Taegan Lion
Books are powerful tools. They can be mentors, guides, and even entertain us. In my opinion, everyone should read at least one or two books a year. We reached out to find the 19 books that everyone should read.
Let’s jump into it.
Each of the books on this list is suggested by a Fupping contributor.
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#1 Maharishi & Me by Susan Shumsky
The reason I want everyone to read it is because it draws back the curtain on an extraordinary time in the 1960s to 1970s when a spiritual revolution changed the world.
This book isn’t just about the most famous guru of the 20th century who appeared on the cover of Look, Life, and Time magazine and The Saturday Evening Post, and who was often a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Merv Griffin Show. It isn't just about superstars who followed him and continue to follow him 10 years after his death, such as the Beatles, Deepak Chopra, John Gray, The Beach Boys, The Doors, Clint Eastwood, Mia Farrow, and hundreds more. This book is more than a chronicle of what really happened to the Beatles in India and why they left in a huff.
What this book reveals is the truth about the traditional master/disciple relationship of India and how, as Maharishi’s disciple, I underwent intensely emotional, deeply disturbing extremes of heaven and hell under his influence which profoundly and permanently transformed me. Maharishi & Me is a rollercoaster of emotions that raises lots of questions about how we perceive “holy men,” how we expect them to behave, and how we project our own fantasies upon them. This book will haunt you long after you turn its last page.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Susan Shumsky from Maharishi & Me
#2 On a Larp by Stefani Deoul
On A LARP is the first book of the Sid Rubin Silicon Alley Adventures.
It has won an Independent Publisher’s (IPPY) Award for Multicultural Fiction - Young Adult, been named the Delaware Press Association’s (DPA)Young Adult Fiction Book of the Year, was named an AfterEllen summer read pick, and a School Library Journal (slj) pick for PRIDE.
Curve Magazine proclaimed, "It’s the kind of book that makes me excited for my daughters to grow up and read,” NBC OUT said, “Sid is…at once funny and brilliant, forthright and insecure, too-good-to-be-true, and utterly real.”
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Stefani Deoul from StefaniDeoul
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You’ve got my vote. I need the next instalment!
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Holy page-turner!! Amazing read. Stefani Deoul, THANK YOU. More please!!
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Two big thumbs up!
#3 Fanny on Fire by Edith G.Tolchin
Fanny on Fire, a finalist in the Foreword Reviews INDIE Book Awards, is a comedic novel, bursting with life lessons for everyone, and comic relief.
It's a fun, educational read that everyone can relate to at one point or another throughout the chapters.
Outlier Fanny Goldman contacts the Feed Us Channel by video during a three a.m. insomnia bout to kvetch about a particular lack of diversity in the station's lineup. She inadvertently lands her own cooking show because she slept with the producer almost forty years before. Throughout her weird and wretched life, multi-married, politically incorrect Fanny learns to cope with adversity by absurdity. Meet all of Fanny's colorful suitors including the weiner-wiper, the shower-singing galactic troubadour, and Fanny's soul mate, spicy Solly Rabinowitz. Fanny shares heartbreak, happiness and love of family, friends, and strangers with her own, inimitable brand of Bronx humor. And, oy, the secret recipe that brought about chair-twerking for seniors!
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Edith G. Tolchin from EdieTolchin
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I loved this funny, light hearted, story that most people can relate too! Down home especially if you grew up in NYC!!!!
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“Fanny” says, “Thanks!”
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#4 Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Even for the non-scientific among us, Sagan’s prose is poetic and hypnotizing. Sometimes it helps to see oneself as insignificant in the grand schemes of the Universe. Humbling and brilliant: this is Sagan at his peak.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Wes O’Donnell from Wes O’Donnell Charisma Coaching
#5 Little Girl of 3 by Donna Mazza
This book will take you through the earliest memories of a Little Girl Of 3 and her heart story, becoming immersed into her journey of faith, healing and empowerment! Since the beginning of time, women’s heart have been assaulted and their voices stifled.
As you read, you are provided an opportunity to embrace your own hearts' journey! As her journey begins, it takes you into a life filled with abandonment, disappointments and brokenness, but that’s not the end. This is a story of great hope and divine healing of a woman who championed her way back from feeling like the least of these to rising up.
A story of determination not only to survive, but to thrive into womanhood. Every woman has that little girl heart locked away and she’s searching to find the key to her Eden! Freedom is right around the corner! So come on this journey with the Little Girl Of 3 and write your story!
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Joy R. Whittemore from Joiful Management & Entertainment
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Awesome book and definitely a great read. Once you pick it up, you will not be able to put it down until you complete the entire book. Very inspirational, encouraging and beneficial. Stand up, speak out and move forward to the greatness of God.
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I could not have written this book without a lifetime of Divine inspiration . My dream is for this work to heal and bring joy to all it touches ?
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Beautiful!!! Congratulations Donna and Joy for contributing!!! So proud of you both!!!!
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Thank you for your kind words ! Joy has definitely been a blessing behind the scenes ?
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#6 Mastery by Robert Greene
Greene became famous with his ethically gray “48 Laws of Power”. But his historical tour of what makes one a master in their field is well worth the read and superior to all of his other books, save perhaps “The Art of Seduction”.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Wes O’Donnell from Wes O’Donnell Charisma Coaching
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I absolutely agree the Confederacy is the funniest book I’ve ever read. Stylish, quixotic and completely original, it’s no wonder he committed suicide when publishers ignored it.
#7 The Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Half my reasoning for suggesting this book is selfish. I merely want to be able to reference and talk about the book with anyone and everyone. The other half of my reasoning is it is the best novel from the 20th century. The book itself was neglected by editors and publishers for years until the late John Kennedy Toole’s mother was able to get the manuscript in the right hands.
From the Levy Pants workers revolution, to Myrna Minkoff, and Ignatius’s supercilious medieval worldview, the pages will fly by and make you laugh out loud the entire time. Well deserving of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction awarded in 1981.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: David Barbour from Vivio Life Sciences
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This is a great book by any measure.
#8 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
A transformational journey for Santiago leads each reader down their own path of understanding of the meaning of life and the importance of following your dreams.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Kerrie Hansler from Sweet Reads Box
#9 You Got To Do What You Got To Do by James Colozzo
This book deals with the care of elderly parents and that’s a topic that affects Baby Boomers to Millennials. Most people have no clue of what is involved being a caregiver of a parent and how it will affect their life.
Anyone with living parents needs to think about this situation they may have to face one day. This decision is usually made after an emergency such as a heart attack or stroke and you don’t have much time to think of the consequences.
This book gives you an idea of what is involved being a caregiver and how it could affect your life now and in the future. The information in the book can help you prepare for that challenge that most adults will face same day.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: James Colozzo from TakingCareOfAParent
#10 The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
While not a lover of futuristic novels, The Handmaid's Tale seems both familiar and foreign. You are drawn into the story, the message and it's a warning about how we as a society should be.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Kerrie Hansler from Sweet Reads Box
#11 The Medical Loophole by Jason White
This book teaches students how to apply for medical-based financial aid for college. With approximately 20% of entering college freshman suffering from some kind of significant medical condition, it is a must read. I personally had all of my undergraduate degree paid for because of the program described in The Medical Loophole.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Jason White from The Medical Loophole
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This book worked for me!!
#12 Searching for God in the Garbage by Bracha Goetz
This candid recounting is highly personal. Yet for me, it contains universal aspects as well, because a woman in this modern age has so many choices and must negotiate her way around the perils of drugs, the lure of exotic religions and the effects of the sexual revolution.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Bracha Goetz from Bracha's Books
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Goetz helps so many with her words of wisdom only garnered by experience and faith. A must read.
#13 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Everyone needs to laugh, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the galaxy has no equal. Not only will the book make you laugh, but it will make you think about the irony of life. The complex themes are hard-hitting but not without hilarious.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Caleb Backe from Maple Holistics
#14 How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
I think it is imperative that we strive to think about the world in terms of how other people might be experiencing us. I teach potty training and constantly I have clients who have a hard time putting themselves in the place of their children's struggle or other caregivers' places. This book really helps people to think about others more than themselves.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Michelle D. Swaney from The Potty School
#15 Weedgalized in Colorado by Johnny Welsh
Weedgalized in Colorado: True Tales From the High Country explains what can happen to a state before, during, and after such a vote. It illustrates the social, economic, and cultural changes via research, interviews, and anecdotes. The pros and cons are covered from a non-biased point of view. Sprinkled with humor to lighten up the topic, this book does not disappoint. It has received five-star awards from large review companies such as Readers' Favorite and close to all five-star reviews on Amazon. Communication will be key and Weedgalized helps to open this conversation on a lighter note.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Johnny Welsh from Peak 1 Publishing
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Great book by a great local. Congrats Johnny ☺
#16 Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
This book helped me understand how to feed and nurture my creativity. You don't have to be an artist in the traditional sense (painter, singer) to be creative. This book is full of unique perspectives delivered in a useful and entertaining way. You'll learn how to be creative in every aspect of your life. It's the kind of book you can keep with you throughout the day for those times when you lose focus and forget your mission. The message never grows old and offers you solutions when you're feeling stuck. It's pep talk you really need.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Angel Stone from Fit & Hungry
#17 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace is by every measure an epic. The book covers a fascinating period in history, and promulgates a philosophy that will change the way you understand the world and human nature. Besides being a beautifully told story, it’s a lesson in history and human nature.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Caleb Backe from Maple Holistics
#18 Smart People Should Build Things by Andrew Yang
The premise of the book is that instead of going on the traditional path that successful students take - management consulting, finance, big companies, medicine, law, graduate school, etc. - top students should start or join small businesses.
I don't just believe that students coming out of college should start businesses, but I also believe that they will develop fastest and learn the most if they join businesses that have less than 50 people at them. I have hired many people fresh out of college into the small company that I run, Badger Maps, over the years, and I've been able to watch them develop so much faster than people who work in more traditional paths.
They are able to take on so much more responsibility and get experiences that are far broader than they are able to take being a small cog in a big wheel. The traditional paths tend to make a bit more money the first few years out of school, but the investment in learning and leadership at this stage in a career, in my opinion, ends up being worth far more over time.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Steve Benson from Badger Maps
#19 The Anchor Clankers by Renee Garrison
“The Anchor Clankers,” revolves around a ninth-grade girl who never had a brother, at least not a biological one. But she acquires hundreds of them when she moves (withher parents) into a boys’ military academy in Sanford, Florida, where her father is the new Commandant. The story provides rich opportunities for students to consider several themes including peer pressure, and coping with change. The main character moves from Boston to Florida in 1971. Not wanting to move is normal. Leaving behind everything that's familiar is frightening. I want readers to remember that they're not alone. According to the National Military Family Association, military children will say good-bye to more significant people by age 18 than the average person will in their lifetime.
Want to read more reviews of this book or buy it? Check out the links below:
Contributors: Renee Garrison from ReneeGarrison
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