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The Crossing
by Cormac McCarthy
The language/vocabulary is so heavy that frequently I would find myself needing to reread a passage or page. This helped me to really work on focusing and concentrating on the text. The style of minimalistic dialogue was very interesting and while I will probably not create dialogue similar, it gave me a different perspective. The hopeless and depressing ending really challenged me to think about how books can end. I've never really thought about ending a story like it would be in real life...it doesn't end, life just goes on, good or bad.

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Hell's Angels
by Hunter S. Thompson
This was my first Hunter S. Thompson book. His journalistic style was very entertaining and "in-your-face". I really enjoyed and will try to emulate his way of presenting a reader information that will be moving or shocking.

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On the Road
by Jack Kerouac
This book reinforced the idea to stick with a book, especially knowing that it is highly regarded and a classic. It took close to fifty pages before I "really" began to dig this incredible book. Kerouac does an incredible job of writing characters and absurd situations. The writing is incredible in that there really is no action or grand climatic events, rather, just characters, themes and settings that drive the interest of the reader all the way to its anti-climatic (but great) ending.

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Ham on Rye
by Charles Bukowski
This book showed me that entertaining and incredible writing doesn't have to be beautiful or even half way nice, for that matter. Bukowski is known for his "dirty realism" and it was very apparent within pages. The dark, depressing happenings were terrible, but like a wreck on the side of the road, impossible to turn away from. What really struck me as well was that the language was not overly polished either. Though Bukowski definitely included some million dollar words, most of the text was written in an everyman style. I cannot wait to read Bukowski again and even know what will be next, Post Office.

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Naked Lunch
by William S. Burroughs
The books I have read over the summer relate in that the authors (H.S. Thompson, Bukowski, Kerouac & Burroughs) are linked as authors that are very often read and enjoyed together. Burroughs is also linked with Kerouac as being one of the voices of the Beat Generation. I knew this going into the book, but was very surprised to see how different this was to Kerouac's book! Where as On the Road was very descriptive and straightforward, Naked Lunch was anything but, written in a surrealistic style that required the reader to see the text in their minds eye and interpret rather than follow a traditional three act story arc. In fact I found out after reading that the chapters were all written and different times and were put arranged in their order after all was finished, really breaking the mold of writing a beginning, middle and end. While I will probably not be so bold to write in this style, this book definitely made me more open-minded and expanded my own perception of how a story "should" be.

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Post Office
by Charles Bukowski
To compare this book to Ham on Rye, the first Bukowski book that I read, Post Office is much lighter in theme. Though the same cynical, negative view of everything is there, in Post Office it manifests itself as exaggerated and comical where as the view on life in Ham on Rye was bleak, depressing and without hope, it seemed. Bukowski does a great job developing his characters, making them seem real, if not a little cartoonish. Bukowskit somehow makes you root for the most terrible person in the room again in this book. My wonder is, how close was the day-to-day life of a postal worker back in the day to the story that Bukowski tells? How much research or experience did he have with that life?

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Kitchen Confidential
by Anthony Bourdain

This book has had a major impact in my day to day thinking. Bourdain as a philosopher is thought provoking from covering a range from "that makes great sense and changes my world view" to "this guy is crazy, how is he not on the street or in jail"? His honest and open vulnerability of his failures and shortcomings is a rare look at what it actually takes to reach the top in any given area (that and knowing the right people, how you have dealt with them in the past and of course, luck).
Also, reading his autobiography has made me look deeper in the culinary world, opening my eyes to things that I never even realized were there. I have also done more inquiry into french cuisine and chef knives. In fact I have recently purchased my very first "real" chef knife in a Zwilling Funf Sterne Kochmesser.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to expand their view of the world around them as Bourdain makes a book about his rise in the cooking world more about the "hidden worlds" we live in the midst of.

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
by Ken Kesey

This was a read that was long overdue. Cuckoo's Nest has long been one of my favorite movies and Jack Nicholson's performance is one of the best of all time. However it wasn't until recently discovering the overlap of my favorite authors and their lives (H.S. Thompson, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Keroauc and Kesey pop up in the same circles).
This book was a wonderful example that a great movie and great book can be vastly different whilst maintaining the same story. This book is different from the classic movie. I was not expecting Big Chief Bromden as the narrator. It added mood and tone as you quickly find out that your narrator is struggling to see the world through eyes clouded by mental disorders. You have to sift through Chief's perceptions to what might (or might not) actually be happening. Bromden's opening is spot on, "Everything here is the truth, even if it didn't happen."
The themes are both elating and shattering. The duality of man, McMurphy is both completely selfish but shows heart and selflessness so often. Bringing change and then learned helplessness as McMurphy brings life and color to the ward, but it takes only a day or one group session for everyone else to acquiesce to the way things were, the frustrating realization that someone can work hard to change things but most people are not willing to keep up the work on their own volition.
Of course the wonderful debate the reader is able to carry on in their head of who does or does not belong in the ward, the idea that the definition of sane or insane is so subjective based on who is making the decision and what the population around them is like.
Would definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for a slightly easy reading (under 300 page) existential exercise.

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The Proud Highway
by Hunter S. Thompson

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Still Life with Woodpecker
by Tom Robbins

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How to Change Your Mind
By Michael Pollan

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Tortilla Flat
By John Steinbeck

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The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
By Alan Watts

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All the Pretty Horses
By Cormac McCarthy

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Once Upon an Alp
By Eugene V. Epstein