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Desperately seeking mind altering books


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A strange assortment to consider...

 

Heart of Darkness

Fahrenheit 451

Misquoting Jesus

The Sparrow

Sleeping in Flame

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Deadeye Dick

Born to Run

C

All the Names

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Murder in the Cathdral

Life is a Dream

 

I remember reading Misquoting Jesus and thinking WOW! It definitely makes you think.

 

I can't wait to start reading some of these other suggestions. Great thread!

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I've found both of the books by Chip and Dan Heath to contain very unique and valuable perspectives:

 

Made to Stick

Switch

 

Made to Stick is the one with a bright orange cover that looks like it has a piece of duct tape on it. I bless whoever designed that cover because without it, I never would have picked the book up and would have missed a lot.

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Steiner's Errata is good for some thinking, as is Zweig's The World of Yesterday. Both similar in some aspects, yet reflecting different sensibilities and, in a very curious way, different times. Both of them remarkable, each in a quite a different way. Both have other good works too.

 

Haddad's Les biblioclastes (not sure if there is an English translation?) is quote entertaining too, in some moments profound, though I normally am not crazy about such an approach.

 

Morin and Jankelevitch have some good theoretical stuff on death, one approaches it through a more anthropological perspective, while the other one is more of a philosopher; not sure they are translated (from French), but you might wish to give them a try when you are waxing philosophical.

 

Popper's The Open Society and its Enemies is quite interesting too, lots of food for thought and interesting connections if you're into philosophy, and potentially good stuff to discuss with kids.

 

Pinker's The Blank Slate, long, but it reads quite quickly. That one deals with modern denial of (biological) human nature. Several interesting connections in there too.

 

Regarding fiction, I second Dostoevsky (though I opt for The Brothers Karamazov).

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Things that make you go Hmmmmmm.

 

I'm looking for something that will change my perspective - or at least give me a new perspective. Any recs for books that made you think, challenged what you thought you knew or just plain shook up your brain? I'm open to any topic. Thanks!

 

Under the Overpass was that kind of book. It has changed how my family responds to homeless people and how we practice our faith.

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No one has mentioned it, but reading the Christian Bible has had a major impact on how I think of issues and respond to them. I'm reading the Oxford annotated NRSV version, so it has books that some denominations leave out. I'm up to Proverbs. The book of Job, alone, threw me for a loop for a good year.

 

"Buddhism Plain and Simple" by Steven Hagen will make you lay down and wonder where the smelling salts are!

 

"The Latin-Centered Curriculum" by Drew Campbell has helped me understand Western culture better.

 

Non-Western Fairytales - They help me understand cultures better. Ghost stories do too.

 

"The Baby Book" by Dr and Mrs Sears - Radical about=face of my parenting style, luckily read before I became a parent,

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One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp

 

The Knowledge of the Holy - A.W. Tozer

 

Ditto!!

 

(Hi Friend! :))

 

The Book Thief and The Cellist of Sarajevo are two pieces of fiction I've read this year that have touched me deeply!

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