The mother of all lists!

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Rbneader

Yes.

Until a few decades ago, copyright needed to be renewed regularly. Some books got renewed and some didn't. The ones that didn't are in the public domain in the US, regardless of author age. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright is your friend. Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...pyright_length

PG does their own research. They wouldn't be up at PG if not. I'm not sure why you think I'd link to a pirate site, dude.

I thought that "City at World's End" by Edmund Hamilton was PD as well but apparently PG pulled their copy and so did MR not so long ago. So I am confused on that one as it was written in the 50's (like some of Andre Norton's books).

[xibalban]

I have started reading a book on my smartphone (while I wait for my Kobo Aura HD to arrive) using the Kobo Reader App.

The Young Man's Guide - William Alcott

Let's keep the suggestions coming, anyway. With a million titles to choose from, is choosing that ultimate "one" favourite book such a difficult task?

Come on, folks!!

[crich70]

Originally Posted by xibalban

I have started reading a book on my smartphone (while I wait for my Kobo Aura HD to arrive) using the Kobo Reader App.

The Young Man's Guide - William Alcott

Let's keep the suggestions coming, anyway. With a million titles to choose from, is choosing that ultimate "one" favourite book such a difficult task?

Come on, folks!!

One of my big 'favorite' books has always been "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson. MR Link (Epub)

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by xibalban

Hey folks,

I'm very close to acquiring my first eInk based eReader. I've been struggling with ePubs on my Smartphone for sometime now, and I wish to re-Kindle my passion for reading classic books on my Kobo Aura HD.

I will be using the device primarily for reading journals and technical PDFs but I've decided to devote some serious time toward reading classics.

The biggest problem arises with the choice of books, with thousands of great books to begin with. The internet is flooded with lists and book suggestions I just can't get past browsing through. There is the TIME Magazine's all time top 100, Amazon's top 100, Modern Library's, etc, etc! I simply don't understand where to begin.

Hence, here I am, trying to re-invent a custom list, and I plead all the good folks here to help me build a list of books based on the following preference:

1. Genre: "Influential" - implying books which inspired or influenced a lot of people in History. It could be a simple "Think & Grow Rich" kind of book or "Aesop's Fables" or the "Religious Scriptures" as well.
2. Language: English (or translated to English)
3. Type: Public Domain or Free
4. Format: ePub - provide download links if possible
5. Generation: Any

Now for the most difficult part. I desired just three lists:

The Mother List: Suggest just one book. The "one" book that one must read before one dies.
The Brother List: The next "four" books
The Legacy List: "Five" more books

Please don't include these books because I've already read them.

1. Walden by Thoreau
2. Sherlock Holmes Series
3. The Mahabharata
4. Utopia by Thomas More
5. The Holy Bible
6. The Complete Works of Shakespeare

That will be it. Thanks in advance.

I don't know about anyone else but I find your request is in the 'too hard basket'.

The non-fiction I read can be general or relevant to a project that I've set myself, eg WWI, History of the middle East, Ireland etc

The fiction I read is nowadays more likely than not mystery/crime/espionage thriller types.

If it helps you could clarify for yourself what to read next by identifying with the anniversary of what happened 100 years ago, or thereabouts, and starting a reading project on it. For example, WWI started 100 years ago this year, the Irish Rebellion was 1916, the Russian Revolution 1917 etc. There are many excellent authors who write on those periods/events.

Then you've got the influential thinkers of those eras, eg Freud, James Joyce, Jean Jaure etc

And the influential artists and musicians and scientists etc etc

Does that sort of thinking help you to sort out your approach?

[xibalban]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

If it helps you could clarify for yourself what to read next by identifying with the anniversary of what happened 100 years ago, or thereabouts, and starting a reading project on it. For example, WWI started 100 years ago this year, the Irish Rebellion was 1916, the Russian Revolution 1917 etc. There are many excellent authors who write on those periods/events.

Does that sort of thinking help you to sort out your approach?

A very fine approach, I must say. It does help me in some good way. However, the problem (with me i.e.) is that it's the genre that bases my reading choice rather than the era when it was written. I enjoy Salinger as much as I would Plutarch.

"Too hard basket" is the keyword, true.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by xibalban

A very fine approach, I must say. It does help me in some good way. However, the problem (with me i.e.) is that it's the genre that bases my reading choice rather than the era when it was written. I enjoy Salinger as much as I would Plutarch.

"Too hard basket" is the keyword, true.

I know what you mean. I like SF and not only are there different sub-genres of it but there are different decades even if you limit yourself to the start of modern SF such as Verne and Wells instead of looking at older works that have elements of the genre. Not to mention even the best of authors in a given genre can write both very good and very bad fiction at times. Is there a particular genre of book that you read more often than others? That might help narrow things down a bit.

[xibalban]

Originally Posted by crich70

Is there a particular genre of book that you read more often than others? That might help narrow things down a bit.

Well, let's see! A book about or on a subject which does away with convention. In other words,

1. Love & romance are out
2. Religious/Mythical are out
3. Vampires & Horror out
4. History/Biography are out
5. Science Fiction to do with aliens and spaceships are out
6. World Wars and Epics are out

Looking for some simple philosophy (but unlike Beyond Good & Evil), mystery (Sherlock Holmes method), self-help (like The Young's Man's Guide) and reads that gives you food for thought (like Utopia or Animal Farm).

Thanks for trying to help.

[crich70]

So things like:
general non-fiction (maybe)
traditional mysteries
self-help and
allegorical tales

Have you tried Plato's Republic? It has some philosophy and allegory I think. He postulates the idea of a perfect utopia.

[xibalban]

Originally Posted by crich70

So things like:

general non-fiction (maybe) (Yes, Maybe!)
traditional mysteries (You Bet!)
self-help (A lot of these) and
allegorical tales (Philosophical, Yes!)

Have you tried Plato's Republic? (No, but it's in my reading list). It has some philosophy and allegory I think. He postulates the idea of a perfect utopia. (Thanks for the suggestion)

It just hit me, books which are banned in certain countries for controversial content would be really great!!

[crich70]

Originally Posted by xibalban

general non-fiction (maybe) (Yes, Maybe!)
traditional mysteries (You Bet!)
self-help (A lot of these) and
allegorical tales (Philosophical, Yes!)

Have you tried Plato's Republic? (No, but it's in my reading list). It has some philosophy and allegory I think. He postulates the idea of a perfect utopia. (Thanks for the suggestion)

It just hit me, books which are banned in certain countries for controversial content would be really great!!

Banned book lists are easy to find. The online books page which has some content in common with Gutenberg has a linkBanned Books

[xibalban]

Originally Posted by crich70

Banned book lists are easy to find. The online books page which has some content in common with Gutenberg has a linkBanned Books

Super Thanks to you!! This wish-list of mine is getting more and more interesting by the end of every day. I have decided to base my whole reading experience on books suggested in this thread.

Accordingly, I have updated my "original post" and converted it into my public book list, as to help others who seek a similar list. Perhaps, I might be able to request a poll for the best in that list, and sort it by the number of votes that each title receives.

Here is another good book that I came upon by chance: The Big Questions - Simon Blackburn

[crich70]

I've heard of all but two of the books in the poll. And I've read either part or all of a # of those I have heard of. I went with Pilgrim's Progress though if I was looking for a totally fictional story to enjoy I'd have gone with Treasure Island.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by crich70

I went with Pilgrim's Progress though if I was looking for a totally fictional story to enjoy I'd have gone with Treasure Island.

I did Treasure Island. For me, reading is escapist entertainment and most of the books on that list are not my idea of entertainment.

[xibalban]

I wanted to make the poll as dynamic as possible, with the ability to add new titles when they become available in the thread as member suggestions. The idea was to update the list of books in the original post according to the poll results.

Sadly, there seems to be no such option to do so from my end. I'd expected the moderators to suggest something positive. However, the response that I just received from Dr Drib has caused me sorrow

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Once a poll is created by a member, it cannot be changed by a member.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
Don
(Moderator)

[Rbneader]

Originally Posted by xibalban

Well, let's see! A book about or on a subject which does away with convention. In other words,

1. Love & romance are out
2. Religious/Mythical are out
3. Vampires & Horror out
4. History/Biography are out
5. Science Fiction to do with aliens and spaceships are out
6. World Wars and Epics are out

Looking for some simple philosophy (but unlike Beyond Good & Evil), mystery (Sherlock Holmes method), self-help (like The Young's Man's Guide) and reads that gives you food for thought (like Utopia or Animal Farm).

Thanks for trying to help.

Ah. You probably won't like Andre Norton then. Her works usually revolve around moral choices and the philosophy of being a good person, and she was very influential in her field, but she definitely wrote extraplanetary sci-fi or fantasy. Just out of curiosity, why are you excluding extraplanetary sci-fi?

Treasure Island was a wildly implausible but a fun adventure story. Not much philosophy besides 'murder is bad'.