Recommended Reading

This list of reading materials is provided to broaden CouchSurfing Philosophy through a surveying of other ideas, people, and movements that relate to some of the ideas behind CouchSurfing as experiences by users themselves. Some people may be interested in reading about other projects similar to CouchSurfing or may want to explore the value adjustment that they go through while CouchSurfing through the literature. It is expected that the list will be predominantly in English but feel free to include other-language resources if you think that they could be helpful. If you think that CouchSurfers would enjoy a book that you have read, list it below.

If you own a book that you really think others should read, you might consider setting it free.

Please include links to free downloads of the book and other resources if book is available under a Creative Commons license, or in the Public Domain in the United States.

English Language Reading

Fiction

• The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• The Plague by Albert Camus
• Siddhartha by Herman Hesse free at Gutenberg in English and German
• Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse
• The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Joy of Man's Desiring by Jean Giono (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Solitude of Compassion by Jean Giono (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Appaloosa Rising: The Legend of the Cowboy Buddha by Gino Sky (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig Anu 03:49, 27 November 2006 (EST)
• Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow (released under a Creative Commons license, you can legally download it). (phauly, Guaka)
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (Guaka)
• Everyone in Silico by Jim Munroe (Guaka)
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Rach0910^TalkCS)
• Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Kamigaeru^CS)
• Blindness by Jose Saramago (Kamigaeru^CS)
• Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins (RedCouchGuy^CS)
• The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
• The Rievers by William Faulkner
• You Can't Go Home Again by Tomas Wolf
• Oranges are not the only fruit by Jeannette Winterson (strange quarks)
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
• Philosophy in the Bedroom by Marquis de Sade (warning: strong language and sexuality) - free at Marquis de Sade Electronic Library
• The Castle by Franz Kafka

Non-Fiction

• The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz (Luna1^TalkCS)
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
• Shadow Mountain by Renee Askins
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau available free on Project Gutenberg and free in audiobook form on Librivox (James)
• A Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn (Guaka, Beito)
• Letters to a Young Artist by Julia Cameron (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Starlight and Storm by Gaston Rebuffat (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Meetings With Remarkable Men by G. I. Gurdjieff (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Vagabonding in Europe and North Africa by Ed Buryn (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Something Good For A Change: Random Notes On Peace Thru Living by Wavy Gravy. (Luna1^TalkCS)
• Global Beat Fusion by Derek Beres. (Luna1^TalkCS)
• The Hacker Ethic and the Spirit of the New Economy by Pekka Himanen. (phauly^TalkCS)
• Los Papalagi by Erich Scheurmann. (phauly^TalkCS)
• City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre. (phauly^TalkCS)
• Free Culture by Larry Lessig (Guaka^TalkCS)
• The Wealth of Networks by Yochai Benkler (Guaka^TalkCS)
• We the Media by Dan Gillmor (Guaka^TalkCS)
• Stand Still Like The Hummingbird by Henry Miller (Luna1^TalkCS)
• The Case Against The Global Economy Edited by Jerry Mander & Edward Goldsmith (Luna1)
• Rebuilding Community in America by Ken Norwood & Kathleen Smith. - Relevant to not just Amerika (Luna1)
• A Pattern Language Chistopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa & Murry Silverstein (Luna1)
• A Brief History of the Future: the Origins of the Internet by John Naughton (strange quarks)
• Wind, Sand and Stars Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Luna1^TalkCS)
• A Guide for Grown-ups Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Luna1^TalkCS)¨

Biography

• Kerouac by Ann Charters

Non-English Language Reading

Fiction

• Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
• Las Armas Secretas by Julio Cortazar
• Alguien que anda por ahi by Julio Cortazar

Non-Fiction

• Decolonizzare l'immaginario. Il pensiero creativo contro l'economia dell'assurdo Serge Latouche (Italian version - The original is in French - It has not been translated in English, the title could possibly be translated as "Deconolonize imagination: Creative thinking against the absurd economy") (phauly^TalkCS)

Biography

• Free as in Freedom, about the life of RMS