What books should I have read by now?

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VeniceDrumGuy@reddit

Infinite Jest, Sex Drugs and Coco Puffs, On the Road (though I’ll go to the mat saying Dharma Bums and Desolation Angels are Kerouac’s best works), A Clockwork Orange, 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera

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CDA_CPA@reddit

I recently finished Interview with the Vampire. It is an important book to several people in my circle, and now I understand the references. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it!

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elektrik_noise@reddit

Aww, I came here to throw Interview into the mix. It's a modern classic to me, and such a fascinating deep dive into a tortured subconscious. An existential crisis of what is good, evil, and a meaning of life. I feel like Interview reads like literary fiction and, as someone who has read all of Anne Rice's books, I'd say is probably the only one of hers that could be considered as such.

I love other books of hers like The Witching Hour, Pandora, The Vampire Lestat, The Feast of All Saints- but Interview is the book I've read more times than any.

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CDA_CPA@reddit

I plan to read the next two, but I doubt I will make it through the rest.

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elektrik_noise@reddit

I always have said, when others have asked for recommendations on how far to read that if you were neutral or disliked Interview, stop there. If you liked Interview, read The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned. If you were neutral or disliked those, stop there. I think you're spot on. I hope you enjoy them!

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electron-envy@reddit

It's a vibe. The next couple in the series are good too

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Weak_Radish966@reddit

Beastie Boys Book.
Hunter S Thompson: All.
Charles Bukowski: All.
The Dirt by Motley Crue.

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Upbeat-Mix-3653@reddit

All the Roger read hats. At least beyond spot

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jar36@reddit

Mein Kampf. We all should have been forced to read it

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DogReasonable7277@reddit

Johnny Got his gun

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TreatmentBoundLess@reddit

I don’t fuckin know…

Hemingway’s short stories

The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway

Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald

Play It As It Lays - Joan Didion

Less Than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis

Glamorama - Bret Easton Ellis

Sabbath’s Theatre - Phillip Roth

Notes From Underground - Dostoyevsky

Post Office - Bukowski

Slow Days, Fast Company - Eve Babitz

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head….

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Ghoztt@reddit

Where the Red Fern Grows

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ammodramussavannarum@reddit

Every book written by Kurt Vonnegut.

The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey Also by Abbey: Desert Solitaire.

Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold.

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zealot_ratio@reddit

Everyone should read Leopold

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ammodramussavannarum@reddit

The Home Place, by J. Drew Lanham is a great book in a similar vein, and really feels like a contemporary companion to Sand County Almanac. Lanham is a professor at Clemson University and a notable ecological speaker.

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therealpopkiller@reddit

Finally read Slaughterhouse 5 a couple months ago. No time left for bad books, gotta catch up on the classics

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bluemitersaw@reddit

I read that about 7 years ago. I'm not sure what I read, I'm pretty sure that book is beyond me.

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BrontosaurusB@reddit

I think about Timequake all the time.

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ammodramussavannarum@reddit

I do too! The essay about Barnstable village on Cape Cod was so detailed, once when visiting family there I used my super 8 camera and filmed all the locations from that story. I even went into the library and found something he referenced. I need to reread that and revisit the footage! I had intended to put it all together in order of the story, but never got around to it.

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--Citation-Needed--@reddit

Mother Night is one of my favorite books of all time.

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DoctorZ1101@reddit

Forgot everything. Being a Xennial, read Dungeon Crawler Carl (audiobooks are the best) and thank me in a few weeks!

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Sad-Reminders@reddit

The Bell Jar, The Great Gatsby, and Nine Stories (Salinger).

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Visible_Inevitable41@reddit

Just so happy to not see catcher in the rye on the list! really still hate that book

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shhwest@reddit

I am currently reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Good shit

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Prestigious-Bee4302@reddit

This is one of the few books that I’ve owned, and given away. I gave it away because I enjoyed it and learned more than I got in school.

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cbih@reddit

Check out Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth Harp next

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shhwest@reddit

Thanks for the recommendation, I will see if my library has it.

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Reasonable-Wave8093@reddit

add in Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

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theshub@reddit

East of Eden by Steinbeck.

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birdsword@reddit

Grapes of Wrath as well. My personal all-time favorite.

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zealot_ratio@reddit

Copperhead was a masterpiece.

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R0botDreamz@reddit

I read it in high school and again as an adult. It's one of the few books that can humble a person.

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birdsword@reddit

I need to read it again. It's been a few years, but there is only so much time.

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R0botDreamz@reddit

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyjY25tA6iI_RFC5VlSV-U3KHI-MBhmBj&si=oCXqBx2yS3LPhyCW

Here you go :)

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Pickles_McBeef@reddit

I read it for the first time last year. I don't know why I waited so long.

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0sqs@reddit

I watched the James Dean film instead because this book was so damn boring.

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YouHadMeAtFacts@reddit

If they did an episode of Wishbone about it, you should probably read it.

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PuppyJakeKhakiCollar@reddit

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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chunkerton_chunksley@reddit

1984, Fahrenheit 451, Handmaidens Tale, Brave New World….just to get a glimpse of the future.

Red Badge of Courage, Huck Finn, isle of the blue dolphins, the Call of the Wild, and white fang if you want the free personal pizza from Pizza Hut!

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relikter@reddit

BOOK IT! is still going strong.

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Slight_Second1963@reddit

What?!?! Why not still affiliated with Pizza Hut

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relikter@reddit

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Impossible_Turn_7627@reddit

I set my own personal BooK It challenge for myself this year. I'm gonna get that pizza!!!

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Cautious-Ordinary475@reddit

Read what you enjoy but:

The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin (1974) The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985) and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (1993)

really gave me perspective on how not-new many of the ills of today are (though we’re likely inching closer to the precipice).

For lighter reads: anything Discworld by Terry Pratchett

(If 1984 wasn’t assigned reading for you then I also highly recommend it)

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adx@reddit

Add The Left Hand of Darkness to the LeGiun reading list.

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FnordRanger_5@reddit

dispossessed is really good, ukl was a great writer

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DifferentTrip2509@reddit

Sutree

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Wolfe_toned@reddit

Not high literature, but a Xennial classic, The Beach by Alex Garland.

Have read it about 10 times over the years, and every time I blast through it, despite usually being a slower reader.

Fucking incredible debut novel from a guy in his 20s at the time too.

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BaWeepGranaWeep@reddit

MAUS. The only graphic novel to win the Pulitzer.

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Wolfe_toned@reddit

Incredible achievement this book. Best graphic novel of all time? Maybe

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punkrockpete1@reddit

The Biography of John Brown by W.E.B. DuBois
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

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lavasca@reddit

Blues for Mr Charlie

Anne of Green Gables

Will by G Gordon Liddy (it will induce emotional dissonance)

The Running Man

The Future War by SM Stirling

Little Women

Gal, A True Life Story

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909lop@reddit

Ice Planet Barbarians

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Crans10@reddit

Jurassic Park, Harry Potter Books

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Superdonkey78@reddit

All 5 books of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" trilogy

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Express-Cow190@reddit

Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland

Really just go and read his stuff in order but that one was my favourite

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thewanv@reddit

On a cold road

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Warrior-Cook@reddit

If you don't typically do sci-fi, reading Hyperion will square you up with the genre for some time. (Dan Simmons)

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Taanistat@reddit

Manufacturing Consent

Although it is outdated, you're smart enough to fill in the blanks. It presents a series of case studies that illustrates how big corporate interests and other powerful entities use the news and entertainment media to sway public opinion, thus shaping the world.

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JuliusSeizuresalad@reddit

Chuck Palahniuk’s choke and survivor

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ordinarydecree@reddit

Invisible monsters is my fave!

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JuliusSeizuresalad@reddit

That’s a great one too.

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Imbriglicator@reddit

Dungeon Crawler Carl

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Dannydimes@reddit

New achievement!

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thetk42one@reddit

This is the answer. Best book I've read since 2007. Glurp! Glurp!

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cpt_jerkface@reddit

I'm not normally an audiobooks person but the audiobook version of this one is amazing.

"GODDAMNIT DONUT"

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Cat_Cat20@reddit

Mongo is appalled

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Imbriglicator@reddit

THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!

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bratikzs@reddit

“you guys are EVERYWHERE “

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daylight1943@reddit

naked lunch, william s burroughs

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frolicndetour@reddit

All the ones they are trying to ban. To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite.

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R0botDreamz@reddit

A Christmas Carol.

The robot short stories collection by Asimov (Robot Dreams and Robot Visions).

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Seven22am@reddit

Nonfiction: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. An excellent explainer of the modern scientific movement, how little we knew until recently, and how we started to figure it out.

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murph0969@reddit

I recently read this, and while very good, it's very much A Short History of Nearly Everything European.

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Seven22am@reddit

For sure. It’s basically a history of the Enlightenment.

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SenorNeiltz@reddit

It, The Shining, Lord of the Rings and Hobbit

That's about it.

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bakedveldtland@reddit

The Secret History is somewhat underrated imo

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cbih@reddit

The Hatchet, Goosebumps, Cosmic Banditos

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worksnake@reddit

Do you mean Hatchet? I think you mean Hatchet.

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cbih@reddit

My bad. I confuse Hatchet, and The River

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worksnake@reddit

I can’t remember the year Kurt Cobain died. My brain’s mush, I’m the last one to get on someone for a simple mixup.

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don51181@reddit

It’s crazy how the book “1984 came out in 1949 but is coming true more every year. Especially with the internet.

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don51181@reddit

Animal Farm is a great book.

Easy to read but a deep message about power, education and critical thinking.

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Xx_SwordWords_xX@reddit

Definitely start with The Babysitters Club and the entire R.L Stine series of books.

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iwasnotarobot@reddit

Das Kapital. What is to be done. Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism. Silent Spring. Last Chance to See. The hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy. The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature.

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misterlakatos@reddit

Check out "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut

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FnordRanger_5@reddit

Malevil

Player of games

Demon haunted world

Use of weapons

Dune

On the road

Most of Hemingway’s short stories, but none of his poetry

1984
brave new world
the jungle
catch 22

One flew over the cuckoo’s nest

monkey wrench gang

The Illuminatus! Trilogy, obviously

The moon is a harsh mistress

Allan Ginsburg writes some really good poems

The classics are the classics for a reason

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stompy1@reddit

If you haven't yet, Crime & Punishment is so good. Brave new world as well.

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misskellycupcake@reddit

Just read what you enjoy. What's your favorite genre for film and TV? Find a sub that focuses and that has read the classic lists for that genre

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throwleavemealone@reddit

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

The Colour of Magic

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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electron-envy@reddit

Read lonesome dove w me. Just started

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mightbeher@reddit

Thank you for reminding me to pick this one back up. I got halfway through it two years ago and then I got really busy and had to return it to the library. I thought it was amazing to that point though.

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Significant-Kale-463@reddit

Inherit The Wind and also something by Vonnegut.

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These_Are_My_Words@reddit

You may have covered some Shakespeare in required reading but it is worth reading if you haven't; my favorites are Hamlet, King Lear and Much Do About Nothing. If you have trouble with the Elizabethan English get one of the Side-By-Side copies where the original is on the left and a plain/modern English translation on the right.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Frankenstein

The Count of Monte Cristo

Les Miserables

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Prince and the Pauper

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Diary of a Young Girl

Pride and Prejudice

The Odyssey

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Importance of Being Earnest

Watership Down

Catch-22

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Pride and Prejudice is really fun too.

Oscar Wilde is great. I love his sense of humor.

Of course there’s always Sherlock Holmes. Their short mysteries and it’s a lot of fun trying to see if you can figure it out before him

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S_A_R_K@reddit

All of them, stop slacking

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DerbGentler@reddit

"The Stone and the Flute" by Hans Bemmann.

It's from 1983 and it's a real insider tip.

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KnicksTape2024@reddit

Blood Meridian