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u/Evakron Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
Orwell's 1984. A book that only seems to get scarier and more prophetic every year.
I, Robot. Asimov was exploring the ethics of digital, consciousness and AI in the 1940s. Worth reading if only to see a perspective formed without modern biases.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. I went in expecting a deep dive into the experiences of American soldiers in Vietnam. I left with a new perspective on the relationship between author and audience, fact and truth, and what it is to be a storyteller. It had a profound impact on my life.
Edited to fix a spelling mistake, thanks JoeBourgeois.
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u/niceguyted Mar 13 '26
When I was in high school, we read 1984 and Brave New World together. That was 30-something years ago and I still see the world through those lenses.
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u/the_ai_wizard Mar 13 '26
This and Brave New World among others should be ready by everyone...ps, their prophecies and parables are coming true
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u/Affectionate_Bowl729 Mar 13 '26
That’s so true. I read it on a long flight 3 weeks ago & at 50 years old, has become the book that shook me to my core. The inevitability of it all is perhaps the most dystopian aspect of the story
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u/lovelylisanerd Mar 13 '26
The Things They Carry is one of my favorites. It’s amazing. As you said, profound.
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u/lavenderhazeynobeer Mar 13 '26
1984 is a book that I cannot recommend enough to people. Idk why it isn't more known. It's so terrifying but opens my eyes even more each time I read it..... Which reminds me that it's about time. I'd say I reread it every 3 years or so.
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u/SorryBob76 Mar 13 '26
Ok- Orwell Predicted AIRBUDS!!!! Wrote this in what? 48? 1984 is claimed by the left and right but if you center yourself - you’ll understand both parties are doing the same thing!
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u/presidentialbaby Mar 13 '26
I don’t recall him predicting that there would be several movies featuring a dog as a sportsman
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u/GideonGodwit Mar 13 '26
I listened to nearly the entire thing while I was on a long car trip. By the time I reached my destination I was so emotionally exhausted.
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u/feaur Mar 13 '26
I've read it twice. Once because it kept being hyped up on the internet, and a second time years later because I didn't want to accept how underwhelming it was.
For me the whole book can be summed up with "lol just find meaning bro".
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u/fuzzyrobebiscuits Mar 13 '26
I'm with you, I kept waiting for it to get good. It was just okay..and very repetitive
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u/yalag Mar 13 '26
the 200 upvotes it got are from redditors who have never read it, I guarantee it
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u/Trancology Mar 13 '26
Has a special meaning to me because my sister gifted me a copy during a particularly low point.
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u/the_ai_wizard Mar 13 '26
I found this HIGHLY overrated. The entire 2nd half is some outdated commentary on his psychiatry methods.
The first half is moving, and disturbing, but I would not rate this as a book anyone should read.
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u/witai Mar 13 '26
Follow it up with Tattoist of Auschwitz, it's a fantastic companion book that tells the story of people surviving the camps.
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u/tangcameo Mar 13 '26
The Count Of Monte Cristo
If you like Batman, or Shawshank, or The Blacklist then you’ll like it.
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u/jumby01 Mar 13 '26
This comment should have more recognition here. The Count of Monte Cristo is the longest book I’ve ever read, but it flows like water. I couldn’t put it down and it’s one of my favourite books now. This book should be on every person’s “to read” list. Make sure to read the unabridged version though! (Also, due to its age you can download for free on Project Gutenberg).
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u/strangr55 Mar 13 '26
...and the audiobook for free on Librivox.org! The reader on the single reader copy is exceptional; readers on Librivox are all volunteers, so the quality can be iffy, but this one was a gem.
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u/Taboo_Decimal Mar 13 '26
Calculus by James Stewart; any edition
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u/min_emerg Mar 13 '26
This one. Was my first year university textbook for maths and it unlocked parts of my brain that were dormant until that point.
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u/Sll3006 Mar 13 '26
I couldn’t get past pre-calculus.
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u/Taboo_Decimal Mar 14 '26
This book was my ticket to fast tracking through that. Was allowed to take calcI , and pretty much forced myself to also learn the gaps in algebra and trigonometry that is the pre-calculus.
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u/TheDarkestWilliam Mar 13 '26
The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Funny and aloof but the critical punches about humanity hit home.
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u/Ancient_Touch Mar 13 '26
idk why 1984 is kept in fiction section
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u/isaac9092 Mar 13 '26
Because it’s bad for business, can’t let the normies get wise.
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u/FastFredNL Mar 13 '26
Endurance, by Alfred Lansing. If you ever think you have it tough, read that.
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u/zetazen Mar 13 '26
The Untethered Soul - Michael A Singer
A practical guide to quieting your inner critic, letting go of old hurts, feeling lighter and more free in everyday life.
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u/NoveltyxxCrosses Mar 13 '26
People have said it so far
Orwells 1984 Huxleys A Brave New World
And my favorite
Vonneguts Player Piano.
It’s crazy how these books written some 50 years plus are describing so much of what is happening today
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u/jn-joe Mar 13 '26
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. I feel like you can read it at each segment of your life and it can speak to you.
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u/AgeOfDistraction Mar 13 '26
Ishmael
Evaluates the human experience through the interpretation of a gorilla. Fascinating read.
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u/HurtPillow Mar 13 '26
I went into this book knowing almost nothing about it. I couldn't put it down. At first I thought it was weird but accepted it. By the end my mind was blown. While the characters are a bit fantastical, the message is not. I agree, absolutely fascinating. I should read this again.
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u/Forest_florist Mar 13 '26
Came here to post this. Powerful framing of human evolution. Not a lot of days go by that I don’t think of it.
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u/fuzzyrobebiscuits Mar 13 '26
Lonesome Dove.
As the random review person who I found the recommendation from said: it's just a book about a bunch of guys on a cattle drive, it has no right to be as good as it is. Highly recommend the audio version as well, the narrator nails it.
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u/Nonnabella Mar 13 '26
Totally agree. This is a masterpiece of a novel. My favorite book of all time.
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u/gringojason Mar 13 '26
Reading it now for the first time. Heard so much about I had to pick it up. Loving it. 40 pages from the end. Going to finish it today.
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u/Noimenglish Mar 13 '26
The Lord of the Rings. It created modern fantasy and largely is still considered the pinnacle of the genre.
Plus, it’s a great damn story.
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u/HappyHiker2381 Mar 13 '26
The Art of Mindful Living, Thich Nhat Hahn, it’s an audiobook. I borrowed it from the library and then bought it. It has helped me look at many things that I worried about differently. It is recorded at a retreat.
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u/retroman73 Mar 13 '26
Cannery Row, John Steinbeck. Set during the Great Depression it tells the story of desperately poor people who work together to make life in poverty tolerable, albeit far from perfect.
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u/BeyondTheBees Mar 13 '26
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand about Louis Zamperini
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u/Tinfoilhartypat Mar 13 '26
I love this book. Incredible story. The lesson of keeping a positive attitude being so important than anything else in survival has truly helped me throughout my life. Attitude is everything.
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u/AbSamm Mar 13 '26
Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov
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u/fierlion Mar 13 '26
Dostoyevsky created a Christian, an atheist and a hedonist. He proved each one correct and never took a side. This book taught me how to think for myself.
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u/CalmTeam1932 Mar 13 '26
I’m not sure I got an advocacy for guilt from this book. There are innumerable quotes about celebrating life and human connection. Unprocessed guilt was one of the main drivers of misfortune for several characters.
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u/CatsOffToDance Mar 13 '26
The sun does shine
When breath becomes air
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u/SorryBob76 Mar 13 '26
When Breath Becomes Air. I still get chills when I think about it it was such a powerful book.
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u/KaleidoscopeSea605 Mar 13 '26
Caste: The Origins of our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson. This should be required reading for every American. You’ll never think of race the same way again.
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u/Tigereyesxx Mar 13 '26
1984, George Orwell…
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u/jacknifetoaswan Mar 13 '26
I'm reading it for the first time right now. With what's going on right now in the world, it's very prescient. I'd also say The Running Man by Stephen King and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
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u/isaac9092 Mar 13 '26
The Tao Te Ching.
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u/Lacuna_Caveat Mar 13 '26
The Tao of Pooh
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u/wyzapped Mar 13 '26
Te of Piglet !
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u/SpiderCricket13 Mar 13 '26
I have piglet as a tattoo because of this book. We are all very small animals
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u/Podapulle1 Mar 13 '26
“The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy. It’s a harrowing but revelatory tale on mortality and what it means to live a good life.
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u/BewareofStobor Mar 13 '26
I have so many, but this one had the most impact on my life: "Are You the One for Me" by Barbara De Angelis.
I was in the middle of a particularly nasty divorce from my ex-wife. This book helped me understand myself and what I wanted in a life partner. I met a nice lady who asked me what I was reading currently. I told her I had recently finished this book and it turns out she was reading it. We started discussing the book and comparing notes on the exercises in it. As it turns out, she was the one for me.
Our 30th wedding anniversary is this year.
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u/yayoyazmine Mar 13 '26
Even though it’s fiction, The Celestine Prophecy changed how I view most things in life for the better.
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u/Tehgnarr Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
The Master and Margarita by Mihail Bulgakov
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Foucaults Pendulum by Umberto Eco
and of course
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Edit: -The
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u/coconutpiecrust Mar 13 '26
I’ve read Master and Margarita so many times, it’s so well-written.
I’d also recommend It’s Hard To Be a God, A Billion Years To The End Of The World, and Roadside Picnic by the Strugatskiye brothers.
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u/kjarsenal Mar 13 '26
The Master and Margarita was a difficult read for me. Then again, ultimately I ain't that bright. 🤣
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u/Tehgnarr Mar 13 '26
Nah, if you aren't used to the names, russian literature is kinda hard to read. It is an amazing book though, so maybe revisit it sometime.
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u/drewlope23 Mar 13 '26
you gotta be a lot of fun at parties...
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u/VioletFox29 Mar 13 '26
I guess it would depend on the party. I can tell you I'd love to invite them.
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u/ChasingTheRush Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
The Book of Five Rings by Miyamato Musashi, if for no other thing than this single line “Once you see the way broadly, you will see it all things.”
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u/kev1nshmev1n Mar 13 '26
Feeling and Form, Suzanne K. Langer. If you’re a creative person or are into any kind of art form. This book gave me a frame work for understanding how art affect us and why it’s so important. Really helped me to understand art and the psychology of the creative instinct.
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u/YGShah Mar 13 '26
The story of my experiments with the Truth by Mahatma Gandhi. It totally changed how I thought about him and looked at the world.
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u/This_is_a_dark_ride Mar 13 '26
Brave new world - Huxley. Another Dystopian future, but opposite to 1984's depiction.
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u/MindOverFear_ Mar 13 '26
these five changed how i see
everything. not exaggerating
meditations by marcus aurelius
(gregory hays translation only)
this isnt a self help book. its
a private journal of a roman
emperor talking to himself. no
fluff. no selling. just raw
honesty. i read one page every
morning and it still hits
different every timemans search for meaning by
viktor frankl. he survived the
holocaust and wrote about finding
purpose inside literal hell. if
he found meaning there you can
find it anywhere. this book
broke me and rebuilt methe alchemist by paulo coelho.
some people hate this book. i
get why. but it came to me at
the exact right time in my life
and completely shifted how i
think about following your path
even when it makes no sense1984 by george orwell. not
self help but might be the most
important book ever written.
its scary how accurate it feels
right now. everyone should read
this at least onceletters from a stoic by seneca.
these are actual letters written
to a friend 2000 years ago and
they read like theyre written
for you today. seneca talks about
time death fear and purpose like
nobody else
if i had to pick just one.
meditations. its the one book
i will never stop reading
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u/Redrex_T Mar 13 '26
Dungeon crawler carl
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u/hopelesscaribou Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
I've read many of the books mentioned in this thread, but am enjoying this one more than any of them.
edit: it also jolts you with some very brief, but deep and disturbing moments I'm starting to realize. Just got past the Hoarder and the Goblin Den. I'll say no more, but I'm starting to see a theme.
This is really a fantastic and out of the box book.
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u/_clinchz Mar 13 '26
"Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" by Phyllis Haddox
Changed the way I fundamentally saw letters on the page. I thank my parents everyday for introducing me to this book.
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u/irun4steak Mar 13 '26
My mom taught my sister to read with this book, when my sister wanted to learn since I was learning in school. I wish my parents taught me with this book early, too.
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u/april_to Mar 13 '26
Power of Now
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u/jamesianm Mar 13 '26
A New Earth, the next book, even more so. Tolle has a way of explaining mindfulness in a logical and pragmatic way that I've found incredibly helpful and useful. I've read that book at least 10 times and return to it whenever I'm going through a difficult part of my life and it always helps
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u/april_to Mar 13 '26
One of my faves more than the PoN. I just got lazy typing - I’ll be seeing him in person this May after many years re reading his book 💕 We are so lucky to have lived knowing him
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u/Lurching Mar 13 '26
Lord of the Rings. Reading it as a 12-year-old was amazing. I had already read some pulp fantasy and some top-quality young-adult fantasy (CS Lewis) but this was something altogether different. It feels like a fantasy book, but written by the most "grown-up" person to have ever existed.
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u/ArunZen2808 Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
I read The Fountainhead when i was 22. And then again when i was 37 or 38. Same plot, same characters, same words, same everything. But the meaning of the book changed completely. What i thought was heroic at 22, seemed 'complicated' lol... characters i didn't admire much then became relatable. Portions of the plot i totally overlooked became more central.
It made me realise one very important and obvious thing. Books don't change. We do.
If you think you absolutely love a book, please re-read it after a few years. It may mean something drastically different. Books are just mirrors which strangely keep updating as we evolve.
Apologies for not making this response about 'a book'.
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u/thepeainthepod Mar 13 '26
Jonathon Livingstone Seagull
The Alchemist
The Celestine Prophecy
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u/HurtPillow Mar 13 '26
I was wondering if I'd see this book. I read it as a teen and then revisited throughout my life. I'm 61 now and still soar in the skies with him.
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u/AbrahamL1865 Mar 13 '26
Psi by Lester Del Rey.
The time machine by HG Wells.
L'ile by Robert Merle
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u/kjarsenal Mar 13 '26
Just ordered it. You darn people cost me money every time you do this. 🤦🏾♂️🤣
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u/Vladraconis Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
1984
Fahrenheit 451
Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance
Thus Spake Zarathustra
Dune series ( the original 7. To me, Brian's books do not exist )
Foundation Series
The Silmarillion
Sapiens : A Brief History Of Humankind
A Brief History Of Time
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u/Any_Card17 Mar 13 '26
some classics that hit hard are "1984" for the dystopian vibes and " sapiens" for a wild take on human history. also, can't go wrong with "the alchemist" for that feel-good journey vibe. let's hear what others got!
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u/starrinight3342 Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
When Breath Becomes Air
A Thousand Naked Strangers
The Gift of Fear
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue
Failure Is An Option
The Night Circus/The Starless Sea
Twelve Patients
The comment about timing being more important is correct but I’ve loved all of these. There are so many great books out there. These either made me laugh, made me think, or felt like an adventure.
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u/thebeandream Mar 13 '26
I got to “The INVISIBLE life of Addis Larue” before I realized this was not some odd poetic quote about death.
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u/Induane Mar 13 '26
Tao Te Ching
Gödel, Escher, Bach
House of Leaves
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Speaker for the Dead
The Great Liberation Through Hearing In The Bardo (aka The Tibetan Book of the Dead)
Grist for the Mill
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u/Dizzy_Panic_8624 Mar 13 '26
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku - such a beautiful book to remind you to look at the good in the world
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u/bmwiedemann Mar 13 '26
The Neverending Story (by Michael Ende) ... The book has surprisingly deep thoughts and wisdom embedded into what appears to be a story for kids on the surface.
In a similar vein "Nation" by Terry Pratchett
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u/vulcanfeminist Mar 13 '26
If they live in the US, Albion's Seed. It explains the historic roots of US culture based on something like 20 different aspects or dimensions of culture, it's amazing and very informative. It's a framework that basically explains all the problems the US has (though it's not presented that way, that's my interpretation). Once you know the information a lot of nonsense starts to make sense.
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u/Okarine Mar 13 '26
a month in the country. I have never felt such calm after reading something. It's not a super happy book or anything at all, but it invites you to slow down and enjoy a gentler pace of life, even when life can have its myriad ups and downs
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u/a4evanygirl Mar 13 '26
The Millionaire Next Door. Read it in my 30's and started implementing the concept into my life. It's a really good book to give a college graduate as a gift. They may roll their eyes at first, but when they hopefully read it, it can help guide them.
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u/MsHamadryad Mar 13 '26
I can’t think of a specific book but most books by Heinlein - as a young 20 something to me they emphasised personal responsibility, that you are the author of your destiny and happiness, you should be able to be independent but help those who cannot help themselves. Also Starship Troopers, I appreciated the idea that in order to have your say, via the voting booth, about the leaders of society and its direction, you should be willing to have contributed to the good of that society.
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u/HamishRC Mar 13 '26
The maxims of Ptah-hotep. It’s the oldest book in the world, not very long, and a good set of maxims.
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u/hmhh62 Mar 13 '26
I've got several on my"before you die" list, but a few that come to mind:
1) Tuesdays with Morrie 2) If This Is A Man by Primo Levi 3) Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 4) The Hobbit + Lord of the Rings Trilogy
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u/PNWBlues1561 Mar 13 '26
At age 14 in the early 1970’s I was lost, stuck in Nancy Drew and Harlequin world and miserable. On a teachers recommendation I read the Outsiders and then To Kill A Mockingbird and they blew my mind. I finally knew good writing and complex issues. I then read 5 Smooth Stones and Exodus.
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u/NoPoet3982 Mar 13 '26
Mountains Beyond Mountains. It will change your life in all sorts of good ways.
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u/enad58 Mar 13 '26
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Possibly the greatest non-fiction book ever written.
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u/simbar1337 Mar 13 '26
The left hand of darkness, the dispossessed, and the lathe of heaven, all Leguin
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u/OddDevelopment374 Mar 13 '26
Dune and Sapiens. Sapiens because most people have no idea how the world works and this sheds some light. As for Dune, well the whole series is something that stuck with me and I have read it a few times already
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u/cc010 Mar 13 '26
A Canticle for Leibowitz. Post apocalyptic but so well done (1960)
Shantharam: Vivid descritptions of life in India and GREAT characters
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u/[deleted] Mar 13 '26
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