"List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way."
I used to be quite the bookworm when I was younger but nowadays I've moved mainly to reading online articles which don't really count as books I guess haha :)
Nonetheless here are the top 10 books which really had an influence on me. Couldn't decide which were my favourites so i just arranged them in alphabetical order. Tagged by Jiun Harn who isn't on Tumblr
1. Animal Farm by George Orwell I really like this book because it's so simple and easy to read, yet it portrays the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin so poignantly. As a follow up to this The Children's Story is also a very good short story talking about how propaganda can influence people subtly but very powerfully.
2. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Because 1000+ page love letters to capitalism are awesome :D Seriously, though, because up to now it's still the foundation for my belief in the free market to help resolve things, though government intervention in the market (continues to quote econs notes). Although the characters are somewhat flat, I confess to find the plot actually very entertaining and the logic very clear and precise in this book.
3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley / 1984 by George Orwell I know it's two books, but to me these two books always came together, mainly because they both portray a dystopian future that seems implausible yet if you look closely elements of both can be seen in society today.
4. Maus by Art Spiegelman A terribly well drawn graphic novel depicting the struggles of the author's Jewish father during the Holocaust. I loved the cat-and-mouse theme of the book (Spiegelman drew Jews as mice and Nazis as cats)
5. Murderous math: The Phantom X I still love math haha and this book is the book that really got me into it. It's kinda embarassing but I recall copying down the equations in primary school and trying to figure out how you moved terms from one side of the equation to another.
6. Roots of Wisdom (Translated from the Chinese book Caigentan / 菜根譚) by Chih-Chung Tsai Reading the simple words in this book in sec 1 or 2 made me rethink the way I lived my life and treated people. That sentence above sounds like an Upworthy title, but really really I really learnt a great deal about simple living from reading this book. I found an online copy, and though the illustrated one is better this is worth reading too: http://www.themista.com/freeebooks/chvege.htm
7. Rich Dad poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki Although this book in retrospect was actually somewhat off in its promotion of ideals, and although Kiyosaki has been somewhat criticised as an entrepreneur, it's still the book that made me really get interested in entrepreneuship and business yup haha. Also made me realise about how important it is to take action and get things done.
8. The pig that wants to be eaten My first exposure to thought experiments. It was... an interesting read, to say the least. It made me rethink all I thought about
9. Sherlock Holmes: A complete collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Haha this is somewhat cheating but I loved the entire Sherlock Holmes series. Nothing much more needs to be said for this I suppose
10. Whose Cheese can I move? by Chen Tong Yup, you didn't read that title wrongly. I didn't really like Who Moved My Cheese, but I loved Whose Cheese Can I Move. It's a somewhat tongue-in-cheek story about how the two mice from Who Moved My Cheese went on to explore other cheese related towns. The short book covers nearly everything, but focuses on the world of business and the intrigues that goes on there. It's the book that made me slightly more cynical and more careful in life. Phew that was a lot of words haha thanks for reading until here! I nominate fadingshadows dream-bender krazykye love-rgym will-you-smile-for-me isleeplikealog
Bonus book: Campbell Biology by Reece because it is our Campbible
