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Tigana

A book about loss. Loss of family. Loss of country. Loss of culture. Loss of all things. It's beautifully written, and the theme of loss doesn't mean a somber tone throughout, the found family is strong.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

As a kid I read Paulo Coelho's 'Veronika decides to die' and it kinda reframed some of my thinking. From what I recall, it's a very wholesome and light read!

"Entering Space: Creating a Spacefairing Civilization" by Robert Zubrin. My mother's work when I was growing up had a "free book shelf" that someone had put it on and she'd brought it home because I liked sciency stuff, and I've been extremely interested in space development and futurism ever since.

It's more of a short story in a book filled with time traveling short stories.

I'm trying to find what it's called, but I still have the book. After reading it, I had a brief period of time where I was questioning my own freewill and choices.

Basically it starts with a time machine being in a warehouse and scientists all around. The person inside is doing everything backwards and they are attempting to communicate with paper, often getting answers before there is a question. It's a good read and I won't spoil the end.

Something Happened, the other, far lesser-known work by Catch-22 author Joseph Heller. It's too apples-to-oranges to throw around "better", but I already love Catch-22 and still prefer Something Happened. It's considerably longer, but in my opinion, it's criminally overlooked.

https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3173311W/Niemand_houdt_mij_tegen

Shantaram. It was very much booth, a captivating pleasure to read and the utmost inspiration of willing to live life to its fullest and be a compassionate human being.

Two books that made me cry at the end and helped me shape my idea of war and what really is for the common men are "Il sergente nella neve" (the sargent in the snow) by Mario Rigoni Stern, which is about the retreat of the Armir (italian army in Russia) after the second Don offensive by the Red Army from the point of view of Stern, as they started the endless march back to Italy on foot, with the Red Army biting their asses. Almost 80.000 between dead and missing. Amazing piece of literature and yet another reason to despise fascism; and All quiet on the western front, which doesnt need many explanations.

Absolute chills everytime i think about those books and the images of tragedy and hopelessness they shaped so vividly in my mind.

Learning Perl, 2nd edition

Whale Done by Ken Blanchard

All Quiet on the Western Front

Tells you everything you need to know about war. First book which made me cry. Everybody should read it.

John Darnielle's Devil House is a GREAT novel. All of his books are but it's particularly great

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley.

How to solve it by Polya.

The Scar, China Meiville - It's an epic journey and the clear best, in my opinion, of the Bas Lag novels. It has such weight and magic to the journey. Mystery too. It's a book that leaves you feeling like you want to feel more.

The Wild Girls, Ursula K Le Guin - a tale so emotional that I was broken for two days after reading it. Couldn't bring myself to read, or really do much except think about what I'd read.
Its about a slaving raid on a village near a city state, family, love, and gender.

Voltaire's Bastards by John Ralston Saul. It showed me how the world really works. Also The Doubter's Companion as a supplement to that.

Edit to add that after reading through all the comments, it's pleasing what a well-read community we have here.

"80,000 Hours", because not only does it teach you something about wealth, humanism and fulfilling careers, it also highlights imminent dangers that receive little (scientific/regulatory) attention and points out that everyone can do something without being rich or a genius.

Although I somewhat dislike their frequent measure of 'impact' in terms of money, the book puts quite a few things into perspective, and I can accept that you need to quantify things to do so. I particularly like that they encourage you to think about problems from different angles, and them pointing out that you can have a very real impact on the overall wellbeing of any living creature, pretty no matter what you do.

Not one book but an entire series: Goodnight Punpun.

Krabat

Growing up? Stranger in a Strange Land

MIchael's way of viewing the world felt so natural to me, and yet so different from almost anyone else around.

The technological society by Jacques Ellul. This book introduces a new way of looking at the world.

Anna Karenina. There's no better pshychological character study of upper class Russian culture (but at the same time, about people in general).

• The Bell Jar
• Between Two Fires
• The Troop (I just not over Newton 😭)
• N0S4A2

A lot but here are the most recent ones (all non fiction)

Immense World : How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
Essential for understanding how other creatures live in our world and insight on how ours evolved to what it is right now.

How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Chur
Really great intro to practical ethics that is incredibly accessible as far as ethics books go. Everyone should at least skim this.

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine
Best introduction to in my opinion the most important philosophy branch of western culture - Stoicism!

'Blindsight' and 'echopraxia' have had some of the longest reach in me, as far as books i read in adulthood.

Horror, but philosophical horror. It's so good.

Definitely not the bible. That shit is unreadable.

The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog.

Unauthorized Bread by Cory Doctorow. Based on a few true stories and set five minutes in the future, telling the story of the poorest in society, the arbitrary restrictions put on them and, the namesake, the way their lives are controlled by corporate surveillance and physical DRM enabled by disinterested legislators. It's a short story from one of his collections.