Challenge Accepted: 10 of My Favorite Books

Well, Tristi Pinkston, you asked for it. I am responding to your challenge to list my 10 favorite books. Granted, it isn’t on Facebook, my challenge at the end is a little different, and I cheated a tiny bit. But I did it. Remember, I recently wrote about my lack of skill in picking favorites.

Of course, I need to add a disclaimer that this list is a wildly imperfect attempt at selecting 10 “favorites.” There are a couple of problems with that premise: I see it kind of like selecting the 10 best meals I have ever eaten. There have been so many that a few stand out, but I can hardly recall many of the rest of them.  Also, if you asked for a list next month, or a year from now, it could be very different.

Here is an honest effort. No mocking because I am not some brainiac literary type. I left off all Church books, as they are in a category all their own, and would hog most of the list. (Books are not ranked, but are somewhat in order as to when I encountered them in my life.)

Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, by Dr. Seuss

I remember my father reading Yertle the Turtle to me as a child. Every one of the FOMLs heard it a hundred times. I had it memorized, with character voices. (Yertle sounded a lot like Ross Perot.) I appreciate how Dr. Seuss threaded such important lessons into his stories. If Tolstoy had read Dr. Seuss, he could have wrapped up War & Peace in 100 pages.

 

The Adventures Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain

Tom Sawyer was the first book that made me laugh, andtruly frightened me. Encountering Injun Joe in the caves… Yikes!  Most people regard Huckleberry Finn as a better book, but I read Tom first, and he stuck with me.

 

 

The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkein

I vanished for part of my 6th grade year after I found out about Middle-Earth. I pounded through all volumes that year. I wish someone had told me to skip the parts written in Elvish. (And I might add that Peter Jackson somehow managed to create a film version that seemed as if he took the images out of my head.)

 

The Grapes of Wrath / East of Eden, by John Steinbeck

Yes, I’m cheating. Both of these books are rough, depressing looks at life in a rugged time that I will never experience. I read Grapes of Wrath as a teenager, and then again as an adult. It was amazing to use it to see how much life I had lived in-between, and how it changed my perspective.

 

I didn’t read East of Eden until a few years ago, when my literarily brilliant daughter gave me a copy. My biggest question regarding that book was why in the world had I not read it sooner? Again, a harsh book, set it a harsh time.

Steinbeck is famous for a reason – as both of these books show.

 

 

The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum

I was stuck in a motel in a tiny town, awaiting parts for my broken car. All I had was TV and The Bourne Identity. I blew through this book, and then was sad that it was over. Eventually there would be sequels, but this one is the best. Oh, and for the record, the movies hardly touched on what the books are actually about.

 

The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver

A fascinating, inspiring, tragic story of a missionary family that moves to the Congo to “save” the natives. The author’s use of multiple voices to tell the story is impressive.

Full disclosure: It helps that I read this book while traveling to and from Africa doing humanitarian work. (If I had to pick a #1, this would be it.)

 

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

You should love this book. It should be a law. Wonderful story, brilliant choice of narrator. Even if you saw the movie (it was fine) you should read the book.

 

 

Bonds That Make Us Free, by C. Terry Warner

I first encountered Dr. C. Terry Warner relatively early in my marriage and church service. Reading this book, and others created by the Arbinger Institute have made a dramatic impact on my perspectives regarding my relationship with my wife, kids, and everyone I interact with. Remarkable stuff. Life-changing stuff.

 

Man’s Search For Meaning,  by Viktor L. Frankl

A chronicle of a man’s experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp during WWII. A short read, but full of depth. Discussions of ideas such as how some people are able to remain kind and happy, even under the most horrific circumstances. Inspiring.

 

The Glass Castle: A Memoir, by Jeannette Walls

The unbelievably shocking story (often gasp-inducing) of a girl growing up in poverty in West Virginia. Despite her horrible circumstances, and whacked-out parents, she ended up surviving, and making something out of her life.

 

That is my list.  It wasn’t until I had typed them up that I noticed an obvious trend: I seem to gravitate towards difficult stories of people who are in terrible circumstances, and have to battle their way out. And several do not have what I would call a “happy ending.” There is not a romance, sci-fi, or comedy in the bunch. I don’t know what that says for me psychologically, but I do know that even though I read a lot of “fluff,” (Baldacci, Kontz, Grisham, Crichton, Dave Barry etc.) none of them made it on my list.

Go figure.

Since 10 was so limiting, I have generated a list of 10 Honorable Mentions:

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand. I read this last summer, and was amazed at the resilience and strength of Louis Zemperini. It belongs on the first list, but there wasn’t room. Movie coming out this Christmas. Link to trailer here.

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Technically not a book – it is a play. But if it were a book, it would rank in my Top Ten, because the Bard is the Bomb.

The Stand, by Stephen King.  A post apocalyptic (pandemic) epic horror novel that topped my list for a long time. But don’t read it. I used to love reading Stephen King, but as I got older and became more super-duper righteous, I couldn’t justify it anymore, as it became too hard on my spirit. I stopped with Tommyknockers in 1987 – Since then, I read only the serialized Green Mile (1996), and the non-fiction “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.” (2000)

Swan Song, by Robert McCammon. Another post-apocalyptic (nuclear) adventure. Similar in scope and feel to The Stand, but not as rough.

Kane & Abel (trilogy) and As the Crow Flies,  by Jeffrey Archer. Archer is a British writer that specializing in sweeping family epics that span generations, and even centuries. For the Family History buff in all of us.

Robert Francis Weatherbee: The Boy Who Would Not Go to School, by Munro Leaf A childhood picture book that teaches choice & consequence better than a thousand speeches. I have used it to teach adults in church classes.

Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation, by David A. Price. A fascinating look at the Jamestown debacle. Tons of stuff I never knew.

The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War, by Michael Shaara. A front-row seat to the Civil War, both on the front lines and behind the scenes. If you ever plan to visit Gettysburg battlefield, read this first.

Seven Keys to Happiness, by Don J. Black (1972). A gift to a teenage boy. I owe much thanks to Brother Black.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster, by Jon Krakauer. IN 1996 8 people died while attempting to climb Everest. I have always considered people who risk their lives to do this to be morons. This book confirms it. (Here is my previous post about Everest.) I would have put this higher on the list, but Jon Krakauer lost all credibility with his cruddy hatchet job of a book he wrote about the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

So there are ten more. I told you I am not a braniac literary type, but I do love reading.

MY CHALLENGE TO YOU

TURN OFF THE TV AND PICK UP A NOVEL.  READ IT, THEN READ 9 MORE.

Seriously. I have read that over 1/4 of Americans did not read a single book last year. Not one!

Reading makes you smarter, wealthier, more creative, and much more interesting to talk to. I said it here, and scientists have my back, here.

Pick up a book, read it, and encourage your kids to do the same. You don’t want stupid kids!

I would love to hear what books you love. Your lists will be wildly different from mine, and that is OK. As my gramps used to say, “If everybody liked the same thing, they’d all be chasin’ your gramma!”