MY 10 FAVORITE BOOKS

First, a confession: I’ve probably read far fewer books than most writers. Still, I have no trouble identifying 10 that are my favorite. The books listed here aren’t necessarily the best ones I have ever read. But all of them fascinated me, thrilled me, taught me a lesson, or even changed my outlook on life. That’s why they remain embedded in my memory years or even decades after I completed them. Here they are in the approximate order I read them.

American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War. This book spawned my life-long interest in the Civil War. Through both photos and words, I learned how the war affected everyone from President Lincoln on down to individual soldiers and their families.

Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer was the book character I most wanted to be like. Bold and clever, Tom had amazing, if scary, adventures. His romantic interest in Becky Thatcher paralleled my own budding interest in girls.

The Time Machine, H.G. Wells. The idea of time travel captivates me. Wells pushes this idea to the limit by having his time traveler journey 800,000 years into the future. Though Wells’ vision of tomorrow’s world is rather gloomy, it encouraged me to consider how my actions could have a “ripple effect” into the future.

HMS Ulysses, Alistair MacLean. This World War II novel captures not only the terror but the stress and tedium that go along with combat. I was in the Army when I read this book, and it showed me that when shooting starts, the will to survive and persevere is more important than patriotic ideals.

Passage to Mutiny, Alexander Kent. Many of Kent’s books follow a formula. But in this novel, he abandons that formula to create a gripping story in which English Captain Richard Bolitho battles sharks, pirates, angry natives, and an incompetent administrator, with whose wife he is having an affair.

The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams. This book has a valuable message for both adults and children: Any worthwhile goal will not be achieved easily. Obstacles and setbacks will come, along with people who doubt us.

The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown. Okay – this is really a guilty pleasure. Nevertheless, I relished the anagrams, icons, and symbol interpretations that run through this often far-fetched tale.

Beyond the River, Ann Hagedorn. The author put me in the middle of Ohio’s Underground Railroad along with John Rankin, John Mahan, and other people who struggled to move escaped slaves to freedom. This book raised a tough question: Would I have had the courage to serve on the Underground Railroad had I lived in pre-Civil War America?

Lincoln at Gettysburg, Garry Wills. This book has special meaning, as it was a gift from my sister, who died from breast cancer. Wills provides a solid, well-researched analysis of Lincoln’s famous address, examining both Lincoln’s words and their historical context.

The Case of Abraham Lincoln, Julie Fenster. This book gave me some fascinating insights to Abraham Lincoln, the lawyer and family man. The murder-adultery case that helped bring Lincoln to prominence could have been drawn from today’s tabloids.