Saul's booklist

i've been meaning to take the time to compose a booklist for the many people that ask all the time what i'm reading or what books i might suggest. now, firstly, i am just a young kid that walks through bookstores and picks things at random realizing that there is no such thing as random. i prefer used bookstores because i imagine that those books store the energy of those who have read them and that itself can serve as a link to the content beyond the content (forgive me, i'm sounding philosophical today). secondly, my personal preference is usually fiction. i believe that good fiction writers do as much research as nonfiction writers, yet do not assert themselves as being capable of rendering a topic objectively. thus, they employ their imagination and intuition and encourage us to employ ours in reaching beyond the facts ("...matter is fact, so spirit must be fiction...metafiction"). so, here's a list of a few books that come to mind here in madison, wisconsin's howard johnson hotel. some of these books were read recently and other's years ago. these are basically the books that first come to mind. when i get home i'll look through shelves and see what books i like that i haven't remembered. anyway, i am very impressionable and some of these books have actually changed my life. this list is primarily books that i've read that have had some effect on me. this is not necessarily a "suggested reading" list. like i said, i choose to pay attention to the books that come up in my own personal experiences and perhaps you should do the same. i don't believe in mere coincidence (celestine prophecy). i like to put myself in the right place to receive what i desire. like one birthday of mine i wished that i had a good book to read so i went to my favorite bookstore, in ny at the time, and walked the aisles, and when terra nostra by carlos fuentes fell off the shelf i opened to that so-called "random" page, read, and knew that i had been gifted.

-autobiography of malcolm x
-autobiography of assata shakur
-the famished road by ben okri
-songs of enchantment by ben okri
-infinite riches by ben okri
-astonishing the gods by ben okri
-and all of his poetry books
-temple of my familiar by alice walker (my favorite book on relationships)
-everything by octavia butler (science fiction...read inside covers to find the right sequence)
-the fountainhead by ayn rand
-atlas shrugged by ayn rand
-the man who cried i am by john williams
-shark dialogues by kiana davenport
-song of the exile by kiana davenport
-siddhartha by herman hesse
-illusions: notebook of a reluctant messiah by richard bach
-conversations with god parts 1, 2, and 3
-celestine prophecy-call of shambala by james redfield
-mr. god this is anna by fynn
-zami by audre lourde
-everything by toni morrison (although i had a bit of difficulty with the last two)
-the hyperion series by dan simmons (science fiction)
-the neveryona series by samuel delany (science fiction)
-the gift by hafiz and anything else you can get your hands on (poetry)
-the essential writings of rumi (poetry)
-civilization or barbarism by cheik anta diop (history)
-cranial guitar by bob kaufman and whatever else you can find (poetry)
-everything by sylvia plath (poetry/fiction)
-birthday letters by ted hughes (poetry)
-paul robeson speaks
-autobiography of miles davis
-my soul to keep by tanarive due
-the living blood by tanarive due
-everything by zora neale hurston
-two thousand seasons by ayi kwe armah
-the healers by ayi kwe armah
-a question of power by bessie head
-poisonwood bible by barbara kingsolver (yep. oprah's booklist)
-a soldier of the great war by mark helprin
-cosmicomics by italo calvino
-terra nostra by CARLOS FUENTES
-be here now by ram dass
-it's here now (are you?) by bhagavan das
-the writings of krishna murti
-the tao te ching by lao tsu (i prefer the stephen mitchell translation)
-the fifth sacred thing by starhawk
-the complete poems of anne sexton.

http://www.americanrecordings.com/saulwilliams/frameset.html