# What to read and why?



## Kim G (Feb 6, 2009)

I'm trying to compile a list of books worth reading, and I know that everyone here loves to read (right . . .?). I'm not looking for religious books since I already have a long list for those.

I'm interested in good children's literature, adult fiction, classics, biographies, philosophy books, etc. I'm especially trying to find some newer things to prove that all good authors didn't die off a few dozen years ago. 

I shy away from all things romantic (the sticky-sweet fake stuff) or morbid (I like Jane Eyre as Victorian gothic but not Edgar Allen Poe).

Any book suggestions and why they're worth reading?


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## Anton Bruckner (Feb 6, 2009)

Enid Blyton


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## Whitefield (Feb 6, 2009)

_The First Circle_ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 

I think it is the best book in 20th century Russian Literature.


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## Contra Marcion (Feb 6, 2009)

#1) 1776 - David McCullough - A fun, fast-paced account of George vs. George in our Nation's birth

#2) Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman - Made me turn off the TV (finally), and see why our culture is disintegrating around us. 

Just Two suggestions - both have been out for a while, and are easy to find.


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## ColdSilverMoon (Feb 6, 2009)

My favorite book is _Winter's Tale_ by Mark Helprin - probably the best prose I've read in a novel. 

I also highly recommend _Crime and Punishment_ and _The Brothers Karamazov_ by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Two of my favorite books, both classics. 

Another good book that gives an interesting insight into monastic life and Dark Ages church history is _The Name of the Rose_ by Umberto Eco. 

As for classic Christian philosophy, I'm half way through Augustine's _Confessions_ right now and am loving it.


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## Classical Presbyterian (Feb 6, 2009)

The Man Who Ate Everything, by Jefferey Steingartner

The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco

The Silmirillion, by Tolkien

Guns of the South, by Harry Turtledove

And my wife recommends, Jasper Forrde's fiction books, like The Eyre Affair.


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## ServantofGod (Feb 6, 2009)

_The Count of Monte Cristo_ Excellent read!

If you like WW2 history , _Brotherhood of Heroes_, and _Ghost Soldiers_ are two books that go beyond just the fighting, to love of country and fellow soldiers.

_An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_ by John Locke is one of the great philosophical reads of all time. His reconciling of faith and reason is staggering.


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## Iakobos_1071 (Feb 6, 2009)

I know you are not looking for religious books... But the only thing I read other than reigious books are Star Wars novels, Indiana Jones Novels and Comic Books...LOL

Well here is a list of religious ones anyways...lol

*The Sovereignty of God* by Arthur W. Pink
It is quite enriching to ones soul. 

*The Two Babylons* by Alexander Histlop
It is eye opening

*The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah* by Alfred Edershime
It irons out wrinkles and makes reading the New Testament smooth. 

*Manners and Customs of the Bible *by James Freeman
Because we often overlook meanings, sayings and idioms of the First Century Middle East.


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## jwithnell (Feb 6, 2009)

_All the Kings Me_n by Robert Penn Warren is great in many ways. I am also a big fan of John Steinbeck. His _America and Americans_ gives a good sampler of his non-fiction writing. Among modern authors, I really like David Guterson. He tends to write very thought-provoking books and gives amazing insight into the Pacific Northwest, a gorgeous place in my opinion. He wrote _East of the Mountains_ right as Oregon was trying to establish right-to-death and it is a good, oblique commentary on the issue in excellent fiction form. I also like Ivan Doig, but then I miss the west so I'm not sure how much is good writing and how much is nostalgia on my part.

Children's books would have to include the Little House Series and _The Yearling_.


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## TaylorOtwell (Feb 6, 2009)

Contra Marcion said:


> #2) Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman - Made me turn off the TV (finally), and see why our culture is disintegrating around us.


 


This is an eye-opening book.


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## jwithnell (Feb 6, 2009)

Mr. Postman is just plain interesting. He writes very well, beyond making excellent points.


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## Ravens (Feb 6, 2009)

Two interesting and highly accessible history books that I have enjoyed are _How the Irish Saved Civilization_ and _Sailing From Byzantium_. I don't think they'd make any Top 20 list, but they are certainly good books within that particular genre of literature.


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## VilnaGaon (Feb 6, 2009)

*Greyfriars series*

I Heartily recommend the Greyfriars series by Frank Richards. Very readable, entertaining with a ton of good solid moral reinforcement. Great emphasis on personal courage, speaking only the truth, and other virtues almost totally absent today.


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## Hippo (Feb 6, 2009)

I will probably be shot for this but "On the Road" by Kerouac, life will never be the same again after this book.


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## nicnap (Feb 6, 2009)

Kim G said:


> I'm trying to compile a list of books worth reading, and I know that everyone here loves to read (right . . .?). I'm not looking for religious books since I already have a long list for those.
> 
> I'm interested in good children's literature, adult fiction, classics, biographies, philosophy books, etc. I'm especially trying to find some newer things to prove that all good authors didn't die off a few dozen years ago.
> 
> ...



In children's lit. you can't go wrong with the If you give a _____ a _____ series (my favorite in the group is If you give a pig a pancake). Also, anything by Eric Carle (Grouchy Ladybug, and the Very Hungry Catepillar, etc.).


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## Ex Nihilo (Feb 6, 2009)

I'll just make a list of good books, some of which I am still in the process of reading:

*Law*
_America's Constitution: A Biography_, by Akhil Reed Amar
_The Little Book of Plagiarism_, by Richard Posner

*Poetry*
_The Faerie Queene_, by Edmund Spenser

*Novels*
Instead of recommending one or more novels, I'll recommend Jane Smiley's _13 Ways of Looking at the Novel_, which includes a great list of novels.

*History/Biography*
_1776_, by David McCullough
_Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth_, by Gitta Sereny

*Science*
_The Elegant Universe_ and _The Fabric of the Cosmos_, by Brian Greene


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## Jesus is my friend (Feb 6, 2009)

The Mystery Of Marriage by Mike Mason

I enjoy everything he writes,but with this book,I saw my bride with such fresh love and saw the beauty of the God given Marriage,To me it was stunning and I read it twice while we were courting/engaged,It's not a how to book,to me it was very poetic and lavish all the while full of Grace and Truth,I love being married!(I was looking for a lovey-dovey smilie and I was surprised there wasn't any,Hmm..I will post a request in the forum for this)


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## Southern Presbyterian (Feb 6, 2009)

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini - a young but developing writer, very compelling story line and characters. My kids call his writing "literary crack", because it is addictive.


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## Leslie (Feb 6, 2009)

Almost anything put out by Inheritance Publications, Neerlandia, Alberta, Canada. My favorite is The Spanish Brothers, a heavy on history account of the Reformation in Spain and how a strong church was totally wiped out. The owner of Inheritance translates many of the old, historical novels of the 19th century and republishes them. Some are light and others are heavy.


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## Skyler (Feb 6, 2009)

Kim G said:


> I'm trying to compile a list of books worth reading, and I know that everyone here loves to read (right . . .?). I'm not looking for religious books since I already have a long list for those.
> 
> I'm interested in good children's literature, adult fiction, classics, biographies, philosophy books, etc. I'm especially trying to find some newer things to prove that all good authors didn't die off a few dozen years ago.
> 
> ...



Newer things?

But all the good authors _did_ die off a few dozen years ago. Take Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, LeBlanc's Arsene Lupin, Chesterton's Father Brown...

Those are my favorites, personally, especially Father Brown. I really haven't found any modern literature I like.


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## reformed trucker (Feb 6, 2009)

"On a Life Well Spent" by Cicero
"Gnomologia" - A collection of proverbs, maxims and adages

Both by Levenger Press


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## Augusta (Feb 6, 2009)

This is assuming you have already read all the Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Elizabeth Gaskell books. 

I second the recommendation for the Sherlock Holmes. They were fun. I also really like Jules Verne's 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan series the books are way better than any of the dorky movies that have been made. He was like a super hero in the books with all kinds of physical abilities. 

More modern stuff, that I really liked that I read to see if it was ok for my kids, is the Artemis Fowl series. They are really tame but very engaging and sophisticated. I actually read all six in about two weeks they were so fun. Here is a synopsis:



> Twelve-year-old villain, Artemis Fowl, is the most ingenious criminal mastermind in history. His bold and daring plan is to hold a leprechaun to ransom. But he's taking on more than he bargained for when he kidnaps Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit). For a start, leprechaun technology is more advanced than our own. Add to that the fact that Holly is a true heroine and that her senior officer Commander Root will stop at nothing to get her back and you've got the mother of all sieges brewing!


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## Theogenes (Feb 6, 2009)

I recommend James Fennimore Cooper's books, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Deerslayer. These are "manly" classics. Also, read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. And anything by Charles Dickens.

Sorry, all the best writers have died off years ago...


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## Kevin (Feb 6, 2009)

Everything (not just "The Name Of The Rose") by Eco. He is the greatest living novelist in any language.

For a more presbyterian worldview try John Buchan. He died in 1939, but is is very good & his influence on modern thrillers/spy fiction is huge.


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## JM (Feb 7, 2009)

Plenty of good suggestions have been offered so I’ll second a few and add a few. 

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The short stories of Dostoevsky
A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe (it’s amazing)
Deerslayer, Cooper
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy 
Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev
Edgar Allen Poe’s poems and stories. 
The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner 
The Bosch novels by Michael Connelly
Pushkin's Queen of Spades
Don Quixote
Dubliners by Joyce
Toss in a few plays by Anton Chekhov and some Joseph Conrad.

The library I work at asked me to start a list of the historical fiction I've read for our patrons, here it is so far, Historical Reading List's Shelf - Shelfari


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## Theognome (Feb 7, 2009)

Here's a few sci-fi books that can cause chuckles and/or raised eyebrows-

_Bill the Galactic Hero_ by Harry Harrison
_The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat_ also by Harrison
_Stranger in a Strange Land_ by Robert Heinlein
_Bio of a Space Tyrant_ by Piers Anthony
Any of the _Xanth_ series also by Anthony


Theognome


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## py3ak (Feb 7, 2009)

The best authors of children's books are (in no particular order):
James Marshall 
E. Nesbit
Beatrix Potter
A.A. Milne
Lewis Carroll
Kenneth Grahame
Every one of them will bear re-reading, and will give you more pleasure as you get older, rather than less: but children can read them repeatedly.

It were tedious to mention all the fiction that can be reread, but here's a few recommendations, again in no particular order:
Katherine Mansfield (there are several collections of short stories)
Rudyard Kipling 
Henry Fielding
Laurence Sterne
Gustave Flaubert
Robert Louis Stevenson

Of authors still living, there are three worth rereading:
Marilynne Robinson, _Housekeeping_
Stephen R. Donaldson (not for the faint of heart)
Annie Dillard

Umberto Eco is very interesting as a historian and critic, but I have found his fictional writing to be far less engaging. 

For journalism and general non-fiction you can do no better than George Orwell: his novels are not at all to be despised, but his essays can be read and returned to with great delight.

Finally, here are some fine words from Annie Dillard which perhaps will help to explain why great writing after WWII has been such an exception, and mostly made up of survivors of the war (Lewis, Orwell, et al):



> On the other hand, a novel is not a kind of very long-playing but lightweight television set. We are no longer children, and we no longer enjoy fiction with our eyes only. We seek, as I say, a complex, subtle, and broad set of ideas. But in our horror of oversimplification and piety we may have bent too far in the other direction. We are so accustomed to finding intelligent ideas and excellent surfaces together, and stupid ideas and clumsy surfaces together, that in our decadence or in our haste we may fail to inquire beyond appearances. As a result, we undoubtedly miss some interesting thinking. And—importantly—writers who have only an ear for prose and a taste for subtle surfaces may be credited with having a good deal more. We may actually assume such writers have something on their minds. We may even ascribe to them a thought-out interpretation of the world, which we may then seek in their works. It may be this factor more than any other which leads to the common assertion that the theme of twentieth-century fiction is meaninglessness. Meaninglessness, that is, may actually be not so much a deliberate theme as it is an inadvertent achievement.


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## CatechumenPatrick (Feb 7, 2009)

In terms of philosophy, if you want a recent non-Christian work of philosophy to see what one of the current strongest alternatives to the Christian worldview is, I recommend Peter Railton's book Facts, Values, and Norms. I will be mulling over it and chewing on it for a long time. I find it a difficult read but an extremely challenging proposal of naturalism and specifically naturalistic normativity. 



ServantofGod said:


> _An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_ by John Locke is one of the great philosophical reads of all time. His reconciling of faith and reason is staggering.



Staggering in a bad way?


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## Jon Lake (Feb 7, 2009)

Saki: Complete Short Stories B&N paperback edition. VERY FUNNY STUFF! I think he did some novels 4? (have a friend who knows his works better than I do, but the short stories made him famous), I recommend the B&N as it is inexpensive, if you like his work you can upgrade to a better edition.


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## Kevin (Feb 7, 2009)

JM said:


> Plenty of good suggestions have been offered so I’ll second a few and add a few.
> 
> One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
> The short stories of Dostoevsky
> ...



Good list! I'm also a fan of Michael Connelly. Have you read his collection of non-fiction crime stories?


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## Kim G (Feb 9, 2009)

Thanks for all the suggestions! I went to the library this weekend and picked up a number of books. I'll continue to use this list for ideas. Keep 'em coming!


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## py3ak (Feb 9, 2009)

But you have to tell us what you got and whether you enjoyed it and why so recommendations can be customized.


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## Kim G (Feb 9, 2009)

py3ak said:


> But you have to tell us what you got and whether you enjoyed it and why so recommendations can be customized.



I checked out these books. For a couple of them, the recommended book was not at the library, so I chose another book by the same author to get a feel for the writing.

Enid Blyton's _The Island of Adventure_
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's _Cancer Ward_
John Buchan's _The Thirty-Nine Steps_
Umberto Eco's _The Name of the Rose_
Mark Helprin's _A City in Winter_
Robert Penn Warren's _All the King's Men_
Jane Smiley's_ Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Novel_
David McCullough's _1776_

I read and enjoyed _The Thirty-Nine Steps_. It wasn't particularly deep, but the pacing was quick and the storyline engaging. I'll probably pick up some more books by Buchan.

I almost enjoyed _A City in Winter_. I loved the writing style and the book had the promise of being a sweet story of a young queen's courage in conquest. Instead, I felt her character was flat because she never moved the plot along. Secondary characters did everything while she stood in the background and watched things happen to her. I'm fairly certain I'll try another book by Helprin, though.

I started _The Name of the Rose_. I enjoy theology. I enjoy philosophy. I enjoy detailed descriptions a la Charles Dickens. But I did not enjoy those first thirty pages of this book. I felt like some pompous professor was trying to tell a story but refused to speak clearly. The syntax seemed especially cumbersome. Maybe I'm just not willing to dig into the book right now. And I don't trust the storyteller's voice. He says he won't give physical descriptions of anyone because what's inside is what counts--then he proceeds to give detailed, paragraph-long descriptions of everyone he meets. Pretty sure that if I finish this book, I'll be skimming.

I'm halfway through _1776_, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I love history, and I love the reliance on primary sources which are quoted on nearly every page. It really makes the story come alive.


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## OPC'n (Feb 9, 2009)

I really enjoy the Bronte sisters! The story lines are sometime lame, but their writing is beyond words! They are true writers! Wuthering Heights was my favorite, although, the story line was lame...her writing is just *awesome*! I just finished Jane Eyre and that was really good. Also, I enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo. Treasure Island is a fun kid's book.


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## MMasztal (Feb 9, 2009)

In addition to the other recommendations:

Les Miserables- Victor Hugo
The Roots of American Order- Russell Kirk
Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck

and although the underlying theology is not reformed- all of Frank Peretti's books. He's like a Christian Steven King. a great story-teller and immensely readable. Peretti even pokes fun at his Pentacostal past in The Visitation.


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## Curt (Feb 9, 2009)

Next time you go to the library see if you can find the _*Junie B. Jones*_ books. There are about 20 of them. This is kiddie lit, but they must have really been written for adults. My wife has been reading them to me and the grandchildren. Young and old alike, we were rolling on the floor.


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## py3ak (Feb 9, 2009)

Umberto Eco is the most erudite person I have ever read, but by no means the best writer. I am reasonably confident that trusting the narrator is not what you're meant to do; and that is not going to be everyone's cup of tea (or perhaps produce all that much that is really great). But Eco can also be one of the funniest people alive when he would like to be: you might enjoy, _How to Travel with a Salmon_.


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## Scott1 (Feb 9, 2009)

_An American Life_ autobiography of Ronald Reagan
_American Cesear_ William Manchester
_The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged_


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