Og

Stranger in a Strange Land - Heinlein
Time Enough for Love - Heinlein
Demon Haunted World - Sagan
Robot/Foundation series - Asimov
Dune - Herbert

Lots of stuff by Joseph Campbell

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Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

LadyLuck

Not to be totally random, but i adore Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet is my idol. ^^

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=^.^=

mohamedhassan

if your sick of the bible why don't you go read the quran? I garentee its way different then the bible.

Geshtinnanna

The Satanic Bible
The Story of O
Story of B
Last Temptation of Christ
Attempting to read the Quran. It's a hard book my friends!
Beyond Good and Evil

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Professional Widow

Nor did it change mine. The book that probably "changed" my life has to be Ann Rule's "The Stranger Beside Me." It's about her friendship with Ted Bundy. That book got me interested in serial killers. It's become my passion to learn about them & participate in web sites about them. Scared yet?

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Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.
~Graham Greene

Providence

The Principia Discordia or How I Found the Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her by Malaclypse the Younger (Greg Hill) and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst (Kerry Thornley). You can find free copies online (it is "copyleft" document), but be sure to find an illustrated copy if you are going to read it.

The book presents a religion which parodies other religions and philosophies by pointing out the absurdities of certain beliefs, and at the same time embraces absurdity whole-heartedly. Greg Hill has stated that what he originally had in mind was a sort of "transcendental agnosticism" which was able to accept chaos and meaninglessness more earnestly than standard religion.

Here is a link to the full text with illustrations: Principia Discordia | the book of Chaos, Discord and Confusion | Fnord!

And a few quotes:

WilliamBlue

One book that partially changed my life was

"2001: A Space Odyssey" by Arthur C. Clarke (classic, explains the movie)

Really, it made me want to learn how computers work, so thats what I did.

I also enjoyed his

"Rendezvous with Rama"

And his collection of short stories are very good, one in particular has stuck in my mind about an order of monks who's only task is to write the name of God.

Most recent book that made me think about our possibilities ;

"Many Lives, Many Masters" by Dr. Brian Weiss

Great read, not sure I believe it all or even some of it, but it was interesting.

Entertainment value;

"Odd Thomas" by Dean Koontz

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When you dance with an elephant it's up to you to not get stepped on.
How can we be so arrogant and egotistical to believe that the whole Universe was created just for us?

Journeyman

What a great thread. You can tell a lot about a person by what they read. This is very insightful. I would have to say top 5:

The Dynamics of Faith - Paul Tillich. It is a Theistic Existential perspective on faith and God. It is one of the deepest and most beautiful attempts to reconcile God and science. He utilizes Freud and Kierkegaard to form an alternate perspective of existence.

Christianity Before Christ: Jackson. It is a powerful look into the Savior/God cults that preceded Christianity.

A Theology of Liberation: Guiterez. He takes a critical and scathing look into the evils of capitalism and how it has affected the class schism in third world countries. He is a Catholic Priest who actively takes up arms against the Government of Peru and South America in the name of God to protect the poor and marginalized. It is a fascinating assimilation of Theology and Marxism.

The God Delusion: Dawkins What an incredible book that challenges dualism of any sort. It is a strong polemic for Atheism and an attack on those who use religion selfishly.

Jesus Christ and Mythology: Bultmann. He coined the phrase, "Demythologization" as he attempts to get rid of the Bible's myths to find truth.

Oh yeah, I forgot, any Star Wars book!!! May the force be with you.

jaej

The Catcher in the Rye-Salinger
Dune Series-Herbert
Walden-Thoreau
The Prince-Machievelli
Mein Kampf (lol i havent actually read the whole thing)-Hitler
Idlewild-Sagan

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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

}SoC{Sumguy

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis
Nichomecian Ethics - Aristotle
The Republic - Plato
Sophies World
Wealth Of Nations - Adam Smith
The Prince - Niccolo Machieveli
The Art Of War - Sun Tzu
Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained

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"And now you've seen his face,
and you know that there's a place
in the sun, for all that you've done.
For you and your children.
You always wanted to beleive.
Just ask and you'll receive,
beyond your wildest dreams.
And you already know how this will end...."