Since, you know, I'm finishing college...What's your Catcher in the Rye?

[toheartheair]

This was a facebook note, but many people ignored it.

Finally my reading list is not imposed on me by my academic superiors.

So what I'm looking to do is make an extensive list of books recommended to me by my friends. I want to know what your book is

Comments

[16yroldsrhot]

adam: welcome. i wish you luck on your next adventure and am here to tell you, with love, that the next couple steps are not easy and often filled with confusion. but i think all is for the best, follow your heart. as for MY catcher in the rye, at one point it WAS "catcher in the rye." then i read david sedaris, then i read paulo coelho, "the alchemist" helped me get my barrings and "veronica decides to die" brought me back to life. it is very difficult now, at this point in my journey, to say that one book shapes me or only one speaks to my soul, as my soul has as many different personalities as i do or my soul has the same problems with commitment as i do. but hey you've got all the time in the world, no book is a waste of time! and now i am an after school special. love to you. safe journey.

[harlequinno]

I've already told you Catch-22; it along with The Little Prince (or Le Petit Prince for Francophile elitists) by Antoine Staint-Exupery were and are probably the only books I've ever read more than once.

Also, I second the recommendation for the Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho.

[clayzer]

Lucifer's Hammer

If you dig appocalypse stuff and the seventies this book rocks.

[aminee]

This is such a hard question, sir. There are so many books that I love and even more that have disappointed me. As for books shaping my life, I haven't found them yet. The Count of Monte Cristo is a favorite, as is A Tale of Two Cities. However, a book that made me laugh as much as cry is A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. It's his memoir and is just amazing. It's such a detailed book. If you ever check it out, look at every page. On the copyright page, he makes fun of his publisher, bitches about how much money he made on the book, and also rates himself on a homosexuality scale.

[mildsensation]

The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

But you should have/probably already knew that