Let's Talk Books!

Rain, rain, go away! The weather has gotten very mixed up lately. It’s funny how we were constantly complaining about all the rain, and then as soon as we had a dry day, we complained about the pollen getting kicked up! The rain quickly returned. It’s obvious that we have to look elsewhere than to the weather for happiness!
Let’s talk Books. There is nothing like a rainy day to inspire me to stay home and curl up with a good book. It is challenging to find just the right book, because there are so many good ones out there! A few years ago, one of my sisters and I set out to write up a list of 100 books that we should read if we wanted to consider ourselves well-read. It was a real challenge. The list was daunting, so we decided to just choose 10 to read each year, figuring we could accomplish it in 10 years. That didn’t work out too well for me, but it was a start!

Classics always appear on the list of best books. Let’s face it; many require more time and attention than the latest Grisham thriller. And the dilemma is that we read so many in school that we don’t want to waste time re-reading the same ones. Now I understand the folly in that! As C.S. Lewis said, “No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.” I re-read Pride and Prejudice, and I was amazed at how differently I understood it. Re-open To Kill a Mockingbird, A Tale of Two Cities, The Count of Monte Cristo, Robinson Crusoe, Jane Eyre, A Wrinkle in Time – all great books that we get soured on as teens, but would really enjoy as adults!

So think about it. Make up your own list. Look through your book shelves for books that you would recommend for others to actually read. Not books you should read! Share your Fave Five with us in the Comments section, and be sure to click the Facebook Comments Plugin beneath your comment so everyone can see your list.

Here are my Fave Five Books :

Pride and Prejudice*
Lord of the Rings Trilogy*
Man’s Search for Meaning
The Alchemist*
Little Women*

Just for fun, put an asterisk after each of the books that you have read more than once. That is actually a good test for a good book – worth a second reading! Happy reading!

Blessings,
Barb

P.S. We’ll start another list for books to read on vacation – that’s a later post for once it stops raining!