What is the most important book you have read recently? Would you recommend it to others?

Question

Mine is "Takeover. The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy" by Charlie Savage and I recommend it highly.

Answer 1

A Savage War of Peace, Alastair Horne.

The Algerian War, 1954-62. Shows how terror and repressive countermeasures leave the extremists in charge. A brilliant, well-researched and beautifully written study of an Arab anticolonial struggle. "On the reading list of President Bush and the US military", claims the cover blurb. The military I believe. As for Bush, he either hasn't read it, is too stupid to get it, or still defers to Cheney and his reactionary, ignorant clique -- despite years' and bodies' worth of demonstrations re the bankruptcy of their policies and "thinking".

Answer 2

Mine would be Paulo Coelho's Like The Flowing River.
it's a collection of his reflections and thoughts. it's brilliant and beautiful. i haven't finish it yet, but my favorite so far is The Story of a Pencil. this is the story:

The Story of the Pencil

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point, he asked:
‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’
His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
‘I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’
‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.
‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and God always guides us according to God will.
‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.
‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.
‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.
‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in live will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.’
It just blow me away...

Answer 3

Alone on a wide wide sea by Michael Morpurgo.

hes a 60 yr old man telling his story of how when he was a child he was seperated from his sis kitty. he gets taken to austtralia and put on farm at the age of 5 i think. he is a slave he meets some good people and when hes older has a daughter and plans a trip bak to england to find his long lost sister and find our what the key means (when he left his sis she gave him a key- he calls it the lucky key)

but we he make the journey
that was a bit about the story
heres the blurb from the book:

THERE WERE DOZENS OF US ON THE SHIP, BOYS, GIRLS. WE WERE OF TO AUSTRALIA, IT MIGHT AS WELL BEEN THE MOON.

Orphaned in WW11, Arthur is separated from his sister and sent to the other side of the world. There his extraordanary journey continues as his friend Marty Survive brutal captivity on a working farm find a new family with eccentic Aunty Meg and her animals, and discover their talent for designing yachts.

Sixty years later, Arthur's Daunghter Allie sets sail single-handed in a yacht sesignded by her father, derermind to find his long los sister in england. Can her family LOve stretch across time and the vastness of the oceans? And will threads of Arthurs life finally come together

hope you read this book

Answer 4

The Bible is the most important book I've read recently and ever. Yes, I'd recommend it to anyone. I'd even be specific and recommend reading the Gospel of John first.

Answer 5

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. A most excellent book, but getting "old" now. You can probably find it in used book stores. Well worth the trouble to go looking.

Answer 6

"The Klemperer Diaries 1932 -45", diaries kept by a jew, a University professor in Dresden, who survived the nazi era.
A remarkable account of life under increasing hardship and fear, combined with the minutiae of everyday living. He and his wife only escaped the final round up of the few remaining jews in Dresden by the firebombing of the city in 1945 as they were able to escape in the ensuing confusion. Two volumes, a fascinating read.

Answer 7

I am reading The Possessed or The Devils or Demons by the great Dostoevsky.

It's a brilliant political novel as well as psychological novel - Dostoevsky always probes deeply into his characters - they really live.

Yes, I recommend it heartily.

Answer 8

Recently "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving ...just a great example of what a book should be

Answer 9

All the books I read are important to me.

Answer 10

mine is consequences by penelope lively . it is an excellent book and I highly reccomend it . good luck and god bless.