Ten Books (Plus One) For Which I Am Thankful

In September Mary Miller, on Facebook, asked friends to list the top ten most influential books in their lives. I misread that to mean the top ten most recent books. So, I posted that list and said I would make theother list at a future date. Thanksgiving, seemed to be a good time to fulfill that promise.

In making my list I need to say these are more representative than absolute. Ask me to list the ten most influential books next month and some titles might be replaced with others. 

This list is also considerably different in character than the list of recent books. The assignment had to do with those which were most influential in my life; and I have to acknowledge the role these particular works have played.

I have sought to arrange the titles in order of the time I discovered them.

I have not included the Bible because my relationship to it is different than any other book. My top ten books influenced me as I read them. The Bible’s impact, on the other hand, was because it read me.

THE LIST

First:   An unnamed book of my childhood. It was a thick but not large book of one to two page “bedtime” stories for children. It covered a wide range of old tales and was a source of much pleasure when, at last, I could read them for myself. I do not know where it went but I sure wish I could find another copy. I owned it in the late 1940’s to early 1950’s. I don’t know if it was a newly published book then.  

Second:  Still another unnamed book of my childhood. I don’t remember a lot of details. It was about someone traveling somewhere. The highlight that sticks in my mind was a pictorial map in the front. I would read a section of the story and then study the progress I made on the map. It began my fascination with maps and roads and life as a journey.

Third:   “The Holy War” by John Bunyan. My first encounter with this was Ethel Barrett’s narrated version. That nudged me to buy the book. It is a classic on sin’s way with the soul and God’s way with redemption and sanctification. It strongly appeals to my delight in the power of a story to condense a tome of explanations. That is not to say the tome is not important, but Jesus himself taught in stories.

Fourth:   “The Horse and His Boy,” part of the “Chronicles of Narnia” series by C. S. Lewis. This choice was difficult since I also wanted to list Lewis’ book “Mere Christianity.” Again, the analogy of the story is a memorable description of God drawing someone to himself but in such a way that it looks like the individual’s search for God.

Fifth:  “How Shall We Then Live?” by Francis Shaeffer. In listing this I have in mind most of his works. It was this book, though, which God used to prod me into a more informed study of worldview issues.

Sixth:  “Tales of the Kingdom,” by David and Karen Mains. The first of a set of three books picturing spiritual truths in adventure-story terms. By now you may ask, “Do you read a lot of books written for kids?” Yes. I take seriously Jesus’ remarks about receiving the Kingdom as a little child. While we are to grow out of childishness, there is a biblical mandate for maintaining a childlike delight in the things of God. That childlikeness, more than any other era of our lives, is seen in the love of stories. However, lest you think this means a Pollyanna view of life…

Seventh:    “Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them,” by Cornell professor James Garbarino. This book jarred my awareness of youth needs through the eyes of a man who worked with teenage boys on death row in our nation’s prisons.

Eighth:   “Spiritual Friends” by Robert Kellemen. This is a Christian counseling manual like no other in that through rich and living analogy Dr. Kellemen describes the process of helping others in an atmosphere of the parakalesis of grace.

Ninth:   “Hope’s Boy” by Andrew Bridge. This presented me with a look inside the foster care system through the eyes of a man who grew up in it.

Tenth:  “The Story Book” by David Boulene. This book appeared in my earlier list of most recent reads. Perhaps  it is the best of the few books I have read on the development of a narrative. Ironically, although a secular writer and never referencing the Bible, Boulene did a masterful job exposing principles God used in unfolding his story in the meganarrative of history and enscripturating it for us in its narrative character in the Bible.

I cannot help mentioning one more. It is a book in progress and its titles have changed as it developed as the first of an intended series called "The Revenge of Dog Mountain." You won’t find this book anywhere. It did appear on line under another title. That was a rough draft and went back to the drawing board for essential improvements. It is the story of an eleven-year-old boy and his father. In its very first form it was a set of bedtime stories made up for a youngster who still enjoyed sitting on the arm of his Dad's chair. Over time it has become an ongoing and unfolding tale and has been a valuable meditative tool - incorporating truths into a narrative.  

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ALL FIRST-ROAD ARTICLES