Walden

I know what you're thinking: you're remembering back to high school when you were forced to read this book cover to cover, and after you finished, you instantly shredded and burned your copy. While I can understand where these poor high school students are coming from, I think you might want to re-visit this old classic, especially in light of today's hectic lifestyle.

Since it is a collection of essays, Walden has no narrative, which makes the lengthier passages about as interesting as watching grass grow.This, however, is part of the book's charm. The very point of Walden is to force the reader to slow down, to read about a lazier and simpler lifestyle. If you're reading the book to just get through it, or to seem like an intellectual in front of your friends, you will have a miserable time.

If one reads the book simply for its own sake, however, the true beauty of it comes out. The book is an ode to the poetry and the philosophy in every day life that we constantly miss. Thoreau hopes, desperately hopes, that maybe somebody will pick up the book and realize what they've been missing all this time. They might hear the call of the loon out behind their house, and go out to watch the morning sun rise.

In short, if you want a thriller, or a heartrending tale of despair, or even just a book that you can read to the kids at bed time, this is most definitely not the one you want. But if you ever feel the need to just sit down and clear your mind, there will never be a book more suited to such a purpose than this one.