Top Ten Books* of All Time
Is there any pastime I appreciate more than books? The question is rhetorical and the answer should be obvious.
Asterisk Notes:
* Limited to Fiction.
** Best Character. Does not have to be the protagonist.
Title: Journey to the Center of the Earth
Author: Jules Verne
BC**: Hans Bjelke
As I was looking over my top ten favorite single books list from 2017 I find that once again, it hasn't changed, though it can be reordered. I tried thinking of all the books I've read since this list and even though I've read a lot of really great books, I guess I've just always remained emotionally attached to these. They're usually the first ones I re-read when I decide to re-read after a long, long period of time. (Well, if it's part of a series I typically start with the beginning of the set, but it still applies.) I guess that's my standard. It's hard to make this list. Maybe I don't get as emotionally involved as I once did. Or at least I don't get swept away from these ten in my initial excitement of newer reads that I end up loving as well. Most of these come from early in my reading ventures. Not all. Maybe that's why I am so attached... first loves and all that. But in order to follow the rules I had to remove the only non-fiction book in the list and pick a fiction replacement which was unexpectedly hard to do and why I'm a day behind. But I love a challenge.. 😂
I'll start by moving this particular book, Journey to the Center of the Earth, to slot 10. I have, perhaps, read better, but it still has my heart. This is one of my all time favorite books. I loved it from the first time I read it. The reason I love the classics is that occasionally you'll run into science fiction that was written before science became so advanced. Before we went to the moon and so forth. And those old stories are so much more imaginative than new science fiction. Now, there has to be an element of realism in it with plenty of techno-babble to make it sound plausible, or it's regarded as childish. Maybe the old ones were a little childish but I prefer creativity that results from the child-like wonder to the sometimes depressing reality that results from well researched scientific possibilities.
I like the fresh viewpoint in this book too. It's written in first person from the nephew's (Axel) point of view and he's the biggest whiner and wimp you can imagine. Most books would tell a story and create a tense and worried atmosphere when the mission is about to fail, but the voice that is telling the story in this book can't wait for it to fail all the way through. It just seems like a nice change of pace. And Axel contrasts well with the Icelandic eider duck hunter hired to be their guide, Hans. A stoic man of very few words, he's resourceful and solely focused on his job no matter what obstacles and dangers they face. He takes care of, not only the somewhat fragile Axel, but also his overzealous and obsessive uncle who devised the excursion. I guess it's more about the people than the science and its just a very good story.
Number 9
Title: A Wrinkle In Time
Author: Madeline L'Engle
BC**: Margaret "Meg" Murray
More science fantasy. Well, more of a blend of scifi and supernatural. These favorite books from early on usually have another reason for sticking me other than just being a great book. I hated reading growing up but this is the first book I willingly read because it wasn't required reading. I got to choose it myself. And being around the same age as Meg, I was quickly mesmerized. Meg was a social outcast like me, only because she was a honor student in math, not a dork like me. But a connection was formed. After Meg's dad goes missing while working on a tesseract, which isn't a four dimensional analog of a cube like in geometry, but a fifth dimensional phenomenon that folds space and time in this case, three immortal beings use the tessering method to transport Meg, her baby brother who is a child prodigy in science, and a new friend, Calvin, also well above his age in intelligence, who would be her love interest in later books on a journey to rescue him from a darkness that is overtaking worlds. Her brother's curiosity is so strong that he's easily compromised and it's up to Meg to rescue her father with Calvin. She then has to go back to rescue her brother and fight the IT that controls the planet telepathically alone. Her strength of mind and special bond with her brother that would be explored further in the sequels is why she is the only one who can save him.
I can't claim that Meg inspired me to become a smart kid but it was formative for the kind of books that I would come to love. Reluctant heroes. Fantastical places and creatures. Different enough to stand out in its genre, at least to me. I was increasingly disappointed with each sequel in this series. But this first book will always stand alone as one of the best and one of my favorites.
Number 8
Title: Treasure Island
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
BC**: Dr. David Livesy
Okay, Treasurer Island is the book that hooked me on reading. After I finished highschool and had nothing better to do with my life I decided to do the great experiment and compare a book to a movie, the Disney version in this case. Needless to say, my life was changed forever. It not only hooked me on reading but motivated me to read more of the classic literature they push on you at school. I decided that I'd, perhaps, not been giving it a fair chance and that there may be something to the reading lists in school. So far it's been a hit and miss adventure that I'm quite enjoying. It also gave me an appreciation for "children's" literature. This book is clearly a kid's book but also written in a time when kids were certainly tougher and more able to process the adult themes presented in raw detail that adults can appreciate and not requiring sugar-coating or being burdened with a lot of psychology as an attempt to make it less scary. I would go on to never outgrow nor underestimate Children's and YA literature.
However, I do wonder if young boys of that bygone era were just as surprised by the twists as the main character was? Were they fooled by Silver like Hawkins was even after reading all the evidence that he was the deadly pirate he was warned about? Would the fact that Ben Gunn found the treasure years prior being marooned on the island have made their heads explode? It all seems so obvious now reading it as an adult or even young adult in the late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries. I had it all figured out quickly on the first read, even though it didn't lessen the excitement. I guess that's why Dr. Livesy is the best character to me. He's the only adult in the room. Hawkins, as a tween, is meant to be naive, impulsive, and a little reckless because he's the protagonist and charmed with the luck of youth. But there's no excuse for characters like the Squire who funds the expedition, bragging about treasure hunting to everyone he meets, and treating the experienced Captain badly for voicing his concerns. Even the Squire's servant is loyal to the point of being unhelpful, never questioning orders even early on when some things seem definitely off. Dr. Livesy takes all the characters in hand as soon as he meets the unhealthy, old pirate that it staying at Hawkins' mother's inn at the beginning. He stands firmly up to him and everyone else including the Squire and Hawkins when necessary. All of the men on the Hispaniola's side acquit themselves as brave and honorable, but Livesy's common sense made him a cut above. He also tends to the pirates' wounds and diseases during their seige as well as his own mates, making him an awesome doctor. He, as a magistrate, even knows when it's best to just let things go when Silver escapes at the end. He isn't bent on pursing him, but just helping to pick up the pieces of those who survived. And there's the pay off of actual treasure dispersed among the characters instead of just a "treasure in your heart" message. Who couldn't love this book?
Number 7
Title: The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norton Juster
BC**: Tock
This is the replacement for the non-fic book in my list and it's a relatively recent read for me. It's a kid's book, much more so than yesterday, but it's the kind that can be revisited from 6 to 60 with new meanings to be found each time. It's filled with puns, wordplay, and literal takes on idioms that are not only funny but strategic in making the points. It's chaotic silliness for a child and a smart wink and nod to adults. Often compared with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I think it's actually better. It's much more clever and not a disturbing downer like Alice was. Then, I learned it was written by the same guy that wrote one of my all time favorite stories from my childhood as animated by Looney Tunes - The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics and it all made sense. Oh, my heart! That explains why I found myself really enjoying it. The lessons aren't just for kids and the plot is surprisingly relevant to today. Especially to today, if you find yourself searching for Rhyme and Reason. Having only read it once, I can't recall enough of the details to explain why Tock is my favorite. Probably because he's Milo's main guide and helps him out of the various obstacles as he stumbles into a world divided between lovers of words and lovers of math trying to reconcile them by rescuing the princesses, Rhymn and Reason who can bring the two sides together. The two sides could be seen as emotion and logic or any number of the timeless conflicts within human beings and humanity at large. There are a lot of deeper meanings to explore which is why I picked it. It needs to be re-read and not just by me. If you've not read it since you were a child you should re-read it. If you've not read it at all, I recommend it for adults as well as children. The wisdom is timeless. I can only hope it's not either too smart for modern kids or that modern kids don't think they're too smart for it. Same goes for adults.
Title: The Phantom Tollbooth
Author: Norton Juster
BC**: Tock
This is the replacement for the non-fic book in my list and it's a relatively recent read for me. It's a kid's book, much more so than yesterday, but it's the kind that can be revisited from 6 to 60 with new meanings to be found each time. It's filled with puns, wordplay, and literal takes on idioms that are not only funny but strategic in making the points. It's chaotic silliness for a child and a smart wink and nod to adults. Often compared with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I think it's actually better. It's much more clever and not a disturbing downer like Alice was. Then, I learned it was written by the same guy that wrote one of my all time favorite stories from my childhood as animated by Looney Tunes - The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics and it all made sense. Oh, my heart! That explains why I found myself really enjoying it. The lessons aren't just for kids and the plot is surprisingly relevant to today. Especially to today, if you find yourself searching for Rhyme and Reason. Having only read it once, I can't recall enough of the details to explain why Tock is my favorite. Probably because he's Milo's main guide and helps him out of the various obstacles as he stumbles into a world divided between lovers of words and lovers of math trying to reconcile them by rescuing the princesses, Rhymn and Reason who can bring the two sides together. The two sides could be seen as emotion and logic or any number of the timeless conflicts within human beings and humanity at large. There are a lot of deeper meanings to explore which is why I picked it. It needs to be re-read and not just by me. If you've not read it since you were a child you should re-read it. If you've not read it at all, I recommend it for adults as well as children. The wisdom is timeless. I can only hope it's not either too smart for modern kids or that modern kids don't think they're too smart for it. Same goes for adults.
Number 6
Title: The Magician's Nephew
Author: C.S. Lewis
BC**: Jadis
This one is the first of the Narnia series.
The interesting thing about the series is that The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was my least favorite of the set. Not because it was bad, but because it was first. They just kept getting better and better as he went along. The Magician's Nephew was, in fact, my favorite. It was written last, or at least at the same time as the last book and released last, and was a prequel before prequels were cool. The concept was the most beautiful, with the Wood Between the Worlds and the rings required to get there. The way Aslan sings Narnia into existence and all the animals begin to think and speak. And the description of Charn was especially chilling. It brings the series full circle. Diggory Kirke would grow up to be the Professor Kirke from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Polly would reappear in The Last Battle, now old like Diggory, so she her presence needed to be explained. Also covered is how the lamp post spontaneously grows in the middle of nowhere in a world that will never have electricity because the arrival of the Earth children disrupted and augmented Narnia's initial development. And how they introduce evil into the brand new world by accidentally bringing Jadis along from Charn. How did there come to be a White Witch in Narnia? That's how. And the cornerstone motivation of Diggory's quest to heal his ill mother ends up explaining how he would manage to have a wardrobe in his house one day connected to Narnia that the Pevensie children would find. The creative writing is simply unmatched. Even with all the newest world-building techniques for fantasy writing, this is still some of the very best and Lewis was probably not even trying... apart from tying up loose ends when writing the end of the story and Narnia at large.
As with all YA fiction, I usually like the adult characters the best and my favorite character in this book is Jadis, the future White Witch. Not because there's anything to like about her. She's dangerous and even quite terrifying for a book aimed at young kids. What I like about her is how she treats Diggory's uncle Andrew. He's the novice magician that invents the traveling rings. Jadis is evil but Uncle Andrew is the worst. He uses the children as guinea pigs to test the rings not knowing or caring what will happen to them. He's arrogant and shameless. At one point on their travels with the rings, Jadis manages to follow the kids back to our Earth. Andrew believes he is her equal but she puts him in his place as a servant to her. Between that and his ego deflating experience with the new animals of Narnia, he gets everything he deserves. Though you have to admire his spirit and underlying cluelessness of his own shortcomings because he remains impressed with (and perhaps a little attracted to?) Jadis for the rest of his life after its all over. A dem fine gel.. A spirited gel. 😂 😂 Too funny. I love this book so much.
Number 5
Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
Author: Alexander Dumas
BC**: Edmond Dantes
I thought this list would be an easy copy/paste project since I'm a reader talking about my favorite books but I'm a little amazed at the fact that I've not actually made a written review of at least 80, probably 90% of them.. 😂 This one included.
The Count of Monte Cristo is such an amazing book. It's head and shoulders above The Three Musketeers. Of other revenge stories in the same genre that I have read such as Hamlet or Wuthering Heights, I think this one is definitely the best so far. It's a dense novel that, I admit, is smarter than me since the setting at a specific time in French history isn't one I've studied with great enthusiasm. And the setting, the hundred days after Napoléon left Elba Island, is very much a part of the story in the beginning. Political intrigue is the catalyst of what lands the protagonist, Edmond Dantes, in prison wrongfully. Two young men who he supposes are his friends plot against him. One is jealous of his quick promotion through life, already set to become captain of his own ship at 19 years old, and one jealously wants his fiance for himself. The nail in his coffin comes at the hand of a politician he's never met but whose career could be ruined if Edmond is allowed to proceed on one final mission for his deceased captain delivering a message to another exile on Elba. He's put away as a Bonapartist spy for life without a trial. Dumas makes it feel like it's happening to you, it's so traumatic and enraaging. It helps to make you understand how he's still motivated after 14 years of waiting and planning to return to exact his revenge. Educating and training himself to create not one alternate identity but several depending on whose life he would be touching at the moment. After all, it's not just the men who wronged him that he has to deal with now but their families as well. Their children or parent in one case. And he's kind to them all within his power, not revisiting the sins of their fathers on them. He's kind to his ex-fiance too after she's married these years to the man that stole her in the grand plot to ruin him, although he never moves to reclaim her because he had sought vengeance on her husband. And that's where this book becomes wonderfully complex and thoughtful. He doesn't enjoy his revenge. He's appalled by the ensuing madness of the politician and the suicide of the man that took his woman. After he financially destroys the man who envied his position in life he shows pity on him, rescuing him from debtors that would certainly kill him and even giving him a sum of money to start over with. It leaves a me speechless every time and it's us one of the first books I re-read when I take a break from new material. It'll always be in my top 5.
Number 4
Title: Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
BC**: Professor Remus Lupin
Looking back on the series, I think that book 4 is the better book and the pique of the set. However, this is my favorite book of the series, most likely because it's the first one that I read. For some reason that always factors into how attached I become when I read books. It's also the book in which the primary story line starts to gain traction. In the first two, the hero saves the day and saves the girl and it's mostly fun and games. It was established that Harry belongs in this world and in this role as the potential savior of the world, but the how and why of this role has been mostly glossed over to make way for building the foundation of the world. It was also determined in the first two that defeating Voldemort is the end that must be worked toward, but Voldemort hasn't been much of a threat to the wizarding world thus far. Azkaban begins to set the table in earnest for the final show down. And it is done without any contact with Voldemort at all which is a creative plus for me and sets it apart from the other six books. It rounds out the cast, introducing most of the rest of the key players and also starts to add a layer of complexity, and add color to the black and white standard of good vs. evil. with not everyone and everything turning out as expected. Dark creatures are utilized even on the good guys' side, and there are bad guys who aren't as much bad as they are broken and pitiable even though they've chosen their alliances poorly.
One such complex character is Professor Lupin. He's a werewolf. Lycanthropy is a disease in this universe that leaves the victim of forever outcast from society, driving most suffering from it into the criminal element. But Lupin was nurtured with good friends and being given a break especially since there was a recently developed treatment available to help him over the courses of the full moons. He's a tragic character because he's good and does his best to not let his condition impede that goodness. But for all the good he does, he still gets the short end of the stick and has to deal with being socially isolated among other battles he must fight to try and live normally throughout the series. His presence is what gives this book its heart and why it holds its place as best of the set for me as well as contributes to a really great book.
Bonus note: reading the books as an adult I already knew of and loved the outside references such as the name Remus Lupin - "Remus" from the mythological founding of Rome being raised with Romulus by a wolf and lupins being known as "moon flowers". There's so many details like that in all these books and it's just so delightful.
Number 3
Title: Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
BC**: Aragorn son of Arathorn (Strider)
So, we come to the grandfather series of fantasy. I've said before that reading this trilogy is an undertaking. The Hobbit is more of a kid's book (very smart and advanced kids). The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a long novel divided into six parts over three books, involving a world with a long history, religion, several languages, and it's very British. 😂 But it really is a work of art not unlike a symphony with several movements. I guess I've always just liked the first movement the best. It's hard to pick a favorite from this series because the three books aren't really separate. But I've always loved a slow build. It really is like classical music. Soft and lively character introduction. The shadow of evil is looming in the background for a long time before springing the story into intense action. However, the rest periods it shifts into are still mostly light-hearted and happy in the first book. Truly refreshing after the dangerous and frightening events they experience. In the following books the rest periods are weighed down with the darkness that was enveloping the missions the different groups were on. There was an innocence about the Fellowship when they were first formed and still traveling together before race to destroy the One Ring really begins.
Even harder is to pick a favorite character. Sincerely. Frodo is the kind of reluctant hero figure that I love. Sam is so easy to relate to I can almost feel myself in that part. Gandalf, the wise mentor. The dynamic between Legolas and Gimli just gets better and better. But Aragorn is the glue that holds it all together. From his introduction he's taking care of everyone and leading even when Gandalf is the designated leader. Of course, he is the rightful king of Gondor so even in the presence of Elrond and Galadriel he carries himself like royalty. But even as the Ranger, Strider, he's naturally given to taking charge. And he's got the best opening scene/description in all of literature. Always one of my favorite parts to read and it's in the Fellowship of the Ring.
Number 2
Title: Watership Down
Author: Richard Adams
BC**: Hazel
Another kid's? story. I have a copy with a forward by the author which explains that it was just a story for his kids on a long drive, but either they were very grown up for their ages, or he altered it slightly when putting it in novel form. It's never seemed like a "kid's" story to me. Nor did it to anyone else who saw the 1978 animated movie that was based on it, which was one of my childhood favorites. It got a lot of complaints about violence and heavy subject matter. All warranted. But it was just following the book. So much so that I didn't fully understand it until I read the book as an adult. I had the same experience with The Last Unicorn - a favorite childhood animated movie that stayed remarkably close to its source book. It's like they try harder if they're an obscure, inexpensive movie. I'm glad I grew up in a time when they made more serious cartoons that dealt with adult themes and wisdoms. But, I digress..
Even though they are anthropomorphized rabbits, they can't physically do anything a real rabbit can't do like write letters or sword fight and none of characters are juveniles. In fact, it's kind of a minor zoology lesson in rabbit behavior along side the story. It's rich and textured with military type heroes, accurate psychological profiles and even faith within the rabbits' primitive mythology they follow. There's so many great lessons in leadership and rudimentary layouts of different types of government as the rabbits journey from a definite class system to set up a republic and then free other rabbits from a totalitarian society that they war with. Hazel's runt brother is a "Cassandra" figure who foresees the destruction of their warren and an ideal place to form a new one, but is not listened to. So Hazel decides they'll leave but what he's not counting on is that others want to leave too. And all look to him to lead, even, eventually, the rabbit who was the captain of the guard in their old warren. Even when they question why he's trusting his brother's visions. They meet countless natural dangers and are nearly lulled into joining a warren of rabbits that are unwitting livestock for humans. Then, after their ideal warren is established, his leadership is tested when, realizing their group has no females, he sends a bird to spy the land, finding a closed society of rabbits led by a mad dictator. He formulates the plan for retrieving does from their warren (and any others that want to come) and strategizes the battle to defend their own warren when the dictator comes to take his own back and destroy them. He bears the burdens from the beginning and the scars alike and lives to see his society flourish to multiple generations before he dies of old and goes to his reward after death. Kid's story? About as much of one as LOTR, maybe. I ball like a kid when I read or watch it now. I love it more than the movie but it also makes the movie better somehow. It's on my very short list of approved movie adaptations. And it's one of the greatest works of fiction ever, in my opinion.
Number 1
Title: Out of the Silent Planet
Author: C.S. Lewis
BC**: Dr. Elwin Ransom
My husband used to run cardboard at the city and had occasionally indulged in a little dumpster diving. Not like a hoarder grabs random, useless garbage full of bugs... Seriously, a brand new set of drinking glasses, still in their box with only one broken was a good find and I used them for years... He'd also pick up books for me if they were in decent condition. This is one and it sat on my bookshelf for a long time. I didn't know who Lewis was. (Any memories of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe from childhood were vague and more likely of a cheap, animated film than a book.) I kept it with a stack of Asimov Science Fiction and Analog Science Fiction digests because it's science fiction too. It's science fiction with a twist on the scifi trope that I usually complain about in alien-oriented scifi. But in this book, instead of humans having to learn a lesson about how they're shamefully inferior to the alien race(s), the humans must learn a lesson about being humble before God from the planetary spirit that the aliens look to for leadership. The aliens are superior, in a way, but only by the grace of God.
The story follows Dr. Elwin Ransom, a philologist (Lewis' wink at Tolkien) as he stumbles on a scientist and an old school fellow, Dr. Weston and Dick Devine respectively, while walking through the countryside. Unbeknownst to him they've been to Mars already and have plans to exploit that world and eradicate the natives for the progress of human civilization. Ransom's unfortunate timing gets him kidnapped by the men with the intention of handing him over as a sacrifice to one of the native races they assume to be savages. But he escapes and over the course of the book interacts with all three of the intelligent races on the planet, learning their common language, and rediscovering his faith. There are plenty of action sequences with his abduction and flight. Also when he's pursued by the men later on. But a large portion of the novel is a dialog on philosophy. They reader, in essence, is learning religion from the aliens who, though they share the humans' Creator, don't have the same words and references that are known on Earth because they predate Earth's history. The conversations are cerebral, yet simple so that you don't have to be an academic to follow. Ransom learns that the planetary spirit of Earth turned bad (bent) and attacked Mars and other bodies in the solar system. Malacandra (Mars) is not a paradise. The damage was done but it was limited since its own planetary spirit, Oyarsa, helped to fight the Earth spirit and helped to capture him and bind into the air of his own world, making Earth a silent planet with the inhabitants cut off from the celestial realm. An imaginative account of Satan's fall from Heaven and subsequent corruption of humanity if these were really other beings from Mars, etc. that could observe it from the outside. The trial scene at the end when they all end up before Oyarsa is cringy for all the right reasons. In the end they're allowed to return to Earth with their way back destroyed. Weston and Devine don't learn any lessons and are dealt with in turn in the following two sequels. But Ransom is changed forever and so was I. It caused a spiritual reawakening in me and I wanted to start really studying my Bible after that. So, even if it's not a "great" book, it did its job as a witness.
A fun thing about this book is that Lewis wanted to work in the odds and ends of world building that were probably edited out to tighten up the story, so he inserts himself in the end as being in contact with Dr. Ransom (a pseudonym, apparently) who has charged him with penning the true story of his adventure to Mars as a work of fiction so that more people can be reached and warned about Weston and Devine's (also "fake" names) interstellar plans. He puts it all into a couple of correspondence letters between himself and Ransom. It's a neat trick that Michael Crichton would use a lot in his works... fudging the line of fiction and reality.
It's still my favorite book. After I re-read that trash copy until it fell to pieces I bought the Space Trilogy. They can be read separately or as a set and they're all good.
