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Yes; Life of Pi is one of the most beautiful 3D movies I've seen, and a good story (based on an award winning book). I'm having trouble convincing people to go see it though...

I found it takes a weird turn after 2/3 or so that made me dislike it but maybe that is just me 30 years ago, and I only read it once. It reminded me in a way of Life of Pi. It starts as one type of book and starts morphing.

Fiction:

1. Life of Pi - Yann Martel

2. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas : An awesome closeup of revenge

3. The complete Sherlock Holmes series : 'nuff said.

Non fiction:

1. Cosmos - Carl Sagan : I fell in love with science post-reading this book.

2. October Sky - Homer Hickham : A real life story of how a group of boys in a backwater town build a rocket that changes their lives.

3. Chariots of the Gods - Erich Von Daniken - A real mind bender, even if you choose not to agree with his ideas.

As an avid reader, I don't think plot is unimportant in the enjoyment of books.

In fact, foreknowledge of plot and detail color your experience of reading the book such that successive rereads each have a different character in many cases.

Imagine the first time you read a book like The Time Traveler's Wife, Life of Pi, Never Let Me Go, A Tale of Two Cities, The Count of Monte Cristo, or The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Now, imagine the second time reading through any of those books; the experience will be greatly changed by the knowledge and anticipation of what you know is coming.

Some people may not think that change in experience is important, but some definitely will. I don't think there's any reason to look down on either group, nor to look down on people who chose to respect the latter.

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance - A book on philosophy, can go as deep as you like. Was written over 25 years ago, but feels very fresh. My key take away from this book was that you should be humble enough to appreciate various models of the world - e.g. Science or Religion. Favorite quote: "When you have a Chatuahaha in your head, you can't resist inflicting it on innocent people". Still makes me smile :-)

Life of Pi - Bought it following the buzz of the movie. Read the book first, then saw the movie. A good simple read. Sort of reinforces, the 'various models' idea of the 'Zen...' book. Found the movie slightly better than the book, which was a surprise. Ang Lee has made subtle changes, which makes the story more peppy.

Perfect Rigor - Captures the story (and math) behind, the turning down of a million dollar prize by Gregory Perelman. The genius Russian mathematician, who solved a 100 year old standing problem, of the missing proof of the Poincare Conjecture. It was perhaps my best technical read of the year.

I am feeling Lucky (by Doug Edwards): Google's emplpyee number 59, writes about his experience at Google. I found it the best book on Google. Better than some of the others, which seem a bit like officially authorized versions.

Below ones I read it in 2011. But haven't posted here, so here goes:

Born to Run (By Chris Mcdougall): A health book. Has really helped my running. Highly recommended to all.

A guide to a good life: The ancient art of Stoic Joy (By Joseph Irvine): A very good book on philosophy. Read it on the reco (http://sivers.org/book) of Derek Sivers.

Non-fiction:

Coders at Work by Peter Siebel and Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston - I loved reading about the founder's stories and first-hand perspectives of notable programmers.

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton - really interesting perspective on "work" and various types of careers and people that find happiness in them/work itself.

Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner - even if you don't agree with their arguments or think that the authors are all fluff, I think that their writing style is exceptionally clear and easy to understand.

The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - some really interesting ideas and analysis, although the book could have been 1/2 as short

Fiction:

Anathem by Neal Stephenson - starts out slow but after the first 200 pages it became a really great story that I couldn't put down.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel - loved the main story of the book, the controversial ending didn't bother me too much because I don't feel like it takes away from the story at all.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson - cheap fun and suspenseful

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - I don't think much needs to be said about this book

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - extremely interesting and gripping novel about a side of the world most of us Westerners never see

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - finally read this classic. I read the "Ultimate Edition" which contains all 5 of Adams' novel, loved the first one but the story felt like it started to putter out by the third.

Life of Pi, chapter 70 http://www.litcharts.com/lit/life-of-pi/chapter-70

Not so much math. Life of Pi was a 2001 novel about the son of a zoo manager and his life after being shipwrecked with a Tiger.

It was made into a 2011 movie, that had a home release in 2012, which no doubt also had a anti-piracy campaign by the studio around the same time as the movie and home release.

A few personal favorites:

Nil Magnum Nisi Bonum - from Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Translates roughly to No Greatness Without Goodness

Ars longa, vita brevis - Art is long, life is short

“He who is afraid to ask is ashamed of learning.” — Danish proverb

"Fortune favors the prepared mind." -Pasteur

“Champions behave like Champions before they are Champions” - Bill Walsh