100 Best Goodreads Books of All Time

Adam Lawrence

It's just the best. [source]

Antonio Villaraigosa

Even though I know we’ve made great strides in America, and have come from the reality of Maycomb, we still suffer today from the lingering effects of the bigotry of that era. At the same time, it’s a lesson in standing tall in the face of tremendously hostile circumstances. [source]

Clive Stafford Smith

The book touches on so many issues and deals with so many prejudices – prejudices towards the mentally ill, racial stuff. It’s a book that was way ahead of its time in many ways. It’s also a wonderfully written book – a joy to read. [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Steve Jobs

Founder/Apple

called this book "one of his favorite" and recommended it to the hires. The book also inspired one the greatest TV ad (made by Jobs) [source]

Andra Zaharia

These books and their core ideas have stuck with me the most and continue to guide me when I hit crossroads along the way. [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Tara never went to school or visited a doctor until she left home at 17. I never thought I’d relate to a story about growing up in a Mormon survivalist household, but she’s such a good writer that she got me to reflect on my own life while reading about her extreme childhood. Melinda and I loved this memoir of a young woman whose thirst for learning was so strong that she ended up getting a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. [source]

Alexander Stubb

If you read or listen to only one book this summer, this is it. Bloody brilliant! Every word, every sentence. Rarely do I go through a book with such a rollecoaster of emotion, from love to hate. Thank you for sharing @tarawestover #Educated https://t.co/GqLaqlcWMp [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Both Melinda and I read this one, and it has sparked lots of great conversations at our dinner table. Harari takes on a daunting challenge: to tell the entire history of the human race in just 400 pages. He also writes about our species today and how artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and other technologies will change us in the future. Although I found things to disagree with—especially Harari’s claim that humans were better off before we started farming—I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who’s interested in the history and future of our species. [source]

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

A grand theory of humanity. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

I don’t know how Kalanithi found the physical strength to write this book while he was so debilitated by the disease and then potent chemotherapy. But I’m so glad he did. He spent his whole brief life searching for meaning in one way or another -- through books, writing, medicine, surgery, and science. I’m grateful that, by reading this book, I got to witness a small part of that journey. I just wish the journey hadn’t been cut so short [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

Despite its popularity, When Breath Becomes Air is actually underrated. It’s make-you-cry good. [source]

Bethany S. Mandel

More Shabbat reading recommendations: This book was breathtaking and such a powerful advertisement for the joy of parenthood. https://t.co/V8BH97eiL9 [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Robert Muchamore

A brutal, exciting, action-based sci-fi novel. Hugely popular and excellent fun. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Excellent novel. [source]

Ann Miura-Ko

Ann Miura-Ko recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Magda Marcu

I’m currently reading “The Kite Runner”. I never have expectations from books, I let them surprise me as I get into the story. Learning about characteristics of different cultures, in this case the Afghan one, it’s one aspect I am interested in. [source]

Reese Witherspoon

Actress, Author, Founder/Hello Sunshine

Great article about the success of Where the Crawdads Sing. Did you read the book? @ReesesBookClub 🤗 https://t.co/w1ZgQLRzsx [source]

Kris Crocker

@spokanelibrary I love this book!! [source]

Brené Brown

There's a great quote in this book: When you're on the right path the universe conspires to help you! [source]

Daniel Ek

It was fascinating to talk to the author about how this book came to be such a hit—he never backed down, and he allowed people to read it for free in order to then boost sales—much like how Spotify’s freemium model was perceived in the early days. [source]

Eric Ripert

Speaks of everyone having an ultimate goal in life, but most of us are too afraid to pursue it. The encouragement to fulfill your dreams is very inspirational! [source]

Malcolm Gladwell

Writer & Journalist

I don’t need to say much here. This book invented an entire genre. Economics was never supposed to be this entertaining. [source]

Daymond John

Founder/FUBU

I love newer books like this book. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

James Altucher recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Whitney Cummings

Whitney Cummings recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Vlad Tenev

When I was in sixth grade I remember being very upset by the ending of this book. [source]

Heather Brooke

I picked Animal Farm because it is an allegory about power and its seductive and corruptive influence on people regardless of their initial good intentions. [source]

Simon Sinek

Author

Leaders needn’t be the loudest. Leadership is not about theater. It’s not about dominance. It is about putting the lives of others before any other priority. In Quiet, Cain affirms to a good many of us who are introverts by nature that we needn’t try to be extroverts if we want to lead. Simply being ourselves is more important — and more effective. [source]

Danielle Morrill

Co-founder/Mattermark

Anyway, maybe you’re like me and figuring this out for yourself. It’s a good book for introverts and for those who love them [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Probably half the world is introverts. Maybe more. It’s not an easy life to live. I sometimes have that feeling in a room full of people, “uh-oh. I just shut down. I can’t talk anymore and there’s a lock on my mouth and this crowd threw away the key.” Do you ever get that feeling? Please? I hope you do. Let’s try to lock eyes at the party. “Quiet” shows the reader how to unlock the secret powers that probably half the world needs to unlock. [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

Of course, @MichelleObama’s my wife, so I’m a little biased here. But she also happens to be brilliant, funny, wise – one of a kind. This book tells her quintessentially American story. I love it because it faithfully reflects the woman I have loved for so long. [source]

Piers Morgan

Congrats to @MichelleObama on sensational sales of her new book #Becoming. I always take people as I find them & when I met her at the White House, she was a delightfully warm, friendly & genuine lady. A great First Lady & now a best-selling author. https://t.co/nlSUHI01SM [source]

Mary Burkey

This is a case where you have to hear Michelle Obama read her story. It’s her story and she puts her whole emotional self into it. [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Must admit to liking this book. Sad, romantic and beautifully named. [source]

James Comey

@johngreen You should not be. It is a great book. Was recently in Amsterdam and walked some of the scenes with your huge fan, my youngest daughter. Loved hearing from you and meeting you at Kenyon. [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

As a boy in Pretoria, Musk was un dersized and picked upon, a smart-aleck known as Muskrat. In his loneliness, he read a lot of fantasy and science fiction. “The heroes of the books I read, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and the ‘Foundation’ series, always felt a duty to save the world,” he told me. [source]

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

The book that I’ve most often read. [source]

Alan Lee

His alternative world and mythological system is totally coherent–it’s a fantastic gift that he has given us. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

I loved Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck. There’s a reason this book is blowing up. It’s that good. [source]

Alex Blackwell

@whitbywonder Great book [source]

Aunty Ada

Finally done! Amazing book, I recommend😊 https://t.co/IDTawuWn8f [source]

Ben Domenech

@SohrabAhmari @li88yinc @jgcrum @BlueBoxDave @InezFeltscher @JarrettStepman Maybe the best book ever written. [source]

Esther Perel

You can reread the Russians. They are timeless. [source]

Irvine Welsh

It is not a crime book in the way that we understand crime fiction today. Instead it is like an existential psychological thriller. [source]

Jamie Grayson

Holy shit there’s no way this book is that old because that really ages me but I COMPLETELY agree. This book is a masterpiece and a must-read. Lessons about being human are in there and those are important right now. https://t.co/fF1spEFrUH [source]

Rae Earl

It is a tremendously powerful study of PTSD, a mental health issue that isn’t talked about enough [source]

Richard Speight Jr.

A pal for 30 years, @StephenChbosky ‘s first book #ThePerksofBeingaWallflower had a MASSIVE impact on me & countless others. Then came his great movies. Now..THE NEXT BOOK! Be like me & buy it THE DAY it comes out. (Then harass him until he agrees to put me in the movie! 🎥 🤠) https://t.co/02bMKPgF9A [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Cressida Cowell

The Hobbit is such a richly imagined fantasy that, especially as a child, you can live in it. It is so completely immersive. [source]

Lev Grossman

First up, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, by JRR Tolkien. But you knew I was going to say that. This one book, which was published in 1937, defined so many variables for the fantasy tradition that are still in place today. Tolkien’s extraordinary achievement was to recover the epic landscapes of Anglo-Saxon myth, bring them back to life, and then to take us through them on foot, so we could see the details up close, at human scale. The Hobbit is both mythic and relatable at the same time – The New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik recently called it “an arranged marriage between the Elder Edda and The Wind in the Willows”, and I think that’s entirely fair. Though I would give more credit to the bass register of Tolkien’s imagination, its abyssal depths. Mole never delved as deep as the Mines of Moria. [source]

Robert Muchamore

Mark Haddon wrote a spy series for eight- or nine-year-olds and then he suddenly comes out with this rather brilliant novel. Is it an adult book? Is it a kids’ book? So many people can read it and approach it. [source]

Simon Baron-Cohen

In fiction the writer has some licence to deviate from what is real – it’s a work of art, ultimately, for people’s interest and enjoyment, but I think that the character is very recognisable of many people with Asperger syndrome. I think the author has done a very good job. [source]

Vanessa Keng

I've always loved fiction - mainly crime and legal thrillers, but there's something wonderful about reading a completely different style of writing from what I'm used to. I found myself absorbed in the narrative of guilt and love in The Kite Runner, and The Curious Incident told me a story from a completely different perspective. [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

When he got to high school, the president said, his tastes changed and he learned to enjoy classics like “Of Mice and Men” and “The Great Gatsby.” [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Melinda and I really like this book. When we were first dating, she had a green light that she would turn on when her office was empty and it made sense for me to come over. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

For Non-Business, I'd have to say Dune (Herbert), Emergency (Strauss), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) or Flint (L'Amour). I re-read these books every year because they are just so well written & great stories that I get new perspective & details every time I read them. [source]

Craig Barrett

Former CEO/Intel

This book didn’t really change my mind, but rather reinforced the concept of the power of the individual. At a time when we depend more and more on big institutions to solve our business and social problems the real solutions are crafted by individual actions and initiative. This is true in the business world, where ideas from individual researchers or entrepreneurs can create mega companies overnight, and in the social sector, where such actions as high performing charter schools run circles around a moribund K-12 education system. Best we all remember that the next meaningful advances will come from individual initiative rather than massive governmental programs. After all, Google, Facebook, Uber, microloans and countless other success stories were not products of big government. [source]

Dan Christensen

@EconTalker @cable_co1 The Martian... hey it can’t all be economics and it’s a great book [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

Catherine Mayer

Atwood takes all the hard information about gender inequality that she sees around her and then turns it up a few notches. [source]

Cliff Bleszinski

@HandmaidsOnHulu Done. Love the show, book is a classic, can't wait for season 2. [source]

Grady Booch

I read this several years ago but — much like Orwell’s 1984 — it seems particularly relevant given our current political morass. [source]

Guy Kawasaki

Author & Entrepreneur

I love @MargaretAtwood’s message and appreciate her efforts to prevent the end of the world. Her latest book is The Testaments, sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. 📕 Read it and spread its message to help prevent Making America Gilead again. PODCAST 🎧 https://t.co/9wBq98MWf0 https://t.co/W950dsLLN6 [source]

Mary Burkey

Obviously the book is totally fascinating as a print book. What happened with the audiobook is that because of the Netflix adaptation, a lot of the actors who were in the Netflix program were used for the audiobook production. [source]

Peter Florence

It is a completely standalone, independent novel. If you read The Handmaid’s Tale, it will satisfy some of your need for understanding what happened next. If you haven’t—and incredibly, there are people who haven’t read it—it just gives you an extremely savage and exhilarating look at contemporary life and its most alarming manifestations. [source]

Yuval Noah Harari

Historian

The most prophetic book of the 20th century. Today many people would easily mistake it for a utopia. [source]

Andra Zaharia

These books and their core ideas have stuck with me the most and continue to guide me when I hit crossroads along the way. [source]

Catherine Mayer

It shows the ways in which technology, our need for certain creature comforts and consumer culture can be used to manipulate us. [source]

Audrey Penn

My next one is Jane Eyre. She was orphaned and sent to a very rich aunt, who had her own very selfish children. Jane Eyre was not the perfect child and she was sent to live in a girls’ school. She made one friend, but unfortunately the little girl died, so she had to toughen up. She grew up there and learned everything she needed to know about teaching. She was a very good artist, she played a little piano, she learned French. When she got older she became the governess for a little French girl who was the ward of a man who lived in a manor. They fell in love, but it turned out that he had a wife, who was insane and lived in the attic. So Jane Eyre ran away and found out she had an uncle who had left her a great deal of money. But she couldn’t get the man out of her mind, so she went back. She found out that after she left, the man’s wife had set the place on fire. The wife had died in the fire, and it had blinded him. They were still very much in love and they married. And they lived happily ever after. [source]

John Sutherland

There is an interesting debate … that the real heroine of Jane Eyre is not the plain little governess but the mad woman in the attic, Bertha Mason [source]

Lucy Atkins

I think Charlotte Brontë’s most accomplished book is Villette. It’s probably a better book, it’s tighter and more sophisticated in some ways. But there’s something about Jane Eyre that is just deeply emotionally compelling for me. [source]

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

This is a daring, delightful, and transformative book. Lori Gottlieb takes us inside the most intimate of encounters as both clinician and patient and leaves us with a surprisingly fresh understanding of ourselves, one another, and the human condition. Her willingness to expose her own blind spots along with her patients’ shows us firsthand that we aren’t alone in our struggles and that maybe we should talk more about them! Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is funny, hopeful, wise, and engrossing—all at the same time. [source]

Andrea Barber

My new favorite book 😍😍 @LoriGottlieb1 https://t.co/7iQsEH7sDa [source]

Chris Abraham

I would like to introduce Zandria and Lori because Zan just read Lori's amazing new book this month, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone; and, since I adore you both, you should be friends. https://t.co/lwQJSJHQxb [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Excellent novel. [source]

Ann Miura-Ko

I would encourage people to read it because it gives you a sense of Afghanistan’s incredible history and the role women have played within that history [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

I'll put here what I emailed Malcolm when I finished the book: "Just finished your new book in one sitting yesterday. So good. You are at the height of your powers and remain an inspiration to all of us trying to master an un-masterable profession." It's a little less practical or self-improvement oriented than his previous books, but far more thought provoking. [source]

Nilofer Merchant

An interesting analysis/ essay re Gladwell’s latest book —> https://t.co/5Ey1maNRyI [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

When asked what books he recommended to his 18-year-old daughter Malia, Obama gave the Times a list that included The Naked and the Dead and One Hundred Years of Solitude. “I think some of them were sort of the usual suspects … I think she hadn’t read yet. Then there were some books that are not on everybody’s reading list these days, but I remembered as being interesting.” Here’s what he included: The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston [source]

Oprah Winfrey

CEO/O Network

Brace yourselves—One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez is as steamy, dense and sensual as the jungle that surrounds the surreal town of Macondo! [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

A.r. Moxon (Julius Goat)

“A beautiful, harrowing, thrilling book....It’s a wild ride and a great read.” —Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife THE REVISIONARIES Published by Melville House Dec 03, 2019 | 608 Pages | Hardcover https://t.co/cKLZBnrQda [source]

Gabriel Coarna

Audrey Niffenegger's "The Time Traveler's Wife" and Garth Stein's "The Art Of Racing In The Rain" made me cry. [source]

Chelsea Handler

I don't know if I have to expound on why I love this book, but everyone should read this author, and this was the first one of his works I read. So, it's like a first boyfriend. Or my first Cabbage Patch Kid. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

Audrey Russo

Question: What books would you recommend to young people interested in your career path? Answer: Anything by Peter Senge. The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Ben Horowitz Once you are Lucky, Twice you are good – Sara Lacey Revolutionary Wealth – Alvin Toffler Black Swan – Taleb Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, by Ellen Pao. Creative Class – Richard Florida Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis American Government 101: From the Continental Congress to the Iowa Caucus, Everything You Need to Know About US Politics – Kathleen Spears The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Any book by Herman Hesse The Art of War by Sun Tzu. [source]

Alice Little

I remember being a fourth grader and trying to check out this book and being told it was grossly inappropriate and going so far as to have my parents take it to the school board and petition for me to be allowed to read this book. [source]

Catalina Penciu

I'm a huge fan of personal stories and biographies like this one. [source]

Tim Fargo

@Quixoticnance Good point, Nancy. The museum is a powerful experience, esp. when you've read her book. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

One of my favorite books ever. [source]

Woody Allen

Film Director

It was such a relief from the other books I was reading at the time, which all had a quality of homework to them. [source]

Audrey Russo

So many novels; Lord of the Flies, Great Gatsby, Great Expectations; all the Nancy Drew books; Catcher in the Rye, Books written by Zora Neale Hurston; Pat Conroy – all because of the view about different people who endure despite adversity while kindling the hearts of the human spirit. [source]

Katie Kitamura

It’s a novel that uses the narrative form of the psychological thriller, but in the service of exploring a single emotion: jealousy. [source]

Lucy Atkins

The main thing about Rebecca that I find completely compelling is the way that you, the reader, become complicit in a situation which, eventually, turns into a crime. [source]

Tess Gerritsen

Throughout the story, she feels the first wife haunt the house, and she can never quite measure up to her. And then the heroine begins to wonder: What if Rebecca was murdered? What if my husband did it? [source]

Amy Chua

Marmee is a character that really resonates for me. She’s obviously not Chinese, but she believes that integrity and hard work are the most important things in life. She holds her daughters to very high standards. She doesn’t sugarcoat much. She also reveals to her rebellious daughter Jo, the star of the book and a character loosely modeled on Louisa May Alcott herself, that she had a bad temper too when she was younger. That’s exactly what I did with my own daughter Louisa…….The kinds of mistakes that Marmee allows her daughters to make are very similar to the kinds of mistakes that I allow my daughters to make. [source]

Anne Thériault

@mmarmoset I love that book so much, and then I got to see Patty Smith perform the year I read it, and she made a Little Women reference during the show, and my heart overflowed [source]

Jay Kleinberg

Nancy Drew is another series which follows in those footsteps. The book is all led by her. I think if one looks in the magazine literature it would be hard to find a similar character at that time. These were stories initially published in a magazine and then bound together as a book. [source]

Chris Anderson

As a child, they exploded my imagination. [source]

Chris Anderson

As a child, they exploded my imagination. [source]

Chris Anderson

As a child, they exploded my imagination. [source]

Jacqui Pretty

When it comes to fiction, there are so many to choose from! Some books I've loved in the past year include Circe by Madeline Miller. [source]

Jason Kottke

Another contemporary reinterpretation of Greek mythology from the perspective of a woman. I’m 3/4s of the way through Circe right now and I might like it even more than The Odyssey. [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Walter Isaacson

Author

Read this book. [source]

Michael Voss

I enjoy nearly everything Mark Twain ever wrote, but my favorite is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This novel showcases Twain at the top of his game in terms of acerbic wit, sharp societal observations and the use of regional dialects - for which he initially garnered great criticism, before the passage of time enabled critics to understand and acknowledge its authenticity. [source]

Oprah Winfrey

CEO/O Network

It's got everything that's grabbing the headlines in America right now. It's about race and class, the economy, culture, immigration and the danger of the us-versus-them mentality. And underneath it all, pumps the heart and soul of family love, the pursuit of happiness, and what home really means. [source]

George Monbiot

This is possibly the most important environmental book ever written. It is a thought-experiment that imagines the world without a biosphere. That is the fundamental thought-experiment at the heart of environmentalism. All the horrors of that story arise from the disappearance of the biosphere, leaving people without any means of feeding themselves and without any means of survival. They are thrown into a brutal and fatal competition where the only thing left to eat is each other. [source]

Greg Garrett

There is no creature that has been transformed by leaking chemicals or radioactive satellites. But, on the other hand, there are human beings who consume other humans and that informs the major conflicts of the book. So, you’ve got a post-apocalyptic setting and you’ve got ethical quandaries for the main characters. There’s the sense of menace that permeates the zombie apocalypse. It’s not bad enough that they’re going to kill you, they’re also going to eat you. What I love about this story is its literary quality. We tend to think of the zombie apocalypse as a low-culture, pulp phenomenon. [source]

Bryony Gordon

Everyone must read this book by @jeaninecummins. I cannot stop talking about it. I want to immediately start reading it all over again. Utterly magnificent. https://t.co/f3HHqddskD [source]

Jonny Geller

Think this the best (non Curtis Brown) book I read last year. https://t.co/NjKExF5dZ8 [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

If you want a good understanding of how the issues that cause poverty are intertwined, you should read this book about the eviction crisis in Milwaukee. Desmond has written a brilliant portrait of Americans living in poverty. He gave me a better sense of what it is like to be poor in this country than anything else I have read. [source]

Satya Nadella

CEO/Microsoft

Nadella is using this season to learn more in a variety of subjects. By the looks of it, he is interested in, among other things, virtual reality, the refugee crisis, and housing for the urban poor. [source]

Noah Kagan

Founder/Sumo

Surprising insights into the lives of people who were evicted. I make a lot of assumptions about these people. Turns out I was wrong WHY they get evicted. [source]

Adam Wagner

@CCriadoPerez @MumsnetTowers I love this - the book, Poppy, the mug - it's so well composed! [source]

Asher Wolf

Tell me your best thing today. Mine was an amazing book and greeting card arrived in the post from the wonderful @MmeEmmeline https://t.co/GpEs2lg037 [source]

Caitlin Moran

@CCriadoPerez mate, I bow in admiration. it's an AMAZING, game-changing book. [source]

Brian Burkhart

This book is a masterpiece and absolutely hilarious. In subtle ways, you realize the main character is questioning not just the notion of authority, but the way authority thinks and how we must react to it. To me, a guy with the core belief “make waves,” it has a great message, which is, “It’s okay to question the status quo.” For people just starting their careers, it’s easy to think our superiors know everything—they’re not quick to admit their insecurities, flaws, and blind spots, but they have them. And having a healthy dose of skepticism isn’t such a terrible thing. Plus, it’s just a fun read. [source]

Charles Glass

It’s one of the funniest books ever written. It’s about the insanity of military life and the absurdity of a big institution. Heller was very good on the absurdity of big institutions. Catch 22 has every character in it that the American military did have at the time and still has today in Iraq and Afghanistan: The money-makers, the crooks, the officers who were trying to claw their way to the top where they get their men killed, the placing in order of priority the pretence of military success at the cost of many civilian lives. [source]

Kate McLoughlin

It gets you to the point where you can’t apply your reason any more and laughter takes over. It’s the laughter of the absurd. [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

I guess when I was around 12 or 15... I had an existential crisis, and I was reading various books on trying to figure out the meaning of life and what does it all mean? It all seemed quite meaningless and then we happened to have some books by Nietzsche and Schopenhauer in the house, which you should not read at age 14 (laughter). It is bad, it’s really negative. So then I read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy which is quite positive I think and it highlighted an important point which is that a lot of times the question is harder than the answer. And if you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part. So, to the degree that we can better understand the universe, then we can better know what questions to ask. Then whatever the question is that most approximates: what’s the meaning of life? That’s the question we can ultimately get closer to understanding. And so I thought to the degree that we can expand the scope and scale of consciousness and knowledge, then that would be a good thing. [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Michael Arrington

Founder/TechCrunch

Not sure what you’ll learn from HHGTTG, but it’s one of the funniest series of books of all time and if you haven’t read it you pretty much have to. It’s actually a five book series that’s called a trilogy, and if Adams hadn’t died of a heart attack at age 49 in 2001 there would have likely been more books written. HHGTTG and the WWII epic Catch-22 are among my favorite books when contemplating the meaninglessness and hilarity of life (HHGTTG begins with the Earth being destroyed to to make way for a hyperspatial express route). Like Dune, skip the movie, it doesn’t do the books justice. [source]

Bernard Tan

I’m also a Murakami and Vonnegut fan, Kafka on the Shore, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Norwegian Wood, Slaughterhouse-Five, etc. Now that I look at the books listed, they seem to carry an existential theme. I guess I like to understand humanity and human behaviour ultimately to better understand myself. I find reading a means to connect with people who may have lived before my time, or in a distant country, that I may never have had the chance to connect with in real life. As three-dimensional humans, we are all made up of so many faces and emotional layers that we find it hard to dissect them all, and when we find writers who can explain these thought processes in a way that’s tangible and digestible, there’s this incredibly comforting eureka moment of feeling understood. [source]

Carlos Eire

Even though he is no philosopher Vonnegut is still able to ask the questions that all of us think about – how time affects our lives. [source]

Dan Christensen

@MetaHumean Love that book. [source]

Michael Arrington

Founder/TechCrunch

Shelley wrote this book as a teenager, and most of us read it in high school. Often credited as the first science fiction novel. You can read just about any political viewpoint you want into the book, and there are strong undertones that technology isn’t all good. But what I get out of it is the creativeness that can come with solitude, and how new technology can be misunderstood, even perhaps by the creator (see Twitter). Key thing to remember: Frankenstein is the name of the scientist/creator, not the Monster. Everybody forgets that. [source]

Adam Roberts

Brian Aldiss has famously argued that science fiction starts with Mary Shelley’s novel, and many people have agreed with him. [source]

Adam Roberts

Brian Aldiss has famously argued that science fiction starts with Mary Shelley’s novel, and many people have agreed with him. [source]

Ted Turner

Founder/CNN

When I got to college, I was a classics major, and that was mainly the study of Greek - and to a lesser extent Roman - history and culture, and that fascinated me: the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid by Virgil. [source]

Charlotte Higgins

It’s a very easy read, and a completely different world from The Iliad. Whereas The Iliad depicts a militaristic and war-wrecked world, The Odyssey is like a fairytale and it’s fascinatingly complex. It’s told in flashbacks, it has time that’s extended and time that’s compressed, and it’s told from different viewpoints. [source]

Janine di Giovanni

The thing I loved about Ulysses was that he’s so in love with adventure and with love. [source]

Alex Stojkovic

I don’t. But I would. Books love to be used up. (Related: Middlesex is the best book I read in 2019. If you’re look… [source]

Lisa Feldman Barrett

Eugenides does a really nice job of illustrating the complexity of emotional life, the emotional life that doesn’t necessarily fall into neat categories. [source]

Oprah Winfrey

CEO/O Network

The only thing more thrilling than being captivated by a book is being able to share it with others. Which is why I’m excited to bring @oprahsbookclub to @apple starting TODAY! My first pick, The Water Dancer by the brilliant Ta-Nehisi Coates. It will enthrall you. #ReadwithUs https://t.co/DG99kTKrWu [source]

John Rampton

Oprah on Ta-Nehisi Coates' sci-fi debut: 'One of the best books I've ever read' https://t.co/S4r62JQOFe https://t.co/Nmd8PU7yYN [source]

Rick Klau

@goodreads @taffyakner @thrillkinson @itsDanielSuarez @blakecrouch1 @eliotpeper @RonanFarrow @cbracy The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehesi Coates. Coates sees us—all of us—with a clarity that is as unnerving as it is breathtaking. He sees our failures, our aspirations, our hypocrisy, our pettiness, our beauty. Astounding book. https://t.co/afUvOdc8ne [source]