Books that are important to you?

[Corran Orreaux]

What are some books that are important to you for whatever reason(s)?

Some of mine:

The Darth Bane trilogy and Dragon Age The Stolen Throne are the main books I would say that got me into reading again after a good couple years since dropping it. They introduced me to more mature and adult books and reinvigorated a passion I thought lost.

The Percy Jackson books and Guardians of Ga'hoole; I was obsessed with those two series when I was in elementary and early middle school.

 

[Xitheon]

"Nobody Nowhere" by Donna Williams. It's an autobiographical account of the struggles and early life of an autistic girl (the author, of course.) It's the strangest, most moving, surreal and haunting book I've ever read. Donna Williams died recently which gives it more poignancy. She was an extraordinary woman and a great advocate for autistic people.

 

[Corran Orreaux]

"Nobody Nowhere" by Donna Williams. It's an autobiographical account of the struggles and early life of an autistic girl (the author, of course.) It's the strangest, most moving, surreal and haunting book I've ever read. Donna Williams died recently which gives it more poignancy. She was an extraordinary woman and a great advocate for autistic people.

That kinda reminds me of a book I forgot about: January first. I read it back when I was 12 or 13 I think. My older sister has schizophrenia (not as severe as the girl the book is about) and she encouraged me to read it. I did and I feel it really helped me understand at least somewhat what my sister had to deal with and better sympathize with her and with those with Mental Health conditions in general.

 

[Deathless]

Neal Morse's book Testimony. My idol who've I looked up to for years wrote this book explaining his journey through his life and how his life was changed by music and God. I'm not religious, like at all, but I still find it really inspiring how even in the worst situations, you can still find hope through anything, whether it's your love for music or your religious faith.
When I went to his most recent meet and greet concert, I had this book signed and he was super happy to see another fan with his book. He really means a lot to me because he was basically my first ever huge musical influence.

 

[Catdog]

I read Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson last year at a turning point in my life. It was originally recommended reading in college, but I kept coming back to it throughout the semester. On the surface it's about a bunch of mundane people living in a crappy little town in Ohio, but once you start digging in it really starts getting into some wild views about Human Nature and all that jazz. Here's a quote from it if anyone's interested.

Doctor Parcival began to plead with George Willard. "You must pay attention to me," he urged. "If something happens you will be able to write the book that I may never get written. The idea is very simple, so simple that if you are not careful you will forget it. It is this - that everyone in the world is Christ and they are all crucified."

 

[WXYZ]

Unpopular Culture by Bart Beaty. Found it while wandering around a library. I wouldn't have had much appreciation about comics outside of the normal US-Japanese duopoly if I haven't read it.

 

[RossTheRottie]

1984
This was a very influential book when I read it as a teenager, definitely changed my life. I think everyone should have to read this at some point.

The Call of the Wild
Reading this when I was eleven had a significant impact on me. I read this and White Fang many times.
This would be an excellent entry point if you've never read anything by Jack London.

 

[WXYZ]

I think everyone should have to read this at some point.

I may have read it too early in my life (around elementary). Some remnants still float in my mind: memory holes, victory gin, that infamous Miniluv...

 

[Wulf the Jackal]

Codex for desktop Warhammer 40.000 lol

 

[Hello! It's me. :3]

I have two so far.

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
I read this book to help cope with my friend after he was going through depression. There are a lot of things in this book that I think he was going through so, it helped me understand him better.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
It's just very philosophical and I recommend it to everyone because once you pick it up you can't put it down.

 

[Miles Marsalis]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig was definitely the affecting book I've read. It was written in 70s, but still holds true in most respects today. If you feel overwhelmed in life, dissatisfied, or just like philosophy, this is a book for you.

 

[Firuthi Dragovic]

As normal books go, the ones that mentally stuck with me that I read years ago were Fahrenheit 451 (which I'm listening to again) and The Giver (that re-listen comes later). There's also Marlfox, the one Redwall book I've ever had as a physical copy and one that I still haven't truly finished after 20 years (I got halfway a long time ago).

Then there's the compilations of Calvin and Hobbes. I think I have almost all of them and those were definitely a key part of my childhood.

In truth, I learned a lot of my more complex language from D&D gamebooks, computer game manuals, and strategy guides. So those really do hold a place in my heart.

I think everyone should have to read this at some point.

1984 was a recent listen for me, going to have to track down a physical copy in the near future (much like I'll have to do with the other two key books).

 

[blue sky love]

I think everyone should have to read this at some point.

*raises claw* I've read it too and I loved it. ^^

 

[hara-surya]

Fiction:
The Onion Girl and Widdershins by Charles de Lint - both are an emotional kick in the teeth about a middle-aged woman coming to terms with surviving child sexual abuse and the sister she left behind. Oh, right, there's magic, too. At one point she's transported, physically, into her own subconscious where her abuser has godlike powers. I had a Norman Rockwell childhood and this had more triggers than the Springfield Armory. I now work in behavioral special education partly because of his books.

Non-Fiction:
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. If a problem is outside of your control then don't worry about it. If you can do something about it, then work toward fixing it.
The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man’s Quest to Be a Better Husband by David Finch. The title says it all, though I still got a divorce in the end.

 

[RafflesHolmes]

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King. It was my first adult book that I read as a kid. So it holds a special place in my heart.

 

[Simo]

I have a huge love of going back, and reading 'young adult' fiction, about wilderness survival, dogs, running away:

Some that come to mind, that I have re-read:

Hatchett, Gary Paulsen
Dogsong, Gary Paulsen

Where The Red Fern Grows-Wilson Rawls

My Side of The Mountian-Jean George
Julie of The Wolves-Jean George

...there's always something timeless seeming, in these books, perhaps in their (apparent) simplicity, and how much they draw out of having so few characers interacting with the landscape around them, and in some cases, the animal friends they have made, and the others they have to look out for

Also, on that note:

any of the early Nick Adams stories, by Ernest Hemingway, for the same reasons, and his crisp prose style.

I'll have to make more lists, but by genre...it's tough to make one huge list, and maybe better to make ones by category

(Full disclosure: Grew up getting two channels of TV in the boondocks with folks who were both teachers, worked in a bookstore after school in high school, majored in English, work in a library : P)

 

[Infrarednexus]

A very touching and inspiring book that gave me emotions I haven't felt in a long time

 

[Simo]

I read Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson last year at a turning point in my life. It was originally recommended reading in college, but I kept coming back to it throughout the semester. On the surface it's about a bunch of mundane people living in a crappy little town in Ohio, but once you start digging in it really starts getting into some wild views about Human Nature and all that jazz. Here's a quote from it if anyone's interested.

I'd have to agree this is an amazing and pivotal book in American Literature, and it's curious, because that quote is one of my favorites from it. : ) My focus was American Lit, from Hawthorne/Poe/Melville to present, and what's curious, is that book is one that really helps define what it is that American literature does best: and that is, to explore the complex, quirky landscapes of the individual. As a young nation, we didn't have ready-made kings and legends and legacies to write about, and so, it was more of the individual emotional landscape that came to the fore; one sees this as early as Melville's Ahab, but certainly, this book opens the floodgates to so many hitherto hidden away and taboo topics, that it's a real gem. And not only that, told in such plain, down to earth language. I'd have to place it easily in the top 10 most influential American books, period. I think it's from about 1919, but it predicts what topics would come to populate American fiction in the 20th century in an almost uncanny way.

 

[Arnak]

My sketch book and my random bits of hand written literature

 

[RossTheRottie]

Hmmm, I was thinking about the Kyoto arson thread and about mass murders in general.
A great book to help people make sense of such things is called The Sociopath Next Door by Marsha Stout. If you haven't read it, its a helpful guide for picking out the roughly 4% of us that have no conscience and goes a long way towards explaining why these psychopaths do what they do. Its not an inspiring work of fiction or a life-changing ideological statement, but I think its important as a toolkit for recognizing and avoiding these abominable people.

 

[blue sky love]

A Child Called It