My Ten Favorite Books

I love a good book. I love how fiction can take me away to another time and place and introduce me to people I will never meet. I also love nonfiction as a way of learning about people's lives, real places I've never been and certain times in history.

For me, a really good book does the following:

• I have a hard time putting it down and I end up carrying it with me wherever I go in case I get the chance to sneak in a couple of pages.
• I think about it for days afterwards.
• I get emotional. Throughout the book, I laugh, cry, get mad, feel sad and/or jump for joy.
• If it's fiction, I become friends with the characters.
• It it's nonfiction, I try to find out more about the person, place or events in the book.
• I look up information about the author.
• I look on Amazon to see what other people say about it.
• I don't want it to end and when it does, I give the book a little hug, sort of as a way for thanking it for being so worth my time to read.

By: John Steinbeck

Published: 1939

I read this book for the first time a couple of years ago and was blown away. I found it heartbreaking what the Joads and so many other families went through during the Great Depression. They were so hopeful in going to California. They were so certain their lives were going to be better. Then they got there and it was almost worse than where they had come from. I just cannot imagine what it would be like to watch your family, especially your children starving to death. The ending of the book sort of haunted me and I really wanted the story to go on because I wanted to know that the Joads ended up being okay.

By: Jack London

Published: 1906

As I read this book, I couldn't get over how well Jack London portrayed the life of a wolf. As he wrote about White Fang's thoughts and feelings, it was like he was able to get inside the head of a real-life wolf. The book was exciting and took me on one adventure after another. I also love the wilderness aspect of this book during the Gold Rush in Alaska. I can see why this book was an instant success when it was published.

By: Laura Hillenbrand

Published: 2003

I have always loved horses and read all of the Black Stallion and Black Beauty books when I was growing up. Seabiscuit is another book about a horse and so much more. This real-life story takes place in the 30's when cars were first being driven and the Great Depression had just begun. Seabiscuit was a racehorse that no one thought would amount to much. He was an underdog that proved everyone wrong. Even after being injured, it was thought he would never race again. Once again, Seabiscuit proved everyone wrong. During such dismal times, this horse gave people hope. Even if you don't like horses, I highly recommend this book!

By: Nicholas Sparks

Published: 2006

I think one of the reasons I like this book so much is because it is a love story told from the male's perspective. This book rocked all of my emotions as I read about John and Savannah's love for one another and the tough choices they had to make. Dear John was totally unpredictable and even though it was sad, I loved how the story ended. Nicholas Sparks made the book real and honest not some fairy tale where everything turns out for the best.

By: Sue Monk Kidd

Published: 2001

One of the reasons I love this book is because I truly believe that there are no coincidences in life. It's as if our lives are planned by a Master Planner who has a purpose for us even before we are born. This is a fiction book with all-too real details as it is set during a time when blacks were first able to register to vote. It's so hard for me to fathom how white people could have treated blacks the way that they did. I just love how in this book a little white girl is totally accepted and taken in by three African American women during such a volatile time in the South.

By: Harry Bernstein

Published: 2008

The author was 93 years old when he wrote this book, a depiction of his childhood while growing up in pre-Great War England. The book discusses the town of Lancashire where Christians lived on one side of the street and Jews on the other. They kept their distance as best they could until Harry's sister, a young Jewish girl fell in love with a young Christian boy. This book was very profound and had many sad parts as both the Christians and the Jews were effected by extreme poverty and all of the social issues during that time. But it is also a book of hope too as it shows how love can help people overcome their differences.

By: Timothy Egan

Published: 2006

This is another book set during the Great Depression, a time in history that I find very interesting knowing my great-grandparents who settled in North Dakota were greatly affected. This book is a true account of what some suffered during the Great Depression. Most of it takes place in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, one of the hardest hit areas. While reading this book, it forced me to compare what is going on now in the economy and what happened then. They dealt with so much more than what most are dealing with today. There are soup kitchens available today but during that time they were forced to make soup out of tumbleweeds. They watched their livestock die of starvation and their babies die of dust pneumonia. It is unreal what these people suffered through and it is amazing that they even survived.

By: John L. Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill and Corrie ten Boom

Published: 1976

Another true story (I love books that are based on true stories). This book is about Corrie ten Boom who lived during World War II in Holland. Her Christian family had deep compassion for others. At a time when Jews were beginning to disappear from their homes, Corrie's family hid their Jewish friends in their home. Eventually they became the major contact for getting Jews safely hidden in other Christian homes. Corrie's family was found out and they were sent to a concentration camp where both her dad and her sister died. The most amazing part of this book is the forgiveness that Corrie ten Boom has for the Nazi guards that caused her so much pain and suffering. She is one who truly does as the Lord commands, love your enemies.

By: Harper Lee

Published: 1960

What can I possible say about this book that hasn't already been said? It's a classic that won a Pulitzer Prize. It is amazing to me that this is Harper Lee's only book. This book is a story of courage that pits black against white in the deep south. It really makes me wonder if I were alive back then, would I have gone with the flow or against the grain? Whose side would I have taken? I guess we would all like to think we would have done the right thing but until you're placed in that exact situation, you will never really know.

By: Roxanne Henke

Published: 2004

Roxanne Henke might not be a well-known author but she is one of my favorites. She writes Christian fiction but she doesn't sugarcoat any of her stories. Her books are about Christians who are dealing with real situations. And in this book she deals with the subject of clinical depression - a taboo subject in some Christian circles. Even if you haven't suffered with depression, I think Olivia is someone people can identify with and by going through her struggles with her you will find that there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.