"Of the making of books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." (Ecclesiastes 12.12)

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Five Star List

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) (1884).  Classic tale of a boy's riverboat journey with a runaway slave.  I'm finally beginning to understand what makes classical literature: it operates on multiple levels.  This is first of all just a simple fun story to read.  It is also a stinging commentary on slavery as well as a satirical examination of the society at the time.  Read this along with Uncle Tom's Cabin. (* * * *)

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley (1932).  The best among dystopian literature and the best among contemporary satire, this important work is at the top of the list for satirical social commentary.  It was remarkably prescient in its anticipation of a society hell bent on drugging away all of its suffering, distracting itself into oblivion and entertaining itself into a mindless stupor.  Orwell's 1984 was the one which got the attention but this work has shown itself to be of much greater significance.  Soma for the suffering, designer babies to improve humans, orgies to pleasure away the troubles, all while transnational corporations define human progress - or regress. (* * * * *)

Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (1955). An American author. A heavy war satire. The first quarter of the book was enjoyable. It wasn't enjoyable after that in that it never seemed to end. Rather like watching a 20 hour Mash episode. Enough already. (* * *)

A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole (1980). A Pulitzer Prize winning epic comedy. The best description I've heard is "the Don Quixote of the French Quarter." The work is light and certainly not to be compared to the Spanish masterpiece but the analogy works. Ignatius J. Reilly with his defective valve; one of the most colorful and amusing characters in American literature. Non-stop humor and fun. (* * * *)

Don Quixote, by Miquel de Cervantes Saavedra (1605). From the back cover: "Sane madman and wise fool roaming the world together."  Dostoyevsky stated it is "Profound and powerful...the final and greatest utterance of the human mind." The Nobel Institute voted it as the Greatest Book of All Time. To quote an Amazon review of another book, "That makes about as much sense to me as trying to determine the world's greatest color.  Well said!  Nevertheless, a truly towering, breathtaking achievement.  The hilarity of the work caught me by surprise. Read it once, then again with Cliff Notes next to you, because there is subtlety and hidden meaning behind most of their adventures you will most certainly miss, especially given the time period. Yet it is a great read by itself, and since it works on so many levels, it can truly be declared - Masterpiece. (* * * * *)

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (1818).  Just ok.  Isolate your bias from the long cultural tradition of Frankenstein and you may simply find it a mediocre tale which our post-industrial revolution society sees as a prophecy about technology gone wrong.  Maybe.  There's no question that at 19 years of age Shelley had a remarkable grasp of the language.  But I can't ferret out tremendous depth of meaning and won't simply because it's considered a classic.  There were a number of points which I counted as distractions: 1) the instant animation of the creature - it occurred in the space of a sentence or two, 2) the instant recognition of the creature as the murderer, 3) the ability of the creature to follow Victor anywhere (even though he can only travel well at night, he was able to follow Victor across vast miles effortlessly), 4) the all-too-obvious neglectful recognition of what the creature meant when he said "I'll see you on your wedding night" (Victor could only imagine the threat to himself, not Elizabeth) and 5) the magical way the creature appears on the boat at the end. (* * *)

Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift (1726). Heavily satirical view of early 18th century England & France. Best read with the Cliff Notes next to you unless you are deeply immersed in your history of that period. Otherwise just mildly enjoyable for the tales themselves. (* * *)

Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo (1862). Quite possibly the greatest narrative I've ever read. Hugo is a master story teller and this is a very fast read. Reading at once like a mystery, thriller, historical commentary, political work and class commentary, it penetrates into the poverty and political despair present during the French Revolution, following a strong narrative throughout. One of my top ten. (* * * * *)

Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe (1719).  I found this a very enjoyable tale.  The optimism and inventiveness of the protagonist strains credulity, yet somehow the story works; the reader tends to put himself in the shoes of the stranded man and wonder how he would react.  This may be the only time I would ever recommend the abridged version, however, as after Crusoe gets of the island the book continues with his worldwide adventures, seemingly in perpetuity, causing the reader to just beg for it to be over. (* * * *)

The Rumi Collection, edited by Kabir Helminski (1998).  I don't have a poetry section but simply had to mention the great Sufi mystic. Marvelous stuff for those with a penchant for mystical literature and poetry. (* * * * *)

Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852).  The story of a long-suffering black slave.  Lincoln credited this book as being more influential than anything else to bringing slavery to an end.  Underneath the commentary on the injustice of slavery, however, lies a story of the power of the human spirit to endure endless suffering while refusing to be overwhelmed by hate.  Read along with Huckleberry Finn.  (* * * *)

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau (1854).  Heavy, preachy, critical, crabby.  It's tough to wade through someone's dense personal journal on everything wrong with society and why one must sit and look at the flowers now and again.  Maybe because it so often seemed like something I might pen I found it a tad troubling.  Still, I extracted many quotes you can find by clicking on the book title link.  Thoreau was a transcendentalist, adhering to a philosophy which sought all meaning in an other-worldly utopia.  Edgar Allen Poe called transcendentalists "Frogpondians."  (* * *)

Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte (1847).  Pushing passion to the far end of the human mind and soul where it seems to fall off into madness, Emily and her sister created works which launched them into a Bronte cult status for, it seems, all time.  "I am become Heathcliff," cries Catherine.  The book was a shock and scandal to the tastes of 19th century English romantic literature fans and has been cherished ever since.  Deeply engrossing in its fearlessness to find the uttermost ends of love.  (* * * * *)

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth, by Paul Hoffman (1999).  I discovered this book through a review in, I believe, Scientific American.  What a delightful mix of a biography of a fascinating eccentric mathematical genius and some of the mathematical oddities he explored.  He did math quite literally until he died.  He was working on a problem at a friends house, sat upright, uttered "I die," and keeled over.  Highly recommended, wish whoever borrowed my copy had returned it. (* * * *)

Mind Wide Open - Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life, by Steven Johnson (2004). A tour through modern neuroscience. Light and quick. Instead, grab a copy of Begley's work. (* * *)

Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves, by Sharon Begley. Sharon is an outstanding science writer. She discusses in large part the fascinating subject of neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to continue to rewire itself throughout life. This is a fascinating read by an outstanding writer on a subject which brings hope to those who think they are beyond the ability to change. May have been 5 stars if it weren't for her penchant to relate everything to Buddhism (she is a practicing Buddhist). It is an unfortunate distraction. Nevertheless, this is the one work to begin with on the topic. (* * * *)

Theology

Rather than rate all these, this is a list of works which I consider important for a workable library of theology.  This is my 'working' theology library reference which occupies two separate shelves on my reading table for easy accessibility during Lectio Divina and sacred study.  All of these are highly recommend, in order of importance.