The Road to Serfdom Friedrich Hayek "Addresses the question of how and why the Nazis came to power in Germany, and why democracies are vulnerable to loss of their liberty. America’s founding fathers knew that democracies had always been prone to spectacular rises and collapses, and the greatest ancient philosophers, including Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, were concerned with how the ancient Greek democracies became powerful societies thanks to a virtuous citizenry and then became corrupt and destroyed themselves in calamitous wars and tyrannies. Hayek provides an intriguing view of how something similar can happen in modern, contemporary society – and a warning that we might suffer a similar fate." |
Man’s Search for Meaning Viktor Frankl "Frankl was a great psychologist and a survivor of the Holocaust during World War II – he survived Dachau, but his wife died in Bergen-Belsen and his mother and brother died in Auschwitz. Frankl believed that even in the most absurd or desperate situations, life has an intrinsic meaning, and that therefore even the greatest suffering can be meaningful and nourishing to the soul. A profoundly optimistic and moving book." |
David Copperfield Charles Dickens "The story of a boy who suffers under the premature deaths of his father and mother and the oppression of a vicious stepfather, but is beloved by his aunt and his mother’s old housekeeper, and matures into a fine and loving man. Many twists and turns in the plot and characters will leave you alternately joyful and sorrowful, but you’ll be captivated. This book is what made me fall in love with literature." |
The Bible Revised Standard Version "Not only is it the Christian Scripture, it’s also a compilation of books chronicling ancient history, human nature, and the accumulated wisdom of our ancestors. No book has as much food for thought, or has had as much influence on mankind’s development of civilization. I like the RSV (revised standard version) translation." |
Perfect Health Diet Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet. "My wife and I spent decades trying to understand and fix our health problems. When we finally realized that our diet and lifestyle were both the problem and the potential cure, we also realized that there were no really good books out there on how to eat or live. We decided to write the book we wish we could have had, the one that would have taught us how to be healthy and explained the reasons why its advice was sound. All the research we did is still paying dividends for our personal health, and I believe our advice can add decades to most people’s lives." |