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Below are some books I particularly recommend. Here are
some of the reasons I'm recommending them.
Monumental books. Read them!
<3 Personal
favorites.
d Miscellaneous.
Most of these I own, many appear elsewhere on my website.
See my page of books-that-became-movies.
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The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough
(Historical Fiction)
I've also read all five of the sequels, The Grass Crown,
Fortune's Favorites, Caesar's Women, Caesar, and The October
Horse. (I read the last two back-to-back. That's
2000 pages!) Long books, but very worth it. They make
history come alive. Colleen McCullough is famous for her novel
The Thorn Birds, which I have not read. |
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The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis
(Juvenile Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
From the back cover: "Here is your passport to a most
extraordinary excursion into magical lands and enchanted
happenings." This sort of approach to the Chronicles of Narnia
is one which I have never outgrown. These books were read to me
at a very young age, and captivated my imagination before I
understood the Christian allegory. A particular favorite is
The Magician's Nephew, the prequel to the more widely-read
book, The Lion the Witch, and the Wardrobe, required
reading for many elementary schools. The Magician's Nephew
has a broader scope than the other books, in a way, and
weaves everything together with the real world very cleverly.
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The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
(Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy was recommended to
me by a former bookstore co-worker, and luckily, my brother
happened to have a copy of the first book lying around. I'd
heard mixed reviews, so I was a little skeptical. Nothing could
have prepared me for the story Pullman tells in his trilogy! He
creates an exceedingly strange universe in which theology is
turned on its head, reality is made of a stranger fabric than
you would believe, and where humanity, death, and maturation are
all explored in a plot as sweeping and interwoven as any novel
could possibly be. When I began reading The Golden Compass,
I felt like I was holding my breath, waiting to see whether I
would like this strange concoction of things and places and
people and events. Above all else, it was interesting.
(Apparently, it is interesting enough to captivate young readers
to hang on to the end of the 500 page conclusion to the trilogy,
although all the books seem a little mature for the 9- to
12-year reader old age range of my book collection.) All in all,
highly recommended. Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials
is engrossing, captivating, consuming, enthralling, exciting,
fascinating, gripping, intriguing, riveting, and spellbinding,
all rolled into one. |
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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by
Douglas Adams (Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
If you're looking for odd jokes, non-sequiturs, and a small
electronic device that catalogs everything in the universe, this
is the trilogy for you. Oh, wait, there are five books. Well, if
the fourth book didn't keep it from being a trilogy, the fifth
doesn't either. Bring your towel, and remember, the answer is
42. |
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Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
(Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Small Gods convinced me that Pratchett's popularity is deserved:
the book is a clever satire on religion itself. (Everyone on the
Discworld knows that the Discworld is flat, but a rather queer
religious sect insists, against all evidence, that the world is
in fact round!) The Discworld rests on the backs of four
elephants who stand on the shell of an enormous turtle. It is,
as the name suggests, a disc rather than a sphere. It is a world
full of erstwhile heroes, magic, and lessons in human nature.
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The Virginian by Owen Wister
(Fiction)
A Western Romance, in more than one sense. The good guy is a
hero, and gets the girl, and neither gets killed. There is a
respect for independence, and for property; for the best kind of
morality there is, irrespective of religious stipulation. There
is Bierstadt's wilderness, and manhood, and womanhood which
equals it in its own way. There is coming of age and wisdom,
there is innocence and knowledge of death. There is a man who
fights for what is right, and wins. |
I don't own this one. |
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Shogun by James Clavell
(Historical Fiction)
Long book but worth it. An absolutely amazing novel. A peek at a
foreign way of life (Japanese) filled with death, honor,
politics, treachery, beauty, victory and love. |
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Paradise Lost by John Milton
(Literature and Classics - Poetry)
A long poem like a myth or a legend, but full of Christian
theology as well as classical allusions. And lots of
Latin-derived obsolete English vocabulary. |
Not scanned yet. |
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The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
(International Classic)
This book, incapable of being seen from a literal point of view,
teaches the lesson of what should be important in life, what
attitude one should take towards loved ones and towards
happiness. Pick a language: this book has been published in just
about all of them. |
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The Illiad, by Homer
(Literature and Classics)
I read a dinky version of this in 9th grade. We had a joke about
the recurring phrase, "rosy-fingered dawn." I think it is a neat
work, not as boring as some would have me think. There is a lot
going on thematically, structurally, poetically, and
historically, to say nothing of the issue of translation. I
enjoyed it.
(Of the Lattimore translation:) There were several phrases I
liked, though the spelling in this version was abhorrent, as
were the punctuation and the page layout and the glossary. "He
fell, thunderously, and his armor clattered upon him." "They
feasted, nor was any man's hunger denied a fair portion. But
when they had put away their desire for eating and drinking..."
(Of the Fagles translation:) I wanted to read two translations
because I don't trust the English text to be conveyed very well
and I don't know Greek, so I figured between two I would get a
better sense of the words' meanings. Translation is a serious
issue, especially between two such dissimilar languages. Also,
this other version was recommended to me over the required
Lattimore. It has the traditional spellings which aren't awkward
to read, and has better punctuation and line arrangement, which
makes it easier to read. Some of the other aspects of the text
are lacking, though, because the repeated phrases were
translated differently when repeated, which diminished the
effect. My favorite stilted ones from the other version just
weren't as grabbing in this text. I can't say which I actually
prefer. |
Not scanned yet.
(It's in Atlanta and I'm not.) |
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Too Much Magic by Betsy and Samuel Sterman
(Juvenile Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
I checked out this book at my local public library one summer
when I was a kid. Years later, when I had forgotten both the
title and the author, I wanted to find it again more than
anything in the world. I remembered was that it was about a
magic cube that seemed to grant wishes to a little boy. I
remembered some of the details of the book, right down to a pair
of purple sneakers the boy wished for! After searching
unsuccessfully for the book on the internet, I gave up trying to
pluck the book out of thin air. I went back to my old public
library to see if, just maybe, I could find it on the shelf. I
started scanning the "alpha-by-author" spines in the Juvenile
Fiction Section. To my utter delight, when I got to S, I
spotted the book I was looking for sitting there on the shelf
just as it had been ten years ago. I did a little victory dance,
hoping no one thought I'd gone mad. It is a great book. The end
is even better than I remembered. |
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The Farthest-Away Mountain by Lynne Reid
Banks (Juvenile Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
This book is a charming little magical quest story. I value it
for its magic elements: talking creatures, invisibility, a happy
ending, and some fascinating colored snow. This book is
particularly special to me because I re-read it upside-down
in high school, just for kicks. It appeals more to the young
female audience (and to me) than Banks's more familiar Indian
in the Cupboard series, which stars a male protagonist.
The Fairy Rebel, another Banks book aimed at young females,
didn't suit me at all. It frightened me as a child, and I didn't
like it much when I re-read it recently. |
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Half Magic by Edward Eager
(Juvenile Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Written in the 50's set in the 20's (when movies don't talk, and
nickels don't have Jefferson on them), there's something special
about the simple style of this book. Four siblings who love to
read about magic complain that magic adventures never happen to
them. Until Jane finds the token. Read this book and you will
meet a half-talking cat (who would prefer not to talk at all), a
camel trader, and a kind bookseller who believes in magic and in
love. |
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The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye
(Juvenile Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Delightful! The perfect story of a misfit princess who runs away
to avoid a distasteful arranged marriage, and finds love in an
unexpected way. This story, which is complete with friendly
woodland creatures, is set long ago and far away, in a land of
fairies, kings, and beautiful princesses. Woven into the story
is the nursery rhyme poem: "Lavender's Blue, Rosemary's Green,
When You Are King, I Shall Be Queen." |
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The Jargoon Pard by Andre Norton
(Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Ms. Norton's many books entertained me for two reasons: they
introduced me to the world of science fiction, which is not the
focus of this collection, and, they built a believable fantasy
world that spanned dozens of books and hundreds of characters
and creatures found nowhere else. I remember this book in
particular: a man living in the relatively normal Dales of
Norton's Witch World discovers that he is a shape shifter, or
becomes one my magic (I've forgotten exactly which). He is
presented with a belt whose clasp is ornamented with jargoon,
a kind of yellowish stone. When he wears it, he becomes a pard:
a large, wild, hunting cat. He must learn to live with this new
identity, and accept the changes it brings. I identified with
this book because shape-shifting was always a daydream of mine.
The next best thing to being a bird, in my opinion, would be to
be a powerful feline. Felines can't fly, but I've always been a
cat person. |
Not scanned yet. |
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The Girl With the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis
Roberts (Juvenile Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
This is a favorite story of mine from grade school, when the
teacher would gather us into a circle and read a chapter or two
to us at the end of each day. Although real-world issues form
the base of this tale of a misfit girl, it is the magic elements
which fascinated me. The protagonist has silver eyes that enable
her to move objects by telekinesis; that is, without touching
them. The story tells how she uses and copes with her personal
problems and her powers. |
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A Hidden Magic by Vivian Vande Velde
(Juvenile Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
This book took a trip to the hospital with me when I cut my hand
and had to get stitches: the nurse didn't want me to leave,
because she was listening along with me as my mother read the
story and wanted to hear the ending! I've since re-read the book
in more pleasant situations, and I find that it has important
lessons to teach about appearances. It's also a rather humorous
story: have you ever made up a tongue-twister that almost
killed a dragon? The scene is one of my favorites. |
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Eats, Shoots & Leaves
(Non-Fiction)
A best-selling book about... punctuation! I
expected this book to be entertaining, but it was also more than
entertaining: it was deep. It presented not only examples
of amusing and shockingly bad punctuation, but also some history
of writing, printing, and editing. It also raised issues
in education and philosophy of language: is change good; what
are its consequences; who decides what is correct; does anybody
care; should anybody care. |
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The Enchanted Book by Ruth Chew
(Juvenile Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
This is Ruth Chew's venture into Arthurian Legend, which is a
tangential interest of mine which I will someday explore
further. It is like her other books, except for one thing: I
didn't think this book existed! I bought one of the three copies
that turned up on the internet one day, because I'd never
heard of it before, and was afraid it would wink back out of
existence! I thought I knew the titles of all of Ruth Chew's
books, but I guess I was wrong. There aren't really any online
sources for information about Ruth Chew and her books, as far as
I can tell, which is a shame. |
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Beauty: A Re-Telling of the Story of Beauty
and the Beast by Robin McKinley (Juvenile
Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Like Levine's Cinderella story Ella Enchanted, this story
is built on one we all know and love, and have seen through the
eyes of Disney's animators. Although Beauty and the Beast
is probably my favorite Disney film, I still think that the
story could be told better. McKinley tells it differently,
certainly: instead of talking furniture, Beauty is surrounded by
whispering servants she cannot see. Also, more time is spent
developing Beauty's relationship to her family before she goes
to the castle: the end of the story is fairly predictable.
Beauty, McKinley's first book, is also only her first
attempt at the Beauty and the Beast story. She later wrote a
longer version entitled Rose Daughter, which in my
opinion is excessively weighed down by the details of rose
gardening, apparently a hobby of the author, and by a legend she
attempts to weave into the background of the story. Of course, I
don't regard either of McKinley's versions as the be-all end-all
version, either: I imagine there are many more versions of which
I would like to partake. In fact, Beauty and the Beast is the
one fairy tale I would claim as my own, the one that I can
imagine with the most detail, enthusiasm, and belief. If I were
to write a book, this would be my story. |
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The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes by Bill
Watterson (Comics)
Calvin's antics appeal to a wide range of people since he
sometimes acts like a goofy six-year-old, and sometimes spits
out words you don't learn until you go to college. He's got an
imagination that can turn his teacher into a cruel alien jailer
or a sandbox into another planet. He's an annoying kid, a
superhero, and a sophisticated means of commenting on the world
in general. The visual humor is terrific, and the dialog is
often extremely witty, particularly when you throw in Hobbes,
the stuffed tiger who's really real (sometimes). My favorite
Hobbes line [don't forget to visualize his eyes rolling]: "Maybe
we can eventually make language a complete impediment to
understanding." |
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The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book
by Bill Watterson (Comics)
Offers insight into the creative and business aspects of writing
comic strips. Watterson chose these strips as representative or
noteworthy in some way. Have you ever noticed, for instance,
that the first two panes of a long comic strip often contain a
joke that is independent of the main punch line? That's due to
the arrangement of the panes in the newspapers: when a writer
doesn't know how much space his strip will be given, he
sometimes makes a "throw-away" joke in the first couple of
panes. This Calvin and Hobbes book provides an experience much
different than all the other Calvin and Hobbes books. |
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Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman
(Comics)
Jeremy's life is the life of the typical teenage male. His
parents are the typical parents. Typical can be pretty funny. I
especially like the laundry chute jokes (Jeremy's dad always
does the laundry, but Jeremy makes it a hassle by rolling up his
socks, or putting a month's worth of laundry down the chute at
once). I also really like the literalist visual humor in this
comic strip. (For example, when Jeremy gets writer's block, his
head is pictured as a concrete cinderblock.) The authors of the
strip have the same vision as Bill Watterson - they mix
imagination with a wry depiction of what's real at a certain age
in a kid's life. |
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The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
(Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
Like Tolkien, except that there is less stress in this book.
What I mean is, even though you have a group of people who are
on a quest and essentially always being chased by evil of one
kind or another, the sense of doom isn't overbearing. It really
is an epic adventure, where the world and goodness as such are
at stake. There are mysteries to be solved, mysterious people to
meet, destinies to reveal. Magic, spies, legendary weapons:
you'll find them all. The end of the book finishes one quest,
only to begin half-a-dozen more: there are still adventures to
be had, victories to be won, identities to forge. I want to read
the next book in the series! |
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The Arabian Nights edited by Kate Douglas
Wiggin (Literature and Classics)
If you like the magic stories that form a part of the American
cultural backdrop, this book will give you the real thing. Here
are the story of the Fisherman and the Genie, the story of Ali
Baba and the Forty Thieves, and the story of Aladdin. The story
of Aladdin's wonderful lamp doesn't match Disney's production at
all. In this story, Aladdin is given a magic ring by a man who
claims to be his uncle, then sent to fetch the lamp from the
cave. When the "uncle" gets angry with Aladdin and shuts him in
the cave, Aladdin accidentally rubs the ring, and is saved by a
green genie. Once at home, he discovers the nature of the lamp
and forgets about the ring again until much later. Oh, and these
genies are the real thing: there is no limit on the number of
wishes available to Aladdin! |
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Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey
(Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy)
An enemy alien race has enslaved both humans and aliens, and
decides to use its prisoners as test subjects in a colonization
experiment. The prisoners are dumped on an uninhabited planet
and abandoned to live if they can - or die. Kris convinces the
others that Zainal, an outcast of the enemy race, is an asset
rather than a danger, and he comes to be accepted as part of the
community. Together with other leaders, the two of them
(destined to fall in love) discover the mysteries and dangers of
their new planet while using their wits to improve the
colonists' lives. |
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The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
(Children's Classic)
This book is very unique. It tells of the adventures of an
anthropomorphosized Mole, Water Rat, Badger, and an incorrigible
Toad. There are also humans, (who throw Toad in jail for
reckless driving). He escapes by dressing as a human
washer-woman. And, somewhere in the midst of it all, a mystical
creature saves a baby otter(?). |
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Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead by Tom
Stoppard (Play)
Tom Stoppard has a very clever sense of humor which plays with
words and meanings and rhythms, in this and other works.
However, the message of this play is a depressing one: only read
it if you can ignore the hopelessness of the overall picture and
enjoy the detailed dialogue in and of itself. I've seen this
play, and it won't have you smiling at the end, but it will have
you in fits of laughter at times. I recommend you read Hamlet
for background: these two characters are messengers in that
play, and really have no personalities or purpose. The play
deals with their attempt to grasp being no-one and nowhere. |
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Genius by James Gleick
(Non-Fiction: Biography)
The life and accomplishments of Richard Feynman, physicist and
weirdo. A more serious account than his autobiography, "Surely
You're Joking, Mr. Feynman," this book has some background
information on contemporary physicists and their theories but
also does have some amazing anecdotes. |
I don't own this one. |
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Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
(Literature and Classics)
All in all, a good story that retains interest and has a happy
ending. |
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The Professor and the Madman by Simon
Winchester (Non-Fiction)
This was a really good book about the making of the original
Oxford English Dictionary. It makes me very interested in
lexicography. What if I were put in charge of English as a
whole, as James Murray was! Now I want to read more about the
OED, and I wish I could own one. Expensive...! |
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The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
(Fiction)
This was a very real book. Pat Conroy made me feel as if events
happened to me just as they did to the first person narrator,
Will McLean. |
Not scanned yet. (It's in
Atlanta and I'm not.) |
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Of Time, Space, and Other Things, by Isaac
Asimov (Non-Fiction: Science)
I never thought astrophysics could be so entertaining. Asimov
comments humorously at the same time that he instructs. I
learned lots, and was wholly fascinated. A similar book treating
some different scientific topics is Please Explain, which I also
greatly enjoyed. |
Not scanned yet. (It's in
Atlanta and I'm not.) |
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