Good reading makes a good lawyer

Over the past few months, I have been spending some of my down-time reading some great books. I found a website - 100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library

Whether that list of 100 books is necessarily exclusive to men is obviously debatable. However, I do think it is a good collection of classics and potential classics that hold a considerable amount of knowledge, and entertainment.

I decided to read all or at least most of the books on that list, with the hopes that I might better myself. Enough of the John Grisham books. Besides, his latest work absolutely sucked. I'm ready for something bigger, something better.

So, to date, I have read from the list:

1. The Hobbit (read numerous times)
2. The Great Gatsby (I hated this book, and wouldn't even render a review of it)
3. 1984 (read a long time ago, and thought it was very depressing)
4. The Catcher in the Rye (I absolutely loved this book, and will provide some comments later on)
5. The Picture of Dorian Gray (a very strange, but fascinating read)
6. Brave New World (so strange, but very thought provoking. I will provide comments later)
7. Animal Farm (read a long time ago)
8. Frankenstein (one of my favourite stories, but getting to be a downer when I read it over again)
9. The Stranger (L'Etranger) by Albert Camus - one of my all-time favourite books, I have read it at least 10 times in both English and French.
10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I absolutely loved this one. I liked the legal aspect of it, but it had so much more to say. More comments forthcoming.
11. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I really, really enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book, and think that I will be a better person for having read the first 3/4. The last part had way too much US history that was totally irrelevant or over my head.
12. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I have read this book a couple times and really enjoy it. I am planning to buy a motorcycle soon, so I might have to read it again soon to relive the great feelings portrayed in this book.

I am currently reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris and Into the Wild by John Krakauer. I am really enjoying both, especially the latter. I have started The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, but it is slow going.

I tried A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, but found it too wispy of a book. Almost contrived. Maybe I was missing something. I got about 1/2 way through before abandoning it.

So, not too bad. Am I a better man now? I think so. I find myself thinking about these books a lot, especially the ones I have read in the past three months. I find I am thinking on a higher plain. Am I a better lawyer? Maybe - at least, I am more present in my thinking, and not just bogged down in real estate documents and wills and contracts.

Have any books that you would add to this list? Either for being a better person, or for being a better lawyer?