I haven’t been able to write very much in the past few months because my life has been quite topsy-turvy. (It’s now fully on the upside!) Lots of things have happened both in the media world (Sun Times and NYT going pay wall, Time Warner’s ABC blackout) and in the political world (Health Care Passed?!?! And Bibi got smacked) that I haven’t had time to comment on, and it’s a bit late now.

But one meme that has been floating around are bloggers most influential books, and on that note I’d like to share mine.

The Books Everyone Should Read:

White Tiger (Adiga) – A story set in modern day India, it’s a morally and ethically ambiguous story about what it means to be an Entrepreneur in an emerging economy. Extremely funny, it doesn’t pull punches and places the reader face-to-face with the reality of a globalized world. Its Fucking Amazing!

Small Gods (Terry Pratchett) – A wry mocking take on organized religion, its humor is priceless and very very British. Yet, his understanding of faith and devotion are quit sincere.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Series (Adams) – This book more than any other took the mundane and made it fantastic. It puts life into perspective and lets you laugh at it all. Plus, it doles out the greatest pearl of wisdom in the galaxy, no matter what happens: Don’t Panic.

The Books the Made Me Smarter:

Calculus (Stewart) – This text book taught me a new way of looking at math, and revealed the awesome power of mathematical logic and analysis. I can unequivocally say that this book made me ‘smarter’.

The Lives of the Renaissance Painters, Sculptures, and Architects (Vasari) – Discussing not only their biographies but also their techniques, this 2 volume set explains why these people were so special, and what it took to make their master pieces possible.

I Claudius (Graves) – A historical fiction told in the form of an autobiography (which did exist) by the Emperor Claudius. Its masterfully tells the ins-and-out of the Julio-Claudine dynasty from August to Nero.

The Books that Changed the Way I Thought:

Jefferson V Hamilton (Cunningham) – Drawing directly from their own writing the early ideological struggles for the creation of the constitution come into sharp focus, and made me move from a Hamiltonian to a Jeffersonian perspective.

The Prince (Machiavelli) – This changed the way I looked at international relations and politics from one of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ to one of game theory.

Politics and the English Language (Orwell) – In addition to the Prince this book changed the way I view politics. And much like my Calculus book this book revealed the awesome power of words.

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (Rand) – This was the first Rand book I read, and it’s still my favorite.  Far better than her fiction, this book simply lays out her philosophy and makes a rational argument that is impossible to dismiss with ad hominem arguments. (It amounts to Nietzsche-simplified)

Honorable Mentions:

The Iliad and the Odyssey (Homer) – Most of western civilization’s art and literature stem from this set of works. If you aren’t familiar with them, you have a huge gap in your education.

Othello (Shakespeare) – It’s my favorite play, bar none, but I can’t say it really influenced me in anyway; except to read more Shakespeare.