"The Aeneid" by Virgil

 

Mark first read the Aeneid while he was studying Latin in high school, and he recounted the story of Aeneas's quest and his desire to build a city that, he said, quoting the text in English, "knows no boundaries in time and greatness." At one of the product meetings, Zuckerberg also quoted some lines from the Aeneid. ---- from interview to The New Yorker.

 

Most schoolchildren know the basics of the Trojan horse, but Virgil outlines all of the intriguing¹ details of myth and legend. While Virgil is no longer around to rejoice at his work's placement on numerous book lists, this unfinished epic² poem is still worth a read after nearly 2,000 years of translations.

 

"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card

 

Mark Zuckerberg listed this book as the only one on his Facebook profile.

 

Sensitive parents may not find Card's work to be one of the best books (or most uplifting) for child reading, according to commonsensemedia.org. However, book recommendations from newspapers like The Guardian³ point out that Ender Wiggins' adventures while training at Battle School (to wipe out war-hungry aliens) include explorations into timeless virtues⁴ of courage in the face of peer exclusion⁵. The book's prestigious⁶ accolades⁷, such as the Hugo Award and the Nebula⁸ Award, may make parents think twice about reading the book for themselves - as well as to find out if the themes are damaging to children or not.

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