1) Understanding Power - Noam Chomsky(considered one of the leading intellects in the world today, this book is a good read just to understand his world views and opinions on many things like US foreign policies and politics)

2) The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins(most of you must have heard or read this)

3) The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein(http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/the-book)


In fact, I think they should be compulsory reading in schools. Now list yours

I personally like
1. Joe Dominguez's Your Money or Your Life.
2. N.N.Taleb's Fooled by Randomness
3. P.Zimbardo's The Lucifer Effect

Them books change me a lot :-)

agreed on the chomsky and naomi klein books they should have those compulsory in schools!


as for me, the must reads are :

1. Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder
2. Das Kapital - Karl Marx
3. The Great Gatsby - Fitzgerald


loads more to list, but you want only 3 here. so there

Paradox of Choice - Barry Schwartz
Happier - Tal Ben Sharar
The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham

the 7 habits of highly effective teens
who moved my cheese?

what the heck u readh das kapital. u should go for mein kapf also

you're an idiot.

Indeed, reading does not mean agreeing. And FYI, Das Kapital is one of the most influential economic books of all time.

My three:
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger
(sorry, can't stop at three)
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the brilliant Douglas Adams
The Double Helix by James D. Watson
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer


This list only include books I have read so far. I'm sure there are many great books to be read.

i cant believe i never realised lowyat had forums for readers...

my three would probably become 1000 if i dont stop... but i think when u say three must reads... it depends on the genre... rite? i mean if you are a fan of fantasies... i'd list harry potter right on top of the list... but there are those who are completely against books like that...
so...
for general fiction i'd say:

1. the curious incident of the dog in the night time
2. the catcher in the rye
3. the alchemist
4. a thousand splendid suns

(sorry cant help but list another one... coz i couldnt decide which to reject from the list)

my top three

1-Kite runner
2-Thousand splendid sun

Both are written by Khaled Houseini.

3-The whole Saga of Darren Shan.

Cheesy, but passable to read. Might get boring with few of obvious loopholes

1. Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird
2. William Golding's Lord of the Flies
3. Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (I love Kite Runner but this one's better)

Outlier by Malcolm Gladwell
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
Good To Great by Jim Collins

I'd go with Carl Sagan's Demon Haunted World all tough personally I prefer Pale Blue Dot.

The Alchemist
A Story about a goat herder who travel around europe to search for a treasure. found an alchemist that thought him about life and whatnot. really deep and intriguing storyline.

Kite Runner
what can you say about kite runner? great storytelling from a great author. i cant wait for his next book.

The Life of Pi
A story about a boy who is stuck in the middle of an ocean with a hyena, an injured zebra, an orangutan and bengal tiger after a shipwreck. the ending is just mind boggling!

honorable mention:

How Black Was Our Sabbath
A biography about Black Sabbath. How they spend their time on tour, how they take their time off each other, in the eye of their crew, who is also their close friend. Funny stuff. Ozzy is damn crazy!

I've read that but not the other one.

1984, George Orwell
Animal Farm, George Orwell
To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee Harper

hi i'm new here. very excited to find an interesting section in lowyat forum. this is my first post. my top 3,

silence of the lambs (thomas harris)
the bell jar (sylvia plath)
to kill a mockingbird (harper lee)

if i could add one more, it'd be she's come undone by wally lamb

He already has another book out, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

1)How to Win Friends and Influence People
2)Ph miracle
3)The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

The Alchemist
Horton Hears a Who
Pride and Prejudice