1. Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card
It took me a long time to decide to read this book though it is highly acclaimed. In some ways I wish I had read it sooner and in others I thing its impact was deeper because I had children.
2. I am Legend- Richard Matheson
I picked this up on a whim many years ago, long before the current movie and long after the black and white version. I loved it instantly and have yet to see the modern movie in protest of the alterations.
3. Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk
I had never seen the movie when I read this one. I later did watch it and found that it really loses something when it is transferred to a visual medium. Coming at it fresh with no knowledge of the twist at the end I found the reveal quite profound.
4. Hobbit and Lord of the Rings- J.R.R. Tolkien
Must I say anything at all? The beauty, the thrill, good vs. evil, and the fickle hearts of men!
5. Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis
There is little that this man has touched that does not speak to my soul and invoke such awe of my heavenly Father and his love for me.
6. The Surrendered Wife- Laura Doyle
A practical choice among my more colorful tendencies. I love the gentle way she suggests that we should be so careful to build our husbands up into the men God wants them to be.
7. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls- Mary Pipher
While this book is at times hard to read it is vital that we look at the damage that we are doing to the daughters in our society.
8. Anne of Green Gables- L.M. Montgomery
The delicious characters, the poetic scenery, the amazing nuggets of quaint wisdom... oh! How could you not love this series?
9. Frankenstein- Mary Shelley
What more classic example of the heights and depths of the human condition. This story has always thrilled me.
10. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
One of the most beautiful love stories of all times with such a regal setting. It speaks to the girliest, most romantic part of me. Forget knights on white horses, give me a Mr. Rochester on his black stallion.
11. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl
I just finished reading this to my sweet boy. It brought back all the joy that I remembered from reading it the first time. How could you not adore Charlie Bucket?
12. Where the Red Fern Grows- Wilson Rawls
I remember crying so hard that I hyperventilated at the end of this book when my mother read it to me. She had to pause, get me a paper bag, and calm me down before we could finish. It remains one of my favorites to this day.
13. The Hitchhikers Guide the the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
The plot is beyond ridiculous, the writing is fabulously clever, and the absurdity of the whole thing has me in stitches every time.
14. The Barbed Coil- J.V. Jones
This author has a knack for taking unlikley people and turning them into heros and she never just gives you a bad guy, as the plot progresses you see a misguided or unlikable person become more and more selfserving until they allow evil to consume them. The great villans, lovable heros, and and interesting take on the way a magical world might work all make this into an exciting foray into fantasy.
15. The Deed of Paksenarrion- Elizabeth Moon
This is a rather typical hero story, from foot soldier to blessed knight for a higher cause. It is just such an enjoyable read.
16. Little Women- Louisa May Alcott
I often forget about this classic but everytime I come back to it I enjoy it more.
17. C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy- C.S. Lewis
I have already said my piece about this author. He is just amazing.
18. My Side of the Mountain- Jean Craighead George
Who has not dreamed of running away and surviving by wit and wisdom in the wild.
19. Heidi- Johanna Spyri
It is just such a sweet, loveable tale of the power a child can have in the lives of those who grow to love her. It is just so delightfully wholesome.
20. The Polar Express- Chris Van Allsburg
While the book its self is rather simple it gives rise to such beautiful flights of fancy and the best of childhood dreams.
21. Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, And Why- Laurence Gonzales
This is not a how to book. It puts side by side desperate situations where the odds are very similar but one group survives and another does not. It then analizes what the differences were in the psychological outset that paved the way for success or failure. I found it facinating and more applicable to life than you might suspect.
22. Job- The Bible
The parts where God answers Job thrill me to the depths of my soul: "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me if you understand." Job 38:3 (NIV)
23. The Twilight Series- Stephenie Meyer
This series is not well written compare to many of the books on this list but I find the characters and the plot enthralling no matter how many times I read through it I can't put it down once I start.
24. The Witch of Blackbird Pond- Elizabeth George Speare
A historical fictions take on a colonial witch trial. Not my typical fare but the threat of the mob, the twisting of the truth to make kindness seem sinister, the fear that differences can stir up in people all come together to make me love this sweet book.
25. Dave Barry Turns 40- Dave Barry
The man is hilarious! Irrevrent, honest, and quick with a phrase as well. What is there not to love? This may not be classic in the traditional sense of the word but it has stood the test of time with me.
26. The Foundation Trilogy- Issac Asimov
Take buracracy to a galactic level, psychology to its mathmatical end game, and human nature to its very limits on both ends of the spectrum and tie them all together with the erudite musings of this pioneer of science fiction and you have a masterpiece that never fails to set me thinking.
27. Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late- Mo Willems
A children's book that I believe with become a multi-generational classic much like the following...
28. Goodnight Moon- Margaret Wise Brown
The classic that never loses its charm.
29. Rusalka- C.J. Cherryh
Wishes, and Un-wishes mingle with ghosts and a thread of a love story. The characters are real, the setting is Russia, and the chills it sends down my spine keep me reading it over and over again.
30. Dracula- Bram Stoker
To be honest, I have never managed to fully finish this book. It is amazingly crafted and it gives me nightmares every time I try to forge forward…always in full day light, in a not too quiet house, with garlic around my neck, holy water in my hand and stakes at my side, it is just a timeless piece of beautiful literature and I admire it immensely inspite of my cowardly ways.
I just know that as soon as I put this up I will think of another book that is such a dear, old friend and will feel shame that it didn't "make the cut". It's like picking your favorite children, you love them all but in such different ways. In some ways by giving you all my list I feel that I am baring my soul in a new way. It seems that you cannot read my list without coming to know me a little better. I just hope you guys like me and my "children" that I proudly display for you today.
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