Okay. I'm finally doing a post about my favorite books. Since I'm addicted to reading and am constantly in the middle of multiple books at a time, this can be a very hard one. So I came up with some basic books and genres that I enjoy. Here goes:
1. First up my all time favorite book:
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I can't say how many times I've read this book. Superbly written it tells the story of a young girl, Scout Finch, her brother, Jem who in turn fights with and protects her, her father Atticus, the town lawyer, and the southern town of Maycomb that she lives in and which includes interesting neighbors, an black man on trial for something he didn't do, and a neighborhood spook named Boo Radley. Seeing Scout navigate childhood is very interesting and nostalgic. Whether having to put up with Aunt Alexandra or their housekeeper Calpurmia's authority and meeting Dill with whom she and Jem become friends or learning about their neighbors' lives (mean old Mrs. Dubose, Maudie Atkinson who lives across the street, the neighborhood gossip Miss Stephanie and the scary Bob Ewell who hates their father enough to seek revenge for perceived wrongs), watching Scout and Jem grow up in changing times is like learning those hard life lessons again, amusing, tender, maddening and sorrowful. One of my favorite things about this book is Atticus. He is such a moral but human character and such a fantastic yet real father that I absolutely love his character and his struggles trying to raise two motherless children and teach them about racism, right and wrong and learning how to "walk around in other people's skin" to understand them. Do not miss this one. This is a comfort book for me. When I'm feeling down I pick it up and am transported to a simpler time (I guess that's arguable) and to childhood worries about ghosts, school, fighting with your brother and realizing that there's much more to people in your life than you ever knew.
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. What can I say? I'm a romantic girl at heart. And this is the ultimate love story and the first classic regency romance. Elizabeth Benet lives in England in the early 1800s in a society governed by strict rules of conduct and though living a somewhat privileged life, struggles with the problems created by her family which consists of a truly ridiculous mother who cannot thing of anything but getting her daughters married, a good but somewhat reclusive father, and 4 sisters. Jane the oldest is beautiful and good and Lizzie's best friend. Mary is a bit sanctimonious and Kitty and especially Lydia are boy crazy and take no pains to conduct themselves with any level of propriety. Into the neighborhood moves Charles Bingley, single and rich and with a couple of snobby sisters. Mr. Bingley meets Jane at a neighborhood ball and falls in love with her. At the same ball Lizzie meets Bingley's friend, Mr. Darcy, who acts haughty and extremely rude and whom she overhears criticizing and finding fault with her. She takes an instant dislike to him. But is he quite what he seems? Through the book Jane struggles with keeping Mr. Bingley because of the conduct of her family and from interferring sisters and Mr. Darcy's influence over his friend. Lizzie struggles with overcoming her prejudice of Mr. Darcy especially after meeting Mr. Wickham (hmm...sounds familiar) who seems angelic and yet is not the person she first believes him to be. In time she finds that Mr. Darcy is truly a good person. But does he still want her now that she's rejected him? Sigh. Jane Austen's writing has dry wit and shows the true struggles of a couple of stubborn people who find a hard lesson in learning to love each other. This book has been made into multiple movie versions (4 of which I own, yikes!), a graphic novel, a series of videos on youtube and countless other formats for entertainment and is a favorite choice of us ladies!
3. C.S. Lewis religious writings- As an author C.S. Lewis broke the mold with his fantasy novels of Narnia, which are extremely well written and which I enjoy. But his favorite things of mine to read are from two books of his religious writings named
The Screwtape Letters and
Mere Christianity. If you know much about C.S. Lewis you know that he was once an atheist and that he converted to Christianity and became an amazing teacher and motivational speaker about his religious beliefs. I've read a number of these books (many taken from talks he had done). Mere Christianity talks about his logical arguments to prove that there is a God and the things that he believes in. It's fascinating to see how his mind comes to believe such deep principles and I love how he expresses some of his ideas in every day situations to help explain these complex and sometimes difficult concepts. I took a highlighter and marked everything that I felt meant something to me or helped me understand christian principles better. Many of Lewis's religious writings are sometimes very hard to follow so this many not be for all of you but I urge you to give it a try. The Screwtape Letters is a fictional story of two devils, Screwtape an experienced and older devil and his nephew Wormwood with whom he corresponds as he tries to help the apprentice learn how to tempt his first charge over to the side of Our Father Below. Such an interesting read. Though it's religious education, it's a story at the same time and so it belongs in a genre very few other books do. I can truly say that reading ideas about the ways and manners Satan may go about in tempting us helped me define better who I wanted to be. I had one person say this book made her uncomfortable because it talked about devils, so if you have delicate tastes in religious ideas this may not be for you but I truly enjoyed it.
4. Children's poetry would be my next category highlighting two specific writers. The first being Shel Silverstein. His poetry books such as
Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, Everything On It and
Runny Babbit are frankly amusing and his book
The Giving Tree touches the heart. With illustrations accompanying such treasures as: The Dirtiest Man in the World, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out, Sick, True Story, The Bagpipe Who Didn't Say No, It's All The Same to the Clam, and many others you'll find hours of laughter. My kids loved me to read to them from these poems.
The other writer of children's poetry I wanted to mention would be Robert Louis Stephenson and his classic book:
A Child's Garden of Verses. My mother used to read this to me and Amy when we were young and I remember the illustrations accompanying these verses. The author was sickly as a child and many times was confined to bed in an attempt to extend his life. Because of his inability to do things physically he developed his imagination and would write about all the things he would love to see and do if he could. He went on to write the classic novels: Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He died in his thirties I believe but his stories and poems will live forever in the imaginations of those of us who find joy in his writings. I still to this day can recite "My Shadow" word for word.
5.
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Here's an interesting book. I first became interested in it by watching the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Rebecca" (which I loved) and was based on this book and checked it out from the library to see how it compared. I do find that a few of the descriptions get a little long, but overall I love the style of writing and the story is so entrancing. A young lady (funnily enough though she is the heroine of the novel her name is never mentioned) serving as a paid companion to a rich, obnoxious lady finds herself in Monte Carlo and meeting Max De Winter. He is an older, rich, good looking gentleman who owns a mansion and property called Manderley which stands off the Cornish coast of England. Max is vacationing and is soon drawn to our heroine who is young, naive and easily swept off her feet, falling head over heels in love with the jaded Max. She has hear rumors and knows that his first wife, Rebecca, had drown a couple of years previously and it's said that he was violently in love with her and could never get over her death. A surprise proposal is extended and accepted and they head to start their new life together at Manderley. Our young heroine should have known that this isn't quite a fairy tale. The staff, particularly the housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (one of the most creepy characters in written word) were completely devoted to Rebecca and find the new Mrs. De Winters lacking. Rebecca had been audacious, beautiful, sophisticated and the perfect mistress and our young, new wife now finds herself living in the shadow of the woman who her husband once loved and coming up short every time. Little does she know how Max really feels. As things get worse for our heroine we find out more about Rebecca's life and that her marriage to Max isn't quite what everything thought it was. Max loves his new wife because of her innocence and because she's nothing like Rebecca. But just as she learns about her husbands love for her, the boat Rebecca died on is found and details of that night are now brought to light, putting her marriage to Max in jeopardy as he is now looking at a murder charge. I've never really felt sympathy for a killer before, but Rebecca truly was a horrible person and I found myself rooting for Max and feeling so bad for the situation he had inadvertently put himself in by marrying someone only to find out that she was nothing like what he'd thought. What I find interesting about this book is the fact that though Rebecca is dead for the entire novel, with the exception of flashbacks from Mrs. Danvers, she is one of the strongest characters in this book. And the way Manderley is described in itself, almost makes it feel like more than just a house. Try this one, a love story and creepy suspense novel all in one.
6.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. With the movie coming out today (I'm so excited, I can't even tell you!) I want to reread this again. This is another one I read a lot. It's about a boy named Andrew Wiggin, Ender to his family, who is a genius. The world in his time had been invaded by an alien species known as the formics or the 'buggers' two times and the world had created an International Space Fleet in preparing for their next attack. They know this time, humanity just might be wiped out. Ender at the age of 6 is taken, by Colonel Graff, head of the Battle School (which is in space), from his home and away from his family of geniuses including his almost insane brother Peter and his soft hearted and beloved sister Valentine to be trained as a general for the next invasion. He is the youngest and smallest (not counting Bean) child there and is picked on physically, but he fights back and wins (Ender wins at everything he does). He also succeeds in revolutionizing their battle methods in the battle room and overshadows the other's childrens efforts by a margin that more than fulfills Colonel Graff's expectations. The problem is that Ender is a cross between Peter's strength to fight back and destroy and Valentine's sympathetic nature so the fact that he's hurting people along his path to becoming the best general the International Space Fleet has had since Mazer Rackham beet the buggers in the first invasion hundreds of years ago, is tearing him up inside. He ends up alone all through his journey, which is of specific design to help make him the leader they need, but the effects of this wear harder and harder on him as time gets close and he gets transferred from the Battle School to Command School. Ender's almost superhuman abilities and intellect and his very human feelings make for an interesting read as you journey with him meeting 'almost' friends, enemies who are children that want to kill him, fight in the battle room with Dragon army and meet his mentor who prepares him for his command.
7.
How To Be Totally Miserable by John Bytheway. Ah, a book I can totally understand. I love John Bytheway's ability to relate to people and this 'self-hinder' book is in my opinion a classic. Being someone who suffers from depression I laughed my way through helpful hints how to make your life as filled with despair as possible. Along the way, I of course found helpful thoughts as to ways I sabotage my own happiness and the thought processes I need to change if I truly want to be happy. Learning how to think about my problems, complain about my blessings, blame everyone and everything and to judge other people's motives was a lot more fun than I ever thought possible. Try this book, don't be a 'breath of stale air'!
8.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I know I've already commented that I'm a Sherlock fan on a previous post. I think he's a fascinating character. So I have his adventures in book form (4 novels and the entire collection of short stories), I own the movies starring Robert Downey Jr. and the BBC series Sherlock seasons 1 and 2 (hello season 3! when are you going to finally be broadcast?) and also enjoy the CBS series Elementary. Sherlock's adventures as a consulting detective with his friend Dr. John Watson are very interesting. I feel like Watson, who so many times misses everything of importance in his observations as he and his companion try to get to the bottom of a mystery. A man who is so truly smart and logical and yet anti-social, rude and irritating to other people is a fascinating contradiction that I enjoyed. Seeing the relationship between the genius and his new acquaintance develop into a genuine and loyal friendship is interesting to watch. My favorite novels are The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's time, after writing about this iconic character for years he finally decided to kill him off to pursue other opportunities to write and therefore sent Sherlock and his nemesis Dr. Moriarty over Reichenbach Falls to their demise. Public outcry was of such a magnitude that he felt almost forced to bring back the beloved detective, which he did. Read the stories for yourself.
9.
Oh The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss. I love this book! Dr. Seuss was such a fun author and everyone who has had the chance to live inside his worlds is better off for it. Who can ever forget Horton or the Grinch? Dr. Seuss made you want to have a star on your stomach, butter your bread side down, hop on your pop and eat green eggs and ham. And don't get me started on the Cat in the Hat! But my favorite book by far is a book which seems designed not to tell a story but to prepare young ones for life. 'Oh the Places You'll Go' energizes young people just starting out in life. I heard it first at a high school graduation and was shocked at how applicable it was. Along with all the wonderful plans and choices you have in your life Dr. Seuss also helps you know that there will be other experiences that will 'scare you right out of your pants'. You may find yourself in 'the waiting place' at times in your life and have to find ways to once more 'fly high' and take the lead and soar past others...'except when you don't, because sometimes you won't'. I've never had life's journey put down in such a fun and true format. I've found myself crying through it at times (don't be so impressed, I'm a big bawl baby). But it ends in giving good advice about balancing life and not mixing up 'your right foot with your left' and gives a guarantee (98 and 3/4 %) that you'll succeed in moving mountains. It ends with the unforgettable phrase: 'Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!' Read it now!
10.
Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey. The deep thoughts contained in these books come from Saturday Night Live and were compiled into a collection of the most ridiculous thoughts I've ever heard. So, right up my alley! Appealing to my sense of ridiculous Jack Handey gives warnings such as 'Better not take a dog on the Space Shuttle because if he sticks his head out when you're coming home his face will burn up', life experiences like 'I guess of all my uncles, I liked Uncle Cave Man the best. We called him Uncle Cave Man because he lived in a cave and because sometimes he'd eat one of us. Later on we found out he was a bear', and personal desires such as 'I wish I had a kryptonite cross, because then you could keep both Dracula and Superman away' and urges us to better ourselves as a society: 'I think somebody should come up with a way to breed a very large shrimp. That way you could ride him, then, after you camped at night, you could eat him. How about it, science?' Warning: some adult content in these thoughts.
11.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Another one of the classic romances, this one gothic. Jane Eyre is a penniless orphan cast off by her horrid aunt and cousins to Lowood School to get her out of their hair. The school is truly heinous and many people die, including her only friend Helen, from a disease brought on by their horrid conditions, but Jane does get her education and become self sufficient. She places an advertisement for employment and is hired by Mrs. Fairfax to work at Thornfield Hall for Mr. Rochester in the capacity of a governess to his ward Adele. Jane finds Thornfield sufficient and is satisfied with her life there though a bit restless. Then she meets Mr. Rochester himself and her life changes forever. Mr. Rochester is rich and unmarried but also moody and demanding and he confuses Jane. On the other hand, Mr. Rochester is immediately captivated by little, plain, poor Jane because of the presence of her spirit, her innocence and her integrity. As they get to know each other more they fall in love. But Jane doesn't know that Mr. Rochester has a secret. Who is it that laughs in the middle of the night? And why did they set Mr. Rochester's bedroom on fire? Their wedding is stalled by news which comes as a shock to Jane and she cannot in good conscience stay with Mr. Rochester anymore. Do they find their way over the obstacle keeping them apart?
12. The
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. How could we not include this amazing literary phenomena about a magical community which exists and always has, unbeknownst to us 'Muggles' and the young boy who is at the center of the very rise or collapse of that civilization? At 11 years old, Harry, who lives with his aunt and uncle (Boo Dursleys!) and hates it, finds out that he is a wizard. His parents were killed by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort when he was 1. Harry learns about the magical world, goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry meets his two stalwart friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and comes face to face with Lord Voldemort many times over the series as he learns more about why Lord Voldemort tried to have him killed as a baby. Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore teaches Harry the things he needs to know to fight and overcome the Dark Lord one day. And if you don't know any of this, you must have been living under a rock for the last 15 years! This series changed publishing history and got children interested in books again. I've read it many times and right now am reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to Annie for her first time through these engaging books. Pick it up and read it...yes, again...or better yet read it with a child. So much fun!
13. Teen reading. I love to read (if you haven't gathered that yet) and along with my favorite books I'm constantly on the look out for new good material. Teen books these days, which in my opinion are just as much for adults (only with really young characters) have many new genres that just weren't there when I was a teenager. I've delved into fantasy stories like
Eragon by Christopher Paolini, dystopian novels like
Divergent by Veronica Roth and
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, fairy tale stories like
The Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale, steampunk novels such as
The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross, paranormal books like
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (hey, don't cringe! They were good books, you're just on the 'twilight sucks' bandwagon) and good old adventure books like
Ally Carter's Gallagher Girl spy series which starts with
I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have To Kill You. Other recent favorites have been the
Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke,
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (adult content in this one),
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (a bit gory),
The Selection by Kiera Cass,
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken, zombie romance novel
Dearly Beloved by Lia Habel and
Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart (not really a teen novel, but worth mentioning). Don't forget the
Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan,
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, and Peter Pan prequels
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Person. I'm always up for immersing myself in an interesting story!
14. Epic classics. Let's not forget the unforgettable novels such as
The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkein,
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis and other classics like
Anne of Green Gables,
Little Women, and
The Scarlet Pimpernel. So many books and so little time!
