Ten for Tuesday

This week I'm going to do my ten favorite books. I'm not going to put them in any particular order, just my favorites. This list changes all the time though....so I might have to do it again in the future!

1. The Journey of Natty Gann by Ann Matthews


I loved this book when I was a kid and I believe I read it for the first time in 1st or 2nd grade. The adventure is great and I loved to imagine myself riding on trains and living in the woods all by myself. Of course, now I'm rather grateful that I never did have to do it, but it's a great story. Disney made it into a movie, which I've seen once and I don't remember hating it. I'm sure the book is much better though, as is usually the case.

2. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand


This book will change your life. If you can read it and it doesn't change at least one opinion or perspective you have then you are a rock. Or dumb as one. It's a great book and I think that people, especially right now, could really learn a lot from it. It should be required reading in high school. All of Ayn Rands books are great and I highly recommend them, but this one was her greatest. It is also one of those books that you can read 100 times and always take something new away from it. I have to admit to not reading the monologue every time I've read it though. I'm more inclined to just skim it now.

3. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein



This is one of the best kids books ever. It is so sad and it makes me want to cry. It's short so if I say too much I will give it all away, but if you haven't read it then get it. Just buy it. You won't be sorry.

4. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver



Ah, I love this book. It is so great and the author does an amazing job with character development and with keeping all their stories and styles perfect through out the book. It is such a well rounded story with views from all sides and it will definitely make you think. I've read this one many times and have never regretted it.

5. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon


This is the first book in a series so be prepared to read them all... I believe there are 8 of them now? I can't imagine a person not liking them. My sisters love them, my husband loves them, even my dad loves them. Gabaldon is an amazing story teller and you will find it hard to put them down. Every time a new book comes out in the series Terry and I start at the beginning of them and read them all the way through again. I have probably read Outlander 6 times now! It's a series I hope never gets made into a movie as I just can't imagine it would do anything but ruin it completely.

6. Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel


Another series that I really liked. I read these first when I was in 8th grade. I was so upset at how the last book ended and that there weren't more. Fortunately the author agreed with me and in the early 2000's sometime she wrote the last book "The Shelters of Stone" which made me very happy. I have heard lots of critiques on these books and I have to say that I agree with many of them. It is very unlikely that one person invented all those things in one lifetime and all by chance, but you just have to read it for the entertainment value. Though I do have to say the author proposes many ways that things could have been invented that I like a lot. Some of the things are downright hilarious and I could definitely picture them happening that way. I do like how the characters are depicted in this book though. They aren't depicted as being particularly stupid, or even as the "wise ancestor". They are just people like we are now and that seems like the most likely scenario if you ask me.

7. The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I read this in my high school AP English class. I loved it though I have to admit I haven't read it since then. I liked how Hester was sure of her own innocence despite the overall feeling from the church and from her peers. I admired her strength and her basic attitude and that nothing they did to her could ruin her own opinion of herself and her choices.

8. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy


I said last week that I was reading War and Peace, but before that I read Anna Karenina. It has a sad ending but I still loved the book. I always want to go to the places where the characters in my book are from and as this was the first novel I'd read that was based in Russia (other than Ayn Rand's We the Living but that one makes you want to avoid Russia) and now I'd love to visit...in the summer....with a coat.

9. The Berentstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Barenstain

I read this book a thousand times when I was a kid. And my parents read it to me a thousand times more. I love it and so does Collin. Now my mom gets to read it to him! She just loves it, I'm sure....she probably even still has it memorized!

10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling


Another series that I loved. I went back and forth whether to put this one or Twilight but in the end I just had to go with this one. I like these books not because they are works from some literary genius or because you can learn some valuable lesson but because you can easily lose yourself in them and escape all the craziness that is your own life. They are easy enough that it doesn't take deep thought to figure them out or remember what is going on and you can just read them and get away for a while. Twilight is very much the same but overall I think that Harry Potter was written better and had a better story line.