FB friend Lisa asked her peeps to tell her their favorite 15 books. As a lifelong bibliophile I couldn't resist chiming in, and then I thought "what a great blog post, bet I could get lots of cool recommendations". So here's my list of 15 books that have really made an impact on me, sort of front-loaded in importance but not absolutely.
1. Ecclesiastes
2. Tom Sawyer
3. Huck Finn
4. Psalms
5. Gospel of John
6. Resurrection, Tolstoy
7. The Innocents Abroad, Twain
8. Le Mort d'Arthur, Thomas Malory
9. Murder in the Cathedral, T.S. Eliot
10. Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey
11. People of Paradox, Givens
12. In Memoriam, Tennyson
13. Love, Undetectable, Andrew Sullivan
14. The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis
15. David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, Prince & Wright
Tell me what you think of any of these and share yours. I'm always looking for new stuff. Warning: Twilight series and anything by Jane Austen are automatically excluded. I would say what I think of those except I don't allow others to use that kind of language here so can't very well do it myself.
8 comments:
I have read a few of the listed books you posted. I agree- all very good.
I have also enjoyed the Autobiography of John Adams and the Autobiography of Thomas Edison.
I also like most anything by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh and especially enjoyed "Anger: Wisdom for cooling flames." I like his style of philosophy and would highly recommend him.
Have u read any fictions from Kurt Vonnegut? I suggest Cat's Cradle for a start.
For non-fiction, All things from: Augusten Burroughs,and David Sedaris.
Of course, all time favorite book of mine is Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk, and he has some good uns' out there too.
Ecclesiastes is #1? You're a glutten for punishment!
From your list my top 5 fav books are below your reading level :) But I would recommend "How (Not) to talk about God" by Peter Rollins. Its emergent church talk but highly philosophical!
Ahhh, Alan :D
I had my reasons for placing Twilight in my queue--and it wasn't for its literary content, either, because we both know it's just junk food. I had stopped writing at eighteen years old, and when I picked it up two years ago I only wanted to write non-fiction as I was scared to write fiction again. Then I picked up Twilight, and it ignited that spark. I'm grateful for that, and so the book will always be with me :)
Jane Austen, well. I know she's Mormon cult classic, but I did enjoy P&P.
I should've placed "Rough Stone Rolling" on my list--probably in place of Austen, but I'll admit to not having read it all--yet.
"Huck Finn" is absolutely fantastic! One of the few books I've read lately. And by lately I mean like three years ago! Haha!
I would recommend that you read "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne.
Also, I've heard the "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis is great as well.
Nine Stories by JD Salinger. I found your blog because we both love Ecclesiastes(I recently discovered you can click on the link to your favorite books and it will show you others who also have it listed as their favorite - awesome) so I was surprised to find it listed as your number 1 in the first blog I viewed. Curious to know why you're drawn to that book in particular. Maybe you could write a blog about it! The Great Divorce by CS Lewis is good too. I also enjoyed the way you tweaked the quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream to sound deep, brave, and insightful as if spoken from the lips of John Adams or Abraham Lincoln as opposed to the lips of an actual ass who is completely unaware of his ass-ness. Nice.
Thanks Adrienne, I'm flattered that you'd stop by for a visit and would take the time to comment. Not a bad idea about Ecclesiastes, actually, I think I will post about it. You're not the only one who thinks it's an unusual choice, I'm sure.
As to the quote from Midsummer Night's Dream, well, the secret you see is to remember that Bottom really wasn't an ass. He was a good, decent, honest, honorable guy whom others temporarily mocked and misjudged because they just thought he looked like an ass. But that wasn't really who he was, it was only something temporarily imposed on him from an outside source, so it didn't stop him from being true to himself regardless of what others thought. In that sense, he really was exemplary, and not a bad example to follow, wouldn't you say?
Thanks for this interesting list and interesting blog entry.
Four Loves is one book on this list I really like. For several years I thought a lot about it and applied it to my life. I think it is helpful to understand there are different kinds of love. Some times we feel more than one type for one person. Sometimes only one.
It might be interesting to have you blog about this book.
Thanks for your blog. I've enjoyed your experiences and thoughts you recount here.
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