Recommended Reading
Here’s where I tell you about books I like and you can form judgments based on the selections. Here you go:Religion-ish Books:
Anything by Thich Nhat Hanh, but especially: Old Path, White Clouds (about the life of the Buddha), The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings (highlighting many Buddhist teachings), Transformation at the Base (about Buddhist psychology) and Master Tang Hoi (about the first Zen Master in Vietnam).
Hardcore Zen, by Brad Warner. Brad is a friend, Buddhist teacher and an all around nice guy.
Dharma Punx by Noah Levine . Another friend, Buddhist teacher and all around nice guy.
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki
Not Always So by Shunryu Suzuki
What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula
Breath by Breath by Larry Rosenberg
The Way It Is by Ajahn Sumedho
The Dhammapada, translated by Ananda Maitreya
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
A Heart To Heart Chat On Buddhism With Old Master Gudo by Gudo Nishijima
To Meet the Real Dragon by Gudo Nishijima
The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell
Owning Your Own Shadow by Robert A. Johnson
He by Robert A. Johnson
There’s a lot more, but that’s a good start.
Star Wars Books
I’ve never been a big EU fan, so my experience with Star Wars novels leaves a lot to be desired, but there are a few I really like.
Matthew Stover’s novelization of Revenge of the Sith is simply awesome. If you haven’t read it click the X in the red box in the upper right-hand corner of this screen and proceed to the nearest bookseller now!
Shatterpoint also by Matthew Stover is quite good.
Labyrinth of Evil by James Luceno and his follow up to Revenge of the Sith, Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader.
Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Triology.
The “Tales” anthologies edited by Kevin J. Anderson: Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, Tales of the Bounty Hunters and Tales from Jabba’s Palace. (I can’t remember if I read Tales from the Empire, so I won’t recommend it).
Splinter of the Mind’s Eye by Alan Dean Foster
The Star Wars Annotated Screenplays by Laurent Bouzereau.
And the famous The Jedi Master’s Quizbook by Rusty Miller. Whatever happened to that kid?
Other Books
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (that’s right, To Kill a Mockingbird)
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien (forget the films, read the books)
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
All the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Henry V, Hamlet, Othello and King Lear by Billy Shakes
The Autobiography of Malcom X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley
Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima
I like Harry Potter.