I am a reader. At minimum, I read a book every two weeks. I love to learn and grow through the expertise and experience of others.
However, it is often hard to know what books to look for when I am visiting the local bookstores. Nothing is more disappointing (well some things are) than bringing home a new book, diving in and finding out you wasted your money.
I would love to know if you have any books that you feel are “must reads”. Most of my time is spent reading theology or other books on religion, but I am willing to crack open a great novel now and then, or a great biography or historical book. What do you recommend? Give me two books in the comments and tell me why you think I (and others) should read them.
Theologically Speaking 
I love books . All i do or did was to read and listen to music.. Its difficult to suggest .. depends on what kind of books u would like.. i have a wide range right from popular thrillers to metaphysical poetries ..
I would suggest you two books i am reading right now.
1) Cosmos by Carl Sagan (rereading it)
2) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (life altering i d say)
also if possible read books of Albert Camus , Italo Calvino, Borges ( life and thought altering again)..
There r many many more .. some other time! 🙂
take care!
Regards
coralcsea:
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll have to look up the titles you mentioned. I see you are re-reading Sagan’s book. What makes it worth two times through?
Over the honeymoon I read the biography of MLK. It’s got to be one of the best books I’ve read in years. I couldn’t put it down. King was such an inspiring individual. I often found myself say, “I can’t believe these things actually happened. I can’t believe this is real history. I can’t believe he was a real person.”
His unwavering dedication to ideal in which he so strongly believed, despite the overwhelming challenges before him, give me hope for a better world. His life has challenged me to question and seek answers about so many things in my life.
A fantastic read. I’d recommend it to anyone.
Davo:
Great to hear from you. I hope you had a great wedding ceremony and a wonderful time on your honeymoon. Are you settled in Chicago now? Which MLK biography did you read? I would be interested in reading one on him. Since you enjoyed the one you read, I would be interested in it.
The wedding was fantastic. Actually, I couldn’t have planned it better in my head. We had so much fun. Honeymoon, too. Ten days on a deserted beach in Costa Rica is hard to beat. Chicago is good… but we can’t find jobs, which is a bit stressful.
Anyways, the one I read was The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by Calyborne Carson. There are plenty of copies on Better World Books for a decent price.
My wife was reading Twilight and I was reading this. Neither of us could put our books down.
Thanks, Davo. It looks like my local library has a copy also. I will see if I can get it there. That will save me a little money. 🙂 I am glad to hear that the wedding and honeymoon went well. I hope you find a job soon. It is a tough time to be looking.
Thanks also for bringing Better World Books to my attention. I never knew of them before. I will have to use them when I am buying in the future.
Well, I’m glad to share the wealth! Better World Books is my preferred buyer when it comes to books. Their prices are usually competitive. Even when they aren’t, I don’t mind spending the extra $2 to know that my money is going to a good cause. Glad you like.
Pretty good post. I just found your site and wanted to say
that I have really liked browsing your blog posts. Anyway
I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
Oooh, books!
I think you mentioned having read Blue Like Jazz or a portion of it or something, and I vaguely remember a not so enthusiastic response to it. But if I’m remembering wrong, I definitely suggest it. I loved Donald Miller’s Through Painted Deserts, too. I think he just does a really good job of talking about life and mentioning God’s role in it without it seeming like it’s a book about God. I think I like how natural it is. I recently bought his “Greatest Hits” book that has those two, plus Searching for God Knows What. I’ll read that if I ever have time to read my own choice of books again. 🙂
I’ve been on a huge C.S. Lewis kick. But you’ve probably read most or all of what I’ve read, anyways.
I have to read The Man Who Was Thursday for Torrey right now and it’s really interesting. It’s a mystery that has made me think a lot and made me feel smart fairly often. 😉 I don’t really know how to describe it without giving away the story, but it’s just really interesting.
I do *not*, however, recommend The Iliad.
[[I’m reading blog posts I missed, in case you didn’t realize. 😉 ]]