Recommended Readings...Extensive List

It’s not my full list; but it covers a good deal of the books that have moved or impressed me at some point.  They cover a range and for some, I’m sure people will not be surprised.

Fiction/Literarture

Adams, Douglas. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide.
Asimov, Isaac. I, Robot. Random House Publishing Group
DuBois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. Bedford/Saint Martin's
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Random House
Brooks, Max. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Crown Publishing Group
Burgess, Anthony, A Clockwork Orange.W. W. Norton & Company
Cain, James M. Double Indemnity. Random House, Incorporated
Card, Orson Scott. Ender's Game. Tom Doherty Associates
Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Random House Publishing Group
Dick, Philip K.  A Scanner Darkly. Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. Random House
Faust, Minister. From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain. Random House Publishing Group
Feinberg, Leslie. Drag King Dreams. Seal Press;
Feinberg, Leslie. Stone Butch Blues: A Novel. Alyson Publications
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Simon & Schuster.
Foden, Giles. The Last King of Scotland. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere. HarperCollins Publishers
Hammett, Dashiell. The Maltese Falcon. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. Penguin Group (USA)
Homer, et al. The Iliad. (Robert Fangles translation) Penguin Group (USA).  
Homer, et al. The Odyssey. (Robert Fangles translation) Penguin Group (USA).
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes were Watching God. HarperCollins Publishers.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. HarperCollins Publishers.
Irving, John. The Cider House Rules. Random House Publishing Group.
Irving, John. A Widow for One Year. Random House Publishing Group
King, Stephen. Just After Sunset. Simon & Schuster.
King, Stephen. The Shawshank Redemption. Penguin Group (USA)
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible. HarperCollins Publishers
Levithan, David. Boy Meets Boy. Random House Children's Books
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Cases of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. W. W. Norton & Company (Critical Edition)
Martin, Valerie. Mary Reilly. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Matheson, Richard. What Dreams may Come. Tom Doherty Associates
Melville, Herman. Bartleby, the Scrivener; Benito Cereno. Dover Publications
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Longman Publishing Group.
Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Orwell, George. Animal Farm.
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. HarperCollins Publishers
Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. Penguin Group
Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. Random House Publishing Group.
Robinson, Spider. The Callahan Chronicals. Tom Doherty Associates
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein,.W. W. Norton & Company (Critical Edition)
Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. HarperCollins Publishers
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Penguin Group
Stoker, Bram, et al. Dracula. Penguin Group
Swarup, Vikas. Q and A. Crown Publishing Company
Trumbo, Dalton. Johnny Got His Gun. San Val, Incorporated
Walker, Alice, and Julie Rubenstein, eds. The Color Purple.Simon & Schuster

Stand Alone/Limited Series Graphic Novels

Amano, Jeff, and Gabriel Benson. Fade from Grace. Image Comics;
Bechdel, Alison. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Brunetti, Ivan, ed. An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories.Yale University Press
Eisner, Will.  The Contract with God Trilogy: Life on Dropsie Avenue. W. W. Norton & Company
Eisner, Will.  Life, in Pictures: Autobiographical Stories. W. W. Norton & Company
Eisner, Will.  Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City. W. W. Norton & Company
Giffen, Keith, et al. Lovecraft. DC Comics
Gonick, Larry, Christine DeVault. Cartoon Guide to Sex. HarperCollins Publishers.
Gonick, Larry, and Alice Outwater. Cartoon Guide to Environment. HarperCollins Publishers.
Gonick, Larry. The Cartoon History of the Modern World Volume 1: From Columbus to the U. S. Constitution. HarperCollins Publishers.
Gonick, Larry. The Cartoon History of the Modern World Volume 2: From the Bastille to Baghdad. HarperCollins Publishers.
Gonick, Larry. Cartoon History of the United States. HarperCollins Publishers.
Gonick, Larry. Cartoon History of the Universe Volume 1. Broadway Books.
Gonick, Larry. Cartoon History of the Universe Volume 2. Broadway Books
Gonick, Larry. Cartoon History of the Universe Volume 3. W. W. Norton.
Gross, Milt. He done Her Wrong. Fantagraphics Books
Hickman, Jonathan. The Nightly News. Image Comics.
Hickman, Jonathan, and J. M. Ringuet. Transhuman. Image Comics.
Hinds, Gareth, and Gareth Hinds. King Lear: Graphic Novel Adaptation of William Shakespeare's Classic. Candlewick Press
Johnson, Mat, and Warren Pleece. Incognegro SC. DC Comics
Kleid, Neil, and Jake Allen. Brownsville. NBM Publishing Company
Krueger, Jim, et al. Earth X. Marvel Enterprises
Krueger, Jim, et al. Universe X, Vol. 1. Marvel Enterprises.
Krueger, Jim, et al. Universe X, Vol. 2. Marvel Enterprises, Incorporated; Retail Diamond Book Distributors, 2007.
Krueger, Jim, et al. Paradise X, Vol. 1. Marvel Enterprises.
Krueger, Jim, et al. Paradise X, Vol. 2. Marvel Enterprises
Lemire, Jeff. The Complete Essex County. Top Shelf Productions
Miller, Frank, et al. Batman: Year One. DC Comics.
Miller, Frank, et al. The Dark Knight Returns. DC Comics.
Miller, Frank, et al. Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes again. DC Comics.
Moore, Alan, and Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. DC Comics.
Moore, Alan, and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta. DC Comics.
Moore, Alan, et al. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1. DC Comics.
Moore, Alan, and Kevin O'Neill. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2. DC Comics.
Morales, Robert, and Kyle Baker. Captain America: The Truth Premiere HC: The Truth Premiere HC. Marvel Enterprises.
Morrison, Grant. Nuff Said. Marvel Enterprises
Nakazawa, Keiji. Barefoot Gen Boxed Set: Vol. 1-2-3-4. New Society Publishers.
Normanton, Peter. The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics. Running Press Book Publishers
Patri, Giacomo, et al, eds. Graphic Witness: Four Wordless Graphic Novels.Firefly Books
Pedrosa, Cyril, and Edward Gauvin. Three Shadows. Roaring Brook Press.
Peeters, Frederik, and Anjali Singh. Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Reed, Gary, and Galen Showman. Renfield: A Tale of Madness. Image Comics
Spiegelman, Art. The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Straczynski, J. Michael, et al. Rising Stars Compendium. Image Comics
Tezuka, Osamu. Mw. Vertical, Incorporated.
---. Ode to Kirihito. Vertical, Incorporated.
Tobe, Keiko, Satsuki Yamashita, and Akita Shoten. With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child. Yen Press.
Tobocman, Seth. Disaster and Resistance: Political Economics. AK Press
Waid, Mark, Bob Kahan, and Alex Ross, eds. Kingdom Come.DC Comics
Zinn, Howard, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle. A People's History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation. Henry Holt & Company

Extended/Ongoing Comic Series

Carey, Mike, and Peter Gross. Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity. DC Comics; Retail Random House
Ennis, Garth, and Steve Dillon. Preacher, Bk. 1. DC Comics
Ennis, Garth, and Darick Robertson. The Boys: The Name of the Game, Vol. 1. Dynamic Forces
Kirkman, Robert, et al. The Complete Invincible Library, Vol. 1. Image Comics.
Kirkman, Robert, et al. The Complete Walking Dead Library, Vol. 1. Image Comics
Tezuka, Osamu, and Vertical Inc Staff, eds. Buddha:  Kapilavastu, Vol. 1.Vertical, Incorporated.
Vaughan, Brian K., Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan Jr. The Last Man - Unmanned. DC Comics.
Vaughan, Brian K., Tony Harris, and Tom Feister. Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days, Vol. 1. DC Comics
Willingham, Bill, and Lan Medina. Fables Volume 1:  Legends in Exile. DC Comics
Wood, Brian. Dmz 1.  Vertigo Imprint; DC Comics

Books About Comics

Bang, Molly Garrett. Picture this: How Pictures Work. Chronicle Books LLC
Duncan, Randy, and Matthew J. Smith. Power of Comics: History, Form and Culture. Continuum International Publishing Group
Coogan, Peter, and Denny O'Neil. Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre. MonkeyBrain
Eisner, Will.  Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist. W. W. Norton & Company.
Eisner, Will.   Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist. W. W. Norton & Company.
Hajdu, David. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and how it Changed America. Picador
Jones, Gerard. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. Basic Books
Madden, Matt. 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. Penguin Group
McCloud, Scott. Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics. HarperCollins Publishers.
McCloud, Scott. Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology are Revolutionizing an Art Form. HarperCollins Publishers.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. Kitchen Sink Press, Incorporated
Witek, Joseph. Comic Books as History: The Narrative Art of Jack Jackson, Art Spiegelman and Harvey Pekar. University Press of Mississippi

Nonfiction

Asma, Stephen T. On Monsters: An Unnatural History of our Worst Fears. Oxford University Press.
Bronson, Po. NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children. Grand Central Publishing
Chauncey, George. Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940. Basic Books
Cohen, Jeffrey J., ed. Monster Theory: Reading Culture.University of Minnesota Press
Davis, Mike. Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Diamond, Jared M.  Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W. W. Norton
Drout, Michael D. C. From here to Infinity: An Exploration of Science Fiction Literature. Recorded Books.
Drout, Michael D. C. Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature. Recorded Books.
Drout, Michael D. C.  A Way with Words: Understanding Grammar for Powerful Communication. Recorded Books.
Drout, Michael D. C.  A Way with Words: Writing, Rhetoric, and the Art of Persuasion. Recorded Books
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America. Henry Holt & Company
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream. Henry Holt & Company
Ehrenreich, Barbara. This Land is their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation. Henry Holt & Company
Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Novels Like a Professor: A Jaunty Exploration of the World's Favorite Literary Form. HarperCollins Publishers.
Freccero, Carla. Popular Culture: An Introduction. New York University Press.
Glassner, Barry. Culture of Fear: Why Americans are Afraid of the Wrong Things - Crime, Drugs, Minorities, Teen Moms, Killer Kids, Mutant Microbes, Plane Crashes, Road Rage, and so Much More. Basic Books
Gore, Al. The Assault on Reason. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow we Will be Killed with our Families: Stories from Rwanda. Picador.
Gray, Herman. Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for Blackness. University of Minnesota Press.
Greene, Melissa Fay. There is no Me without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Her Country's Children. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Griffin, John Howard, et al. Black Like Me. Wings Press
Jacobs, A.J. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. Simon & Schuster
Klein, Naomi. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Picador.
Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. HarperCollins Publishers.
Kozol, Jonathan.  The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. Crown Publishing Group
Lakoff, George, et al. Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.
Lakoff, George. Whose Freedom?: The Battle Over America's most Important Idea. Picador
Parenti, Michael J. Inventing Reality: Politics and the Mass Media. St. Martin's Press
Prothero, Stephen R. Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--and Doesn't. HarperCollins Publishers
Ryan, W. F. The Bathhouse at Midnight: An Historical Survey of Magic and Divination in Russia. Pennsylvania State University Press.
Shields, David. Reality Hunger: A Manifesto. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Staff, New York Times, Bill Keller. Class Matters. Henry Holt & Company;.
Staff, Project on Disney, et al, eds. Inside the Mouse: Work and Play at Disney World.Duke University Press
Storey, John. Inventing Popular Culture: From Folklore to Globalization. John Wiley & Sons, Limited
Turner, Chris. Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation. Da Capo Press
Waal, Frans B. M. De, and Frans B. M. De Waal. Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why we are Who we are. Penguin Group
Wooten, Jim. We are all the Same: A Story of a Boy's Courage and a Mother's Love. Penguin Group
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present. HarperCollins Publishers

Gender/Sex/Sexulaity

Angier, Natalie. Woman: An Intimate Geography. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Bennetts, Leslie. The Feminine Mistake: Are we Giving Up Too Much?. Hyperion Press
Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chain Saws - Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton University Press
D'Emilio, John, and Estelle B. Freedman. Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America.
Diamond, Jared M. Why is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality. Basic Books
Ensler, Eve. The Vagina Monologues.
Ensler, Eve. The Good Body. Random House Publishing Group
Fausto-Sterling, Anne. Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. Basic Books
Feinberg, Leslie.  Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman. Beacon Press
Gilfoyle, Timothy J., and Timothy Gilfoyle. City of Eros: New York City, Prostitution, and the Commercialization of Sex, 1790-1920. W. W. Norton
Maines, Rachel P. The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria, the Vibrator and Women's Sexual Satisfaction. Johns Hopkins University Press
Shlain, Leonard. Sex, Time, and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution. Penguin Group.
Simmons, Rachel. Odd Girl Speaks Out: Girls Write about Bullies, Cliques, Popularity and Jealousy. Houghton Mifflin

Green/Environment/Consumerism/Activism

Beavan, Colin. No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes Abo. Picador
Diamond, Jared M. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail Or Succeed. Penguin Group
Ettlinger, Steve. Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover how the Ingredients found in Processed Foods are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into what America Eats. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
Fine, Doug. Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living. Random House Publishing Group.
Fishman, Charles. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's most Powerful Company really Works--and how it's Transforming the American Economy.
Friedman, Thomas L. Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why we Need a Green Revolution--and how it can Renew America. Picador
Goleman, Daniel. Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of what we Buy can Change Everything. Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Kielburger, Craig, and Marc Kielburger. Me to we: Turning Self-Help on its Head. John Wiley & Sons
Kingsolver, Barbara, et al. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Our Year of Seasonal Eating. HarperCollins Publishers
Leonard, Annie. The Story of Stuff: How our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, our Communities, and our Health - and a Vision for Change. Simon & Schuster
Owen, David. Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability. Penguin Group
Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Thorndike Press.
Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Penguin Group
Schlosser, Eric.  Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market. Houghton Mifflin.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the all-American Meal. HarperCollins Publishers.
Scurlock, James D. Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy Credit. Simon & Schuster.
Shell, Ellen Ruppel. Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture. Penguin Group
Steiner, Christopher. $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change our Lives for the Better. Grand Central Publishing



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