Top Ten Favorite Books- Pt. 2

Top Ten Favorite Books- Pt. 2

Tuesday I started outlining my favorite books of all time. Check out 1-5 here. While my top five favorites are in a very specific order, these next five are necessarily in any order. They all have had a significant impact upon my life but for different reasons. Because of this, it's difficult to put them in any particular order. 

A Christmas Carol

By: Charles Dickens

This has become my favorite Christmas stories. It just wouldn't be the Christmas season without an annual read of this classic. This is one of those familiar stories that we all know and love, yet I would guess very few people have actually picked up the book. Why bother when we can take our pick of one of the bazillion movie versions?

If you haven't read it, I would encourage you to pick it up. It's a great introduction to Dickens and allows you to enter an era of classical literature in a very accessible way. You can also get for only a few buck here.

The Aeneid

By: Virgil

Hailed as one of Romes greatest poets, Virgil gives you all the epic warfare of The Illiad and the adventure of The Odyssey in this one classic tale. Aeneas' journey home from the Trojan War includes love, betrayal, heartbreak, and even a journey to the realm of the dead. Once home more warfare ensues ending in the founding of the great city of Rome. 

This was the first story that hooked me on mythology and epic fantasy. My final year of high school Latin consisted of translating The Aeneid from the original. It was a fantastic journey that sparked my imagination and love for myth and lore. It's one of the reasons I find Muirchú's biography of St. Patrick so fascinating, which is the text I'm studying for my Ph.D. 

If by chance you are interested in this one, you can pick it up here.

The Space Trilogy

By: C.S. Lewis

I would be remiss to leave out the great C.S. Lewis from this list. You might expect me to be writing about Narnia given my love of Lord of the Rings, but The Space Trilogy, in my opinion, is far superior. It explores a number of ideas and concepts that aren't normally brought to mind. What if the Fall never happened? What might that look like? What if we could get a glimpse of the struggle between Satan and Adam and Eve as it plays out on a different planet? What would it look like if dark forces were set to invade Earth? These are just some of the concepts that Lewis deals with in this fantastic trilogy. 

If you like Lewis' other work such as The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Great Divorce, Mere Christianity, and his many other Christian classics, you will like this. It has all of the amazing insights you would expect from Lewis in a narrative form. It makes you think about faith, love, obedience, and the struggle with sin in a different light. As you journey with Ransom, you meet strange people who have insights into the holy life, you meet a brand new person who is growing right before your eyes, and you see how these adventures and experiences change Ransom into something new and different. 

For all you C.S. Lewis lovers out there, this is one that you cannot miss! You can pick up the entire trilogy in one volume here.

The Hound of Baskerville

By: Arthur Conan Doyle

The past ten years have seen a resurgence of the popularity of the Britain's greatest detective. With iconic actors such as Robert Downing Jr. and Benedict Cumberbach taking up the role of Sherlock Holmes, it's no wonder why people are drawn to this incredible character. We have seen multiple movies, an excellent modern-day British T.V. version, and even an average attempt to create something new from CBS.

This is once again an example of people being familiar with the character, but I would again guess that not many have interacted with the source material. Doyle's stories are complex, beautifully written, and have a sense of mystery and suspence that pushes you to keep reading. 

The Hound of Baskerville is one of the more well-known stories, and there have been multiple adaptations. The original, in my opinion, is the best. The setting is vividly portrayed and the moors themselves seem to take on a character of their own. You truly don't want to go onto the moors at night! It's great storytelling that I would encourage all to experience. There is a reason people want to see the detective in action and the story makes him come alive in a way that can't be done on the screen.

You can pick up all of the Sherlock Holmes adventures in one amazing volume here.

The Silmarillion

By: J.R.R. Tolkien

The Silmarillion is NOT for everyone. It's really only for die hard fans of Tolkien and wider world that he created. This is Middle Earth's origin story. Tolkien set out to create his own creation myth and history of Middle Earth. It reads more like a history book than a work of fiction. 

However, if you dare to dive in the complex world Tolkien has created, you will get an appreciate for his other works that you would otherwise miss. The history of the Rangers, their origin, lineage, and the importance of Aragorn in the War of the Ring is explained within the pages of The Silmarillion. You better understand the importance of Galadriel and how she came to be the leader of her people. As a side note, her story is one I would love to see on the big screen. Make it happen Peter Jackson!!!

The Silmarillion also has many other tales and adventures of the first three Ages that you do not get anywhere else. Christopher Tolkien has in recent years taken some of these stories and published them as stand alone books, but without the wider context you lose their continuity and how they relate to one another. You read about Hurin and Turin, the Silmarils and the true Big Bad of Middle Earth, Morgoth. The events of the Lord of the Rings play an important role and heralds in the beginning of the Fourth Age, but it's still only one event in an entire history of events. 

So, if you are interested in diving deeper into the lore and history of Middle Earth, take a look at The Silmarillion here.