Books that inspired you

[Chris Fultz]

Team of Rivals - the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Doris Kearns Goodwin
* story of how Lincoln rose to political power and the presidency and how he created his cabinet, comprised of many political rivals, to succeed as president.


Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal
David McCullough
* exceptional story of the building of the Panama Canal, from the very early years of ideas through the actual completion of the canal.

[Jonathan Norris]

Earth: The Sequel

Amazing book about the futures of renewable energy sources, and the economics and science that surrounds them. A great resource for anyone interested in the topic.

[acdcfan259]

I Am America (And So Can You!)

Very insightful, worth picking up.

[fredliu168]

Eragon (Eldest) - Perhaps an odd choice, but I learned a lot from one part of this book. I'm too tired to find the exact quote, but it mainly says that no one in this world ever thinks of themselves as evil. They will always think that they made the best choice they could given the situation.

The World According Garp - This book taught me that the World and the people in it are flawed; but if you look beyond the flaws you can find meaning and peace.

[IKE]

This isn't my list, but a list worth sharing. During High School I was blessed with a teacher that chose to teach history, government, and economics through books. I only remember a couple of the History books:
Frontiersman: A very gripping story of early american exploration.
Citizen Tom Paine and Common Sense- American revolution.
Killer Angles: Civil War book that Glory was based off of.
Night- Holocaust 1st person perspective. Warning do not start reading this unless you plan to finish. You will miss whatever else you were planning to do.
The Longest Day: Amazing D-Day book
Black Like Me- Post civil rights racism written by a white man that made himself black in the deep south.

For Government and Economics:
Essays on the Making of the Constitution: Very interesting perspectives and theories on "why" the founding fathers did what they did.
Watership Down: Basically the book version of Meerkat Manor (only Rabbits)
The Jungle: Will make you believe in the power and right of Unions. It will also make you never want to eat processed meat.
and lastly
Atlas Shrugged: To show you that "Charity" can be a bad thing among a ton of other themes.

I am sure that there were many others, but those were the ones I remember most. Looking back this teacher was a great teacher in that he truly made you think.

One of my personal Favorites I did not see of this list was "The Way Things Work" by David M. My mother got this book for me when I was in the 4th grade after the guidance counselor told her I was cursed and would likely become an engineer.

[Carlee10]

The Story of Lucy Gault- Wm.Trevor- Sad, but good. Lots of lessons on forgivness, love, and saying what you think and feel.

[Luckyfish05]

Originally Posted by IKE

Killer Angles: Civil War book that Glory was based off of.

By far my favorite fict. book ever. However, Glory was not based off of this book, it was the movie Gettysburg that was based off of this. Look up Killer Angel's by Michael Shaara you won't regret it.

I also was inspired by "Gold in the water", If you ever wondered what swimmers (or any athlete) go through to try to make the olympic team, this is the book to check out.

Non-fic./religion or whatever you want to call it. The "Bible" should cover that one well.

"Velvet Elvis" (rob bell) along with attending the authors Church have changed the way I view Christianity, and have changed the way I view my faith.

If I were on a deserted island. These are the books that I would want with me. They have inspired me to become who I am.

[AndyB]

Originally Posted by acdcfan259

I Am America (And So Can You!)

Very insightful, worth picking up.

Hahaha. I love that book!

It will make anyone love or hate Stephen Colbert.

[qzrrbz]

This one is a wonderful "techie" kind of read. I think it would resonate well with the readership here!

I very much enjoyed it!

__Orbit__

John J Nance

[Akash Rastogi]

Just finished A New Earth this morning. Its an awesome book by Eckhart Tolle. Some of my favorite quotes from it:

"You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge" - Page 13

"Not what you do, but how you do what you do determines whether you are fulfilling your destiny. And how you do what you do is determined by your state of consciousness." - Page 294 (lol BCR)

[Dick Linn]

Anything by Hermann Hesse.

"101 Uses for a Dead Cat" wasn't inspirational, but practical nonetheless

[acdcfan259]

I saw this recently.

"Everybody Poops" Taro Gomi

[Protronie]

The first book to come to mind would be the Holy Bible... everything you need to know about life can be found right in there.

Two other books that have had a very strong effect on my view of the world..
1984 by George Orwell & Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
I was shocked to find that she was writing about things happening in the 40's & 50's... I read it back in the 90's and thought she was talking of the present.
Was said to learn she had died... if she was alive today I'm sure she would be shaking her head saying, "I warned you..."
Art of War another book I've read more than once... it really is a insightful book that can be applied to many areas of ones life.

Some inspired autobiography's have been Gerry Spence, the man that defended Randy Weaver and got the government to admit they were wrong on Ruby Ridge. The autobiography of Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis, both of whom should be thought of as American hero's. IMO

Other worth reading books, Flight of the Old Dog (series) by Dale Brown
Interview with a Vampire (series) by Ann Rice

And finally one ever citizen of the US should compelled to read... The Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

[JaneYoung]

I just looked up this thread to share with one of our team leaders for some awesome summer reading suggestions.

Thought it might be a good time for a thread resurrection.

[Akash Rastogi]

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

One of the coolest books I've ever read. It's a different way to look at how the best of the best reached the top. Everything in the book should be taken with a grain of salt though, some just call it coincidence. I highly recommend it though.