What is a good book to read next?

This I Believe


http://thisibelieve.org/

If you want to listen to some of the stories:
http://thisibelieve.org/podcasts/
The first book of collected essays:
This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman.
http://www.amazon.com/This-Believe-Personal-Philosophies-Remarkable/dp/0805086587/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269210678&sr=8-1

Hi nickadocker.

Welcome to A2K.

There is a long-running thread at this link
http://able2know.org/topic/1042-1
where people post about the books they are currently reading.

You might take a look in there to see if there are any 'sympatico' seeming books referenced in that thread.

Good reading!

I'm just pages away from finishing "The Help" and it has made me reflect on my life a LOT. I grew up in the south (thankfully not the "deep" south like in the book) during the 60s and my parents best friends had Help.

Their Help was named Maggie and I loved her. She would brush my hair till my head would bleed and dress me up in fancy clothes and take me to church with her where I would feel like a starlet. I wouldn't put on a dress or brush my hair for anyone but Maggie. Still won't.

It's a WONDERFUL book!!!! I am reading it at present.

My suggestion: Harry Potter. What you must know is that he's a wizard. I didn't know that at first, and because of that I didn't read them until a few months ago, just before I turned 11.

Nickadocker,

Can't think of any book I've read with that specific focus, but a number of authors come to mind who have opened up my thinking about life in general and my life in particular. Some might surprise you, because most people would not associate anything they wrote as making the reader "stop mid-page to reflect on your life..." but I'll list three of them anyway, because they did that for me, sometimes directly but often indirectly:

Bill Brower, especially his A Short History of Almost Everything
Carl Sagan, especially his Shadows of Ancient Ancestors
E. B. White, especially his Charlotte's Web

You might also read the Disiderata -- not a book but if it doesn't make you stop and reflect on your life, check your pulse!

Biographies, autobiographies and memoirs are also good places to find things that might compel you to reflect on your own life. And you might also consider the possibility of writing your own memoir or autobiography (there is a difference) -- not for publication but to help you discover yourself.

Hope you find some good books and if you do, please pass them on to the rest of us. Thanks,

--Bill

Percy Jackson. I admit the beginning isn't very good, but it gets better. Give it a try, at least.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, though it might be hard to get from the plot the exact feelings you look for, is a great book that makes you reflect on faith and how small things can influence your life and though im not very religious i enjoyed the book. A book that makes you reflect on life now would be Faulkner's classic, The Sound and The Fury; maybe not the whole book but Quentin Compson, my all time favorite novel character so far, provides some deep insights on life and its meanings. I compare Quentin's section with Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, though i consider The Sound and the Fury much better.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Don't just read but work it. I am doing just that after 35 years for the second time. I made my first million dollars by the time I was 25 years old. My next goal is to have five million by this time next year so I can tangably bless those in need.

1) The Five People You Meet in Heaven
2) Restless Souls
3) The Last Lecture
4) The Kite Runner