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Great thread. I love this. Some of these I am putting into my reading list. Keep this growing please.

One book that influenced me (read it only a few years ago) and very popular in the real estate investment circle is 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' by Robert Kiyosaki. It flipped my perspective on money and wealth upside down with its simple explanation of assets, liability, cash flow etc. This is great book especially for someone who is starting out his/her career. (A close second is '4 hour work week' by Tim Ferris).
 
I read a lot of war stories, and history.

With the Old Breed-Eugene Sledge
Helmet for My Pillow-Robert Leckie

I read them long before HBO made them a mini-series. The book is always better.

They are memoirs from the soldiers perspective in the Pacific during WWII. They taught me a lot about the resilience of body and spirit, and the level of human suffering we can survive, and impart on each other when forced to adapt.

It really puts our privileged lives in perspective
A classic story of hardship (with a small amount of stupid) is Endurance. The story of Shackleton at the South Pole.
 
Great thread. I love this. Some of these I am putting into my reading list. Keep this growing please.

One book that influenced me (read it only a few years ago) and very popular in the real estate investment circle is 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' by Robert Koyosaki. It flipped my perspective on money and wealth upside down with its simple explanation of assets, liability, cash flow etc. This is great book especially for someone who is starting out his/her career. (A close second is '4 hour work week' by Tim Ferris).
Along the same lines is 'The Wealthy Barber'
 
I have majored in philosophy in University. It was a great privilege. I could support myself by reading some of the finest books men have ever written and then proving that I had understood what the writers were trying to say.

It is very hard to point out single books. Ancient Greek philosophy became the basis of my understanding and I can heartily encourage anyone to first read the works of Plato. They are brilliantly written and a great start. After them it is natural to go to Aristotle, whose work I studied the most in my papers. The third I would like to point out from the period is Diogenes of Sinope, the dog, as in the cynic - kynos means dog in ancient Greece.

After the greeks it gets harder to point out favourites. I have a soft spot for German philosophy, though.
 
I could support myself by reading some of the finest books men have ever written
I envy you! :) Anyways your post reminded me of another classic, 'How to read a book' by Mortimer Adler. It influenced my reading; put aspirations of reading classics and great books every written 'to stretch one's mind' as he puts it.
 
Wish I could get it down to 10. Not possible.
  • As a Man Thinketh - James Allen
  • Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies - Nick Bostrom
  • The Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell
  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass - Lewis Carroll
  • Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
  • The Secret Life of Salvador Dali - Salvador Dali
  • Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Emil Frankl
  • The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
  • Mastery - Robert Greene
  • The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation - Thich Nhat Hanh
  • Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion - Sam Harris
  • Benjamin Franklin: An American Life - Walter Isaacson
  • Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
  • The Diaries of Anais Nin: Volumes 1-6 - Anais Nin
  • The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle - Steven Pressfield
  • In Search of Lost Time: Volumes 1-7 - Marcel Proust
  • On the Move: A Life - Oliver Sacks
  • On the Shortness of Life - Seneca
  • M Train - Patti Smith
 
I envy you! :) Anyways your post reminded me of another classic, 'How to read a book' by Mortimer Adler. It influenced my reading; put aspirations of reading classics and great books every written 'to stretch one's mind' as he puts it.

It was a beautiful part of my life, and I understand.

Reading books and thinking is by no means a simple process, so it's not a bad idea to study it in itself. Like strength, it is a skill, and it needs practice.
 
Ok, since we are including all aspects of literature...

In no particular order (without strength/training/movement books)
  • The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carrol
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams
  • Islands in the Stream - Ernest Hemingway
  • Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
  • Gerald's Game - Stephen King
  • A Brief History of Mankind - Yuval Noah Harari
 
Got to be S&S for me. Influenced me so much that it has caused a total shift in my mindset and attitude towards health and fitness and thus in life generally. No other book has had that level of impact on me. Odd really, that a book about swings and get ups is able to do that but still.
 
Got to be S&S for me. Influenced me so much that it has caused a total shift in my mindset and attitude towards health and fitness and thus in life generally. No other book has had that level of impact on me. Odd really, that a book about swings and get ups is able to do that but still.
Me too.
 
Hard to make a list, but:

1. Does it Matter? - Alan Watts
2. Much of what Robert Heinlein wrote. His stock "competent man" character was an important role model to me.
3. Gaia's Garden - Toby Hemenway
4. Tao Teh Ching - Lao Tzu
5. Brother Iron, Sister Steel - Dave Draper, more inspiration than anything.
6. Dinosaur Training - Brooks Kubik. Got me interested in odd objects and farmers walks.

As soon as I hit "post reply", I'll think of 16 more. ;)
 
So many good suggestions already...I might have a toread least for some time to come (I read stupid fast).

In no order:
Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
Letters from a Stoic, Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Dao De Jing, Laozi
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein (you really can't go wrong with any of his stuff, but this and Starship Troopers (don't judge by the movie...that thing was terrible) are my faves)
Johnathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach (Also, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah)
The Art of Learning, Josh Waitzkin
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo (practical guide for applying Laozi's "To gain wisdom, remove something every day.")
Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn
 
@Billy59 Dinosaur Training, Thank you. I have heard about it from time to time, but never read it. I just got the second edition, and will let you know how I like it. I think it fits in with my style of training. In the first paragraph of chapter 1 he states Trap Bar Deadlifts are one of the best exercises you can do, I like Brooks Kubik already.

Have you ever read Rock, Iron, Steel by Steve Justa. That book has influential to me. It helped me realize I do a lot of things right, and helped me do a lot of things better. His mentality matched mine, with his no bull, practical, hard work approach to lifting stuff.
 
@Geoff Chafe Rock, Iron, and Steel is a powerful book. It shares the "unstoppable" attitude of "Dinosaur Training". Both books need to be taken with a grain of sand, but then, most books do.

My home gym is inspired by both books. I do have a shed full of "normal" barbell/dumbbell stuff, but not I've also got my farmer's bars, stones, sandbags and random junk to play with.
 
@Billy59. "The Shed of Strength", cool. I have a similar set up in my basement gym. No stones yet, but I am always on the lookout for suitable, accessible river rocks. I have a few concrete blocks I made with plywood forms. I refuse to spend money on those atlas stone molds. To get them to Canada is too expensive. I wish I had enough room outside to play, but I have a suburban postage stamp backyard.
 
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Great discussion!

This is my top book currently....

"Squat everyday" by Matt Perryman.


This book affected my life greatly several months ago. It's about physical training (as you can guess by the title) but the content has a deep wisdom that makes you question your long held beliefs/ perceptions ~ reality and your potential.

Some key themes in it for me were... Is what your brain telling you true? How do you know it's true? What would happen if you found out what you believed was not how it really 'is'?

I had some MASSIVE shifts in my thinking after reading and re-reading it. These have led to some great changes in the quality of my life.

My other influential books, in no particular order:
  • Unbeatable mind (excellent, excellent, excellent) - Mark Divine
  • The alchemist - Paulo Coelho
  • Rich Dad, poor Dad series - Robert Kiyosaki
  • How to talk to anyone - Leil Lowndes
  • Challenge to Terror - 'Turk' Westerling
  • My voice will go with you - Dr Milton Ericson
  • Way of the peaceful warrior - Dan Millman
  • How to eat, move and be healthy - Paul Chek
  • Move your DNA - Katy Bowman
  • Better than before - Gretchen Rubin
 
Nice thread

Here's a few more:

- jack reacher series (pulp fiction for guys, pure reading satisfaction)

- silo series by Hugh howey to get your science fiction on

- James Michener to learn history but also like the stories mixed in
 
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