My Top 10 Books So Far:

After seeing a couple of my friends post their "Top 10" book lists recently, it got me thinking a lot about what books have been most impactful in my life. I have always loved reading. Gordon B. Hinckley, a man I admire in many ways, put it well:

“I love libraries. I love books. There is something sacred, I think, about a great library because it represents the preservation of the wisdom, the learning, the pondering, of men and women of all the ages accumulated together under one roof to which we can have access as our needs require."

I had a lot of fun thinking about this, talking with my wonderful wife about it, and writing this up. Thanks Mal, for staying up late listening to me ramble about these. Just as a little disclaimer, I wrote this list excluding all scripture / religious text. I'll save that for another blog post. 

Top 10:

1.     My Side of the Mountain

a.     Hatchet

b.     Bryan’s Winter

c.      Swiss Family Robinson

d.     Rascal

e.     Summer of the Monkeys

f.      Tom Sawyer

g.     Huckleberry Finn

h.     Across Five Aprils

Yes, I realize that some of you math majors might be saying I only have one slot left in my Top 10 list now, but it’s my blog post so I get to make the counting rules. My Side of the Mountain was my boyhood dream written down. This book about a boy who hitch-hikes into the woods, builds a home in a hollow tree and lives happily off the land until his family decides to come live with him (instead of forcing him back to “civilization”) spoke to my boyhood soul and lit a campfire that still burns there, stoked by all the rest of those sub-bulleted books. Sure, there’s some deep philosophy in some of them, but even once I realized that, I didn’t let it stop me from romping through these youthful voyages. 

2.     Lord of the Flies

To me, this book, which I had to read in high school, was the antithesis of all the books in number one. At first, I hated Lord of the Flies for what I felt was its defeatist, degenerate theme. However, it is excellently written and forced me to re-examine why I loved books like My Side of the Mountain. In the end, it helped me see that to be anything more than wishful thinking or a martyr in any situation, the right must also have and exercise might wisely.

3.     Redwall

The fantasy story of a mouse who thinks he’s a nobody, but finds out who he really is just in time to save everybody from a horde of attacking vermin. Besides being a fantastic adventure story with a “find the hero inside you and save the world” theme, author Brian Jaques’ rich descriptions sit his readers down at feasts in the great hall and makes theirs mouths water, then sends them up on the walls and makes them shake with fear as they face the enemy horde.

4.     The Magician’s Nephew

C.S. Lewis mesmerized me with this book. It was very different and even strange compared to what I normally liked to read, but his description of the creation of Narnia still gives me shivers. I’ve only read some of the rest of the Narnia collection, but I love this one the best.

5.     The Giver

The movie is ok. The book is a life-changer. Read this before you read any other dystopian book. The end.

6.     A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens in general)

Whew! Dickens pushed my reading abilities, but in A Tale of Two Cities, this acrobat of prose and plot kept me going, even through the slow parts (Is that an ironic statement?) and crafted one of the most potent stories I’ve ever read. His “authoritarian” (get it?) command of the English language seems to surge off the pages.

7.     The Count of Monte Cristo

Pirates. Adventure. Buried Treasure. Honor. Revenge. Redemption. Awesome book.

8.     Sherlock Holmes

Holmes is a great combination of philosophy, mystery and adventure. Can you tell I like British authors? Yes, I know Dumas was French.

9.     The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

All the good stuff from the original Seven Habits book, minus a couple hundred pages and with a lot more pictures. This authentic, open book really did help me a lot. In a funny, easy to digest way, it makes you stop and think about what you really want to accomplish in life, and helps you see how you can get there. The MBA classes I’ve taken so far have come back to these principles over and over again.

10.  Man’s Search for Meaning

Viktor Frankl, a psychologist’s, autobiographical description of surviving the Holocaust both physically and mentally. First his account scarred me, then it healed me. I’ll always remember his description of walking out of one concentration camp as he watched smoke rising from the smoke-stacks and how he found out later that smoke likely contained the remains of his wife. His book is raw and open, but its message’s ability to come to terms with and overcome the most horrible of circumstances is uplifting. Our poor world needs messages like his.

Honorable Mention:

Because I needed another way to get more books on this list.

• Louis L'amour (his books in general)
• I read way too many of these in high school. My favorite was The Beat of the Walking Drum.
• Ender's Game
• This brilliant little book probably only missed the Top 10 because I read it for the first time only a couple years ago. In time, it likely will be right next to The Giver on my list. 
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• In all truth, a magical read. In my humble, and I'm sure, minority, opinion, this was the best book of the series, or at least as many as I read. I got lost somewhere in book five and never finished...
• The Ugly American
• Although I never quite finished this one either, it changed the way I see America in the world and how I think of American foreign policy. It steeled my belief in democracy in a way social studies never did, as well as my desire to make a difference in the world. 
• Calvin and Hobbes
• How could anyone not love this? I know it's not necessarily "literary" but it is hilarious, and often actually very thoughtful.
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• Jules Verne at his best. An easy classic.