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What are some of your favorite books? Books that you read multiple times and recommend to your family and friends? The ones that really move you?
Tell us about the books that mean a lot to you in the comments. For now, check out these recommendations.
AskReddit users share the books they think everyone should read at least once in their life:
1. Full of emotion.
“The Count of Monte Cristo.
It is full of strong emotions, and makes you question what is justice.”
2. Have you read it?
“The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
Reading plays is a great experience plus this one is hilarious.”
3. I haven’t heard of this one before.
“The man who mistook his wife for a hat by Oliver Sacks
No seriously. Its a nonfiction journal style book about a neurologist and how he dealt with the different problems, illnesses and issues and in turn how the patients have been able to adapt and overcome the obstacles.
It’s very moving, not always easy or pleasant but powerful book.
4. Crime and Punishment.
“Crime And Punishment.
The KGB used Dostoevsky as part of their training for interrogations and it was so effective that the CIA was convinced they had developed a truth serum. He really knew how to write about the inner workings of the mind.”
5. A classic.
“All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque.”
6. This is a good one.
“The things they carried by Tim O’Brien.”
7. Couldn’t put it down.
“Catch-22.
Hilarious, depressing, Couldn’t put it down.
You must learn Snowden’s secret.”
8. Should be required reading.
“I’ve recommended “Brave New World” to everyone I know.
Not only does it touch on class hierarchy, which is still present in most societies, either blatantly or subtly, but the book also delves into what happens when we strive for efficiency and forget about some of the most important aspects of what makes us human.”
9. Going way back.
“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
There’s an unending amount of lenses to analyze the text through, and you can look at so many different issues (alienation, guilt, reproduction even) while reading.
Find something new to discuss or think about every time I read.”
10. Passionate about this one.
“One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race.
Mr. García Márquez has done nothing less than to create in the reader a sense of all that is profound, meaningful, and meaningless in life.”
11. Three good choices.
“The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
All 3 tackle the struggle of a man and the Society around him. Mersault in his simple otherness and detachment from those around him. Herr K in his suffocation under a society and system that is other and inexplicable to him. Finally the story of Santiago and the society that determines he has no value.”
12. Sci-fi.
“The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.
I say this because this is the book that made me realize that I can enjoy reading too. Huge nerd (name gives it away), and I could never get into any novel we ever read in English class. There were a few I enjoyed, like Tom Sawyer and Of Mice and Men, but nothing that I still would think about weeks afterwards. Then I finally take Science Fiction Literature class and Martian Chronicles is the first book up. I read the whole thing in about 2 days. This was the kind of thought provoking Science Fiction i LOVED. As well as the best teacher I’ve ever had.
This book is a series of connected short stories about the colonization of Mars. It’s relevant, it’s smart, it’s funny, it was the first time I ever truly enjoyed reading. After that I spoke to my teacher about other things I might like, huge fantasy nerd too so he recommended me Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series. Its essentially Avatar The Last Airbender crossed with A Song of Ice and Fire. That was the first long form novel series I read, and I’d be sitting in class getting yelled at to stop reading I was so into it. Butcher’s other series, The Dresden Files, is also really really good.
Sorry for the rant, this book is pretty important to me! Highly recommend it to any science fiction fans. Oh also The Expanse novels, read em. They’re fantastic.”
13. By Mikhail Bulgakov.
“The master and margarita is a true work of art.
Fascinating and tragic author history as well.”
14. A must-read!
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Abraham Lincoln allegedly, upon meeting her, said “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!” It’s heart-wrenching, powerful, and eye-opening. Definitely a must-read!”
15. Two that you should check out.
“Lord of the Flies. It really exposes the nature of humanity and the older you get, the more you understand.
Fahrenheit 451 is also a great read. It challenges today’s culture. Read it and decide for yourself.”
Find any new books to read in that batch? Have any recommendations of your own you’d like to share?
Let us know in the comments!
