These are some of the books that I've enjoyed the most and that, in many cases, have changed my life. Perhaps some of them could be considered classics, but certainly I consider them "my" classics.
Probably the best definition(s) of a classic comes from Italo Calvino:
1. The classics are those books about which you usually hear people saying: 'I'm rereading...', never 'I'm reading....'
2. The Classics are those books which constitute a treasured experience for those who have read and loved them; but they remain just as rich an experience for those who reserve the chance to read them for when they are in the best condition to enjoy them.
3. The classics are books which exercise a particular influence, both when they imprint themselves on our imagination as unforgettable, and when they hide in the layers of memory disguised as the individual's or the collective unconscious.
4. A classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading.
5. A classic is a book which even when we read it for the first time gives the sense of rereading something we have read before.
6. A classic is a book which has never exhausted all it has to say to its readers.
7. The classics are those books which come to us bearing the aura of previous interpretations, and trailing behind them the traces they have left in the culture or cultures (or just in the languages and customs) through which they have passed.
8. A classic is a work which constantly generates a pulviscular cloud of critical discourse around it, but which always shakes the particles off.
9. Classics are books which, the more we think we know them through hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovative we find them when we actually read them.
10. A classic is the term given to any book which comes to represent the whole universe, a book on a par with ancient talismans.
11. 'Your' classic is a book to which you cannot remain indifferent, and which helps you define yourself in relation or even in opposition to it.
12. A classic is a work that comes before other classics; but those who have read other classics first immediately recognize its place in the genealogy of classic works.
13. A classic is a work which relegates the noise of the present to a background hum, which at the same time the classics cannot exist without.
14. A classic is a work which persists as a background noise even when a present that is totally incompatible with it holds sway.
Probably the best definition(s) of a classic comes from Italo Calvino:
1. The classics are those books about which you usually hear people saying: 'I'm rereading...', never 'I'm reading....'
2. The Classics are those books which constitute a treasured experience for those who have read and loved them; but they remain just as rich an experience for those who reserve the chance to read them for when they are in the best condition to enjoy them.
3. The classics are books which exercise a particular influence, both when they imprint themselves on our imagination as unforgettable, and when they hide in the layers of memory disguised as the individual's or the collective unconscious.
4. A classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading.
5. A classic is a book which even when we read it for the first time gives the sense of rereading something we have read before.
6. A classic is a book which has never exhausted all it has to say to its readers.
7. The classics are those books which come to us bearing the aura of previous interpretations, and trailing behind them the traces they have left in the culture or cultures (or just in the languages and customs) through which they have passed.
8. A classic is a work which constantly generates a pulviscular cloud of critical discourse around it, but which always shakes the particles off.
9. Classics are books which, the more we think we know them through hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovative we find them when we actually read them.
10. A classic is the term given to any book which comes to represent the whole universe, a book on a par with ancient talismans.
11. 'Your' classic is a book to which you cannot remain indifferent, and which helps you define yourself in relation or even in opposition to it.
12. A classic is a work that comes before other classics; but those who have read other classics first immediately recognize its place in the genealogy of classic works.
13. A classic is a work which relegates the noise of the present to a background hum, which at the same time the classics cannot exist without.
14. A classic is a work which persists as a background noise even when a present that is totally incompatible with it holds sway.
Non-fiction
- The Alabaster Girl by Zan Perrion. It is, at the same time, a book about women and a book about how to live. Beautiful.
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Frankl survived the Nazi concentration camps, which influenced his theories on the mind of Man.
- Man's Search for Himself by Rollo May.
- Art as Experience by John Dewey.
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.
- The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.
- Teach Your Own by John Holt.
- Letters From a Stoic by Seneca. There's a reason this guy is quoted so much.
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Think what you may about her philosophy, I found the story of struggle for one's personal vision to be inspiring.
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu, preferred translation by Ralph Sawyer. It is about so much more than just war.
- Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. If you want to be awed and humbled before the miracle of, well, everything, then read this book.
- Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- I Am a Strange Loop by Hofstadter. Mind-expanding theories about human consciousness and thought.
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. I read the translation by Jonathan Star.
- The Timeless way of Building by Christopher Alexander. Curious about how architecture can make us better people? Read no further.
- The Art of Possibility by Benjamin Zander. A book about mindfully seeing the opportunity for change, improvement, and collaboration in every encounter.
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. The book that inspired Star Wars, it changed the way I look at human storytelling and psychology.
- The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey. This book isn't really about tennis, but peak performance in general.
- Access all Areas by Ninjalicious. A how-to guide to Urban Exploration, and a manifesto on living life on your own terms. Recommended companion to Microadventures.
- Microadventures by Alistair Humphreys. Reconnect with the wilderness in your own backyard.
- Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman. The memoirs of one of the 20th century's great explorers and discoverers.
- Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. An adventure memoir that will make you fall in love with running.
- Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall. How a ragtag band of adventurers managed to kidnap a Nazi general from a heavily-guarded fortress in WWII.
- Homage To Catalonia by George Orwell. Most of us never get beyond 1984. Our loss.
- The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt trilogy by Edmund Morris. If I believed in required reading in public education, this would be required reading. Part II and III: Theodore Rex and Colonel Roosevelt.
- Telling Our Way to the Sea by Aaron Hirsch. Somehow combines memoir, poetry, scientific prose, and cautionary tale all in one book.
- The Log from the Sea of Cortez by Steinbeck. Soul-piercing biography of Ed Ricketts, and a great travel memoir.
- The Empathic Civilization by Rifken. Human civilization is fast approaching an irreversible entropic decline- here's how we can avoid it.
- Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild. A moving and inspiring story of the British emancipation movement, which predated the American movement by decades.
- The Last Lion trilogy by William Manchester. A fantastic biography of Winston Churchill, who may be the original Most Interesting Man in the World.
- The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth. A laugh-out-loud book exploring the origins of hundreds of words. Do yourself a favor and read this.
- Secrets of Power Negotiators by Roger Dawson. In life, you get what you ask for. This book tells you how to ask for it.
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini. Fascinating read on the chinks in our psychology that can be exploited
- The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. It will change the way you think about work and play. Do yourself a favor and read it. The Four Hour Chef by Timothy Ferriss is also highly recommended. It will teach you how to cook, but it's really a book about learning how to learn.
- Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. How to communicate your ideas in a powerful and memorable way.
- Little Bets by Peter Sims. Examples of how agile, rapid prototypes are the key to success in any field.
- The Business Solution to Poverty by Paul Polak. Why business, and not charity or government policy, is the solution to global poverty- and how to be a part of the global social entrepreneurship movement.
- Nail it Then Scale it by Furr and Ahlstrom. The handbook you need to start your journey as an entrepreneur.
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck. A sweeping epic of biblical proportions set in turn-of-the-century California.
- La Vida Es Sueño (Life is a Dream) by Calderón de la Barca. I can't recommend a translation, but this Spanish masterpiece questions the fundamental objectivity of the human experience.
- El Viaje del Elefante (The Journey of the Elephant) by Jose Saramago. I am a great Saramago fan, and this is my favorite.
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. A children's book that isn't really for children.
- Residencia en la Tierra (Residence on Earth) by Pablo Neruda. I don't like this particular translation, but Neruda's imagery is second to none. You can feel his loneliness and despair on the pages.
- Tirant lo Blanc (Tirant the White) by Joanot Martorell. A 15th century epic that inspired Don Quijote. Tirant was a Badass.
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. I love this Twain work above the rest because I see it as Twain's version of Don Quijote, except the plot is reversed. It makes sense to me, I promise :)
- The Girl on the Fridge by Etgar Keret. A collection of short stories, Keret has a way of packing more emotional content onto one page than most writers do in an entire book.
- Don Quijote by Cervantes, preferred translation by Burton Raffel. Ah, my favorite book, and the inspiration for the title of my website. Raffel's translation is the best yet I've found.
- Shogun by James Clavell. Historical fiction accurate enough to be a history book, telling a can't-put-it-down tale of an English sailor stranded in feudal Japan.