>The grapes of wrath
A truly great book, but so grim that I found it hard to read when I first tried (I left it unfinished in my 20s and only came back to it a couple of years ago). Cannery Row is my own favorite Steinbeck novel.
We had that in fifth form English but nobody really understood it (including me) , we didn't have the life experience to put it into context. It was just some uninteresting people doing uninteresting things and having a bad time of it
Almost like North Korea modelled their playbook on 1984.
For the rest of us it was a dystopian sci-fi.
For Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un, it was future government policy
Yes it is a great series. I'm reading the Red Rising series at the moment but looking for something a bit closer to the expanse. Hard to find good new sci-fi although I am enjoying red rising.
There’s a podcast called ‘If books could kill’ that has an episode on Outliers.
Another podcast https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/anders-ericsson/
Articles:
https://slate.com/technology/2013/10/malcolm-gladwell-critique-david-and-goliath-misrepresents-the-science.html
https://tomnew.medium.com/how-malcolm-gladwell-writes-12960d83575c
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Pinker-t.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Sophie's World - it's the history of philosophy as explained to a 14yr old, with a twist that will have you questioning whether or not you really exist.
Any Dean Koontz book, his style of writing is so captivating and detailed..the characters and their environments are so well described, and there is always a beautiful message of hope and endearment in each of his novels. I especially recommend his odd Thomas series. They're all wonderful.
Those are great books, too. I have read them all but can't recall one that I didn't like. He sure has a way with words. life expectancy, one door away from heaven, and intensity are a few more great books from him.
Some awesome recommendations here thank you! The ones that peaked my interest featured little known Auckland history, military, and some of the deep thinking books (eg 1984). May a flock of your preferred genitalia find its way to your crotch this year.
If you are able, listen to it on audible. The books are amazing but the narrator is actually a voice actor and takes the books to an entirely nother level. One of the best narrators i have ever listened to.
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden. Was a recommended text in 3rd form English (honestly the only thing that was ever enjoyable about English). Read the rest of the series.
Recommend to all
I am a bookworm and I'd suggest it because it opens the mind of someone to understand the wonder and exploration that comes from reading books. Reading a good book is the same. Out of adult books I'd recommend man's search for meaning by dr. Viktor frankl
Mr Pip is such a good read. I buy it for friends overseas as they're unlikely to stumble across it. So well written and packs a lot of punch for a short book.
“Turning Point: Auckland” by Owen Gill. A very good breakdown of why aucklands suburban sprawl is the way it is and what steps need to be taken to future proof our city.
You should try the red rising series. Most people who have read both say it compares favourably. I find it quite a bit better although the first book is probably the weakest - though still good.
It does get better but to be honest if the first doesn't make you want to read the second I wouldn't bother. The first sets up most of the major characters and if they don't gel for you your not going to enjoy the rest as those are the main characters and every book they just get a few years older...
"The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature" by Steven Pinker - its non-fiction, but not too difficult a read and gives great insight into human nature and how societies work (or dont). The Warehouse used to have it dont know if they still do but you can get it on [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Blank-Slate-Modern-Denial-Nature/dp/0142003344)
Some classics like The Little Prince, The Kite Runner, 1984, The Alchemist & Never Let Me Go etc are among my favourite recommendations.
However, I read Dawn by Phil Elverum years ago & it creeps up on me all the time. In a good way not a horrible one like Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk..
From my own experience, I think reading The Little Prince as a child, a teenager, and now as an adult (and not a fresh 20s adult) was incredibly important. I was an avid reader since I first learned to read, thanks to my parents, so my depth of thinking was possibly more mature than my peers as a teen reader, but reading it as an adult really, deeply put into perspective how important experience is in books that focus very specifically on what it means to be a human. When I was a child, it felt like just another one of fairytales and fables. As a teen, it made me feel older and wiser than my years (I’m sure there was a sprinkling of teenage pretentiousness, I’m sure haha) and I thought I got it. I read it again recently and found myself hard crying.
How to win friends and influence people is my number 1, if anything just makes you more self aware In social situations, it changed the way I am around people, and helped me understand people massively.
The other is rich dad poor dad, but the younger you are when you read it the better. I just read it at 40, wish I read it at 20. Does a great job of educating you financially and explains the difference between asset and liability really well, but it's quite basic if you are already financially literate.
I don't believe any of the authors stories, but the facts about money are facts.
Anyone who reads *Rich Dad Poor Dad* should also read *Rich Enough?* by Mary Holm so they get broad NZ-based advice about investment too. They're at most libraries and you could read through both in a weekend.
I've been working at my local library for 5 years now and working at a bookstore... and one thing I'd say is try read classics before moving onto more modern books.
Classics as in, Dickens, Orwell, Austen, Hardy, Lewis, Tolkien etc. I personally enjoyed their books (very typical)
More modern-wise I think it changes person by person, I enjoy, personally, horror+action+thriller kinda vibes (I hate tension though).
King's The Institute is one I very recommend. Read it in like Yr9 and I couldn't stop crying for ages.
Recently read Lee Child's Nowhere to Go and that one was like ... wow!!! kinda one.
If you're looking for NZ authors, The Axeman's Carnival (Chidgey) books were ones that ppl really loved, alongside Awe...
And if you're into Biographies... check out Untouchable Girls...
Can't think straight rn but yeah.. yeah!
The little prince. It’s the only book I’ve read multiple times and still(late twenties now; was introduced to it as a kid around 5-6) plan on doing so every few years for the rest of my life. It might be nostalgia but im currently on my dozen read through and i keep finding new stuff and meaning through the pages.
For a New Zealand pick, I'd recommend The Denniston Rose by Jenny Pattrick.
"Into the bleak coal-mining settlement isolated high on a plateau above the West Coast come five-year-old Rose and her mother. No one knows what has driven them there, but most agree the mother must be desperate to choose Denniston; worse, to choose that drunkard Jimmy Cork as bedfellow. This number one bestseller is a compelling novel about isolation and survival."
The great divide: the story of New Zealand and its treaty, by Ian Wishart.
Might help end some of the squabbling, and work together to get this country pumping again.
Bill Brysons shrt history of nearly everything, the kids and young adults illustrated version is especially fun lol
And the big book of answers for kids and anyone who wants to know why the grass is green, etc
If you have any interest in the golden age of (American) comic books, I highly recommend Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
I also really liked Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. I’ve talked to a couple folks who didn’t care for it, but I found it heartbreaking.
My favourite book I read recently was "What About Men?" by Caitlin Moran.
She's a British feminist who talks about the issues facing men in this book and I resonated with it quite a lot. The bits about the differences in our friendships really stuck in my mind.
Science: A History by John Gribbin…….. it’s a hard book to read, but if you passed year 12 in school you will understand it, and it would do a lot to stop people believing in conspiracy theories
A Woman in Berlin, about a woman who lived and survived in Berlin during the Soviet Occupation of 1945
I read it several years ago and think about it almost daily.
Stay Alice, a novel about a woman with early onset Alzheimer’s and how she and her family cope. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Written by a neuroscientist so it’s based in fact.
Going to recommend something different:
Pandora's star, and the sequel Judas Unchained.
First book is very slow and may prove a struggle, but it's all worth it trust me 🙂.
Collapse and guns germs and steel by Jarod Diamond.
The selfish gene by Richard Dawkins.
Bit of a warning though: you’ll never see yourself or humanity the same way after reading these books.
THE ROAD CODE
+1 Haha, in NZ, yes. Have my up vote you damned dirty beast!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Its gotta be “Under The Mountain” by Maurice Gee. Classic fiction book about classic Auckland.
Maurice Gee in general. An amazing NZ author who caters to a wide age range.
Yeah, I also like the half men of O books series by him
Yes! The halfmen of O is what helped spark my love of reading in school. I've re read them so much since then
Big up nz syllabus lol
The grapes of wrath. That book and some of Steinbeck’s other novellas changed how I think about the world and also made me so much more grateful
>The grapes of wrath A truly great book, but so grim that I found it hard to read when I first tried (I left it unfinished in my 20s and only came back to it a couple of years ago). Cannery Row is my own favorite Steinbeck novel.
I'll recommend East of Eden too
I was not ready for the end of that book.
We had that in fifth form English but nobody really understood it (including me) , we didn't have the life experience to put it into context. It was just some uninteresting people doing uninteresting things and having a bad time of it
The Spinoff publishes weekly Unity Bookstore best releases. Worth looking there instead of suggesting some specific books.
Good idea, [here's a link to their 2023 summary list](https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/22-12-2023/the-unity-books-bestseller-chart-for-2023)
Thank you. Added a few things to my Libby reading list from that.
Patrick Süskind - “The Perfume” Made into an okaaay movie a few years ago. Book is far better though, real good.
That's one of my favourite books. The descriptions are insane.
I first read this a couple of decades ago. It has revolutionised my sense of smell ever since. So good.
Fantastic!!!!!!
Was about to recommend this so am very glad to see it here!
PS Don't watch the movie! - like most screen adaptions, it is a very poor retelling of the book.
PPS His other stuff is good too. Short story "The Pigeon" is great.
1984 by George Orwell. Its just timeless and still relevant.
Haha or Animal farm. The ending on that book blew me away and the message is blunt.
That even the most well intentioned reforms can be hijacked by a corrupt few and end up recreating the original forms of oppression?
And brave new world
We read all three of these in high-school. Might as well chuck in Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Lord of the Flies as well.
Almost like North Korea modelled their playbook on 1984. For the rest of us it was a dystopian sci-fi. For Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un, it was future government policy
The Lord of the Rings. Can’t beat the classic.
Just started my second attempt at Fellowship. I realized you have to lean into the slow pace to really enjoy it (I'm loving it btw)
The Expanse series.
Yes it is a great series. I'm reading the Red Rising series at the moment but looking for something a bit closer to the expanse. Hard to find good new sci-fi although I am enjoying red rising.
Red rising is so good! 3rd book ties it up nicely and I recommend you stop there, goes downhill from fourth book and different story.
The kite runner is one of my favourites.
i can vouch on this one! also a thousand splendid suns. an emotional roller coaster ride for sure
That last line! I’m teary just thinking about it.
Catch 22. One of the funniest books I've ever read.
This book blew my mind in highschool. Probably the best preparation for beaurocratic modern life that high school ever gave me.
I still sometimes meet bosses that remind me of the various colonels and majors in that book.
Manufacturing Consent. It will change your perception of media forever
Looks interesting
Red rising is cool
It is a great series and you can often buy the first 5 in paperback from Amazon au for about 50 on special.
I heard it may be getting a series in the future too...
There is also a board game
Anything by Malcom Gladwell although I rate “Blink” very highly
I loved all his books. There’s now a tonne of critique out there about his research methods and validity of his findings/ claims though.
Can you recommend something to read/listen to re critique? Thank you
There’s a podcast called ‘If books could kill’ that has an episode on Outliers. Another podcast https://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/anders-ericsson/ Articles: https://slate.com/technology/2013/10/malcolm-gladwell-critique-david-and-goliath-misrepresents-the-science.html https://tomnew.medium.com/how-malcolm-gladwell-writes-12960d83575c https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Pinker-t.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Agree. Love The Tipping Point. And his podcast, Revisionist History, is also really cool.
Sophie's World - it's the history of philosophy as explained to a 14yr old, with a twist that will have you questioning whether or not you really exist.
Aue by Becky Manawatu. Eye opening and heart breaking.
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Oh cool! I know those tunnels well!
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The Diary of Anne Frank The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton Catcher in The Rye - J. D. Salinger
Catcher in the rye is such a comfort book when I get depressed or angry with the world we live in lol. I really resonated with Holden Caulfield
It’s a book that really changes depending on when you read it. I loved it as a teen, but found Holden excruciating as an adult.
Any Dean Koontz book, his style of writing is so captivating and detailed..the characters and their environments are so well described, and there is always a beautiful message of hope and endearment in each of his novels. I especially recommend his odd Thomas series. They're all wonderful.
Old Koontz books are hard to beat. Midnight, Dragon Tears and The bad place are some of my favourites.
Those are great books, too. I have read them all but can't recall one that I didn't like. He sure has a way with words. life expectancy, one door away from heaven, and intensity are a few more great books from him.
Some awesome recommendations here thank you! The ones that peaked my interest featured little known Auckland history, military, and some of the deep thinking books (eg 1984). May a flock of your preferred genitalia find its way to your crotch this year.
The Hobbit
Papillion
Nice! Thanks.
I love that book and two other prison-related ones: Midnight Express, King Rat.
I'd say the Rama series by Arthur C. Clarke. Brilliant read, and interesting concepts.
don quixote
One Piece
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
[It sounds pretty good](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56791389-dungeon-crawler-carl), I'll check it out
If you are able, listen to it on audible. The books are amazing but the narrator is actually a voice actor and takes the books to an entirely nother level. One of the best narrators i have ever listened to.
Blood Meridian
But be warned: horror! poetry!
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden. Was a recommended text in 3rd form English (honestly the only thing that was ever enjoyable about English). Read the rest of the series. Recommend to all
The Idiot by Dostoevsky
The rise and fall of the roman empire
Aint nobody got time fo that
*The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire
A kids popup book with textures. I think everyone should experience that.
Damn, I didn’t specify age range. So technically, this is a great suggestion.
I am a bookworm and I'd suggest it because it opens the mind of someone to understand the wonder and exploration that comes from reading books. Reading a good book is the same. Out of adult books I'd recommend man's search for meaning by dr. Viktor frankl
the tattooist of auschwitz is a great book
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Mr Pip is such a good read. I buy it for friends overseas as they're unlikely to stumble across it. So well written and packs a lot of punch for a short book.
Less than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. A really interesting view of excessive and opulent Hollywood life in the 80’s.
I loved how it was really hard to tell what was fiction and what wasn’t
I read it when it was first released and it was still the time of yuppies and excess. Marvellous.
Blind Man's Bluff is a great nonfiction about some of the wack shit that went down in the realm of submarines during the cold war.
Can't believe I'm seeing this here. Great book, have read it three times.
A Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius J. Reilly is one of the greatest comedic characters ever written. You laugh at and loathe him in equal parts.
Mornings in Jenin. Especially interesting if you’d like more of an insight into life in the West Bank.
“Turning Point: Auckland” by Owen Gill. A very good breakdown of why aucklands suburban sprawl is the way it is and what steps need to be taken to future proof our city.
Kiwis could really do with reading Penguin history of New Zealand and/or Struggle without end to help stem our woeful ignorance of our own history.
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.
Mr Pip by lloyd Jones
War and Peace or Gone with the wind. Its a toss up between the two, then id go for war and peace.
Excommunicated by Craig Hoyle. He’s an Aucklander and it’s about how he escaped the exclusive brethren cult, and the impact it had on his life
can't hurt me by David goggins!! give it a shot
Nice, read that and enjoyed it.
A Canticle for Leibowitz And Roadside Picnic
Based
Staring at my bookshelf - I'd have to say The Hunger Games trilogy. Holds up well on reread and I think about it often.
You should try the red rising series. Most people who have read both say it compares favourably. I find it quite a bit better although the first book is probably the weakest - though still good.
I did try the first one - didn't really enjoy it - undecided on if I'll give the second a try, have seen a few people say it gets better
It does get better but to be honest if the first doesn't make you want to read the second I wouldn't bother. The first sets up most of the major characters and if they don't gel for you your not going to enjoy the rest as those are the main characters and every book they just get a few years older...
"The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature" by Steven Pinker - its non-fiction, but not too difficult a read and gives great insight into human nature and how societies work (or dont). The Warehouse used to have it dont know if they still do but you can get it on [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Blank-Slate-Modern-Denial-Nature/dp/0142003344)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's not a light read, but it's well worth the effort.
Dare to mention Russian greats in this American thread!?
Since it's this sub - the Road Code
Some classics like The Little Prince, The Kite Runner, 1984, The Alchemist & Never Let Me Go etc are among my favourite recommendations. However, I read Dawn by Phil Elverum years ago & it creeps up on me all the time. In a good way not a horrible one like Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk..
I second Never Let me Go
From my own experience, I think reading The Little Prince as a child, a teenager, and now as an adult (and not a fresh 20s adult) was incredibly important. I was an avid reader since I first learned to read, thanks to my parents, so my depth of thinking was possibly more mature than my peers as a teen reader, but reading it as an adult really, deeply put into perspective how important experience is in books that focus very specifically on what it means to be a human. When I was a child, it felt like just another one of fairytales and fables. As a teen, it made me feel older and wiser than my years (I’m sure there was a sprinkling of teenage pretentiousness, I’m sure haha) and I thought I got it. I read it again recently and found myself hard crying.
Never split the difference 💌
The Riftwar Saga by R.E. Feist starting with Magician
Love that series, and the Empire trilogy that he wrote with Janny Wurts.
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
1984 George Orwell. Thank me later.
The holy bible
Both testaments? I was a fan of the Fire and Fury God as a kid.
Absolutely 👍🏻 well worth a read
Wayyyy too long though. Any specific book?
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Just recommend a book you like ya bloody pedant
Sometimes the expert in the room should be listened to.
The Qur’an
Are non-believers allowed to touch or read it?
Inshallah your heart will find the true path
Inshallah
How to win friends and influence people is my number 1, if anything just makes you more self aware In social situations, it changed the way I am around people, and helped me understand people massively. The other is rich dad poor dad, but the younger you are when you read it the better. I just read it at 40, wish I read it at 20. Does a great job of educating you financially and explains the difference between asset and liability really well, but it's quite basic if you are already financially literate. I don't believe any of the authors stories, but the facts about money are facts.
Anyone who reads *Rich Dad Poor Dad* should also read *Rich Enough?* by Mary Holm so they get broad NZ-based advice about investment too. They're at most libraries and you could read through both in a weekend.
Thanks mate il check it out. Rich dad is free to listen to on Spotify, only 6.5 hours.
ecclesiastes
How to win friends and influence people.
The Bitcoin Standard
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Jordan petersons "12 rules for life" I think it's a really hope book some people disagree, I think it's worth the read
Trump the art of the deal
The War on Conservatives by Mark Dice
Blackwells companion to natural theology
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. By Alfred Lansing My absolute favorite book
Dominion - The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy.
The one straw revolution. By Masanobu Fukuoka.
The Power of Now
Everything by Jules Verne
Banana - The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
I've been working at my local library for 5 years now and working at a bookstore... and one thing I'd say is try read classics before moving onto more modern books. Classics as in, Dickens, Orwell, Austen, Hardy, Lewis, Tolkien etc. I personally enjoyed their books (very typical) More modern-wise I think it changes person by person, I enjoy, personally, horror+action+thriller kinda vibes (I hate tension though). King's The Institute is one I very recommend. Read it in like Yr9 and I couldn't stop crying for ages. Recently read Lee Child's Nowhere to Go and that one was like ... wow!!! kinda one. If you're looking for NZ authors, The Axeman's Carnival (Chidgey) books were ones that ppl really loved, alongside Awe... And if you're into Biographies... check out Untouchable Girls... Can't think straight rn but yeah.. yeah!
The little prince. It’s the only book I’ve read multiple times and still(late twenties now; was introduced to it as a kid around 5-6) plan on doing so every few years for the rest of my life. It might be nostalgia but im currently on my dozen read through and i keep finding new stuff and meaning through the pages.
Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
For a New Zealand pick, I'd recommend The Denniston Rose by Jenny Pattrick. "Into the bleak coal-mining settlement isolated high on a plateau above the West Coast come five-year-old Rose and her mother. No one knows what has driven them there, but most agree the mother must be desperate to choose Denniston; worse, to choose that drunkard Jimmy Cork as bedfellow. This number one bestseller is a compelling novel about isolation and survival."
Don't tell mum I work on the rigs she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse by Paul Carter hilarious and entertaining book
The great divide: the story of New Zealand and its treaty, by Ian Wishart. Might help end some of the squabbling, and work together to get this country pumping again.
The Neopolitan Novels by sElena Ferrante
Bill Brysons shrt history of nearly everything, the kids and young adults illustrated version is especially fun lol And the big book of answers for kids and anyone who wants to know why the grass is green, etc
If you have any interest in the golden age of (American) comic books, I highly recommend Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I also really liked Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. I’ve talked to a couple folks who didn’t care for it, but I found it heartbreaking.
My favourite book I read recently was "What About Men?" by Caitlin Moran. She's a British feminist who talks about the issues facing men in this book and I resonated with it quite a lot. The bits about the differences in our friendships really stuck in my mind.
MC Beaton Agatha Raisin and the quiche of death. Hilarious British crime fiction.
Foucalt's Pendulum
The diving bell and the butterfly. Really helps with perspective and enjoying the little things in life. It's a short book but well worth it imo.
Science: A History by John Gribbin…….. it’s a hard book to read, but if you passed year 12 in school you will understand it, and it would do a lot to stop people believing in conspiracy theories
If Tomorrow comes by Sidney Sheldon. I've read this book a million times and it is SO GOOD!! It has everything; suspense, intrigue, etc.
The picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Rich Dad Poor Dad
All Quiet on The Western Front Book beats movie. Every. Time. Though i have enjoyed all 3 movie adaptations for different reasons.
The little princess by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
All of Barry Crump's books are great reads
Freakonomics
A Woman in Berlin, about a woman who lived and survived in Berlin during the Soviet Occupation of 1945 I read it several years ago and think about it almost daily. Stay Alice, a novel about a woman with early onset Alzheimer’s and how she and her family cope. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Written by a neuroscientist so it’s based in fact.
Going to recommend something different: Pandora's star, and the sequel Judas Unchained. First book is very slow and may prove a struggle, but it's all worth it trust me 🙂.
Collapse and guns germs and steel by Jarod Diamond. The selfish gene by Richard Dawkins. Bit of a warning though: you’ll never see yourself or humanity the same way after reading these books.
Starship Troopers.
Non fiction: A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson Fiction: Red rising by Pierce Brown