protocol when released, but time has borne out almost all of Dr. Carson's research, but does that excuse shortcutting protocol? "As crude a weapon as the cave man's club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life - a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and resilient, and capable of striking back in unexpected ways."

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James (1898)

An idealistic governess takes a job in a creepy old mansion overseeing two very strange children. As the governess becomes more convinced that something evil is haunting the home, the children become more unnatural seeming and their influence on her more pronounced. "Tormented, in the hall, with difficulties and obstacles, I remember sinking down at the foot of the staircase - suddenly collapsing there on the lowest step and then, with a revulsion, recalling that it was exactly where more than a month before, in the darkness of night and just so bowed with evil things I had seen the specter of the most horrible of women. (15.4)"

Candide - Voltaire (1759)

An incredibly complicated and satirical tale of a man who falls in love with a woman only to have everything that can go wrong go wrong, to be thwarted at every turn, to lose and regain the people in his life over and over, and engage in a farcical series of misadventures that grow more preposterous as the story progresses. "If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?"

James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl (1961)

An orphaned boy forced to live with his abusive aunts discovers a giant peach and inside a tunnel into it, a group of remarkable arthropods that go with him on an amazing journey. "Well, maybe it started that way. As a dream, but doesn't everything. Those buildings. These lights. This whole city. Somebody had to dream about it first. And maybe that is what I did. I dreamed about coming here, but then I did it."

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (1847)

An orphaned girl goes through many trials to become a governess to rich man whom she falls in love with only to learn he has been hiding a terrible secret. "It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it."

Watership Down - Richard Adams (1972)

An tale about a group a rabbits who flee the destruction of their old warren and seek a safe place. Holds up as both an animal tale of adventure and an allegory on human leaders, followers, and governments. "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed."

Lady Chatterley's Lover - D.H. Lawrence (1929) {find the unexpurgated version}

Banned multiple times in multiple countries and the center of a notorious obscenity case against Penguin Books, this novel is a tale of a forbidden relationship between a lady of the aristocracy and a poor lower class sculptor. It is explicit and crude in places and yet, shockingly tender and poignant. "The world is a raving idiot, and no man can kill it: though I'll do my best. But you're right. We must rescue ourselves as best we can."

Songs of Innocence and Experience - William Blake (1789-1794)

Blake's definitive collection of poems showing the opposing sides of human nature and containing such familiar poems as "The Tyger," "The Lamb," and "The Chimney Sweep." "When the stars threw down their spears And water'd heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" (The Tyger) "And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine. " (Poison Tree)

Two Years Before the Mast - R.H. Dana Jr. (1946)

Dana had issues with his eyes after a bout of measles. In order to improve his health he signed on board a commercial ship and served two years as a common sailor. This novel is derived from the journal he kept during his voyage and is probably the most accurate depiction of the life of a sailor to be found in literature. "We must come down from our heights, and leave our straight paths, for the byways and low places of life, if we would learn truths by strong contrasts; and in hovels, in forecastles, and among our own outcasts in foreign lands, see what has been wrought upon our fellow-creatures by accident, hardship, or vice."

Mein Kampf (My Struggle) - Adolph Hitler (1925-1927)

Divided into two parts, Revenge and The National Socialist Movement, this notorious manifesto discusses the unjust treatment of Germany after WWI, the immigrants and outsiders destroying the German way of life, and the importance of holding on to one's own heritage and culture in the face of a deliberate attack on morality and family values. There is no finer example of how politicians mix truth, half truths, and rhetoric to manipulate people into thinking that they alone have the moral high ground. The reason it is vital that every person in the world read this honeyed poison is only by recognizing this kind of dangerous propaganda can we recognize it when our own government is using it to condition the masses. "If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed." "Do not compare yourself to others. If you do so, you are insulting yourself." "I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few." "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."

The Enemy Papers - Barry Longyear (1979)

Earth has been at war with the Draconian race for generations when a soldier becomes marooned with one of his alien enemies. Their forced communication reveals how alike and how different both species are and begins a far reaching epic of adventure, politics, religion, and tolerance. "If one receives evil from another, let one not do evil in return. Rather, let him extend love to the enemy, that love might unite them."

The Amityville Horror - Jay Anson (1977)

George and Kathleen Lutz move into the old Defeo house and then flee it in terror after being tormented by supernatural horror. "He then made the terrifying connection-a disembodied voice in 112 Ocean Avenue had told him to "Get out." Whoever that voice belonged to, it had reached clear across to the Rectory to give him the same message."

A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess (1963)

In a future where the youth have descended into violence, a terrible solution is implemented. "We can destroy what we have written, but we cannot unwrite it."

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston (1937)

Janie Crawford recounts her life in a sadly poignant and beautiful series of flashbacks. The wisdom of a human soul that has lived and loved and lost and survived to live again lie in these pages. "She didn't read books so she didn't know that she was the world and the heavens boiled down to a drop." "She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her." "...she starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see..."

The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell (2016)

Joseph Campbell explores the concept of the hero's journey and ties together mythologies, religions, and heroic tales from all across the world and from the earliest oral traditions to modern movies, to prove the similarities in them all, the definitive steps that create a hero. He also hits on the common tropes that transcend location and time from great floods to virgin births to love between classes. "The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stand this afternoon on the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change."

Hunger Games trilogy - Suzanne Collins (2008-2010)

Katniss Everdeen, a poor girl from a coal mining district, is forced to fight in deathmatch with other tributes drawn by lottery from the conquered districts of Panem. She unwittingly sparks the fires of rebellion and finds herself caught up in a revolution.

The Damned Thing - Ambrose Bierce (1893)

Local man Hugh Morgan is found dead in his cabin. It is gradually revealed that he had been hunting a creature either invisible or camouflaged so well as to be invisible that he believed was stalking him. Was he insane or did the damned thing kill him? "I sometimes write stories." "I sometimes read them." "Thank you." "Stories in general--not yours."

The Interpretation of Dreams - Sigmund Freud (1899)

More than the groundwork of psychoanalysis, this book gives the reader an enlightening look into the psyche of the most influential psychologist of all time. "The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the fetters of matter."

1984 - George Orwell (1949)

One man tries to hold on to himself in a future world of constant government surveillance, manufactured war, and hopelessness. "Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power"

Shōgun - James Clavell (1975)

One of my all time favorite novels, this huge, rich, sweeping historical fiction details the story of an English navigator aboard a ship that is captured by a Japanese Warlord off the coast. The Englishman survives his capture and gradually becomes acclimated to Japanese society. This book submerses the reader in another world and another time so effectively that it is far away England or one's own living room in America that becomes foreign and unfathomable. "Always remember, child" her first teacher had impressed on her, "that to think bad thoughts is really the easiest thing in the world. If you leave your mind to itself it will spiral you down into ever-increasing unhappiness. To think good thoughts, however, requires effort." "How beautiful life is and how sad! How fleeting, with no past and no future, only a limitless now."

Common Sense - Thomas Paine (1776)

Pamphlet that recommended separation from England even if it meant a war on American soil and protested the concept of divine right of kings. "Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise."

The Day After Tomorrow - Allan Folsom (1994)

Paul Osborn spies the man who killed his father and plans to kill him in revenge. He is stopped in his attempt by an investigator who tells him that his father's death was part of a global conspiracy involving the reanimation of the brains of dead people into new bodies in order to achieve a sort of intellectual immortality. "It was a moment before she replied. And in that moment, she realized that what was gone from her was the child in her, she'd crossed a brink from which there was no turning back. Whoever she had been, she was not anymore. And her life, for better or worse, would never again be what it had."

Republic - Plato (380 BC)

Plato's vision of a utopian society as told through a series of philosophical discussions including the Allegory of the Cave. "Is the attempt to determine the way of man's life so small a matter in your eyes—to determine how life may be passed by each one of us to the greatest advantage? (1.344d)"

On the Origin of Species - Charles Darwin (1859)

Regardless of your take on natural selection and evolution, this book gives you a glimpse inside a truly great mind. Darwin's untamable curiosity, his need to impose order and discover why, and his meticulous observation and organization are every bit as fascinating as his research. "Nevertheless so profound is our ignorance, and so high our presumption, that we marvel when we hear of the extinction of an organic being; and as we do not see the cause, we invoke cataclysms to desolate the world, or invent laws on the duration of the forms of life!"

Contact - Carl Sagan (1985)

Scientists decode a message from outer space and receive the plans to build a machine to allow contact between Earth and aliens. Is Earth ready for first contact? "She had studied the universe all her life, but had overlooked its clearest message: For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love."

The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle (1997)

Self Help book stressing the importance of living in the here and now, not worrying about the future, or clinging to the past. "It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living."

American Gods - Neil Gaiman (2001)

Shadow Moon is released from prison when his wife die. On his way home he meets a man named Wednesday who draws him into a brewing war between the old and the new gods.

Lord of the Flies - William Golding (1954)

Students of a male boarding school are stranded in the wilderness and in their struggle to survive devolve into barbarism. "We did everything adults would do. What went wrong?"

The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (1950-1956)

Tales of another world of fantasy and magic where good and evil battle accessible through special places in our mundane world. "There were no words. It was hardly a tune. But it was beyond comparison, the most beautiful sound he had ever heard."

My Inventions - Nikola Tesla (1919) {a compiled autobiography}

Texts published by Nikola Tesla in 1919 that shed light on his incredibly complex mind, his ability to leap from concept to concept, and his near magical intuition. It talks about his plans and inventions and his metaphysical beliefs as well. "Our first endeavors are purely instinctive, promptings of an imagination vivid and undisciplined. As we grow older reason asserts itself and we become more and more systematic and designing. But those early impulses, although not immediately productive, are of the greatest moment and may shape our very destinies."

Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein (1959)

The Earth is at war with an alien insectoid species and everyone must serve in the military or forfeit their citizenship. A group of highschool friends enlist and grow up the hard way. "I had no sympathy for him and still haven't. That old saw about "To understand all is to forgive all" is a lot of tripe. Some things, the more you understand the more you loathe them."

The Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper (1965-1977)

The Old Ones are powerful immortal entities who fight for good, The Dark their evil counterparts. In an epic tale with many nods to Arthurian legend, a series of holy relics and sacred signs must be gathered to bring the light to full power or evil will triumph and the whole world be lost in darkness. "On the day of the dead, when the year too dies, Must the youngest open the oldest hills Through the door of the birds, where the breeze breaks. There fire shall fly from the raven boy, And the silver eyes that see the wind, And the light shall have the harp of gold".

The Hardest (Working) Man in Show Business - Ron Jeremy (2008)

The autobiography of one of most prolific actors of all time, porn star Ron Jeremy. A man without looks or skills uses his one natural asset to actually achieve success. "I had found somebody who lived a life as unconventional as my own. She above anybody would understand that monogamy had nothing to do with my feelings for her. I could go to work and have sex with countless beautiful women, and at the end of the day I'd come home to her and be as devoted as ever. And when she made porn films, it worked the same way. I would call it emotional monogamy...physical nonmonogamy."

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque (1929)

The definitive novel describing that war is Hell. A young German soldier joins the army with starry eyes and patriotism in his heart only to find that he and his fellow recruits are woefully unprepared for the physical and psychological trials of active combat. "But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late."

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll (1865 - 1871)

The fantastic tales of Alice and her adventures in a wonderful and sometimes dark land where anything can happen and nothing is impossible. "Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." "Well, now that we have seen each other," said the unicorn, "if you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you."

Roots: The Saga of an American Family - Alex Haley (1976)

The fictionalized saga of the Haley family from the capture of an African, Kunta Kinte by slavers to the parents of the author Alex Haley. This novel is important for its exploration of the importance of genealogy as well as its abiding image of slavery and post slave life for blacks in America. "He acted very friendly," said the old man, "but the cat always eats the mouse it plays with."

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent - Washington Irving (1819-1820)

The first serialized collection of Irving's short stories, this fantastic volume contains both The Legend of Sleepy Hollow about the iconic Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane, and Rip Van Winkle about a man that falls into an enchanted sleep and wakes up years later. "Then, as he wended his way, by swamp and stream and awful woodland, to the farmhouse where he happened to be quartered, every sound of nature, at that witching hour, fluttered his excited imagination (1.16)."

The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe (1839)

The narrator is called to the home of his friend Roderick Usher. He arrives to find Roderick's sister has died and is lain in state in the home before being buried. It soon becomes evident that something is not right with the Ushers or their house. "His heart is a suspended lute; As soon as you touch it, it resonates."

Dracula - Bram Stoker (1931)

The original tale of Count Dracula, Jonathan Harker, Mina, Lucy, and Dr. Van Helsing. "I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul."

The Black Stallion - Walter Farley (1941)

The story of a bond formed between boy and horse and the obstacles both overcome on the horse racing circuit. "The head was that of the wildest of all wild creatures—a stallion born wild—and it was beautiful, savage, splendid. A stallion with a wonderful physical perfection that matched his savage, ruthless spirit."

The Ender Saga - Orson Scott Card (1946-2012)

The story of a boy raised to play a game that is not a game but the fatal blow in a battle between humans and an alien race. This saga spans centuries and delves into politics, human nature, philosophy, morality, and man's responsibility to himself and other races. "Ender knew the unspoken rules of manly warfare, even though he was only six. It was forbidden to strike the opponent who lay helpless on the ground; only an animal would do that (1.79)"

I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb (1998)

The story of a house painter with a twin brother institutionalized for paranoid schizophrenia. The novel travels back and forth in time exploring the love, anger, hurt, betrayal, and forgiveness between the brothers while also showing how it is the tragedy and hardship of his own life that brings him to the point of forgiveness and lets him understand that it is okay to love. "I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things. This much, at least, I've figured out. I know this much is true."

National Velvet - Enid Bagnold (1935)

The story of a shy 14 year old girl who falls in love with a horse and dreams of racing him in a brutal steeplechase competition. Her courage and determination and kindness carry her through disappointment and sadness until she has a chance to make her dreams come true. "A landscape glittered behind her voice. There were icicles in it and savage fields of ice, great storms boiling over a flat countryside striped with white rails - a chessboard beneath a storm. "

The Lottery - Shirley Jackson (1948)

The story of a small town somewhere in America that could be any town that gathers in summer for the annual lottery. This story shocked people when it originally ran in a newspaper to the point that it drove the author into seclusion. It still has the power to shake the reader to the core and its deepest meanings have only expanded and become more relevant as history has unfolded. "It's not the way it used to be." Old Man Warner said clearly. "People ain't the way they used to be." (68 - 69)

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez (1967)

The story of the generations of the Buendía family. Every character is unique and unforgettable. The matter of fact mundanity of life is interwoven with inexplicable events, the supernatural, prophecy, religious rapture, and madness. This novel is one of the few that can be called truly original. "Then he made one last effort to search in his heart for the place where his affection had rotted away, and he could not find it." "Madly in love after so many years of sterile complicity, they enjoyed the miracle of living each other as much at the table as in bed, and they grew to be so happy that even when they were two worn-out people they kept on blooming like little children and playing together like dogs."

Black Beauty - Anna Sewell (1877)

The tale of a beloved family horse and its journey through joy and sorrow to return home. "We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words."

The Epic of Gilgamesh - anonymous (1200 BCE)

The tale of a demigod king who loses a beloved friend and goes on a quest for immortality. The oldest confirmed written story. "Becoming aware of himself, he sought a friend."(1.194-204)

Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes (1605-1615)

The tale of a man fed up with the dreariness of ordinary life who becomes infatuated with romantic tales of chivalry and so makes up his mind that he is a knight errant and travels the land getting into misadventures. A brilliantly interwoven satire within a satire that has had a massive impact on the collective lore worldwide. "There is no book so bad...that it does not have something good in it." "Hunger is the best sauce in the world."

The Jungle - Upton Sinclair (1906)

The tale of an immigrant family seeking the American Dream and the harsh reality of the industrial revolution. "To do that would mean, not merely to be defeated, but to acknowledge defeat- and the difference between these two things is what keeps the world going."

Plague Dogs - Richard Adams (1977)

Two dogs escape a lab where they have been subjected to animal experiments. They find both cruelty and kindness at the hands of man on their journey to a place of peace. "When the man was disgraced and told to go away, he was allowed to ask all the animals whether any of them would come with him and share his fortunes and his life. There were only two who agreed to come entirely of their own accord, and they were the dog and the cat. And ever since then, those two have been jealous of each other, and each is for ever trying to make man choose which one he likes best. Every man prefers one or the other."

Leaves of Grass - Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Walt Whitman's poetry paints a picture of working class America in the 1800s and also the progression from awkward young man to querulous elder with a genuine affection glorifying the commonplace and pointing out the beauty and wonder in the mundane. "I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you."

Battle Royale - Koushun Takami (1996)

Youth crime rates in Japan have skyrocketed and adults are ready to take drastic measures. Once a year teachers nominate their classes and the worst one regardless of age or affluence is taken to a deserted island, fitted with explosive collars, and made to fight until only one remains. This tale focuses on one of those classes and how the stress affects various students while questioning the morality of the solution. "We must defend ourselves according to our opponents' ability, not their intentions."