My Top 10 Books of All Time

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  • Опубліковано 10 лют 2025

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  • @improvewithsoo-selfdevelop1219
    @improvewithsoo-selfdevelop1219 3 роки тому +392

    "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." - Viktor Frankl, A Man's Search for meaning. One of my favorite quotes from that life-changing book!

  • @donwild50
    @donwild50 2 роки тому +34

    Don Quixote is a marvelous book. We could do a lecture on practically every page. After I read it, I found a biography of Cervantes and read that and wondered "How could a man who suffered through that life have written this book?" And then I got old and realized only a man who had been a soldier and a noble and a slave and managed to reach old age (I'm 72) could have written that work. Adventure is moments of terror remembered twenty five years later. On a personal note...I remember my wars and my ups and downs and delusions of being a hero...had a few. And now I'm old and I love this book even more.

  • @ellaritter
    @ellaritter 3 роки тому +69

    I've recently acquired The Count of Monte Cristo, seeing you talk about it just made me even more excited to read it!! Wonderful video, John!

    • @ice2787
      @ice2787 3 роки тому +3

      I read it this year and i think you will enjoy it. great story

    • @pierre7958
      @pierre7958 3 роки тому

      Also read Queen Margot by Alexandre Dumas

    • @ericapedroza7067
      @ericapedroza7067 2 роки тому +1

      This is one of the few books that's made me cry reading it

  • @tenoresw5826
    @tenoresw5826 3 роки тому +670

    This guy is brilliant in his literary criticism. Fresh, youthful and charming. Makes me interested in reading lol.

    • @nacure360
      @nacure360 3 роки тому +11

      He's why I started to love reading. I was moved by how passionate he speaks about reading and how much he thought his life changed that I wanted to drop the stigma that reading is a chore. The key is finding a good book that you enjoy reading, if it feels like a chore for too long just drop it. So I looked up recommended books and luckily, my first book that I bought from a recommendation was one that I enjoyed very much. The book is called The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger. It's an autobiography of the CEO of Disney and even though I have no intention whatsoever of becoming a CEO of anything, the storytelling is so magnetic and inspiring that I developed a love of biographies. It's like, read 100 biographies and you'll live 101 lives instead of just 1 in your lifetime.

    • @donnasherwood283
      @donnasherwood283 2 роки тому

      he is a jerk

  • @icebear5751
    @icebear5751 3 роки тому +37

    For those of you don’t have much time watching: (not in any particular order)
    1. Don Quixote
    2. The Count of Monte Cristo
    3. Dune
    4. Beloved
    5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
    6. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
    7. Just Mercy
    8. Man’s Search for Meaning
    9. Flow
    10. New and Selected Poems, Vol.1

  • @prumpom
    @prumpom 3 роки тому +251

    Books that did something to my soul, heart and brain:
    1. "The life of Arseniev" by Ivan Bunin
    2. "The Gift" by Nabokov
    3. "Anna Karenina" by Tolstoy
    4. "Petersburg" by Andrei Bely

    • @nishantjoshi5174
      @nishantjoshi5174 3 роки тому +6

      Are you a Russian? Most of your literary choices are russian. Dostoyevsky was my introduction to Russian literature.

    • @prumpom
      @prumpom 3 роки тому +11

      @@nishantjoshi5174 I am not Russian, but live here. Did you like Dostoevsky?

    • @prumpom
      @prumpom 3 роки тому +4

      @@nishantjoshi5174 and all of these books are russian, yes)

    • @nishantjoshi5174
      @nishantjoshi5174 3 роки тому +10

      @@prumpom Yes, indeed. Dostoyevsky was truly otherworldly. Apart from Pushkin, Chekhov, Tolstoy, searching for more..

    • @nishantjoshi5174
      @nishantjoshi5174 3 роки тому +3

      @@prumpom What else do you recommend? Apart from your first 4 choices?

  • @Ricky-es9vg
    @Ricky-es9vg 3 роки тому +131

    Mans Search For Meaning was life changing for me. My favorite of all time is The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

  • @sophiawoods9799
    @sophiawoods9799 3 роки тому +47

    mary oliver is my favorite poet of all time, because it feels like she’s not writing what she sees; she’s living in the world through her poems.

    • @FM95.5
      @FM95.5 3 роки тому

      That's moving, and her poems are beyond words!

  • @lucas8409
    @lucas8409 3 роки тому +1178

    I recommend you "One hundred years of solitude" (Cien años de soledad) from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a classic of latin america literature.

    • @jaxpk2669
      @jaxpk2669 3 роки тому +3

      Hundred*

    • @KatBug97
      @KatBug97 3 роки тому +10

      Yassss it's such a great book!

    • @BuntuMakesMusic
      @BuntuMakesMusic 3 роки тому +13

      I couldn’t recommend it more, you’re 100% right, it opens so much about Latin American literature but at the same time gives you one great story

    • @wooden_girl
      @wooden_girl 3 роки тому +3

      ooh, i actually have this book bcs of my dad, i will def read it

    • @jenniferalvarado9714
      @jenniferalvarado9714 3 роки тому

      ❤️

  • @LouisLuzuka
    @LouisLuzuka 3 роки тому +312

    so happy they're not all just self help books, you're the best. definitely picking up Maya Angelou again!! much love from Vancouver Canada (:

    • @chronos5457
      @chronos5457 3 роки тому +5

      What's wrong with reading self help books most of the time? :)

    • @babylonianbabe409
      @babylonianbabe409 3 роки тому +52

      @@chronos5457 everything

    • @amrit5679
      @amrit5679 3 роки тому +39

      @@chronos5457 No real improvement happens

    • @mihaiteodorescu9548
      @mihaiteodorescu9548 3 роки тому +9

      @@amrit5679 the secret is to take action, not just reading books

    • @sphinxnose960
      @sphinxnose960 3 роки тому +1

      @@mihaiteodorescu9548 exactly, just do it. -nike

  • @christopherpaul7588
    @christopherpaul7588 3 роки тому +15

    Don Quixote is also one of my favorite books! It's considered the first modern novel. Cervantes invented so many literary techniques that are commonplace today. The humor of course is amazing but the book has many levels. I hope you get a chance to read it again!

  • @halamadrid9704
    @halamadrid9704 3 роки тому +32

    The count of Monte Cristo is my favorite novel of all time with the "voyage au bout de la nuit" from Louis Ferdinand Céline.
    Besides, I wanted to thank you for having encouraged me to read, thanks to you I read 50 books in 1 year and without you it would not be possible.

    • @swann357
      @swann357 3 роки тому +2

      Oof you woke up and chose controversy lmao

    • @halamadrid9704
      @halamadrid9704 3 роки тому +1

      @@swann357 If you talk about Celine's "voyage, it's a masterpiece, I haven't read her pamphlets.
      There is good and bad in each author even if Celine was very controversial but it was more out of pacifism (due to the trauma of the First World War) than a deep conviction. He was fed up with the war.

    • @swann357
      @swann357 3 роки тому +2

      @@halamadrid9704 good points. Have you ever read Céline's letter to Sartre ? I think it's one of the most hilarious things I've ever read

    • @halamadrid9704
      @halamadrid9704 3 роки тому +2

      @@swann357 No I haven't read it but I'll buy it soon, yes Celine really has a special sense of humor. I bought almost all of his novels, can't wait to read them. Céline is a bit of a Cartman of writers in her character with extraordinary and innovative writing.

    • @halamadrid9704
      @halamadrid9704 3 роки тому +1

      @@swann357 His style is pleasant. What I like about him is that we love him or hate him, there is rarely a happy medium.

  • @padmo1531
    @padmo1531 3 роки тому +18

    Man's search for meaning really changed the way I thought of the pursuing of happiness. Really is a fantastic book.

    • @FM95.5
      @FM95.5 3 роки тому +1

      I really need to read this!

  • @EyeLean5280
    @EyeLean5280 3 роки тому +20

    If you haven't read them yet, I recommend...
    1. "Our Twisted Hero" by Yi Monyol. I used to tell people that it's a good idea to know something about South Korean politics of the 70s and 80s before reading it but at this point, the last 6 years of American politics is preparation enough.
    2. "Solaris" by Stanislaw Lem. Again, it used to be helpful to understand something about how Soviet control and propaganda worked in its satellite states but at this point, recent American politics is a good enough background for connecting with this novel.

  • @LosAngaras6
    @LosAngaras6 3 роки тому +1

    Watching you talk about anything soothes me. Thank you for making videos.

  • @Mryoungstar1994
    @Mryoungstar1994 3 роки тому +2

    Geriminal - Emelie Zola
    A chess story - Stefan Zweig
    The picture of dorian Grey - Oscar wilde
    1984 - George Orewell
    Inkheart - cornelia funke
    THE HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT OF THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED - Jonas Jonasson
    The Castle - Franz Kafka
    ...........

    • @coria6231
      @coria6231 3 роки тому +1

      1984 is an extraordinary masterpiece, Orwell really saw the future.

  • @Gill1923
    @Gill1923 3 роки тому +3

    The description and reasoning you provided was just beautiful and refreshing. Great video, John!!

  • @huiliu2839
    @huiliu2839 3 роки тому +37

    I listened Just Mercy audiobook on my way to internship at the time and every morning I was either shocked, fist-wrenched, or just disappointed of the injustice there is. Does stir hope in me because there's someone like Bryan Stevenson who is fighting for the odds of those falsely accused. Also pity those who suffered in the process of waiting for their trial.

  • @chillhomie7
    @chillhomie7 3 роки тому +49

    That book elevated Malcolm X to my top human being of all time. What a story

  • @julialianjosecarrera5649
    @julialianjosecarrera5649 3 роки тому +105

    Don Quixote set the basis ofthe modern novel, all the story telling techniques that we see nowadays (movies, TV shows...) are indirectly inspired in Cervantes' master piece

    • @pinkkittyvoid
      @pinkkittyvoid 3 роки тому +3

      i’ve read half of it and maybe it’s my dyslexia or something i didn’t find it enjoyable

  • @bdinh14
    @bdinh14 3 роки тому +8

    You inspired me to start reading. Many thanks!

  • @AhmetKaan
    @AhmetKaan 3 роки тому +38

    *If you have a dream, you don't just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it reality.*
    I believe in you. 🚀

  • @astradewoodvale159
    @astradewoodvale159 3 роки тому +116

    Some book recommendations:
    - House of Leaves (probably the most unique experience you'll ever have)
    - The song of Achilles
    - A Little Life (content warning: it's pretty heavy on trauma)
    - Homo Deus (non fiction)

    • @skylercrane6307
      @skylercrane6307 3 роки тому +9

      A Little Life is one of the greatest books I've read.

    • @lindseyykaitlin
      @lindseyykaitlin 3 роки тому +1

      Yesss house of leaves

    • @astradewoodvale159
      @astradewoodvale159 3 роки тому

      @@skylercrane6307 Exactly ‼️

    • @salma3803
      @salma3803 3 роки тому +16

      a little life is the worst book recommendation ever

    • @whalefin1173
      @whalefin1173 3 роки тому +1

      -fight club
      -the stranger- Albert camus
      -Notes from underground!

  • @paulaespin-piano2150
    @paulaespin-piano2150 3 роки тому +1

    I just started The count of Monte Cristo and I'm pretty excited!!!

  • @Live_your_Dreams_Everyday
    @Live_your_Dreams_Everyday 3 роки тому +56

    I recommend Wild Swans by Jung Chang. This book opens up the inside of China through three generations through the Cultural Revolution. It will change the way you see the world. Another which you will love is 'I bury my heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.

  • @pierre7958
    @pierre7958 3 роки тому +11

    My favorites:
    Queen Margot by Alexandre Dumas
    The count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
    The Broters karamazov by Dostoevsky
    Demons by Dostoevsky
    Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky
    Crime and Punishiment by Dostoevsky
    war and peace by Tolstoy
    The man who laughs by Victor Hugo
    Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo
    The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
    The Red and the Black by Stendhall
    Madame Bovary by Fleubert

    • @yogininamaste
      @yogininamaste 3 роки тому +1

      Love Dostoyevsky work, especially The Brother Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, the Idiot, thank you

    • @randallkrekelberg4346
      @randallkrekelberg4346 3 роки тому

      Great recommendations! I still have to get to War and Peace but I couldn't agree more. There are just SO MANY great books out there...

  • @whalefin1173
    @whalefin1173 3 роки тому +130

    Bro did you know Einstein’s favortie relaxing read was Donquixote

    • @jackharmeling7947
      @jackharmeling7947 3 роки тому +3

      and his favorite non-relaxing book was the brothers karamozov

  • @Mithilan01
    @Mithilan01 3 роки тому +15

    Just Mercy was an incredible book! It forever changed the way I think about the penitentiary and death sentence of prisoners in the US justice system.

  • @majanV
    @majanV 3 роки тому +19

    I recommend Flowers for Algernon. Such a good book! The ending broke my heart.

  • @ChrisDailyReading
    @ChrisDailyReading 3 роки тому +58

    Loved this. Some of my favourite books;
    -Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (NF)
    -The New Odyssey by Patrick Kingsley (NF)
    -Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell (NF)
    -Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari (NF)
    -Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (NF)
    -11/22/63 by Stephen King (F)
    -The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (F)
    -The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (F)
    -The Devil all the Time by Donald Ray Pollock (F)
    -Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (F)
    I literally could go on and on but let me stop myself now

    • @arturobelano6243
      @arturobelano6243 3 роки тому +5

      AHAHAHAAHAAHAH READY PLAYER ONE

    • @millhousevanhowten
      @millhousevanhowten 3 роки тому +1

      11/22/63 is one of my favorite books. Craig Wasson's narration of it is absolutely marvelous.

    • @HipHop226
      @HipHop226 2 роки тому +1

      Master and Margarita is great

    • @jasondiana6448
      @jasondiana6448 2 роки тому +1

      Everything Gladwell does is gold, especially since he narrates.

    • @Whocares1987
      @Whocares1987 Рік тому

      @@arturobelano6243 relax….that really isn’t that funny

  • @lysahtabale3009
    @lysahtabale3009 3 роки тому +14

    The count of monte cristo is also my favoriteee!

  • @johnwayne622
    @johnwayne622 3 роки тому +5

    Your voice and physicue changed so much since the day in the life of a Harvard computer science student, keep it up!

  • @champy1210
    @champy1210 3 роки тому +15

    The Catcher in the Rye takes first place for me. Haven’t read it maybe 18-20 years, but I still remember how damn good that book was.

    • @richardbenitez1282
      @richardbenitez1282 3 роки тому

      Not!!. On The Road by Jack K fit the “damn good” rating.

  • @amessydesk9350
    @amessydesk9350 3 роки тому +9

    I'm sure you've already read it, but in case someone hasn't, Parable of The Sower by Octavia Butler is a superb science fiction. It's different from a lot of sci-fi books that explicitly state or imply that some cataclysmic change is required to make society inhumanly dystopian. In Butler's mind, the absence of change is what will bring about the apocalypse.

  • @s.f.2426
    @s.f.2426 3 роки тому +8

    - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
    -Of Human Bondage
    -The Remains of the Day
    -The Stranger

  • @levileonidas613
    @levileonidas613 3 роки тому +7

    I’m impressed with your selections you are alright with me John Fish.

  • @loveislove2359
    @loveislove2359 3 роки тому

    I've read majority of the books mentioned here, but I appreciate your video and the comments.

  • @diondredunigan5282
    @diondredunigan5282 3 роки тому +3

    Had to click because I saw beloved. Toni is one of my favorite authors

  • @tanah6962
    @tanah6962 3 роки тому +2

    My faves so far:
    1. 1984 by George Orwell
    2. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
    3. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
    4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
    5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

  • @JustAnotherYoYoEr
    @JustAnotherYoYoEr 3 роки тому +15

    The thumbnail is cursed and I love it

  • @kegandalaniebills3659
    @kegandalaniebills3659 3 роки тому +1

    The 3 of these I have read are in my top 10 as well! Man's search for meaning, flow and dune are all incredible for taking control of your life!

  • @irenedirignani2200
    @irenedirignani2200 3 роки тому +3

    Dude, your voice is so soothing

  • @JamesI88
    @JamesI88 3 роки тому +1

    Don Quixote is also in my top 10 books of all time. The humor worked really well for me

  • @EuskaltelEuskadi
    @EuskaltelEuskadi 3 роки тому +9

    I recommend "If This is A Man" and "The Truce" by Primo Levi as a counterpoint to "Man's Search For Meaning". They're his autobiographical accounts of survival in a concentration camp and his journey home after it was liberated. Levi's novel "If Not Now, When?" is excellent too. It's a fictionalised account of a group of partisans fighting behind German lines over the final years of the war. All three books are incredible examinations of the extremes of human nature, from the unutterably evil to the incalculably brave.

  • @randymoore4027
    @randymoore4027 3 роки тому +5

    Don Quixote, Candide, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, A Farewell to Arms, Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, Great Expectations, Gone with the Wind, Ivanhoe, War and Peace.

    • @DPSCo29
      @DPSCo29 3 роки тому

      great expectations ♥totally obsessed with it

  • @vicnmont
    @vicnmont 3 роки тому +28

    I think his change on the pronunciation of Don Quijote it´s not a casual thing.
    (ps; it was better this time)

  • @MrRufusRToyota
    @MrRufusRToyota 3 роки тому +154

    An abridged version of Monte Cristo is a good choice. At this time, great authors’ works were syndicated and they were paid by the word or sentence. Dumas abused this system so regularly, by writing far more words than necessary, that the system itself was abandoned.

    • @thierrynormandeau868
      @thierrynormandeau868 3 роки тому +5

      Interesting, would Les Misérables be among those?

    • @astermos-6616
      @astermos-6616 3 роки тому +1

      How about the enriched version?

    • @nataliedavis8675
      @nataliedavis8675 3 роки тому +8

      Glad to see a recommendation of abridged books, I often feel pretty ashamed about reading abridged works, so it’s cool to see it recommended! :]

    • @Astra_Z
      @Astra_Z 3 роки тому +2

      Most authors did at the time. Poverty was very frequent in the literary world

    • @pierre7958
      @pierre7958 3 роки тому +2

      war and peace?
      The Brotjers karamazov?

  • @RS-ti7bz
    @RS-ti7bz 3 роки тому +5

    Checkout “The Cairo Trilogy” by Naguib Mahfouz which consists of 3 books: “Palace Walk”, “Palace of Desire”, “Sugar Street”.
    He’s the only Arabic writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature.

  • @isabel4957
    @isabel4957 3 роки тому +1

    - Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brönte
    - Man’s search for meaning, Viktor Frankl
    - Anna Karenina and War & Peace, Lev Tolstói
    - Meditations, Marco Aurelio
    - Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
    - 1984, George Orwell

    • @callumfisher8101
      @callumfisher8101 3 роки тому

      Marcus Aurelius

    • @isabel4957
      @isabel4957 3 роки тому

      @@callumfisher8101 Yes, I wrote the name in Spanish 😉

    • @coria6231
      @coria6231 3 роки тому +1

      Yeah 1984 is a highly recommended book ngl

  • @swann357
    @swann357 3 роки тому +4

    My very favorite book ever is Flaubert's "The Sentimental Education". So beautiful, layered, and so frickin well-written

    • @richardbenitez1282
      @richardbenitez1282 3 роки тому

      Thanks for reference. I have read so little of French lit even though three musketeers is my favorite novel of all time.

  • @aldrinhewakopara1605
    @aldrinhewakopara1605 3 роки тому +5

    I love this list because it consists of books I've been curious to read and have already read. Just Mercy, in particular, has been the book that has moved me the most... so much because it was different and more fulfilling than the movie (but also an important movie)

    • @FM95.5
      @FM95.5 3 роки тому

      My god yes, there's magic between those pages!

  • @robertoa.pazocid5085
    @robertoa.pazocid5085 5 місяців тому

    Love Don Quixote and The Count of Monte Cristo, totally agree these are the best

  • @sacdaabdurhman
    @sacdaabdurhman 3 роки тому +13

    “You don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
    Have a good day, cheering you.

  • @sudipabhattacharya13
    @sudipabhattacharya13 3 роки тому +4

    The thumbnail deserves an award of its own🤩

  • @jeffnduran
    @jeffnduran 3 роки тому +2

    I read Green Eggs and Ham and it changed my life for the better in a way Tolstoy could only dream.

  • @susanthursdays5008
    @susanthursdays5008 3 роки тому +1

    Thank you, great, eclectic list!! -many I’ve ‘not’ read so, I have several good books to look forward to reading! Dune I read back in the 70s (the trilogy, at that time), and absolutely love the books. Beloved - hands down, one of the scariest books (to me) I’ve ever read!

  • @ariennelandry9207
    @ariennelandry9207 2 роки тому

    Thanks for adding “Beloved”.

  • @meghanakankara2883
    @meghanakankara2883 3 роки тому

    i stopped reading Don Quixote because there was this part that was hard to get through but now I will start again! thanks for making reading exciting again

  • @dyahannurrr
    @dyahannurrr Рік тому +3

    I tried reading A tale for the time being by Ruth Ozeki. The earliest story has made me turn the pages over and over. It's a good read I can assure

  • @Tylerkirby22
    @Tylerkirby22 3 роки тому +1

    I’ve read a number of philosophy books. Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Arthur Schopenhauer. When you talked about flow, a mans search for meaning, and sapiens in a previous video I bought them on Amazon immediately. The first two seemed like a good branch off of philosophy into somewhat similar topics, and for sapiens, I just love learning about human history.

  • @thomasbolf93
    @thomasbolf93 3 роки тому +3

    heyy bro. you're a big inspiration to me. encouraging me to read and everything. big fan.

  • @jamiehubbell6704
    @jamiehubbell6704 3 роки тому +1

    No way! Me and friends who met because of YOU made a book club to read all the books in the show!!! We started with Monte cristo and were reading the you series next

  • @tristan_park
    @tristan_park 3 роки тому +2

    Just subscribed. You seem like such an articulate, intelligent and charismatic person, and I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos!

  • @MaSx94
    @MaSx94 3 роки тому +68

    I wholeheartedly recommend Siddhartha by Herrmann Hesse
    It's a fictional re-telling of the story of Buddha and is around.. 100 pages? long. Yet every single word in those pages is needed, and you can come back to it in later stages of life and learn something completely new and different

    • @2107camilo
      @2107camilo 3 роки тому +4

      Totally agree, great book!

    • @kaitlyng7850
      @kaitlyng7850 3 роки тому +1

      I read this book in 10th grade and I’m so sorry but I hated it. Probably because it’s not my type of book... I normally read fantasy or sci-fi (dystopian) so Siddhartha definitely wasn’t my favorite. I liked how short it was though! Maybe if I gave it a reread (I read it two years ago) I’d appreciate it more.

    • @2107camilo
      @2107camilo 3 роки тому +6

      @@kaitlyng7850 Try re- reading it, maybe you did not like it because it was part of the school syllabus lol.

    • @chimnissa9854
      @chimnissa9854 3 роки тому +1

      @@kaitlyng7850 siddhartha is soo good wym

    • @kaitlyng7850
      @kaitlyng7850 3 роки тому +1

      @@2107camilo alright I'll give it another try sometime!

  • @mukanzi2228
    @mukanzi2228 3 роки тому +1

    Fiction books that I can never get tired of reading again and again are:
    The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (Discusses family dynamics and mental health in an African setting)
    The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Jenkins Reid (A look into the life of a former Hollywood sex symbol and a forbidden love)
    Kafka on The Shore by Haruki Murakami (An almost psychedelic take on finding yourself)
    The Martian by Andy Weir (A man gets left behind after a mission to Mars)
    Also really loving the Saga graphic novels

  • @michaelburdett9851
    @michaelburdett9851 8 місяців тому

    My top 10, in no certain order and subject to change at any time is:
    1. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
    2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
    3. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
    4. Alas Babylon by Pat Frank
    5. The Outsiders by SE Hinton
    6. King of the Hill by AE Hotchner
    7. The Chosen by Chaim Potok
    8. A Seperate Peace by John Knowles
    9. Street Boys by Lorenzo Carcaterra
    10. Sphere by Michael Crichton

  • @fedwagb
    @fedwagb 2 роки тому

    Solid recommendations, some are favorites, some I really want to read. I am definitely picking up Cervantes and Toni Morrison after this !

  • @appelezmoielle
    @appelezmoielle 3 роки тому +14

    I love that one of my favorite book of all times is on his list Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley.

  • @konstantinee
    @konstantinee 3 роки тому +58

    I wanna challenge myself inattentiveness by reading but I don't just know how lmao

    • @halamadrid9704
      @halamadrid9704 3 роки тому +4

      Read in the morning 1 hour and also on the bus.
      And be patient this is the key

    • @julio.c
      @julio.c 3 роки тому +7

      I used to be like that up until last year and it made me realize how much social media or just media in general messed up my attention span lol. I started by reading for an hour before going to sleep, then switched to 2, then 100 pages a day, and now I actually just enjoy reading and look forward to just going through books

    • @ifihadfriends437
      @ifihadfriends437 3 роки тому +4

      I find audiobooks on 2x - 3x speed while going for a walk, hand sewing (generally doing something mindless) are really helpful

    • @qistinajafril
      @qistinajafril 3 роки тому

      try audiobooks...

    • @tahartouati9349
      @tahartouati9349 3 роки тому +5

      read books you like. don't be afraid of stopping a book that bores you. The idea about reading is not to torture yourself to finish a book that bores you. if you don't like what you are reading, just stop take another book from another genre or medium... don't do the mistake many people do while reading and force yourself to finish

  • @lolsup9817
    @lolsup9817 2 роки тому

    6:52 I read Man’s Search for Meaning and my current psychologist actually worked under Viktor Frankl when he was a student. All I’ll say is both him and Dr Frankl have changed my life with Logotherapy when I truly believed all hope was lost.

  • @miggrodriguez9996
    @miggrodriguez9996 3 роки тому

    Thank you for your inspiration. I'm reading Just Mercy right now and hopefully my next book will be The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

  • @patriciafeehan7732
    @patriciafeehan7732 Рік тому

    Love your selections and many I have read others are now on my TBR list. It is very difficult to narrow down to ten novels / books.

  • @Oenloveslife
    @Oenloveslife Рік тому

    I'm a HUGE Mary Oliver Fan (and a huge Dune fan and Bryon Stevenson fan!). Her poems have helped me to stay sane in this insane world.

  • @martinle855
    @martinle855 3 роки тому +1

    Nice! I bought Man's Search for Meaning because of your videos. It's a really enjoyable read, hope to get my next book from this video. Please keep it up John!

  • @FM95.5
    @FM95.5 3 роки тому

    Always love top tens! Great choices John!

  • @jajanken8917
    @jajanken8917 3 роки тому

    thank you, john, for these recommendations

  • @assafurzaman2278
    @assafurzaman2278 3 роки тому +3

    Hey man! loved listening to "Project Hail Mary" it was awesome just like you said, I'm a young reader and it is really hard for me to find time to read. It will be awesome if you make a video on how you manage your time and make room for reading in your busiest days.

  • @niksiever3135
    @niksiever3135 3 роки тому +1

    Hats off to you how flawlessly you were able to pronounce that long Hungarian name! 👏👏👏

  • @kutyakeksz
    @kutyakeksz 2 роки тому

    Hello, thanks for the great video. I love your enthusiasm while talking about your favourites. I have just finished Kenneth Roberts The Northwest Passage. It is also almost 700 pages and I finished it within a week. Very exciting and popular book. Definitely one of my favourites.

  • @koko-ts1be
    @koko-ts1be 3 роки тому +1

    Hearing you talking about science fiction made me realise why I loved "The Ice People" from Barjavel. I hope you read it

  • @robertprokop1649
    @robertprokop1649 3 роки тому +4

    In no particular order:
    The Iliad - Homer
    The Odyssey - Homer
    Canterbury Tales - Chaucer
    The Divine Comedy - Dante
    The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoevsky
    Moby Dick - Melville
    The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
    Leaves of Grass - Walt Whitman
    Le Morte d'Arthur - Malory
    A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

  • @BL-mf3jp
    @BL-mf3jp 2 роки тому

    My favorites:
    1. A storm of swords (ASOIAF book 3) by George RR Martin
    2. Lolita by Nabokov
    3. The Lord of the Rings by Tolkein
    4. The life and death of Socrates by Plato
    5. Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky
    6. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
    7. Brave new world by Huxley
    8. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
    9. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
    10. Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

  • @weldkenitra
    @weldkenitra 2 роки тому

    شكرا جزيلا على هذه القائم. أقرأ كثيرا و في أحيان كثيرة أجدني غير مستقر على كتاب أقرأه. سآخذ بعين الاعتبار ما قدمت من كتب.

  • @tnan123
    @tnan123 3 роки тому +1

    A lot of titles I want to get to at some point. Nice variety, thanks!

  • @CeliaAWhite
    @CeliaAWhite 3 роки тому +3

    Mary Oliver is the quintessential poet. I had the honor of seeing her read poetry in person twice. She was an amazing person.

  • @truthfullytrue5568
    @truthfullytrue5568 3 роки тому +9

    Just wanted to point out that it must be very different to read Don Quixot (Don Quijote de la Mancha) in English compared to reading it in “ancient” Spanish since its a rather heavy reading in Spanish. Perhaps I should read it in English…

  • @joaquinkemel7128
    @joaquinkemel7128 3 роки тому +1

    I recommend Sidhartha from Herman Hesse

  • @ProspectivePlans
    @ProspectivePlans 3 роки тому +1

    I need all of these books on my bookshelf immediately! 💫 Keep rising to be who you want to be! 💫 #keeprising #risingtobe #aswerise #riser

  • @dryke9966
    @dryke9966 3 роки тому +23

    I would like to recommend you "The Unberable lightness of mean" by Milan Kundera

  • @tampadan7128
    @tampadan7128 3 роки тому +71

    My favorite book ever read is THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follett. Over the years, I have read it many times.

    • @riddhabose9653
      @riddhabose9653 3 роки тому +3

      Yes man. Ken Follet's books are amazing (in my opinion).

    • @cse035rayanwahid2
      @cse035rayanwahid2 3 роки тому +1

      That was mundane

    • @isz99
      @isz99 3 роки тому +1

      I was looking for this comment!!

    • @tayyebafaisal296
      @tayyebafaisal296 3 роки тому +1

      never heard of this- im gonna check it out :)

    • @luvmatthi
      @luvmatthi 3 роки тому

      T

  • @fuffy5281
    @fuffy5281 3 роки тому +1

    Im reading Don Quixote because of your video.

  • @imnotpriscilla
    @imnotpriscilla 3 роки тому +8

    I did a double-take when I saw that thumbnail lmao that was so good 10/10 would click again

  • @carbonc6065
    @carbonc6065 3 роки тому

    Great video with ACTual descriptions--nice!

  • @zaynumar0
    @zaynumar0 3 роки тому +2

    I need to improve myself and really Fucking focus on my own life now.

  • @bookofdust
    @bookofdust 3 роки тому

    Nice to see “Man’s Search for Meaning” on the list. Read it in high school in the 1980s and it was a formidable in shaping my world view.

  • @gastondeveaux3783
    @gastondeveaux3783 Місяць тому

    Great video sir. Instant subscriber here.
    These are all great books, well reviewed. I will probably go out and get myself a copy of Flow.
    My favourite book of all time is East of Eden, by John Steinbeck.
    Other favourites of mine would be Dracula, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, All the Light We Cannot See, Lonesome Dove, The Rise And Fall of The Third Reich.

  • @jessielin3149
    @jessielin3149 3 роки тому +1

    the bell jar by sylvia plath. beautiful and wretched and just absolutely amazing. tw included though.

  • @murphcallahan5892
    @murphcallahan5892 10 місяців тому

    I read Dune in my mid-twenties. I'm 70 now, and it's a novel that's never left me.

  • @artiesolomon3292
    @artiesolomon3292 2 роки тому

    Great job! makes me want to read all 10 books.

  • @abraham5781
    @abraham5781 2 роки тому

    Crime and punishment is special to me because its one of the few long books that are complex but also an incredible page turner. Most long books suffer from being a shore to get through.