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A lot of "must reads" depend on your background and interest. GEB for example I would classify as a must for anyone with a computer science background, The Glory of their Times for any baseball fan, Democracy in America for anyone into American politics.

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I have a solid CS background and tried once to read GEB and while very enthralling I could only get about a quarter through. I will have to try that one again. Cheers.

I stalled out after a couple of the chapters the first time I tried GEB. Let it sit for a year or two, picked it up again and got totally enthralled and just plowed through it. I think maybe you have to be in just the right mood, or at just the right place mentally, to really want to jump into GEB. But when you do... what a rush.

It took me multiple cracks too! The CS content comes halfway, which was more penetrable and satisfying.

Moneyball is another great one for baseball fans.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine is another good one for people interested in American politics.

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