 | The Book of Ebenezer Le Page (New York Review Books Classics) by G.B. Edwards
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $6.39 A beautiful humble and honest story about the simple and daily life of a man on a small island. The writing is so touching and personal
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 | Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt
Buy used from: $2.44 A coming of age story of a boy in Ireland, which contains every secret little detail of his life which you would ever want to hear.
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 | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (P.S.) by Betty Smith
Buy new: $11.55 / Used from: $4.80 A simply wonderful story about the life of a poor Irish girl in Brooklyn and her love for reading. Again, it is the descriptions of daily life which make this book
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 | Winesburg, Ohio (Signet Classics) by Sherwood Anderson
Buy new: $5.95 / Used from: $1.99 A portrayal of a small town, where the characters are extremely flawed, and yet this imperfection is given a sort of divine quality. Anderson captures moments of inspiration, when everything appears alive for a few moments so realistically
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 | The Vision of Islam (Visions of Reality. Understanding Religions) by Sachiko Murata
Buy new: $12.51 / Used from: $6.49 Anything by William Chittick is simply great. He has a way of using reason to talk about religion, while not divorcing it from feeling, so that we can intuitively understand ideas through our hearts, not heads. Another great book by him is Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul.
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 | Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn
Buy new: $12.24 / Used from: $4.98 This book is great because not only are the concepts it presents about the development of society intriguing, but it is written in story form, and so is easily digestible. It also forces you to think along with the main character, so you become very involved and thoughtful about each idea presented
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 | A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $1.97 The first half of this book is some of the best modern writing I have read. Eggers is so unbelievably skilled at capturing the funny workings of the mind. It begins to drift off towards the end, but still definitely worth reading!
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 | Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Buy new: $9.88 / Used from: $4.75 This man, no matter how cynical, is a genius at capturing the sentiments of our modern era. The apathy, the searching. This story about the lives of a brother and sister and their individual approaches to finding meaning in life is truthful and relateable.
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 | The Red Tree by Shaun Tan
Buy used from: $15.00 the most beautifully illustrated book there is
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 | Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
Buy new: $11.52 / Used from: $2.96 A great story about life in the Communist days of China which spans three generations. The most appealing aspect of this book is how history is carefully woven into the story of a line of mothers.
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 | The Republic (Penguin Classics) by Plato
Buy new: $8.00 / Used from: $4.99 This is just the edition I read, I am sure there are other good ones. This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in contrasting ideas from different ages and places, especially since the works of Plato and the ideas of Socrates have shaped so much of Western thought. How would you design a perfect society?
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 | The Prince of Tides: A Novel by Pat Conroy
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $3.70 One of my very favorite books, my whole extended family read and loved it. Despite how long it is, once you get into it, you will be glad. The saga of a family through one of the children. So complex, so mysterious, and written with so much understanding of the human psyche
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 | Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of The Dalai Lama by Dalai Lama XIV
Buy used from: $2.99 This book is a great look at the childhood of the Dalai Lama, and really enables us to see him on a human level. is descriptions of growing up with such strict disciplines, and the rituals of the Tibetan culture are fascinating.
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 | Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Buy used from: $6.50 This book was great! It is the story of a native american man who enlisted in the vietnam war, and still came back and was treated like a second class citizen. His childhood, and how he tries to heal himself through alcohol and traditional medicines gives us a really interesting look at the combination of two cultures. This book is very gentle and contains some great mythology.
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 | Bones of the Master: A Journey to Secret Mongolia by George Crane
Buy new: $11.56 / Used from: $1.68 This book is about the relationship between a sort of sleezy american poet and a buddhist monk, as they travel back to mongolia to find the master of the monk's remains and finally bury them. The story the monk tells as he escapes China is incredibly brave and honest, and the contrast between him and "Georgie" is hilarious. This story is sprinkled with beautiful landscapes and lovely characters.
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 | On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by Jack Kerouac
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $6.95 Just gotta read it. I love the free style of Keroac's writing, it just pours out of him and winds around different situations bringing them to live. It is like one long stream of a story.
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 | Jesus: The Son of Man: His Words and His Deeds as Told and Recorded by Those Who Knew Him by Kahlil Gibran
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $6.89 This book is great because it includes all sorts of accouts of Jesus from scathing critisicm to utter devotion. Adds more dimension to such a wonderful being.
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 | The Phantom Tollbooth - Bullseye Edition by Norton Juster
Buy used from: $9.16 You just cant be too old to appretiate this witty epic for children
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 | Roxaboxen by Alice Mclerran
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $3.15 A quiet and subtle childrens story. It makes me cry in a really nice way.
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 | My Antonia (Barnes & Noble Classics) by Willa Cather
Buy new: $5.95 / Used from: $0.04 There is such a tangible feeling of the land in this prarie book that absorbs one completely and is suffused into every relationship
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 | Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl
Buy used from: $0.01 Roald Dahl is the best! I love all his books, but this one is his story, and he is so much like one of the characters he makes up, independent, mischievious, etc.
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 | Going Solo by Roald Dahl
Buy used from: $0.13 See above, except he is all grown up, but no less adventurous.
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 | From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $4.50 This was one of my favorites as a kid. perfectly suspenseful and I love reading about ingenious children that somehow make it in the big world
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 | Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: A Novel by Rebecca Wells
Buy new: $10.04 / Used from: $0.01 I know, this book is kinda cheesy, but I lapped it up and loved it. You can't go wrong with coming of age novels
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 | Housekeeping: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson
Buy new: $10.08 / Used from: $2.70 Hands down, one of the best, if not the best book I have read. It is like the entire thing is just pouring into your heart. The story of a family, and loneliness, and how that loneliness can be beautiful and make you aware.
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 | The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $6.40 A vivid account of experimentation in the 60's and the new ideas which came alive at that time. The characters are fascinating and make you wonder where people like that are wandering now. A great example of transcendent journalism.
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 | The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic by Ramesh Menon
Buy new: $12.24 / Used from: $4.30 Wonderful, wonderful. This is an ancient Hindu epic which supposedly took place 400,000 years ago. It reads somewhat like Lord of the Rings, and is just as exciting, yet it is even better in my opinion because it is also a spiritual journey, and is filled with profound wisdom, but not in a preachy way. In a way which makes you want to breathe it in.
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 | The Mahabharata: A Modern Rendering, Vol 2 by Ramesh Menon
Buy new: $26.95 / Used from: $21.10 This is the second in a two volume set of a more recent Hindu epic. This takes place only three thousand years ago, at the dawning of our present age. It is also the story of Krishna. A wonderful tale, which leaves out no detail. The most complex and insightful work of literature I have read. By the end, I felt like I had experienced the whole story.
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 | The Mahabharata: A Modern Rendering: Vol 1,v.2: A Modern Rendering: 1 by Ramesh Menon
Buy used from: $60.24 See above. This volume detail life before the great war which brought forth the Kali yuga, or the age of darkness in which we now live. The second volume is an account of the war.
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 | An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
Buy new: $5.60 / Used from: $3.21 She actually remembers how it feeeeeeeeels to be a child.
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 | A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Buy new: $9.36 / Used from: $2.27 A very quick, descriptive, and delightful read, with a happy ending.
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 | Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Buy new: $5.95 / Used from: $2.26 A wonderful inspiration to any would-be writer.
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 | I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Buy new: $10.19 / Used from: $2.95 Perfect summer reading, or anytime. A love story which isnt cheesy. A dreamland you want to stay inside.
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 | Wartime Lies: A Novel by Louis Begley
Buy new: $11.20 / Used from: $5.00 the best book I have read about ww II. an amazing story of luck and escape
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