151–160 of 163 posts
As actual books, Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, which a BBS friend of mine gave me when he squatted for a few days in my parent's garage, and Eduardo Galleano's Memory of Fire trilogy, a narrative literary history of Latin America, which the Jesuits made me read. I'd still recommend both today. On the other hand, there's the BBS tfile "Anarchist's Cookbook" (there are dozens of different compilations) probably had a m…
As actual books, Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, which a BBS friend of mine gave me when he squatted for a few days in my parent's garage, and Eduardo Galleano's Memory of Fire trilogy, a narrative literary history of Latin America, which the Jesuits made me read. I'd still recommend both today. On the other hand, there's the BBS tfile "Anarchist's Cookbook" (there are dozens of different compilations) probably had a m…
[tl;dr; You can get arrested in the UK for owning it]
Pippi Longstocking. I was read that book so many times I knew it by heart. Her mix of courage, playfulness and of speaking truth to power, her refusal to follow society's rules where they made no sense, her innate sense of justice. I'd say that even today hers would be a personality I try to be. The translation into our language was good and we had a copy that was almost a family relic, given to my father by his moth…
My ex was really into her, but I never quite got the appeal. The character seemed to far-fetched to be relatable. Then I read Anne of Green Gables as an adult, and began to understand that there are harsh and endearing moments amongst the child-like chaos.
The Forest Runners
Where the Red Fern Grows
Catcher in the Rye, Salinger captures that feeling of being a lost teenager while at the same time thinking that we know everything. It's an amazing book to read as a teen.
Classic speculative fiction was (and is) amazing. To this day I am still amazed by the universes created by Andre Norton, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and others.
The D&D Player's Handbook, and basically everything on its Inspirational Reading list.
Even though I wasn't into horror or gothic horror, I still devoured (or was devoured by?) Edgar Allen Poe and HP Lovecraft.
Dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Mysterious Island and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (the stilted, nearly verbatim French->English translations STRONGLY preferred! the "improved" translations fail to convey so much of the fascinating details...) and also The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Hitchhikers Guide, of course. And Stephenson's Cryptonomicon.
I have two young children and I'm building up a library for them A slight tangent, but as a parent, one thing I've found is that any books my kid discovers for themselves (via friends, social media or just picking up random books in the library) means so much more to them than anything I've ever recommended. Anything I recommend starts out with a massive handicap, since in their minds anything 'old and lame' people l…
I wonder if reading is harder to get into now because of the many distracting forms of digital media. Those seem to have replaced recreational reading for me, and I'm not really happy about primarily reading for work rather than for fun.
One that comes to mind is John Wyndham's The Chrysalids - a post-nuclear dystopia that is perfect for adolescents (or was for me, anyway) because it expresses the feeling of being an isolated mutant. Eventually the isolated mutant kids find each other, band together, and defeat the dysfunctional authorities. That was profoundly satisfying when I was 14 or whenever I read it.