Many people (including some here) keep old books on shelves like trophies, implicitly boasting the knowledge they gleaned from those dusty tomes. I don’t have space for that; unless I’m likely to read a book again, I give it to a friend, sell it to a used bookstore, or donate it to a library book sale. Since joining Kindle nation, I don’t even do that—my intellectual trophy case exists only in cyberspace.
I’m apparently considered an intellectual(!!) in some circles, so I thought I’d offer a reading list. I purposely limited myself to fifteen books. I didn’t include any so-called “classics”; readers have heard of those books and either read them or chosen not to. The idea was to come up with a list of books some of my fellow Europeians might enjoy.
You’ll notice several Christian-themed books on the list. Of these, the only one I recommend to non-Christians is Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship.
Happy reading. (Note: the books are listed alphabetically by author's last name.)
Everyday Zen, by Charlotte Joko Beck. The best of many books I have read on Zen meditation. Beck’s perspective on Buddhism in this book is thoroughly secular—you can appreciate her insights whether you are Christian, Jewish, Wiccan, atheist, agnostic or whatever. When you’re done with this relatively short book, you’ll know the basics of how to meditate.
The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Writing in Germany in 1937, Bonhoeffer exhorted his fellow Christians to embrace the way of Jesus, which is the way of the Cross. Recommended to Christians as devotional reading, and to non-Christians as a 250-page synopsis of what it means to be a real Christian. (Bonhoeffer was later imprisoned and ultimately perished in a Nazi concentration camp.)
Ball Four, by Jim Bouton. The best book ever written about baseball. Bouton was the Yankees’ #2 starter (behind Whitey Ford) in the early 1960’s; by the spring of 1969, he was fighting for a roster spot with the expansion Seattle Pilots. The book is Bouton’s diary of the 1969 season, interspersing accounts of his teammates’ hilarious antics, anecdotes about the Yankee legends he had played with a few years earlier, and observations on the cultural upheaval going on around him. If you get a copy with “Ball Five”—an epilogue written ten years later—read that too.
The Art of Happiness, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Co-written with a psychiatrist, this book explores the question of happiness—which the Dalai Lama considers the objective of life—from a scientific and spiritual perspective. It’s worth reading regardless of your religious bent.
A Fan’s Notes, by Frederick Exley. The last novel I finished. I would describe the protagonist as a 35-year old, alcoholic Holden Caulfield, but that doesn’t do it justice. It deserves to be a modern classic, but it’s too raw for high-school audiences and not artsy enough for English professors. There are a couple disturbing scenes involving date rape; some readers might wish to avoid it on that basis.
Gandhi: An Autobiography, by Mahatma Gandhi. Written in the late 1920’s before his most famous accomplishments, this is a book for people more interested in Gandhi’s thought than his life’s work.
Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell’s examination of intuitive thought makes cutting-edge psychological and neurological research accessible to lay audiences. If I can understand it, you can.
The Quiet American, by Graham Greene. A novel set in 1950’s Vietnam, it dramatically illustrates the axiom that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” It also foreshadows America’s ultimate failure in Vietnam. From what I’ve heard, the recent movie bears scarcely any resemblance to the book.
The Prophets, by Abraham Joshua Heschel. If you’ve seen pictures of MLK’s famous march on Selma, Heschel is the Orthodox rabbi walking alongside Dr. King. Known best during his life for his civil rights and anti-war activism, Heschel is better remembered now for his scholarship, and perhaps more so among Christian scholars than Jews. If you’ve read a lot of theology, many of Heschel’s points that were groundbreaking half a century ago are conventional wisdom today—so you might find yourself skipping some of his lengthier proofs.
New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton. Merton was a playboy turned monk turned peace activist. Written a few years before his death, in Seeds Merton merges traditional Christianity with non-dualist Eastern thinking in a series of thought-provoking devotional essays. His style is not always smooth, but his diction is impeccable.
The Soul of Baseball, by Joe Posnanski. The best book written about baseball in the forty years since Ball Four. Posnanski travels the country with Negro Leagues legend Buck O’Neil during what would prove to be the final year of O’Neil’s life.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter Thompson. The movie was just two guys tripping balls in Vegas; the book is so much more, capturing Thompson’s brilliant sense of humor and a scathing criticism of the American dream. If you live in the eastern U.S., you can finish it on a flight to Vegas.
Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72, by Hunter Thompson. I read this in early 2004, when Howard Dean appeared to be following in George McGovern’s footsteps. Thompson’s brilliant writing brings an otherwise dull election to life vividly.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe. Between my personal interest in the subject and a college class devoted entirely to 1960’s U.S. history, I’ve read a lot of books on the 1960’s counterculture. Wolfe’s account of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters is by far the best of the bunch.
A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn. The history of the U.S. told from a Marxist perspective. The selection of material reflects Zinn’s biases—hundreds of pages on the pre-modern labor movement; nothing on religion—but that’s true of most histories. The truth resides somewhere in the dialectic tension between the traditional narrative of American history and Zinn’s alternate narrative.
I’m apparently considered an intellectual(!!) in some circles, so I thought I’d offer a reading list. I purposely limited myself to fifteen books. I didn’t include any so-called “classics”; readers have heard of those books and either read them or chosen not to. The idea was to come up with a list of books some of my fellow Europeians might enjoy.
You’ll notice several Christian-themed books on the list. Of these, the only one I recommend to non-Christians is Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship.
Happy reading. (Note: the books are listed alphabetically by author's last name.)
Everyday Zen, by Charlotte Joko Beck. The best of many books I have read on Zen meditation. Beck’s perspective on Buddhism in this book is thoroughly secular—you can appreciate her insights whether you are Christian, Jewish, Wiccan, atheist, agnostic or whatever. When you’re done with this relatively short book, you’ll know the basics of how to meditate.
The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Writing in Germany in 1937, Bonhoeffer exhorted his fellow Christians to embrace the way of Jesus, which is the way of the Cross. Recommended to Christians as devotional reading, and to non-Christians as a 250-page synopsis of what it means to be a real Christian. (Bonhoeffer was later imprisoned and ultimately perished in a Nazi concentration camp.)
Ball Four, by Jim Bouton. The best book ever written about baseball. Bouton was the Yankees’ #2 starter (behind Whitey Ford) in the early 1960’s; by the spring of 1969, he was fighting for a roster spot with the expansion Seattle Pilots. The book is Bouton’s diary of the 1969 season, interspersing accounts of his teammates’ hilarious antics, anecdotes about the Yankee legends he had played with a few years earlier, and observations on the cultural upheaval going on around him. If you get a copy with “Ball Five”—an epilogue written ten years later—read that too.
The Art of Happiness, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Co-written with a psychiatrist, this book explores the question of happiness—which the Dalai Lama considers the objective of life—from a scientific and spiritual perspective. It’s worth reading regardless of your religious bent.
A Fan’s Notes, by Frederick Exley. The last novel I finished. I would describe the protagonist as a 35-year old, alcoholic Holden Caulfield, but that doesn’t do it justice. It deserves to be a modern classic, but it’s too raw for high-school audiences and not artsy enough for English professors. There are a couple disturbing scenes involving date rape; some readers might wish to avoid it on that basis.
Gandhi: An Autobiography, by Mahatma Gandhi. Written in the late 1920’s before his most famous accomplishments, this is a book for people more interested in Gandhi’s thought than his life’s work.
Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell’s examination of intuitive thought makes cutting-edge psychological and neurological research accessible to lay audiences. If I can understand it, you can.
The Quiet American, by Graham Greene. A novel set in 1950’s Vietnam, it dramatically illustrates the axiom that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” It also foreshadows America’s ultimate failure in Vietnam. From what I’ve heard, the recent movie bears scarcely any resemblance to the book.
The Prophets, by Abraham Joshua Heschel. If you’ve seen pictures of MLK’s famous march on Selma, Heschel is the Orthodox rabbi walking alongside Dr. King. Known best during his life for his civil rights and anti-war activism, Heschel is better remembered now for his scholarship, and perhaps more so among Christian scholars than Jews. If you’ve read a lot of theology, many of Heschel’s points that were groundbreaking half a century ago are conventional wisdom today—so you might find yourself skipping some of his lengthier proofs.
New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton. Merton was a playboy turned monk turned peace activist. Written a few years before his death, in Seeds Merton merges traditional Christianity with non-dualist Eastern thinking in a series of thought-provoking devotional essays. His style is not always smooth, but his diction is impeccable.
The Soul of Baseball, by Joe Posnanski. The best book written about baseball in the forty years since Ball Four. Posnanski travels the country with Negro Leagues legend Buck O’Neil during what would prove to be the final year of O’Neil’s life.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter Thompson. The movie was just two guys tripping balls in Vegas; the book is so much more, capturing Thompson’s brilliant sense of humor and a scathing criticism of the American dream. If you live in the eastern U.S., you can finish it on a flight to Vegas.
Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72, by Hunter Thompson. I read this in early 2004, when Howard Dean appeared to be following in George McGovern’s footsteps. Thompson’s brilliant writing brings an otherwise dull election to life vividly.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe. Between my personal interest in the subject and a college class devoted entirely to 1960’s U.S. history, I’ve read a lot of books on the 1960’s counterculture. Wolfe’s account of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters is by far the best of the bunch.
A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn. The history of the U.S. told from a Marxist perspective. The selection of material reflects Zinn’s biases—hundreds of pages on the pre-modern labor movement; nothing on religion—but that’s true of most histories. The truth resides somewhere in the dialectic tension between the traditional narrative of American history and Zinn’s alternate narrative.
