Ten Books

Have you seen the 'game' on Facebook making its rounds, in which you are asked to list ten books that have stuck with you? I thought to myself, 'Self! I must have at least ten books...probably more like 100!'

Here's my list:

10: Teach Them Diligently (Lou Priolo) - One of the two books that totally revolutionized how I saw the awesome task of parenting!

09: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) - I haven't read it in over a decade, the trials and sorrows of the Nolan family stay with me.

08: The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It (John Seymour) - This was one of my favorite birthday presents from Will. It made me realize that my Little-House-on-the-Prairie dream is doable!! It's a treasury of farming & gardening, animal care, green living, and skill-building knowledge.

07: The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne) - What a truth: sometimes the sin that is worn like a badge does not hold you prisoner the way that the sin that's hidden from view can - for all things will be revealed one day, whether we take pains to hide it now or not.

06: The Jungle (Upton Sinclair) - An expose on the horrors of the meat-packing industry and the plight of immigrants at the turn of the century in Chicago. A sickening, heartbreaking, and powerful book that needed to be written and that deserves to be read.

05: The Diary of Anne Frank (Anne Frank) - I first read this when I was 13, and, wow. Every young lady with the aptly-named 'first-world problems' should read this.

04: The Problem of Pain (CS Lewis) - CS Lewis' explanation of suffering, in limited part. This book was instrumental in me coming to place trust in Jesus Christ.

03: The Killer Angels (Michael Shaara) - The Battle of Gettysburg, from both sides. Masterfully done, hauntingly beautiful. The horrors of battle and the bravery of the American soldier come alive.

02: To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) - I want to be like Atticus Finch when I grow up. and right now. Dignity, resolve, courage, humility, compassion, integrity, honesty. Such an amazing character.

01: The Bible. The inspired Word of the living God. It wrecked everything I knew about life, and then it rebuilt me gently and patiently (still is, and will for a lifetime.). Full of history, wisdom, poetry, and great power. If I could only ever keep one book, this would be it.

Honorable mentions: My Utmost for His Highest (Oswald Chambers), Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury); Through Gates of Splendor (Elisabeth Elliot), Bruchko (Bruce Olson), Lord of the Flies (William Golding), Spiritual Leadership (J. Oswald Sanders), He Came to Set the Captives Free (Rebecca Brown), Open Heart Open Home (Karen Mains), Mere Christianity (CS Lewis), The Confessions of St. Augustine (St. Augustine), Radical (David Platt), Candide (Voltaire), George Muller: Guardian of Bristol's Orphans (Geoff & Janet Benge), Ragtime! (E.L. Doctorow), Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens), Animal Farm (George Orwell), Matilda (Roald Dahl), This Momentary Marriage (John Piper), Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit (Charles Swindoll), The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)...and about a hundred others. :)

Your turn! What are ten(-ish) books that have stuck with you?

Loving the written word,
for His glory!
~Lisha

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