Book It, M!

Madame M,

Am always up for a summer of books!  Will follow whatever line you take!  You don’t  make this easy, as I have a lot competing in my head, lol.  [Ten?!!!  How can I choose just ten? J]

Okay, here goes.  For the “favorites off the top of head” list, also in no particular order (I’ve taken the liberty of mentioning as one books that go together):

Homeland and Exile, both by R.A. Salvatore.  A fantasy story of a good and honorable master swordsman raised in a society of unending evil, and the deep and epic insights.

The Greatest Miracle in the World, by Og Mandino.  The story of Simon Potter the ragpicker, and his influence on Augustine Mandino through the God Memorandum.

Embraced By The Light, by Betty Eadie.  A vivid near-death experience, and one of hope.

I Can’t Accept Not Trying,  and For The Love of the Game, both by Michael Jordan.  One of history’s greatest athletes—and maybe its greatest competitor—in telling his story relates to the rest of us what real success usually requires.

A Man Called Peter, by Catherine Marshall.  The story of Scottish immigrant Peter Marshall, Preacher Extraordinaire and a mighty man of God, who preached what are maybe the best sermons since Jesus (some of which are included in the book).

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, by Robert Olen Butler.  Stories of Vietnamese immigrants.  A way to look at the world, and a deep richness, that belies all the stupid simplistic talk.  If you’re going to read only one book about Vietnam, this is the one to read to have any hope of beginning to truly understand Vietnam.

Things Fall Apart, by Chinhua Achebe.   The classic African-written novel of village tribesmen in pre-colonial Nigeria—and the incredible insights into humanity.

Oil!  Upton Sinclair’s masterpiece novel of socialists, capitalism, the auto civilization, the fossil fuels industry, and more.

Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.  Lester Brown’s masterful work of just that.  By no means just an environmental book.

Conan 1, by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague deCamp, and Lin Carter.  The truest and best barbarian, with scant resemblance to the movies.

A veritable riot is taking place in my head right now.  The clamour from those that did not make the cut is that loud! J

A Summer of Books

Professor J,

We are launching into our summer lounge fest? Oh, thank goodness. I'm exhausted. We need to restore our reserves since we are headed into an election year. It never really ends anymore though, does it?

So to introduce summer (which I wasn't trying to do in my last post, but okay) I'm listing ten favorite books. That sounded easy at first, a cop out almost, but then questions arose about which books to include.

Best summer reads? Most influential? Most beloved? In the end I decided not to get too bogged down but to just list the first ones that came to mind when I thought about it. Here they are in no particular order. I really couldn't bear to have to rank them.

1. Les Miserables. For so many reasons, too many to list.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch is pretty much the perfect man.

3. Beau Geste. Just so much fun. You can't beat a good adventure.

4. The Chronicles of Narnia. Some of my favorite memories are of reading these aloud to my daughter.  (Yes, I know that technically this is seven, this is my list and these are my rules)

5. Gone With the Wind. Scarlett is a far more complex character than in the film. It's actually a coming of age tale.

6. Auntie Mame. Because I laughed all the way through. Out loud.

7. Jane Eyre. Every girl needs a fictional heroine. 

8. Little Women. Which I never read as a child but it's another beautiful memory of reading aloud
    to the kids. More heroines. Charming ones.

9. The Firm. So many Memphis references. Such a fun read, when no one knew who John Grisham was.
 

10. Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut was the man.

Hmmm...now I'm thinking I could have done a list of classics, or children's books, or my favorite thrillers. And of course now that I'm done I've thought of fifty more titles but these were the first ten off the top of my head as promised.

Are you up for a summer of books? Best thriller? Most life changing? Best plot twist? Most beloved character?  Most heartbreaking? Most hilarious?

And yes, War and Peace is still lurking about unfinished. :)