Some of My Top Ten Books

I love it when books, or the voice of an author, reaches out and grabs me. I love it even more when that feeling of "Oh yeah!" comes again and again, to the point where you trust that anything you read by the author will be good. By good, I mean the book will catch you, shake you, and won't let you go. Since the time of my childhood, JRR Tolkien has had that affect on me, and I like most of the reworked subsequent books that were assembled and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien as well. But there are others, of course, because I always have my nose in a book and Tolkien is only a single author. 

My first paperbacks of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series
were these - the original Ballentine editions. I first purchased
them in 1967, but they were released in the US in 1965. I
was in Junior High school and an amazing world opened up
in front of me. I've never looked back. I have a full shelf in
my library devoted to Tolkien, and many editions of LOTR. 

Moving back into my personal Top-10 Authors/Books list, I have to put Ayn Rand. I'm fully aware that her writing and her philosophy isn't everyone's cup of tea. I also know that the three major soliloquies in "Atlas Shrugged" are marked off in my well-used paperback copy, and I usually skip reading them. But I've read "Atlas Shrugged" about fifty times. I guess I can be forgiven for skipping them. The technology is dated, but the idea - the pulling back of the idea people who are exploited and almost raped for their minds - the idea is stellar. 

My edition of "Atlas Shrugged" is older than any
image I could find, and my copy is held together
by string. I've read it more than 100 times and
love it. It's not an easy read, but the characters
are compelling and the world - well, there are a
lot of similarities between the world of Dagney
Taggert and the world we live in today. 

Other books I love? I have to include "The Wind in the Willows" for no other reason than the chapter "Piper at the Gates of Dawn". Even now, with the book several rooms away, the thought of that chapter brings a tightness to my heart and tears to my eyes. A book has power if it can do that again and again. I think I first read this one when I was ten years old on my first trip to Mexico. The book and that trip are tied together in my mind, but I've read the book many, many times since then. 

My copy of "The Wind in the Willows" has the original
woodcut images, but I really liked this interpretation of
the "Piper At the Gates of Dawn" chapter. 

A few years ago, a young man began writing as a sideline. I purchased his e-book "Into This River I Drown" and have never looked back. I've followed the career and life of TJ Klune since that time. I've read and re-read "Into This River I Drown" many times and I still put it into my top-10 list. A lot has happened in TJ's life since that book first was published, and now he is a professional author and has a raft of books to his credit. I've loved every one of them and continue to purchase them every time he announces a new one. He's starting to write a young adult's series now under his "real" name, has an agent, and has a publisher. He's made his lifeline into a career and he's happy. Given the past few years of his life, I'm celebrating happy right along with him. 

I rarely purchase a hardcopy of an e-book, but I did
that for TJ Klune's "Into This River I Drown".
I think I have all, or at least most of what he's
written at this point - mostly in e-pub format.
He's one of those authors I'll read no matter what. 

In the 1960's I came across another author whose books I adored, read, re-read, and never stopped loving. Anne McCaffrey's amazing world of Pern captured my imagination and my love. It's hard for me to not embrace dragons, and her society of dragons, their riders and keepers, and the semi-feudal society they protect, is deep, multi-layered, and well conceived. There were characters I loved, others I didn't, and some books within the series I adored more than others, but it all started with "Dragonflight" and I was lost, enthralled, and entrapped. 

In 1968, Ballentine Books published the first
book of a new series by a new author. I have
this edition in my library. The cover is
dated, and there have been many editions since
this one, but this book caught me and never
let me go. 

This list isn't complete, and I know I've mentioned some of these before, but this is where my brain took me today as I leave for the pool with TJ Klune on my headphones and Amy Lane on my Nookbook app on my phone. My books are my life - I'd drop everything else from it, as long as I could still have my books. For me, reading is breathing, and I can't imagine a single day without burying my nose in a book, moving my mind to a different world. 

I'm sure you have authors and/or books that you love to read, that you would pack to take with you from place to place no matter what. Think through, choose one, and share it with me. Happy Wednesday to all!