Book recommendation: something that blew your mind

claudrinaB

Cant recommend Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts enough! Such a good read. I read it a few years ago and it still crosses my mind every now and then. Its based on the authors real life events, as a criminal he escapes prison and flees to India.
Think Johnny Depp bought the movie rights not so long ago.

Clanket

Yeh loved Shantaram. Isn't he supposed to be writing either a prequel or sequel? Must have a look

Beeker

Cosmos - Carl Sagan

angelman121

'The Art of Inner Peace' free e book about spiritual awareness.

http://www.paulwilliams.ie/Books/The%20Art%20Of%20Inner%20Peace.pdf

flowerific

Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield.
I read it when it first came out and it had a bit of a cult following
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Celestine_Prophecy

Clanket

18AD wrote: »

The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot.

Read this recently. Excellent book.

Gadfly Girl

Not sure about life changing but definately thought provoking, I'd recommend anything by Xinran especially 'The Good Women of China' (it's a short enough read too if you just want to give it a try).

syngindub

Currently reading shantaram, dam it's a long book..about 50% through

Synode

syngindub wrote: »

Currently reading shantaram, dam it's a long book..about 50% through

Love Shantaram. He says it's part of a quartet. I hope he can maintain the standard with the others.

syngindub

how old is it?

Brussels Sprout

The Acid House-Irvine Welsh: This was the first of the Welsh books that I read when I was about 18 and it made me realise that there was a whole different genre of book out there that I didn't even know existed. A genre where the darkest of my thoughts were surpassed, spun in great storytelling style.

Outliers-Malcolm Gladwell: Gladwell tells how to be highly successful you need three things: natural ability, hard work and luck. In part this book inspired me to change my career path completely.

Synode

syngindub wrote: »

how old is it?

2003

Aglomerado

Wild Swans by Jung Chang.

It's a great telling of China's modern history as seen through three generations of Chinese women.

Still to tackle her Mao biography.

AngelLight

I have to say I absolutely love books! I have so many of them and a kindle that I wonder if I have a problem hehehe. No seriously I really enjoy reading and enjoy many spiritual books and fiction too. I've just finished reading a trilogy by Brent Weeks Shadows, Beyond The Shadows, Shadow's Edge. They are set in medieval times with Magic, Mages and many interesting battles and characters oh and assassins or wetboys as they are known in the books. They are also a story with humor, love and conspiracies. There is colorful language in them so if your easily offended then maybe not for you. You can't help but love the main character and dislike the nasty bad guys. These made a nice change to some of my other books, which as I said are mainly spiritual.

Pippy1976

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Has me still thinking about it 3 weeks after finishing it.

Justin1982

Hidden Soldier by Padraig O'Keefe - Biography. An Irish chef in Cavan runs off and joins the French Foreign Legion and ends up in Iraq during the worst part of the insurgency. He ends up being the only survivor of an ambush on a convoy near Falujah. Just the most amazing book from start to finish. This guy tells the story with such honesty and it will grab any guy/girl who ever wanted to join the army by the nuts and tug hard. Hair just stood on the back of my neck as he described the ambush of the convoy near the end and the death, one by one, of the other mercenaries/truck drivers that were with him. His description of when he realized he was the last man standing is chilling.

The Bodhran Makers by John B. Keane - The best written story I've ever come across. Perfectly depects the beauty, repression, madness and social injustice of a small rural Irish parish in early 1900's. Tarry Flynn by Patrick Kavanagh was along a similar vein and just knocked my socks off when I was studying English for my Leaving Cert.

Big Bang by Simon Singh - Presents the origins of our universe with absolute clarity and explores all the twists and turns in the science that led to current day thinking on the subject, from ancient greece to today. I just couldnt put it down.

AshleyRose330

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson was thrilling yet moving.

I was thinking about it for weeks after.

CaSCaDe711

Philip Carlo's The Ice Man - Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer. Excellent read.

aliceayres

syngindub wrote: »

Currently reading shantaram, dam it's a long book..about 50% through

I was really looking forward to reading that until someone told me it was largely fiction

Synode

I think some of the characters and dialogue are fictional but a lot of the situations he wrote about are real.

It's well worth a read anyway.

aliceayres

Synode wrote: »

I think some of the characters and dialogue are fictional but a lot of the situations he wrote about are real.

It's well worth a read anyway.

Perhaps largely was unkind and it's been recommended to me so many times it must be good.

Weevil

The Floating Opera, by John Barth.

Probably the most surprising book I have ever read.

Weevil

Pippy1976 wrote: »

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Has me still thinking about it 3 weeks after finishing it.

My wife bought it for me to- day, and I was wondering where I'd heard of it before. It's still on the Sunday Times best sellers list.

Chrisita

By Brian Weiss. I have reread it many times.

tunguska

Miracle in the Andes - Nando Parrado

Apologies if this has been mentioned already, its the famous story of the Uruguayan rugby team that crash lands in the Andes in 1972 told by the main man himself. Alive was a good book, but very matter of fact. This on the other hand is told in a really personal way. A book I just couldnt put down. There are moments of awesome-ness that blow the scale, how Parrado and canesa did what they did is mindblowing. Inspiring to say the least.

hsianloon

On Conspiracies and The Prince by Machiavelli

It's a book I think every guy should read

Henry Thoreau'S Civil Disobedience

Watch Ryder

The Thirteenth Tribe - Arthur Koestler.

Fingerprints of the Gods - Graham Hancock.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

'Amusing Ourselves to Death' by Neil Postman.

jkforde

heard John Lloyd of QI on BBC 6 Music yesterday talking about his new book.... 1,339 QI Facts To Make Your Jaw Drop... it sounds great

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01mylbr

janmaree

On the Beach by Neville Shute. Very old book now but I read it when I was much younger, it has stayed with me ever since. Great movie made out of it too.