Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Zob's Top Reads
24
items It started as the Benable prompted practice list. I didn't sign up to recommend books, but I got slightly diverted and addicted 😆. A theme of escaping to unfamiliar worlds, historical and/or fantastical, has emerged in my fictional book choices. Non...
Sections
2
Fiction
Non Fiction
Fiction
A list of some of my favourite novels. I sometimes binge an author when I find one I like, but I'm limiting myself to one book per author here, for variety. Adjusted to USA links for my American visitors.
My first recommendation is the book that popped into my head when asked for a book I love 🙂 I remember particularly enjoying the part set in the Dutch outpost.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
The next book that comes to mind, a subtle and strange tale from Haruki Murakami.
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Recommendation no.3 is the Secret History by Donna Tartt. Compelling characters, tension, paranoia and murder on the campus.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
No.4, I had to have some sci-fi in here. The first of the imaginative Culture novels from Iain M Banks.
Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks
To round off my first 5, Under The Skin by Michael Faber. A great read, and it's always interesting to see the difference between the book and the film treatment.
Under The Skin by Michel Faber
Need a bookmark for my book recommendations? This one features my zombie robin logo, sleepingwalking back to his nest, with “Unwind your mind with a book” on the reverse. You can customize that text using “Personalize this template” on the Zazzle pro...
Zobin Logo Unwind Your Mind Bookmark
I've covered history and fantasy, this escape is into ‘the extreme’. Any Chuck Palahniuk book would fit, I've chosen Lullaby, a novel about a killer poem.
Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
For many years I only knew Salman Rushdie as the victim of religious death threats (!), and assumed his writing would be serious, polemical, perhaps non fiction. This novel is both richly fantastical and historical, and also funny.
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
A sweeping multi generational tale in the magical realism genre.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I came to Stephen King very late, having only experienced his work through film adaptations (which I believe he often doesn't rate). Now I'm intrigued to learn more about the Dark Tower world after reading the first in the series, The Gunslinger.
The Gunslinger (Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
A rich, historical tale set at the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
Birds Without Wings by Louis De Bernieres
"Feed your imagination with a book" is the caption on the reverse of this, my second bonus bookmark recommendation, designed and drawn by me. Use “Personalize this template” on the Zazzle product page to edit the text if desired. Spot the robin from ...
Feed Your Imagination Magic Pie Bookmark
Non Fiction
A collection of non fiction recommendations combining the inner world of the brain, and the outer world of human evolution up to the emergence of society and nations. Does that cover enough ground? 😆
A book with interesting insights into the inequalities of the modern world through accidents of geography & biodiversity, transfer of ideas, colonialism etc
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Read as a counterpoint and companion to Guns, Germs & Steel, with more of a leaning towards cultural and political events.
The Wealth and Poverty of Nations by David Landes
A study of geopolitics through the medium of ten maps, which together span the globe. Tim Marshall is a respected, regular contributor in the UK media, and the sleeve notes still feel current 10 years after publishing.
Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall
A book with a clever device, tracing evolution in reverse like a pilgrimage from the modern human to simple bacteria. Various steps in development are told through the most appropriate organisms along the journey.
The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins
An extensive & brave attempt to convince people that they've never had it so good. Life was brutish, short, sometimes cruel, yet today the modern media would have us believe things are awful (and this is before the later onslaught of social media...
The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker
You've heard of Bratwurst. We interrupt these book recommendations to bring you PQRST, the study sausage! My bookmark designed to summarise the PQRST study technique in a short and handy format. Ideal for absorbing your non fiction reads.
PQRST - The Study Sausage! Bookmark
Carl Sagan's exploration of false beliefs & phoney arguments. My abiding take away from this book is the Baloney Detection Kit, a good introduction into the logical fallacies people use when debating. Not publicised enough sadly, because everybod...
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
A fascinating look into the workings of the brain, the subconscious, notions of identity and free will. I have a few books on this subject, this is probably the most accessible.
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman
Unlike the Ancestor's Tale (ironically because RIchard Dawkins would be considered strident in some quarters), this book is a direct rebuttal to the attacks on evolution by Creationists & Intelligent Design advocates. Donald Prothero doesn't both...
Evolution by Donald R. Prothero
The non fiction book which sparked a flurry of interest in similar subjects for me. A “travelogue of science” which takes us on a tour of the history of scientific discovery.
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Six consolations including for unpopularity, frustration, and a broken heart, from six notable philosophers. Both insightful of the human condition and a focused introduction to six thinkers and their characteristic approach to a subject.
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain De Botton
Take notes as you read with a notebook featuring my pixel art style red rose in repeat. Featuring an occasional ribbon for a title which you can edit by using “Personalize this template” on the Zazzle product page.
Pixel Red Rose Pattern with Title Ribbon Notebook