While you're at the Library...

DHM posted this link to Dr. Grant's fiction list which reminded me that I need to keep working my way through it. The books I have read are in bold.


1. Oxford Book of English Verse, Arthur Quiller-Couch
My blog readers already know my opinion of Q. Read his essays here.

2. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien I have read them a couple of times but my dh has read them more.

3. The Father Brown Stories, G.K. Chesterton Thumping good read.

4. Witch Wood, John Buchan Where would a George Grant list be without a Buchan? This one is kinda scary but also one of Buchan's best.

5. The Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot

6. The Space Trilogy, C.S. Lewis Even when he is goofy, he is great.

7. A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ( I just can't get through this book. The profanity gets to me.)

8. The Four Men, Hilaire Belloc Ok I admit it, I didn't get it totally. I think all four men were the same guy.

9. Penhally, Caroline Gordon Want to understand Southern thinking, read this novel. Beautiful.

10. Collected Stories, William Faulkner

11. The Wizard of Oz, L.Frank Baum Thanks to my mom for buying me the Companion Library as a child and starting me out on a lifetime of reading....and she thought it was a mistake.

12. Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White Over and over again.

13. Scaramouche, Rafael Sabatini This book is something of a manual for young men. Just make sure they don't take it too seriously. I live in a house of Scaramouches.

14. The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco Great pleasure read but beyond the scope of my intellect.

15. Kristen Lavransdatter, Sigrid Undset A true must-read for women and not nearly as hopeless as other Norwegian novels. Kristen at least has a future hope.

16. Love in the Ruins, Walker Percy

17. The Velvet Horn, Andrew Lytle

18. The Footsteps at the Lock, Ronald Knox

19. The Weekend Wodehouse, P.G. Wodehouse The most under-rated genius of the English language. Read him just for the words.

20. Falling, Colin Thubron

21 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder Possibly the best American prose ever written.

22. The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers I'm not sure why it is in the top 20 but I had a lot of fun reading this book. I also like Tim's Declare and I hope to read more of his stuff in the future.

23. Song of the Lark, Willa Cather

24. Possession, A.S. Byatt Not an easy read for a Christian, as the moral dilemmas and wages of sin are painful, but still a truly wonderful book for the literature fool and a great movie, too....if you delete a few scenes. No, that is not a recommendation, just an admission.

25. At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon Read them. Read them all.