A little FB challenge came my way, pick 15 influential books in 15 minutes, without thinking about any one for more than about 15 seconds.   Interesting on so many levels… not giving it much thought, I found I drifted to the books I could easily see on my bookshelf or on my Recommendations page.   Having the book in mind definitely influenced my decisions.   I resisted the temptation to go with all classics or high school\college reads, which the having-in-mind inevitably steered me towards.   Rarely have I bought books since school.       I don’t read too many classics anymore, but a lot of good contemporary works, so I guess that means I am all caught up.   It seems kinda important to not growing old and ossified to strive to be influenced by things that are new beyond your formative years.

• Beyond Good and Evil – Friedrich Nietzsche
• X Men 2 – Chris Claremont
• The Decline and Fall of the Rman Empire – Edward Gibbon
• The Once and Future King – T.H. White
• The Patron Saint of Plauges – Barth Anderson
• The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand
• Watership Down – Richard Adams
• One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest – Ken Kesey
• Parliment of Whores – P.J. O’Rourke
• Close Quarters – Larry Heinemann
• Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? – by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano,   Mason Tvert
• The Prince – Machiavelli
• Blackhawk Down – Mark Bowden
• The Art of Homebrewing – Charlie Papazian
• Into the Wild – Jon Krakauer

Man, I really miss lit classes.