“Of making  many books there is no end” said Solomon (Ecclesiastes 12:12). This article is the last in a series on books. We looked at why books matter and how to read them. Any converts I’ve made to book reading now deserve to know where to start. What books are worth reading, and where should you begin?

The Best for Children

I start the list with children’s books because, while long-time readers may have devoured them already, those who want to start reading but feel intimidated by it will find that reading children’s books can be quick, meaningful, and fun. As for long-time readers, you may find something new in this list you’ve never read. Children’s books should be high on your list because they’re a great way to break up your pace and avoid burnout. I find that once I read a classic and really work hard at trying to understand it, I do well afterward to read a children’s book—one that is profound, but easier on my brain. It lightens me and rests me so I can gather strength for the next reading challenge.

The Chronicles of Narnia. I recommend these seven books before anything else.

Then there’s every other great children’s book in the world. Here are some to start with: The Hobbit, Aesop’s Fables, A Wrinkle in Time, Treasure Island, The Princess and the Goblin, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, The Giver, Tuck Everlasting, Esperanza Rising, Hatchet, and Holes.

Then come all the children’s books that may not be great but I like them anyway: I think the Harry Potter books are worth reading—Christian parents who talk to their children about the biblical stance on witchcraft need not be afraid of these fun books. I’m a big fan of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl books. One set of books I would not recommend are the His Dark Materials books by Phillip Pullman of which The Golden Compass is the first. Pullman specifically wrote his books as an attack on Christianity.

The Great Classics

If we don’t read the great classics of Western literature, the wealth of truth they have to teach us may disappear. That would be a terrible loss. How do we read them and where do we begin?

A few tips on reading classics: (1) Get an edition of the book that has footnotes. (2) Get a translation that is easy for you to read. (3) Read some introductory material about the book before you read it. (4) Take your time, and don’t worry if you get confused—these books take work and may take a lifetime to understand. (5) Consider buying Invitation to the Classics (Baker Books, 2006) which lists the best of the best and introduces them to you as well.

Now which classics should you start with? Let me apologize right now to anyone who is offended by the absence of any of a hundred or more books left out of this list. There just wasn’t room to write them all in.

First, no book matters more than the Bible. If you’ve never read it all the way through, you should.

After the Bible I suggest you read Homer’s great Epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey (try the translations by Robert Fagles, Viking, 1996).

Other great epic works of our cultural tradition worth your time include The Aeneid, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Spenser’s Faery Queene, Paradise Lost, Moby-Dick, War and Peace, and The Brothers Karamazov. These wonderful books are annoyingly long, amazingly profound, and will stretch you beyond your limits.

There are far too many great classics to name here, so let me turn to naming great authors with whom you can’t go wrong. First among them: William Shakespeare. He’s the greatest writer the English language has ever known. Next, in no particular order, the classic Greek playwrights: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes; the great Russians Tolstoy and Dostoevsky; English writers Chaucer, Milton, Jane Austen (and many more); and American writers: Hawthorne, Poe, Melville, and Faulkner.

Popular Genres

Still want more choices? How about these authors in the area of particular genres:

The best writers in Science Fiction and Fantasy include Jules Verne,
H. G. Wells, J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Frank Herbert, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, and Stephen Lawhead to name a few. Classic mystery writers include Arthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, and Agatha Christie. P.D. James is a mystery writer living today who some think does more than just tell a good story—she writes literature. I’m leaving out romance, adventure, thriller, spy, Western (can anyone beat Louis L’Amour?), historical fiction, and more. But hopefully this list will get you started. |L

Dr. Charlie Starr teaches English, Humanities, and Film at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky.

OTHER COLUMNS:
November 8, 2009 - Why I believe in God
October 25, 2009 - Commuting in days of evil
October 11, 2009 - Poets and don’t know it
September 27, 2009 - How Hollywood proves abortion is wrong
September 13, 2009 - Significance
August 30, 2009 - Dance alternatives
August 16, 2009 - Gluttons for gossip
August 2, 2009 - Truth from Twilight
July 19, 2009 - Visitor-friendly churches
July 5, 2009 - The Shack
June 21, 2009 - When forgiveness fails
June 7, 2009 - Re-imagining Education (Part Six)
May 24, 2009 - We are not alone
May 3, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part five)
April 26, 2009 - Conviction
April 12, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part four)
March 29, 2009 - An evangelistic proposal
March 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part three)
March 1, 2009 - He makes me sick
February 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (Part Two)
February 1, 2009 - Spiritual insecurity
January 18, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part one)
January 4, 2009 - Church and politics
December 21, 2008 - Heaven’s music
December 7, 2008 - The church and marriage
November 23, 2008 - God and the president
November 9, 2008 - A time for courage
October 26, 2008 - Likes and dislikes: the Prince Caspian movie
October 12, 2008 - What’s that noise?
September 28, 2008 - Modesty matters (part two)
September 14, 2008 - All it takes is some TLC
August 31, 2008 - Modesty matters (part one)
August 17, 2008 - What would you fight for?
August 3, 2008 - Staying through the credits
July 20, 2008 - Honor to whom honor
July 6, 2008 - Tyler Perry and the movies you’re missing
June 22, 2008 - The peaceable kingdom
May 25, 2008 - Another generation grew up
May 25, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part two)
May 11, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part one)
April 27, 2008 - What is truth?
April 13, 2008 - And the geek shall inherit the earth
March 30, 2008 - A charactered God
March 16, 2008 - The college choice (part two)
March 2, 2008 - Good news can be hard to hear
February 17, 2008 - The college choice (part one)
February 5, 2008 - Ten suggestions for a godly standard of living
January 20, 2008 - Expelled: that “Bueller” guy’s pro-God movie
January 6, 2008 - Choosing a lifestyle
December 23, 2007 - Teachable TV?
December 9, 2007 - Owners or stewards?
November 25, 2007 - Christians teaching Christians to change TV and film
November 11, 2007 - My money is God’s business
October 28, 2007 - Navigating under the radar
October 14, 2007 - The things God values
September 30, 2007 - Movie moments
September 16, 2007 - God’s economics
August 19, 2007 - There’s a rat in ‘separate’
August 5, 2007 - The art of reading
July 22, 2007 - Atheist chic
July 8, 2007 - Why books matter: the sequel
June 10, 2007 - Books: why they matter
June 3, 2007 - The non-impact of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
May 27, 2007 - The universal gospel
May 13, 2007 - Loving Muslims through culture
April 29, 2007 - Hope
April 15, 2007 - God in the dark
April 1, 2007 - The gospel goes to the movies
March 18, 2007 - What the Bible movies can teach us
March 4, 2007 - What will you hurt for?
February 18, 2007 - Why Heroes . . .
February 4, 2007 - Give peace a chance
January 21, 2007 - When fairy tales are true
January 7, 2007 - WYSIWYG lives
December 31, 2006 - What’s coming next?
December 17, 2006 - Mercy, mercy
December 3, 2006 - Proof of evolution!
November 19, 2006 - Hungering for God
November 5, 2006 - Violence and government, war and peace
October 22, 2006 - The mighty meek
October 8, 2006 - The Battlestar and the Bible
September 24, 2006 - Soap for the soul
September 10, 2006 - Right vs. cool
August 27, 2006 - The painful truth
August 13, 2006 - More Lies Hollywood Tells
July 30, 2006 - Christian counter culture
July 16, 2006 - The lies Hollywood tells