This is something that I would normally put on my book blog, but since no one but me really reads that one, I'm putting it here. There are all sorts of book lists floating around out there, but I want to know what books people love.
What are your must-read books? What books have you loved for the story, the writing, or for some other reason? What books can you not imagine not having read? I'm looking for three, or five, or ten. . .whatever number it takes. I don't want The Bible. It's an easy answer. I don't want titles that you feel like you SHOULD suggest. I want to know the books that you've really loved.
To start you off, I'm going to list the first five that popped into my mind in no particular order:
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett, . . . And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmeyer, The Little House Books (Yes, I know that's more than one), Katherine by Anya Seton, and The Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell. These are all three books that in some way have influenced me, and that I have read multiple times.
I will list the rest of mine after I see what you all have to say.
24 comments:
The Kite Runner, and his second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Hosseini uses JUST the right amount/type of words to say things. It's beautiful writing about a not-so-beautiful subject. Shane. I will always be able to see Shane, in slow motion turn and fire in the saloon; the word pictures are that perfect. That's only 3, but they're good ones.
Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean.
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare
Sandman by Neil Gaiman (technically a graphic novel, but I think it counts)
Harry Potter (all of it!) by Jo Rowling
This isn't at all a complete list, and yeah- it's all fiction. While I wouldn't recommend all of them to everyone, these all in my life. While "this book changed my life" feels like a bit of an overstatement, I do know that all of them influenced me in some way. I've read, re-read, and re-read them again, over and over again.
Well, my html seems to have broken the comment.
It's "these all [mattered] in my life."
Books I absolutely love...
Anything by C.S. Lewis.. ok not specific enough. My favorites:
Chronicles of Narnia
The Great Divorce
Screwtape Letters
Tortured for Christ - those images will forever remain in my memory...
Books from my Childhood...
Indian Captive
Phantom Toll Booth
The Girl with the White Flag
Peace Child
The Calling
And yes... Harry Potter gets an honorable mention.
Guess that trip to B&N just whetted your appetite.
Lisle has a library, quintescential librarians, and a quiet apartment if that would be helpful.
Have you read Tom Clancy yet?
1001 Tales of Arabian Nights was a book I remember.
Zippy by Haven Kimmel . A fun read that I've returned many times just for the mirth.
You've probably read everything I've read. For fiction:
Harry Potter
Swallows & Amazons series
Sand-Reckoner;
and Beacon of Alexandria
Mitford series
Little House series
Little Britches series
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
I don't read many grown-up books. At least, not yet. I hope you find something good.
My favorite of all time:
The Kristin Lavransdatter Trilogy by Sigrid Undset.
(don't let the first pages of history at the beginning of the first book put you off! Plow through, and reap the reward:-)
~Beth Speers
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
A Skeleton in God's Closet by Paul Maier (one of the best suspense fiction I've ever read)
Anything by James Herriott, but particularly the series that goes:
All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All
Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris
The Little Princess (one of my all-time favorites) and the Secret Garden (a favorite, but not quite as much as Little Princess)
Pride & Prejudice (I've read it every year since I was 14)
Les Miserables (I actually LOVED this, but everyone else says it's too hard to get into)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
The Princess Bride (literally LAUGHING OUT LOUD through the whole thing. My copy is now so tattered and totally falling apart!)
For parents: Protecting the Gift by Gavin deBecker; Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax (and Boys Adrift and Girls on the Edge too!)
That's a smattering off the top of my head that I can think of that really hit me hard and stayed with me. I'm sure if I gave it some thought I could come up with 100 more "must-reads". Maybe I'll write my own 'what to read' book someday! ;)
Kristen Lavransdatter, by Undset. Her Master of Hestviken is really the better book as far as literary/important goes, but Kristen lives in full color in my head.
Jane Eyre, by Bronte. Same deal.
Les Miserables, by Hugo.
The Name of the Rose, by Eco.
The Children of Men, by James.
Middlemarch, by Eliot.
I'd type up my list, but I've already made you read (or you've made me read) all the books on it. :o)
Bepper, :)& <3.
My Name is Asher Lev.
Little Women
Anne of Green Gables (the series is fine, but the first book is the best)
Harry Potter
Little House series
Betsy-Tacy series
Winnie the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner
All-of-a-Kind Family series
Story of the Trapp Family Singers
The Lord of the Rings - it was the first time I realized what great literature could be and how woefully inadequate my reading had been till then.
Harry Potter - I can't imagine life without him
C.S. Lewis, in particular Narnia and The Space Triology. but ScrewTape Letters and Mere Christianity rank high
Jane Austin - she is comfort food
The Hammer of God - I read this at the urging of my hubby. And I'm so glad he did.
Parent Power - it helped keep me responsible
The Well Trained Mind - it was one of the first things I read on homeschooling and led us to desire something better for our children than the brick and mortar building could provide.
I'm sure there are others, but none are coming to mind at the present.
Books I haven't already seen mentioned:
Holding on to Hope - Nancy Guthrie
Fire and the Staff - Klemet Preus
The Prydain Chronicles - Lloyd Alexander
The Christian Family - Larry Christenson
Shel Silverstein books
The Yearling. Huckleberry Finn. Catch-22.
Thanks everyone. Lots here that I've read, but plenty that I haven't. I'm creating a new challenge for myself next year that will include 20 books recommended by my friends. I think it's going to be fun. :) I'll let you know when it's up.
I realize I'm late to the party but here's my list:
My Antonia by Willa Cather
The Tempest by Shakespeare
The "Emily" Series by LM Montgomery
My bibliophile friend makes these suggestions:
Eagle in the Sky by Wilbur Smith
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
Fiction (mostly Fantasy stuff)
--The Chronicles of Amber omnibus by Roger Zelazny
--The Riddle Master of Hed omnibus by Patricia McKillip
--The Hound and the Falcon omnibus by Judith Tarr
--The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
--The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
--High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
--The Revenge of the Incredible Doctor Rancid and His Youthful Assistant, Jeffrey by Ellen Conford
Non-Fiction
--The Fire and the Staff by Klemet Preus
--The Passing of the Armies by Joshua Chamberlain
(Somehow I missed this on my Google Reader.)
I'm very late to the party, just discovered your blog today. I love books too, so here are a few I read over and over that haven't been mentioned yet:
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (Indescribable fantasy-ish book about traveling inside beloved books and interacting with the characters.)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Post-WWII story of a British writer and a bunch of book-lovers who defied the Nazis.)
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King (Sherlock Holmes gets an apprentice.)
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (Delicious YA mystery about a girl named Turtle and the will of an eccentric millionaire.)
I'm also very late in joining the conversation, but I too just found this delightful blog recently. Many people listed books I love so I won't repeat them. Here are a few more that are certainly worth reading.
Non fiction includes:
Five Aspects of Women, by Barbara K Mouser
Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House, by Cheryl Mendelson
Cooking For Two, 2010 by America's Test Kitchen
Fiction:
Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede
The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander
The Dark is Rising series, by Susan Cooper
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