Quote:
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.
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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?
