What to Read Now. And Why

I have taken the list to heart to seriously follow a plan to read more diverse books than I have had in the past. I am amused and somewhat taken aback by some folks who have commented here that the list is "too liberal", or that his book or that book (particularly religious themes) have been left off. I think it is short-sighted that readers think that these 50 books is all you have to know to understand life. That is a very shallow view. To me, this list is like a solid beginning when one goes to college to obtain a good solid liberal arts education. You learn to acquire the critical skills to be able to continue your life by continuing to read and self-educate. I have now taken the list and am finished with or reading five of them, and intend to continue. I hope to be able to read about subject matter that will allow me to be curious enough to read other related books of that subject or era and do so with a an educated platform. Reading is knowledge. Reading 50 books is but a drop in the bucket. As you get to know your library, 50 books here, and 50 books there, and 50 more books, and then 50 more,,,,,pretty soon you just might be able to function as a literate human being. When you get to that stage, you can understand why Fox News is nothing more than a comic page in the Penny Saver. Turn off the tube now and then and read a good book. Suggestions are available if you cannot think of a book to read.

Nobel Prize for Herta Müller - Another broad hint for Germany

The Merkle has seriously abused the trust that the voters put in her four years ago in 2005. The most severe violation of human rights continues.
It???s even worse: The human rights situation has drastically deteriorated since she came into power.

A political system is injust whenever the government tolerantes or even approves the violation of human rights, the prosecutor???s office and courts systematically prolong and hamper penal and disciplinary Sanktion against the perpetrators of human right violations and parliament bodies (and public media) keeps silent about most severe human right violations and its perpetrators. In Germany, the human right situation ressembles the situation iof an injust political system.

The message of the Nobel Prize awarded to Herta Müller is the following: Human rights are violated in Germany.

Just read an eerily fascinating NY Times review... anyone pick this up yet? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/books/16maslin.html

Such as 1984, Annimal Farm, and Brave New World, if not Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank...get with it people; if we could have shown Schindler's List to the German people in 1933, maybe things would have been alittle different. That's all I'm saying...

If the Intended topic of discussion were books that were relavent to today's global and political nuclear climate, then the books on this list are completely inappropriate. We live in a world or globalism where our individual rights, both human and civil, are being overriden daily. Where on this list are books that ARE relavant and important for forward thinking youth? The ability to look to the past to see w=the progression of totaliarianism; to

I happened to see this issue of Newsweek in the doctor's office. Rather than ripping out pages from a magazine not mine, I tried to find the magazine in the store....no longer available. Then I thought...well, I should be able to find on the web! Ha! I've now spent an hour trying to find this article, and finally found this...a paragraph leading UP to the list of books, but no list. How terribly disappointing. :( I was sincerely interested in seeing more that was on the list. I'm always looking for 'good' books to read.

If I could, I would like to add the Japanese author Haruki Murakami's "Kafka of the Shore" to the list. Murakami is probably one of the greatest writers I have ever read, and this book may be one of his best yet. It is full of surrealism and imagery that only an author like Murakami can ever write so beautifully and so completely. It is a book that takes complete devotion from its reader, and commands none the less. Of course, I would recommend some of his other novels as well, but this book is by far one of my favorites.

While I've rarely found it to be true that people can be so ambivalent about religious issues I still want to respond to your question.

If you want a book to defend creationism from something other than a religious perspective you'll have to write one yourself. Good luck getting it published.

Science is fact and creationism is not. A sociological study can be done but any evolution versus creationism debate will falter when each side is blind to the fundamental premises of their opponents.

In this day, to be undecided on this issue is grounds a book, I say. Do you believe there is a conspiracy to suppress geological and archaeological data or not? This is an important thing to decide before pretending to be a scientist, per se. Science is holy, damnit, even if it leads us to dead-ends. If you want truth, go ask your preacher.
-Bryan P. Carney

While I've rarely found it to be true that people can be so ambivalent about religious issues I still want to respond to your question.

If you want a book to defend creationism from something other than a religious perspective you'll have to write one yourself. Good luck getting it published.

Science is fact and creationism is not. A sociological study can be done but any evolution versus creationism debate will falter when each side is blind to the fundamental premises of their opponents.

In this day, to be undecided on this issue is grounds a book, I say. Do you believe there is a conspiracy to suppress geological and archaeological data or not? This is an important thing to decide before pretending to be a scientist, per se. Science is holy, damnit, even if it leads us to dead-ends. If you want truth, go ask your preacher.
-Bryan P. Carney

While I've rarely found it to be true that people can be so ambivalent about religious issues I still want to respond to your question.

If you want a book to defend creationism from something other than a religious perspective you'll have to write one yourself. Good luck getting it published.

Science is fact and creationism is not. A sociological study can be done but any evolution versus creationism debate will falter when each side is blind to the fundamental premises of their opponents.

In this day, to be undecided on this issue is grounds a book, I say. Do you believe there is a conspiracy to suppress geological and archaeological data or not? This is an important thing to decide before pretending to be a scientist, per se. Science is holy, damnit, even if it leads us to dead-ends. If you want truth, go ask your preacher.
-Bryan P. Carney

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates represents the human condition as much now as it did on publication.
Babylon Rolling by Amanda Boyden is a portrait of a New Orleans we will probably never get back.
And Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed is a window on a world most of us too often ignore.

Where is the nice printable list for people who really care about it?

I think Newsweek missed the boat on this one. Where are the great books on ecology, environment, climate change, peak oil, carbon, co2, collapsing societies, unsustainable population to name but a few areas of great importance to the survival of humans on this planet.
HowardC

The author of this article and most of the discussion participants have, for the most part, failed to acknowledge that great works of literature are written in countries OTHER than the U.S. I would definitely add Joseph Boyden's "Three Day Road", Bryce Courtenay's "Power of One", and Chris Cleave's "Incendiary" to these recommendations.

For those who want to stick with American writers, I would suggest Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" and Sue Monk Kidd's "The Secret Life of Bees". And how on earth did the GREATEST American novel - Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" - get overlooked? Given the events at Philadelphia's Valley Swim Club this week, I'd say it's still incredibly relevant.

A lively discussion has taken place over the relevance of "Atlas Shrugged" to America today...yet why has no one mentioned Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale"? Up until the inauguration of President Obama, this novel was chillingly prophetic...

"The Worst Hard Time," by Timothy Egan is a fascinating (nonfinction) look at the Dust Bowl . You may think you know the story -- I thought I did -- but this was just an incredible read. Seeing how people in the 1930s survived the unimaginable made me feel that we all will survive this hard time.

A list without "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine is weak!

I wish everyone who is suffering from loss would read my book, When Every Day Matters, Simple Abundance Press, Oct. 1, 2008. You won't feel as alone and you will find your hope again. This grief counselor knows what she's talking about.

Mary Jane Hurley Brant, M.S., CGP