Know Jack #499 Top Ten Books

I thought it might be fun to share my top ten books. To qualify for the list, a book must have been more than enjoyable. It must be a book that I have read at least twice (all ten of these I’ve read three times or more). I greatly enjoyed Don Quixote and The Stand, but have not yet thought of reading either a second time. A top ten book must have changed my thinking. It must also have served as a source from which I have quoted.

1.   Bible

A given at #1 for me. I read passages almost daily.

2.   Mere Christianity

I have not found a better short practical summary of Christian thought. The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas is more complete, but at five volumes it’s not a book I would recommend to friends. Mere Christianity I recommend to all.

3.   Come Nineveh, Come Tyre

This book by Allen Drury is the scariest book I have ever read. It’s not horror. It’s political intrigue. It presents the dangers of excusing anything and sacrificing everything if done for the “right” cause.

4.   The Screwtape Letters

One of the few C.S. Lewis works of fiction that I’ve read. Lessons to a young tempter from his uncle, a master devil. Highlights the subtle aspects of temptation and active evil.

5.   Pet Semetery

That sometimes dead is better, is a message everyone should consider. Aside from the back from the dead creepiness, there’s the self-destructive lengths to which some will go not to face up to the fact that death is a part of life.

6.   To Kill a Mockingbird

Before there was John McClane in a tower, there was Atticus Finch. Atticus is that guy. The guy in the wrong place at the wrong time who is willing to do what he has to do. The guy destined to do our dirty jobs for us.

7.   Pilgrim’s Progress

John Bunyan’s allegory for Christian life. The book follows the journey of a man named Christian from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City

8.   Seven Days in May

Fletcher Knebel’s story of how a handful of men must thwart the overthrow of a sitting President by the military.

9.   Huckleberry Finn

More than one of Mark Twain’s stories qualified for this list. I chose this one for the interaction between and dependence of Huck and Jim on one another.

10.        Lord of the Flies

My reading of the first book on this list has convinced me that Man is flawed and never changes. Government has been called a necessary evil. Remove it and its authority, and you are left with evil unchecked.

There you have it, my top ten books. Share your list in the comments.