Books you should read before you die and are dead.

[nullity]

Yes, most of the stories worth telling were told in the form of RPGs, but a few of them were expressed in the form of books (words printed on paper pages, bound together at obnoxiously great lengths exceeding even the hardiest game manual).

Recently I've been confronted with mortality and it occured to me that there are certain "books" that nobody should die without reading. Beyond that, it occurred to me that some of these "books" may not be known to me. How tragic to think that there are worthy stories out there yet to be consumed that may go unnoticed by any of us before we become soylent green!

Tell me... tell me NOW!  What "book" should I read before my time here expires?

In return, I shall tell you of some "books" that you should read.

For starters, nobody should complete their corporeal existence without reading at leastone of Kurt Vonnegut's books. I'd recommend Cat's Cradle for starters, and if you like it then you should proceed to read Breakfast of Champions and all of his other books. Seriously. All of them.  Cat's Cradle could be classified as a sci-fi non-satirical satire of life, love, and religion woven together in a tale that takes the reader to the very end of human history.  If it tickles your fancy, then you will not find a Vonnegut book that you do not like.

There are many others that I would have you read, but this thread is all about give and take. You have the first of the recommendations I've given, so I'm goingt to take one of yours before tendering another.

What should everyone read, and why should they read it?

GO!

[BlueBMW]

Ill be honest... I hated Slaughterhouse 5...

As far as recommendations...  I thought Enders Game was pretty slick, though I couldnt get into any of the later books.

[SuperDeadite]

While it seems to have created quite a few hate filled anti-fanboys over the years.  I still love the Wheel of Time.  Started reading it back in elementary school, and finally finished it a few months ago.  There is a point in the series where the plot moves at a snails pace as certain characters play catch-up with each other.  But the last 2 books were f*cking incredible.  And I adore the enormous cast of the series.  Once snowboard season is over, I think I'm gonna read through the entire series again.

[Punch]

50 shades of gray
juliette society

have fun.

[Punch]

One should not die without reading at least one of Stephen King's books. I particularly like the Bachman books, like RAGE, Roadwork, The Long Walk... The Dark Tower series is a good recommendation too. His books are more "commercial" than art? Maybe but who cares really, they're entertaining and well written, so they're worth your time.

[pulstar]

Anything by Haruki Murakami. Most people say to start with Norwegian Wood because it is his straightest book. I would say jump in the deep end and red Wind-up Bird Chronicles or Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. But really, anything by Murakami is worth reading more than once.

His books could really be described as sci-fi, detective story and comedy all rolled into one.

[esteban]

The Adobe Flash Bible

The Webmaster's Guide to a Successful Career

Everything You Wanted to Know About Amway But Were Afraid to Ask

[Tatsujin]

books? is that something to eat?

[SamIAm]

The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey.

As the author himself said, I wouldn't personally blow up the Glen Canyon Dam. But if someone else wanted to, I'd hold the flashlight for them while they rigged the explosives.

[Paddyfitz18]

Nice.  I just had a recent brush with death myself.  30 days in the hospital.  About 1/2 that time in the ICU.  Just got out two weeks ago.  Had time to contemplate all sorts of existential problems.  Good stuff.  Anyway, here goes:

Complete short stories of Ernest Hemingway.
Jude the Obscure (T. Hardy).
Underground History of American Education (Gatto).
You Can't Win (Black).
Into the Wild (Krakauer).
Walden (Thoreau).

Why?  Just because they are some good ones.

[jtucci31]

This is awesome i need new book recommendations!

I recently read a book called 11/22/63 by Stephen King. It was fantastic. It's about a guy who can time travel so he tries to stop the JFK assassination. But along the way finds love. It's got sci-fi, murder mystery, detective, action, and love. It is such a good book. 

[Nando]

Prometheus Rising. By Robert Anton Wilson.
A manual for your brain basically.

Matter by Ian M Banks.

+100000 on the Wheel of time series.

The invisibles by Grant Morrison

We 3 by Grant Morrison.

[toymachine78]

The original Dragon Lance trilogy, and any book involving Drizzt

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[glazball]

Catcher in the Rye / Salinger
1984 / Orwell

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid / Douglas Hofstadter
In Search of Schrödinger's Cat / John Gribbin
Cosmos / Carl Sagan
The New Inquisition / Robert Anton Wilson <-possibly the best author I've ever read

Rule By Secrecy / Jim Marrs
The Biggest Secret / David Icke
The Matrix / Valdamar Valerian

[nodtveidt]

50 shades of gray

Why anyone would actually want to read this book is beyond me... unless you're reading it because you want to see how poorly a book can be written about the subject matter.