I just read a Case of Conscience about a priest/biologist who is on a planetary approval expedition. He comes to think that the planet is evil, even though it's heresy. (I'm explaining it badly.)

Anyways, I'd love to know other books that you enjoyed that made you think. A good mystery, a plot twisting novel, science fiction, an autobiography, anything.

Farenheit 451, White Noise and that book by Lois Lowry...I can't remember the name currently. Those are a few of my favorites. If I think of more, I'll put them down.

So, any deep thinking books?

I like books by Chuck Palahniuk for thought-provoking. He's always got really good, if somewhat harsh and sick, commentary on the human condition. Fight Club, Survivor, and Invisible Monsters do that best out of all his work.

I just read a book called Blink, about a young man that can see possible futures. Really interesting view on the Middle East, American culture and the possibility of God. very good.

I haven't read any of Palahunik's books yet, but my sister is a huge fan. She thinks I shouldn't read them until I'm "ready". Not sure why...

Originally Posted by fairywaif

She thinks I shouldn't read them until I'm "ready". Not sure why...

That'd be because he's got a very dark style, and some of what he writes is explicitly disturbing and sometimes disgusting. They're the sort of thing that requires some stomach and the right attitude to read... But they're good, and thought provoking.

Hrm, three books come to mind immediately. Jack the Bodiless, Incarnations of Immortality(there's really five books to that), and The Book of Lost Things.
Especially that last one.

I'll have to check those out... do you know the authors?

I was trying to think of a book that made me think but there are so many books that I've read that have made think in some way or another that I was getting slightly confused. Anyways some books that I consider the ones that make you think a lot are:

Crime and Punishment
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Waiting for the Barbarians (Coetze)
Bridge to Terabithia (it may not seem like it's a thoughtful book but if you really look at the book from a different perspective you see the value of imagination and friendship)
Tom Holt books (they're strange and you don't get them at first but it makes you question your thought process)
The Republic (plato)

I don't remember any of the other books that I would have added.

The book that I'm reading just now... Raja Yoga but Swami Vivekanand....It really does make me think.
Make me realize how much a human being can achieve..actually the possibilities are endless. One just needs the focus and perseverance and belief to get get what one wants and they would surely in the end.
But I find I cannot even get up early in the morning to do 5 mins. of exercise..SO I wonder how will i ever manage to achieve all those promised stuff. If only I had a strong desire for anything in life.:|

Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko, I'm not really sure why I just made me think about human kind. Like how there really is no black and white, or good and evil just and endless gray. I would assume Daywatch by the same author would be just as thought provoking. ^_^

Hmmm.... I read a lot but the frist three that come to mind are:
Go Ask Alice : Anonymus (sp? >>;; )
I Don't Want to be Crazy
and
Wallflower

all kind of the same theme- but they all got me thinking ^_^
(oh but some of the above ones are great too!)

Jacob I Have Loved. That book effected me profoundly and every one should read it.

I know the catcher in the rye has definately made many go crazy in thoughts. Personally the book that made me change my perceiving of the world around me was white fang. I never really thought someone could go good like that. I can understand why it's a classic

The Fountainhead got me to thinking about being ones true self despite the pressures from the outside world. Very good book! Good story but also a good message.

Good Omens, as fantasy as it is, really makes you think about the human race

Rash by Pete Hautman is a good one. It made me think how close we really are to having a "safe" future.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I don't know if it's much of a thinker as it is a good read. I believe it would be a "deep think" at some points as it is rather scientific in the middle. Don't be discouraged by the grammar/spelling in the beginning. There is a point to it.

Just about any of Michael Crichton's books. Timeline and Prey are the two I have read. Those books actually got me interested in quantum physics.

1984 by George Orwell. I haven't read this one yet but I have started it. It is rather interesting so far.

Originally Posted by lslines

I like books by Chuck Palahniuk for thought-provoking. He's always got really good, if somewhat harsh and sick, commentary on the human condition. Fight Club, Survivor, and Invisible Monsters do that best out of all his work.

I agree so much with this. Palahniuk definitely makes you think. I can generally read books straight through but his always make me pause and go "...what?" and get me pondering about what I just read. As shocking and disturbing as his stuff can be, I love it. I think Haunted got me the most, and Fight Club is one of my favorite books ever.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursual K. Le Guin made pause and think as well, as did The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I especially recommend The Left Hand of Darkness.

Hmmm

I read Second Opinions by Jerome Groopman.
It is basically a collection of cases he had as a doctor. It is about how you should always get a second opinion from another doctor. Maybe even a third or fourth. The stories are interesting, and make you think. I must admit, I recently went to the doctor and was kinda nervous, after reading those stories of doctor's misdiagnoses.....You just can't swallow this book whole like I do with other books. You just can't. Or at least I can't, and I'm pretty good at swallowing books whole.....But I totally recommend this book!

Sophie's World is a book that deffinitely makes you think.

I read "A Brave New World" in high school, it made me think a lot about what type of society we live in. The book is a satire, does any one know what that is? I am sure you all do, it is a sarcastic story about how things are seen. The whole story is about a man who lives in a world filled with sex and more sex. At the very end he wanted to see more then life full of sex and ends up committing suicide. If you think about it, the world around us views sex as a liberal, everyone does it aptitude. Not that it is a bad thing, however, this liberal view of sex has caused diseases to sky rocket.

Another story that made me think about life was "The Giver", it was a depressing book about how people just block out the obvious. This little society blocks out everything worth while in life because they view it as a bad thing. Colors, fun, excitement; even the family units are uniform and "perfect". Until one boy who is given the gift of site sees that this isn't how we should live.

Both those books where required reading in school, and both are worth reading. They are awesome stories that make you think about life and where we are heading.