Top Recommended Books
Posted in Literature and tagged with Reading on May 29, 2009Most of my friends know I read (a lot, excessively so), so it’s not uncommon to be asked for suggestions. I love it, as I love talking books. Plus, if I convince my friends to read the books I love, we can discuss them, right?
Unfortunately, some of my favorite books are hardly recommendable. Ayn Rand? Sure she can craft a great story and does a good job of selling her worldview without preaching, but few have what it takes to stomach her super long books. The same can be said of some of my other favorites: Anna Karenina and Tom Jones, for example.
Yet there are some books that I read that I think can be enjoyed by a wider range of tastes. These are the books that I’m most likely to recommend. For simplicity’s sake, I stuck to fiction. (Thanks, Pam, for the idea!)
The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton. Sure it’s a classic, but it’s one that I think that is easy to read. It’s a fascinating story, but a thinker, if you want it to be.
The Visitation by Frank Peretti. Sure, I’m not too keen on Christian fiction as a genre, but there are a few gems that stand out. This is one of them. I think my favorite parts are the flashbacks that provide the background for the story.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. I read it originally on the recommendation of a blog friend, and I’m so glad I did. Other than C. S. Lewis (see below), I didn’t realize that science fiction had so much to offer in the way of insights into man.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I heard about this book for several years but was quite skeptical. On a whim, I dove in, and I’m so glad I did. While I was imagining a highly mystical book (it’s plot centers around a teenaged boy and a tiger alone on a boat in the Pacific Ocean), it really wasn’t.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Yes, yes, another classic, but I actually think this is an easier and more enjoyable Austen to pick up for the first time than Pride and Prejudice. Unless you’re a teenager, and then I recommend Northanger Abbey first. I’m already imagining sitting down with my daughter and reading her that book, giving her first taste of Austen.
Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I’ve known a few detractors of this book, but it’s almost always because they think it’s too depressing. That might be the case, but avoiding reading a depressing book won’t change the fact that experiences like these really do happen in other parts of the world. I’m thankful to Hosseini who’s able to open eyes to this fact that otherwise might have remained closed. His writing is beautiful, to boot.
The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker. These books are so good, that I forewent (is that the past tense of “forego?” let’s just say it is, shall we?) a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge…and I was reading them for a second time.
The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis. This trilogy is really good, and it saddens me that it’s in the shadows while the Chronicles of Narnia (though also really good) hog the limelight. While it is science fiction, it barely fits in that genre.
I’d love to hear if you have or will read any of these books! What books do you recommend?
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May 29th, 2009 at 1:36 am
I wish I was bigger reader! I mean..I’m a reading teacher. It really expands your vocabulary so much, even as an adult. I learn so much when I read real books.
May 29th, 2009 at 7:37 am
I saw those Circle Trilogy books in a Christian book catalog and was intrigued by them. If you recommend them, I will put them on my list. Along with the other 56 books I have yet to read..sigh.
May 29th, 2009 at 7:40 am
I read and loved Life of Pi too. I didn’t think I would like it so I read it as an audiobook. But I found myself so drawn in that I couldn’t stop listening.
Recently I really loved The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger and Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult. I also really liked Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides but it’s full of controversial topics. If you like young adult fiction, the Giver trilogy is ok, but the first book is the only one I REALLY loved.
May 29th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Wow! Imagine my surprise when I read your post and found my name and blog linked here. Color me flattered! Thank you. I love your list. I’ve read (and loved) Life of Pi and A Thousand Splendid Suns, too. Great list.
May 29th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Frank Peretti is one of my favorites.. including that book! As well as Ted Dekker… have you ever read his “Martyr series”… When Heaven Weeps is probably one of my all time favorite books… it just makes me cry every time… such a good in depth meaning in it!
May 29th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I’ve never read any of these. Thanks for the recommendations.
Do you buy your books or do you check them from the library?
♥
Joy
May 29th, 2009 at 9:52 am
You know how much I love book recommendations…great post, thanks! There are some interesting ones there I’ll have to add to my “to-read” list. Especially Life of Pi. I actually have it, and have started in on three separate occasions but always put it down for one reason or other (including, notably, having an emergency c-section after an ob appt I’d brought Life of Pi to. That somehow distracted me from my reading!)
I’m so glad you tried and enjoyed Ender’s Game. It’s the one book I keep extra copies of to give away to people who show even the slightest interest in reading. And in a weird twist, it was my old-favorite-comfort-book I packed in my hospital bag when I had my boys. So it’s the book I picked up when I put Life of Pi down.
May 29th, 2009 at 10:11 am
@Allison: My mom used to wonder why I didn’t have a bigger vocabulary as a kid, because I read all the time. I think it must have some lag time, because I do have a large vocabulary NOW.
@Jacki: Only 56? Mine’s probably 3 or 4 times as long!
@Miriam: I read the Giver when it first came out (I was a kid then) and liked it, but it’s hight on my to-read-again. I’m curious what I’ll think about it as an adult.
@Rebecca Jo: I haven’t read his Martyr series, though I’m sure to get around to it at some point. I’ve read a few others of his and Peretti’s, and those are the two that I thought were better than “okay.”
@Joy: I used to buy more books, but then I realized it’s bad for the pocketbook. I still order books on Paperbackswap occassionally, but other than that, I get them from the library.
@WhatACard: Having two squirmy things taken out of you? Yeah, that would be distracting. Yes, definitely try Life of Pi again. I didn’t know if I’d like it reading the first third (the set up is rather long, I think), but I SO did.
May 29th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I’ve read most of your list, and I agree with the recommendations — especially Lewis’s Space Trilogy and Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday. That last one’s high on my re-read list.
May 29th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I liked the Circle trilogy and the Space trilogy. No question about those.
I read “Ender’s Game” and wasn’t at all impressed until the last chapter. The best reason I can think of to read “Ender’s Game” is to be set up for “Speaker for the Dead,” which is quite possibly one of the best science fiction books I’ve read recently. I haven’t gone any further in the series yet, though I think I have “Xenocide” sitting in my pile of books-in-waiting.
May 29th, 2009 at 10:45 am
@Word Lily: Me too. I’m going to try to get my hands on an audio copy (my preferred method of “rereading”).
@Wickle: Isn’t that what Card thought? I think the reason why Ender’s Game resonated so much with me is because I work with children. I’ve liked the others in the series, too, (I’ve read Speaker, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind) but Ender’s Game struck me the most.
May 29th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I haven’t read any of these! Truth be told, I really stopped reading once I started going to college. No time! And I’ve never really picked it up again.
May 29th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I haven’t read any of these books, either. You always seem to pique my interest in Jane Austen’s stuff. Can you believe I haven’t read anything written by her? I used to be able to get into the classics when I was still in school, but I’m afraid that I’ve been away from “literature” long enough that the language won’t be able to hold my attention long enough. What is it that you dislike about Christian fiction?
May 29th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Oh, I love reading! So, thanks for the recommendations. I’ve read The Life of Pi and thought it was brilliant. Same goes for Hosseini’s first book: The Kite Runner. Had me in tears but it was so moving. I’ve got his second book sitting on my shelves waiting to be read.
I recommend The 19th Wife, a book about plural marriage and the Latter Day Saints, which I reviewed a while back:
http://ladyfi.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/the-19th-wife/
The White Tiger by Indian writer by Aravind Adiga was a startling debut. Also, one of the most satisfying reads in a long while was Lionel Shriver’s The Post-Birthday Party. I’m reading The Book Thief at the moment and can highly recommend that too. Also, do you know The No. 1 Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith? Lovely stories about Mama Ramotswe, a detective in Botswana. Truly delightful! Oh – and both books that Mark Haddon has written were wonderful…
I could go on and on and on.. but won’t. Oh – last one, I promise! Read: The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Harrowing, bleak, sparse prose but oh so brilliant! Brilliant!
May 29th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Oooh! I’m excited! I’ve read a good deal of these books, so I know I like your taste. Now, off to read the ones I haven’t heard of! Thanks for a great list!
May 29th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
I so loved Life of Pi and Thousand Splendid Suns. I just love books. I did a post on this not too long ago myself.
May 29th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I’m not a big fiction reader- but I have a few titles that have stayed as favorites since I was a teen. Hinds Feet on High Places is one. It’s a must read if you have not read it yet! (And yes, it sort of falls into the Christian fiction genre that can mostly be avoided due to lack of actual content, but it really ministered to me during the time when I read it.)
May 29th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
@Kristina: I stopped in college, too, for the most part, but I really picked back up these last couple of years. Even when I was in school I couldn’t get enough learnin’ in.
@Liz: Oh, it’s good stuff. I hate to hype it though, because that always seems to make it disappointing. Though, I DO think you’d like Sense and Sensibility. As far as the Christian fiction goes, I’ll just say here that I think the title “Christian” is often used as an excuse to publish lower quality books that often have a trite, cursory view of the Christian faith. I’m well aware that not all Christian fiction is like this, but in my opinion, it’s to our shame as Christians that we do this. I hope to write soon about what I dislike about the use of the word “Christian”… Remind me if I don’t, will ya?
@Lady Fi: You mention some potentially interesting reads, and then you had to mention The Road, one of my least favorite reads of the past year. I don’t have much patience for an author who bucks grammatical conventions (if you can’t say what you want to say using words, then maybe you’re not doing it very well), nor do I like the hopeless view of the world he paints. Sorry, a bit of a soapbox of mine. Just don’t ask me about The Notebook…(the movie)
@Rebecca: Great! I’m glad this list is of some use!
@Jenny: Many of my favorites have been favorites for a while. I think that your first taste of a great author, for example, is something you can’t forget.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Even farther in the shadows is a wonderful trilogy by Calvin Miller: The Singreale Triology. I first read these probably 15 years ago. I walked into a Christian bookstore in Grand Rapids and asked the store manager (a friend of mine) for something fun to read … something that didn’t require my taking notes or a need for any accompanying commentary. He sent me home with The Singreale Trilogy. That was a Friday evening. By Saturday afternoon I finished the third book and felt so sad the story was over. My husband likes me to read to him, and these are his favorites for me to read aloud.
May 30th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Thanks for the recommendations. I love Chesterton’s prose, but haven’t read “The Man Who Was Thursday.”
I’d recommend some books that I like, but most of them would be considered stuffy old theological books by most, so I’ll pass on that (for now).
May 31st, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I loved Sense and Sensbility and Ender’s Game and am really wanting to pick up the Circle triology one of these days. Thanks!
June 1st, 2009 at 9:28 am
@Barry: The Man Who Was Thursday is definitely worth the read. I think you’ll still be able to hear Chesterton’s voice and ideas, but I greatly appreciate an author is able to teach their philosophy through fiction, and he does this very well.
@Britni: I hope you do…and I hope you like it!
June 1st, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Life of Pi is fantastic.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
The Visitation: The flashbacks were my favorite part too.
Sense and Sensibility: My thoughts exactly, except for the whole mother/daughter thing.
The Circle Trilogy: This was what got me hooked on Ted Dekker. It’s a fantastic tale!
The Space Trilogy: AWESOME. Way deeper than Narnia. Perelandra has so many great nuggets…I’d say even more than The Great Divorce or The Screwtape Letters.
I’d probably throw in The Count Of Monte Cristo (if people are willing to read through the 1100+ pages in the unabridged version).
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:33 am
@Dan: Yes, yes, it is.
@K-Lai: Longer books have never intimidated me…in fact, I seem to find that they’re some of the best!