A Personal Book List

I recently came across a blog post that listed the top thirty books that we all—apparently—should have read. I found myself agreeing with some selections and disagreeing with others. The post stuck with me long enough that I thought I’d make a list as well—not a list of thirty books you must read to consider yourself educated, but rather a list of books (and a few plays) that I consider to be in the top twenty books that I’ve read (notice that I went for twenty instead of thirty. I did that because I’m lazy and didn’t want to write that much). There are no absolutes here, just a personal list. I write this personal list hoping for two things: first, if you’ve never read a book mentioned here, you would consider reading it, and second, that it might inspire a dialogue about your top twenty books. I am, after all, an English teacher, and talking about books is what I do for a living.

Well, that and grading papers. But this is so much more fun.

  The Book of Common Prayer

This book isn’t meant to be read cover to cover like most books, but if you’re not Anglican and have no familiarity with this splendid work, I highly recommend getting a copy and using it for a private devotions by reading morning or evening prayer. Or just read the collects. While this is by its very nature a spiritual book, it is arguably one of the greatest literary works ever penned. The prayers are pure poetry, with poignant diction and elegant simplicity.

A Christmas Carol

I try to read this book every year. It’s really a novella due to its brevity. Dickens makes no pretense of hiding the lesson in his holiday tale, but unlike many books that are blatantly didactic, this story is bound together with enough charm and whimsy to carry us back to Victorian England without complaint. And it’s dreadfully hard not to smile when Tiny Tim says, “God bless us, every one!”

The Hobbit

I would also add The Lord of the Rings to this, but I personally find The Hobbit a lighter book in terms of tone and content. Tolkien was a splendid writer (if a bit overly descriptive at times), and his work provides the perfect transport from this world into the world of Middle Earth. By the way, the movies do not do justice to the book. But that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Winnie-the-Pooh

Most people are probably familiar with the animated tales of Winnie-the-Pooh. But the book---ah, the book—is utterly scrumptious. Like honey. My sister read this book to me before I could read it to myself. My mother brought me a cassette tape of the book as well, and—not to brag—I can quote rather long passages from memory. I’m rather convinced that A. A. Milne actually wrote this more for adults than for children. Or at least he wrote it as much for adults as for children. It may be about a bear of very little brain, but those of us with brains will appreciate the subtle humor and gentle merrymaking of Milne’s story about childhood and imagination.

Beowulf

Well, this is jumping around a bit, isn’t it? Winnie-the-Pooh to Beowulf. Specifically, Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf. Heaney is brilliant in his ability to capture the rhythm of the original writing. The story itself is a splendid epic about the rise and decline of a hero. And don’t you dare watch the Angeline Jolie version of this book instead of reading it. If you do, I may come rip your arm off and hang it above the door of my dining hall. (Okay, I won’t do that. But Beowulf would).

The Iliad

I had a friend in high school who called this book “The Idiot” instead of The Iliad. There’s some truth to that title. Spending ten years fighting for someone else’s wife…yeah…Achilles’s heel wasn’t the only place he was weak. However, despite the fact that this begins (and ends) in the middle of the Trojan War, it is…well…epic. And graphic. And Homer wrote it. And you should read it.

Lord of the Flies

This book is easy to hate. But I’m convinced that the reason people often hate it is because they read it incorrectly. It isn’t meant to be an inspirational adventure novel. If there’s one thing that Lord of the Flies is not is Lord of the Rings. Golding’s book is an allegory. Read it like Animal Farm and read it from a philosophical viewpoint, and it’s hard not to appreciate Goldings’s profound genius in capturing “the universal sickness” of the human heart. I find that my students love this book when I preface it with discussions about the origin of evil and the question of original sin. But I also find that approaching this novel for lighthearted enjoyment spoils the reader’s ability to understand the work.

 Macbeth

By the pricking of my thumbs, something evil this way comes! Macbeth is a masterpiece, weaving together themes about ambition, guilt, the power of suggestion, the numbing effects of sin, and the inevitable woe that results from self-promotion. I also get to swear loudly in front of my whole class when reading this play. (One can’t say, “Out, out, damned spot!” without a terrific amount of volume). Unfortunately, high school curriculum planners have created a false dilemma by pitting the virtues of Hamlet against Macbeth when it comes to choosing works for a senior reading list. I would argue that both are splendid pieces. Both should be read. But Macbeth has a tightness, clarity, and accessibility about it that make it a preferable forerunner to Hamlet in terms of reading order.

Much Ado About Nothing

It’s unfortunate, though, that high school curricula often do not include any of the comic works of Shakespeare. If you were one of those unfortunate souls who only got to read Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and either Hamlet or Macbeth, try on a comedy. Much Ado About Nothing is witty, lighthearted, and all around jolly. And if you don’t think so, you can write me down an ass. (If you’ve read or seen the play, you know what I just did there).

The Pilgrim’s Progress

This gem hardly seems to get mentioned nowadays. But it used to be a far more frequently read work, and it’s a pity that it’s fallen out of fashion. John Bunyan wrote this in prison, and it’s a beautiful allegory of our spiritual journey. It is as much applicable today as it was in 1678.

The Chronicles of Narnia

Speaking of books that deal with spirituality, The Chronicles of Narnia is a splendid series that (thankfully) is still popular today. The Horse and His Boy is my personal favorite from the series, but the more well-known The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is still as thrilling as the words, “Aslan is on the move.”

Mere Christianity

Speaking of C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity is another of his many works that are well worth reading. Lewis was Anglo-Catholic in his theology, and this particular book is a wonderful treatise on the basics of Christianity without being overly theology-y. Besides that, Lewis was an English teacher. That should be enough recommendation in and of itself.

Pride and Prejudice 

Ah, Jane Austen….Imagine what else she would have written if she hadn’t died in her forties? For a woman who never married and really lived a rather unexciting life, she had a profound grasp of human nature and the workings of society. Her six novels are masterpieces. Pride and Prejudice seems to be the most well-known, but Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility are equally witty and charming.

The Great Gatsby

As should be blatantly obvious by this list, I’m not a huge fan of American literature. However, the last several works on this list are American. The Great Gatsby, despite the decadence and wealth it portrays, is not a pretty story. But that is precisely the point of the book. Decadence has a dark side. F. Scott Fitzgerald weaves together this sad commentary on the follies of the rich with precise attention to artistic unity and genuinely captures the spirit of American consumerism in the 1920s.

 Little Women

On the opposite side of The Great Gatsby is Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, the story of four sisters living next to a rich neighbor. Their growing pains are described with warmth and compassion in Alcott’s novel. The book is simple, good, and wholesome. And many of us probably grew up identifying personally with either Meg, Joe, Beth, or Amy. I’m a hybrid of Joe and Amy, by the way.

 Fahrenheit 451

While most probably read this book in high school, it’s far more apropos for adults. Bradbury churned this work out on a rented typewriter. But his insight into how society can become numb and spiritually empty with increased dependence on technology for entertainment is chilling. He weaves in references to Matthew Arnold, Charles Dickens, and the Sermon on the Mount. What I find most stunning is Bradbury’s idea that books were not banned with much fuss—because people simply weren’t reading them anymore. Now that’s a little too close to home.

The Crucible

This is a play by Arthur Miller. While Death of a Salesman seems to be more universally known, in The Crucible, Miller expertly explores the complex nature of revenge and identity until we’re all in tears when John Proctor screams out at the end, “Because it is my name!” Unlike many works, the movie version of this play (staring Daniel Day Lewis) is well worth watching.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

I found this book haphazardly on a cart in a library. I picked it up, started to read, and could not move my feet for a long time. Douglass is—in many ways—singlehandedly responsible for my choice to become an English teacher. As a slave, he found young white boys who would teach him to read, and in reading, he found freedom. What better profession could I choose than to bring intellectual freedom to others?

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 

Ah, Maya Angelou. I mentioned earlier that I’m not a fan of most works of American literature. But I find riveting those stories that deal with minority issues in America. Angelou’s story about growing up in Stamps, Arkansas, is nothing less than poetry. It’s beautifully written and simply moving. (Just a note: if you’ve never read the book, be warned that there is a rather graphic retelling of Angelou’s rape as a young girl. I would recommend caution in introducing this book to younger readers).

 To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus Finch. Need we say more? In a world where heroism has taken the backseat to self-involvement and personal “discovery,” To Kill a Mockingbird endures as a novel which portrays a genuine hero. Atticus’s self-sacrificing nature and genuine goodness in the face of racism still makes me cry. I wish I were more like him. Everyone who’s read this novel probably felt that way.

So there’s my list. Send me yours and I might read a work or two off of it.  

Or we could read something new together and make this a list of twenty-one books.