Books I think everyone should read

[beloitpiper]

Other than what has already been posted, I'll add:

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
The Good Soldier Schweik by Jaroslav Hašek
Love In The Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Night by Elie Wiesel
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

[Sheep In Wolf's Clothing]

If you are adding the Holmes stories to the list, I would reccomend
The Annotated Sherlock Holmes by William S Baring-Gould

I would just add to the growing list:
White Fang By Jack London
Down and Out in Paris and London By George Orwell
The Old Man and the Sea By Ernest Hemingway
Tresure Island By RL Stevenson
If I Lived My Life Again By Sir Winston Churchill
And anything written by Lama Surya Das

Happy Reading,
Sara

[Yaish]

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. It should be mandatory reading for all boys and girls in high school. It is NOTHING like the movie BTW.

In addition to Beloitpipers recommendation of Gun, Germs, and Steel I'd also add
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches to the list. If you want to understand why we are the way we are today, those two books will show you.

[ghostlight]

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein.

Agreed. This book has some interesting things to say about public service and its place in society.

It's been said, but I'll mention it again: if you've been putting off reading Starship Troopers because you've seen the movie, keep in mind that the movie has about as much in common with the book as Braveheart has in common with history. Some of the names are similar, but it's otherwise apples and oranges.