10 Books to Blow Your Mind

From Hunter to Ayn, the Telegraph lists books you can 'wear like a leather jacket'

(NEWSER) - It’s hard to define the "cult" book, but the Telegraph compiled 50 of the top contenders that “rewire your head.”

• The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe (1968)
• Baby and Child Care by Dr Benjamin Spock (1946)
• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (1922)
• The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (1943)
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

Contemporary authors admit to the classics they've never tried—or tried and failed—to read

(NEWSER) - Just because they're accomplished writers doesn't mean they've made it through Ulysses. Slate asks contemporary authors to confess to the must-read classics they've never read:

1. Amy Bloom, Moby Dick
2. Stephen Carter, Harry Potter
3. Jennifer Egan, Buddenbrooks

Forbes picks the best based on selection and buyer experience.

(NEWSER) - Forbes picks the best based on selection and buyer experience.

1. abebooks.com
2. amazon.com
3. audible.com
4. bn.com
5. powells.com

Novelist refutes magazine, says it was a bad reaction to sleeping pill

(NEWSER) - Philip Roth isn't happy with the Atlantic: A recent piece in the magazine said he suffered from "a 'crack-up' in his mid-50s," and the novelist says that's simply "not true." The Atlantic Wire points out that the episode, "whatever you call it," has been widely discussed in past articles and interviews, but the novelist rejects the term "crack-up." The truth, says Roth, is that he suffered an "adverse reaction" to a sleeping pill called Halcion in the 1980s. More»

No. 1 is Alexandria, Virginia

(NEWSER) - If you think America's bookworms live in New York or San Francisco, think again. Amazon has released its list of the country's 20 most well-read cities, and they hail from such states as Michigan and Florida, reports Reuters . Top honors goes to Virginia's Alexandria, and though Berkeley and Cambridge do indeed make the top five, they're joined by Ann Arbor and Boulder. Wait til you see who's sixth: More»