- #101
Jasongreat
As a kid I loved:
Where the wild things are, probably started my love of reading since my mom has told me I rarely left it alone.
As a teen I liked:
Go ask Alice which is about a teen girls trials with drug abuse.
The Richest Man in Babylon, about the value of money and its proper use.
How to Think and Grow Rich, basically a biography of the titans of industry and what they had in common.
During my twenties I pretty much gave up reading until I happened to read A Time to Kill, which re awakened my love of reading.
In my thirties:
Patriots by A.J. Languth, has a few historical inaccuracies,imo, but is a very good story about the founding of the USA.
And then I discovered that I trusted words out of someones own mouth more than having someone tell me what another person said(meant). It makes it far easier to see a biased opinion, imo. You can count on an autobiography being biased as far as the author is concerned, with biographies or history books I have to always be on my gaurd. Which leads me to
Benjiman Franklins autobiography as well as all his writings from the library of america. He had a wonderful sense of humor, like a letter he wrote to the french people explaining how much they would save in a year if they only woke with the sun and went to bed shortly after sunset, instead of staying up all night by candle light then sleeping all day. It started out with him saying, I have made a wonderful discovery today when lifting the blinds it is not lifting the blinds that allow the darkness out but it let's the light in. Poor richards almanac was great I could barely put it down.
Thomas Jeffersons autobiography and writings also from the LOA. Philosophers are referenced often in his writings which got me curious about what they had to say leading me to read some.
Calvin Coolidge's autobiography, has a lot of political morals within. I wish the leaders of today would read and live them.
Nikola Tesla's autobiography, I loved his stories about how he came to the conclusion that he was meant to be an inventor.
Booker T. Washingtons autobiography, a look at the lifes of the newly freed slaves in america and the struggles in their education.
I really liked Thomas Paines writings from the Library of America, especially the Age of Reason.
The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazarath or better known as the Thomas Jefferson Bible, by TJ.
A New View of the Constitution by John Taylor of Caroline, kind of a misleading title because it shows what the founders meant in the first place. Written right after the notes of the constitutional convention became public.
When I got into philosophy:
The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant was a very good book about the history of western philosophy a good introduction to the subject of philosophy. I liked his writing so much I bought his The Story of Civilization but have yet to dive into them, they look like they might take me a year or two to get through(11 big volumes).
My favorite was probably Mediatations by Marcus Aurelius and also Epiceticus(?) which were in the same volume of the harvard classics I bought.
John Lockes' Two Treatise's but I liked the 2nd one the most and also his look at human understanding.
Voltaire's writings were great as was Nietzche, but I wondered if the later might have been better if I could read him in german, the translated version doesn't flow too well, imo.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
Actually I can't think of a philosophy text that I've read that I didnt enjoy and get something out of.
A recent book, with a good look at a failed US special forces mission in afganistan, The Lone Survivor by Marcus Lattrell, I couldn't put it down.
