Blog Article: The Best Books for a Lifetime
Christopher Rosché
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Personal Blog Article:
An open letter to my daughter listing some of the books that made a difference in my life and inspired me to be a curious thinker and writer. Published on Medium.
The Best Books for a Lifetime: A gift to my daughter and hers
By Christopher Rosché
Mydaughter recently gave me a tremendous gift in the form of a question. Would we, she asked my wife and I, list our favorite books — the ones that influenced us the most? I was immediately proud and humbled at the same time.
A former Washington correspondent who is now a full-time writer, I once read every book I could get my hands on, so this task was not easy. I quickly compiled my own list of favorite novels, non-fiction Pulitzer Prize winners, and collections of poetry that influenced my own writing. It ended up being more a list of more than 200. Definitely too long. (My wife is still working on hers.)
I kept asking myself, “Do I pick the few that influenced me the most? Or the ones that had the biggest impact on me as a person?” Many are both. How do I cull this down?
Then I saw this picture of our granddaughter with her new baby sister. She had picked up a book all on her own and started reading to Ila. Little Sini fits right into our family of storytellers; she has that internal fire to tell stories and learn. At two-and-a-half, she can already name most of the planets and is fascinated by the Moon. Ila will follow in her footsteps because her big sister will be her steadfast mentor.
I’ve got a saying my family is probably tired of hearing: Words wield great powers. Choose them wisely. That phrase came to mind when I saw that picture of those two girls: What books would I want them to read as they grow older and eventually become adults? What books will give them the greatest power?
Dear Samantha,
You’ve asked for a list of the best books and I’m so humbled. It’s inspired me to spend some time reminiscing about the books that have been important to me over the course of my life. You know of my love affair with words and stories. Books contain the great chunks of knowledge we need to live our daily lives, the answers to how to understand others, and help us live through a perspective different from our own.
A storytelling colleague of mine recently told me we all need to “Walk with wonder.” I firmly believe this is more important now than ever.
While not a complete list of my “best books,” (I promise I’ll keep working on that one) these will help you and your family find joy, knowledge, inspiration, and courage. Most importantly, they will feed your soul.
Start your journey with your daughters. Walk with wonder!
A few books you should read at least once in a lifetime (not listed in any particular order):
Curious George by Margaret and H.A. Rey
We start with one of my childhood favorites. Walt Disney once said, “When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.” Curiosity is an essential component of learning to “walk with wonder,” even for us adults.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee *
No summary does this American masterpiece justice. It’s simply a book you must experience.
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank *
To learn of the immortal power a young girl can have through her own words. She taught us empathy and warned of the evil that lurks in the minds of some. But remember that the number of truly evil people is really quite small. They only thrive when we let them. When we hand our power over to them, when we feed them hate.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens *
The book that saved Christmas and restores its true meaning every time you read it. As you are well aware, our family Christmas tradition includes reading it aloud every year.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Don’t let the title fool you. It is not just for artists! God created us in his own image. Therefore, we are creators too. If we don’t exercise our creative talents — whether we are an engineer designing a bridge, solo-entrepreneur launching her own business, or a gardener planting the first seeds of his personal Giverny — we are not fully human in the way God intended us. Inspire the creator in you.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
One of the best non-religious books you can read that will change your life for the better. Find your path to walk and pursue it with gusto.
“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” — Randy Pausch
Momo by Michael Ende
It is a mystery to me that this book is not well known and not a perennial best-seller in the United States. It is in Europe. Another one to read not only for yourself but for your children. Momo is a young orphan girl living by herself in an abandoned amphitheater who has many friends from town because Momo listens. “Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.” Keep a wary eye out for the Men in Gray!
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón *
An enchantment for every book lover!
“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.” — Carlos Ruiz Zafón
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell
The story of a forgotten woman illustrates how one person can make an incredible difference.
“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man [or woman] stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls.” — Robert F. Kennedy quoted in Woman of No Importance.
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo *
One of the greatest books. Read the abridged version if you don’t have lots of time to spare.
“He never went out without a book under his arm, and he often came back with two.” — Victor Hugo
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury *
For the love of books. Once you are an adult, never let anyone control what you can read. We must make that choice ourselves. But always remember: Words are powerful and you must chose wisely.
“There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” “The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.” — Ray Bradbury
1984 by George Orwell *
So you can prepare.
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” — George Orwell
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown
My Antonia by Willa Cather *
Simply beautiful.
“If there were no girls like them in the world, there would be no poetry” — Willa Cather
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
It was a great book even before it became a musical.
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley *
Don’t be tricked in underestimating this amazing story! On a bet, Mary Shelley wrote it at the age of 20 and finished it in nine months. She produced a masterpiece at a time when there were very few professional women writers. To this day, its weight carries tremendous influence in literature, movies, television, and comics. From Alien to Michael Meyers to Young Frankenstein, it all started here. Get the annotated version edited by Leslie S. Klinger — it’s worth it.
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck *
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America by Garry Wills
Further proof of the power of great words by a great president. If we only had a Lincoln today.
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell *
The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien *
We learn from Gandalf that “Even the smallest person can change the course of history.”
“It is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of love and kindness.” — J.R.R. Tolkien speaking through Gandalf
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens *
As you well know, Dickens is one of my favorite authors and appears more times than any author on this list. His gift is capturing the essence of the human spirit and that inspires us to be better.
“In a word, I was too cowardly to do what I knew to be right, as I had been too cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong.” — Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens *
Bleak House by Charles Dickens *
Hard for me to pick, but perhaps his best…
“There were two classes of charitable people: one, the people who did a little and made a great deal of noise; the other, the people who did a great deal and made no noise at all.” — Charles Dickens
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster *
Read it to your beautiful children so they learn to seek wisdom their entire lives.
“You must never feel badly about making mistakes … as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.” Norton Juster
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl *
“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,Go throw your TV set away,And in its place you can installA lovely bookshelf on the wall.Then fill the shelves with lots of books.” — Roald Dahl
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson *
A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan
To understand Vietnam, the Cold War, hubris, and how we got to Watergate.
All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
This book inspired me to become a journalist. Two young reporters working the Metro desk at The Washington Post uncover the truth about the Watergate conspiracy. Hubris and lies destroyed a presidency and almost broke our democracy. We’re watching it happen again today and we can’t let it. Without facts and truth, we are lost as a democracy.
“You know the results of the latest Gallup Poll? Half the country never even heard of the word Watergate. Nobody gives a ****. You guys are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home, get a nice hot bath. Rest up… 15 minutes. Then get your asses back in gear. We’re under a lot of pressure, you know, and you put us there. Nothing’s riding on this except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys [mess] up again, I’m going to get mad.” — Ben Bradlee as he stood in his front yard, wearing a bathrobe early in the morning after being wakened by Bernstein and Woodward. The two reporters had just told him their homes were bugged and their lives were in danger.
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
Details the events that led me to spend 12 years as an intelligence analyst. The hubris cycle revisits us yet again. When will we learn? Wright won the Pulitzer Prize.
On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century by Timothy Snyder
By a brilliant Yale University professor, a short summary of the dangers we seem to have lost sight of since World War II because we are now facing them again today.
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Reach outside of your comfort zone and experience another form of literature — hard science fiction from the Golden Age from one of its best. The heartbeat of this book echoes in all the modern-day sci-fi greats: The Terminator series, Blade Runner, A Space Odyssey: 2001, Alien, and more.
“You are the only one responsible for your own wants.” — Isaac Asimov.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett *
“It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.” — Dashiel Hammett
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain *
Wrongly maligned and severely misunderstood, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and its predecessor, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, are among America’s best novels. Dare to read them for what the author truly intended to teach us. Learn from them that prejudice and hate are some of the greatest sins.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl *
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry *
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Stories from the Twilight Zone by Rod Serling, Vol. I
Don’t be shy to try something completely different — a genre that you suspect you won’t like. Your grandfather knew Rod Serling’s family when we lived in upstate New York, and I met them once when I was about five. I’ve been a fan of Rod Serling and his writing most of my life. These short stories of suspense, science fiction, and fantasy will make you think. Read The Monsters are Due on Maple Street first and foremost.
“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices — to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own — for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to The Twilight Zone.” — Rod Serling
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.H. Lawrence
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” — T.H. Lawrence
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky *
Also see Notes from the Underground and The Brothers Karamazov. These are complicated and not easy reads, so don’t be afraid to get some decent literary criticism to help.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells *
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas *
A thriller, mystery, drama, love story, and morality tale about the dangers of revenge. What more could you ask for?
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
The space race, courage, bravery, and how reaching for the stars brought the nation together. “New Journalism” at its best.
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
Try a different literary style that changed the course of fiction and movies. Get a feel for the noir from one if its finest practitioners.*
Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch
Pulitzer winner about the rise of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s South. You already know I lived in Birmingham and saw first-hand the horrors of what Americans can do to their own brothers and sisters. My parents’ stories of my father trying to organize a church as a “northern aggressor” mix with my vivid, first-hand recollections to make this piece of our history so very real for me and your uncle. Sadly, a problem that still haunts us today.
1776 by David McCullough *
Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson *
Up there with the best biographers — A.N. Wilson, Stephen Ambrose, Ron Chernow, Edmund Morris, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and David McCullough — sits Walter Isaacson. Also see Isaacson’s biographies of Jennifer Doudna, Steve Jobs (below), Benjamin Franklin, and Einstein.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco *
A master of great storytelling and this is one of his best.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy *
Largely considered one of the greatest writers who has ever lived. See also War and Peace.
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” — Leo Toylstoy
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
King breathes new life into one of the most complex and fascinating characters ever invented. Beautiful!
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle *
Last, but definitely not least. I loved these stories as a teenager and read them to this day. Explore the Adventures first, then any of the four novels for fun, mysterious exploits, and a visit to Victorian England. My Christmas favorite is The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, which I have not missed reading every December for the past two decades.
Come, Samantha, come. The game is afoot!
Notes:
An (*) indicates this book has appeared on one or more of the better known lists of best books.
This list is not in any particular rank or order.
