My own writing projects may be a reason but not an excuse for not being a lot more well-read than I am. Of what I've read, this is what stayed with me. I've confined this selection what's on my shelf. This was even a harder list to pick than my favorite film list, especially with both fiction and non-fiction to consider. To even be considered for this page I had to liked a book enough to read twice, and/or it so influenced both my philosophy, my politics, my writing style, in addition to being wildly entertaining. I kept moving titles around between positions, off the top list, etc., and I arrived at this. Some, like Fear & Loathing, I've read countless times.
Top Ten:
1. Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, Richard Bach
2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
3. The Key, Cheri Huber/Zen Buddhist Center
4. Myth of the Goddess, Baring & Cashford
5. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
6. The New Centurions, Joseph Wambaugh
7. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts
8. See No Evil, Robert Baer
9. Homeboy, Seth Morgan
10. L.A. Confidential, James Ellroy
Honorable Mention:
All of Hunter S. Thompson
All of Chuck Palahniuk
All of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
All of Phillip K. Dick
All of Joseph Wambaugh
All of James Ellroy
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
The Stand, Firestarter, Different Seasons, Stephen King
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach
Postcards from the Edge, Carrier Fisher
Water to the Angels, Les Standiford
All the President's Men, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
Sex, Lies & Politics, Larry Flynt
The Great Gatsby,Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Assault on Reason, Albert S. Gore, Jr.
Siddhartha, Herman Hesse
Ham on Rye, Charles Bukowski
A Rumor of War, Means of Escape, Phillip Caputo
Master of Disguise, Tony Mendez
Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin
Virtual Light, William Gibson
Strip Tease, Carl Hiaason
Warrior Soul, Chuck Pfarrar
Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson