 | Ripley Bogle (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Robert Mcliam Wilson
Buy new: $11.01 / Used from: $0.77 This guy can write. Dickensian. Don't miss "Eureka Street" either.
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 | The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $2.69 Tough to put down. I also liked 'Mysteries of Pittsburgh.'
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 | Demian - Siddartha by Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse gives your brain a stretch. 'Steppenwolf' is also great.
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 | Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $0.01 Don't quit Salinger after 'Catcher in the Rye' - this is a quick, rewarding read.
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 | The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts
Buy new: $9.56 / Used from: $3.75 Also read 'The Wisdom of Insecurity.' This is Zen for Westerners.
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 | The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions by Huston Smith
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $5.31 An easy-to-read summary of the MEANING of the major religions - EVERYONE should know this stuff.
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 | The Source by James A. Michener
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $0.01 Good to read after the above - gives a sweeping historical context.
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 | The Golden Age of Zen: The Classic Work on the Foundation of Zen Philosophy by John C.H. Wu
Buy used from: $2.62 Great for those who've poked around in Taoism and Zen and want more.
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 | Immortality (Perennial Classics) by Milan Kundera
Buy new: $11.20 / Used from: $1.73 'The Book of Laughter...,' and 'Unbearable Lightness...' are also great.
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 | Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer
Buy new: $11.16 / Used from: $0.99 Unbelievably good first novel. Don't miss his second ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close") either.
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 | A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $2.03 Ditto. 'You Shall Know Our Velocity' and 'What is the What' are also great.
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 | The Haj by Leon Uris
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 Helps you understand the Arab worldview. 'Exodus' likewise for the Jewish.
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 | A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.01 Moving, entertaining book. 'The Water Method Man' is also great.
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 | The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization by Thomas L. Friedman
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $1.33 Interesting view of world economics/politics - puts current events in context.
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 | From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $0.01 Covers middle-east politics in the 70's and 80's - helps you understand what followed.
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 | The Count of Monte Cristo (Modern Library) by Alexandre Dumas père
Buy new: $17.13 / Used from: $12.79 Great adventure and great characters.
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 | Crime and Punishment (Bantam Classics) by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $0.03 Dark but fascinating.
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 | David Copperfield (Modern Library Classics) by Charles Dickens
Buy new: $8.95 / Used from: $2.32 This and 'Great Expectations' are two of my favorite books. 'Nicholas Nickelby' is also great.
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 | The Power and the Glory (Penguin Classics) by Graham Greene
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $5.96 Complex and endearing characters. Also read 'The Heart of the Matter.'
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 | Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig
Buy used from: $0.01 If you like this, don't miss 'Lila' to wrap things up.
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 | Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $3.95 Serious and funny, heavy and light.
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 | The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer
Buy used from: $3.29 Great coming of age story by a brilliant writer (wish he would write another!).
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 | Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman
Buy new: $12.89 / Used from: $9.99 Mindblowing and self-evident at the same time - you will never watch the news or read a newspaper in the same way again.
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 | A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (P.S.) by Howard Zinn
Buy new: $12.89 / Used from: $9.00 What every American should know about the history of our country - will also change your view of current events.
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 | Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler
Buy new: $17.16 / Used from: $16.98 Smart economists putting what they know to work on many of today's most pressing issues. A must read for anyone interested in making our society better.
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 | The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World by Tim Harford
Buy new: $16.50 / Used from: $7.99 Psychology and sociology from an economists perspective. A quick and entertaining read.
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 | Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh
Buy new: $17.13 / Used from: $15.95 Want to understand what motivates inner city kids to join gangs, or even give up well paying jobs to return to them? You will.
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 | The Happiness Myth: The Historical Antidote to What Isn't Working Today by Jennifer Hecht
Buy new: $11.21 / Used from: $7.30 A historian and philosopher writes REALLY WELL about what has made people happy throughout human history, putting the current fads and obsessions in context. If you like it, also read "Doubt" by this author.
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Listmania!
