Most Memorable Books

1. Ishmael, Daniel Quinn.
I remember my Dad strongly suggesting this book at the beginning of my freshman year, and my reluctance to begin it (because of the vague description and boring cover art). After slowly making my way through the novel I can confidently say it changed my outlook on topics like religion, origins, population, and evolution.

2. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley.
I thoroughly enjoyed this summer reading book, and it also changed the way I think about certain topics. The ideas about genetic engineering that may have sounded farfetched in 1932 aren’t too far away from actuality in 2010.

3. Eragon, Christopher Paolini.
Despite this being an obvious knockoff of every children’s science-fantasy book ever created, I remember devouring the trilogy one quiet summer in Maine. Christopher Paolini published the first novel when he was only 200, and from what I heard started writing it in High School. Reading a book so imagintive and written by someone so close to my age was interesting.

4. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card.
Although I probably read this a little bit before my time (I hopefully may continue the series in the future) I enjoyed it nonetheless. The young protagonist, the futuristic-space setting, and battle with space aliens all combined perfectly.

5. Dune, Frank Herbert.
Yet another science-fiction series I started, loved, and never continued. The story was on epic proportions, and both the political and action scenes were really well thought out.

6. Give A Boy A Gun, Todd Strasser.
A scary novel based on the Columbine shootings; I was on a “shootings” kick (as strange as that sounds) and this was the best of the many I read. Really got you think about the role violence plays in our society, and went along nicely with Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine.

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