I have read thousands of books throughout my life. If I compare my personal library catalog to my Outlook files, I liken each book to the type of people listed in my address book, some are friends, some, associates and others acquaintances.
Nearly 500 volumes grace the shelves of the sealed bookcase downstairs and the four bookcases in my humble office upstairs from which I pretend to ‘work.’ While the remotest of possibilities exists that I may move on from the house which I currently occupy, the unlikelihood of that happening encourages me to take stock of the hundreds of pounds of books that live with me. It may be time to lighten the load. I will keep the friends and bid an amicable farewell to associates and acquaintances. As I glance to my left, I see a book I have carried with me since college, Swords Into Plowshares: The Problems and Progress of International Organization by Inis L. Claude, Jr. It is a third edition, published in 1964 and a textbook used in one of my classes at the Air Force Academy. I majored in International Affairs. The original owner inscribed his name and squadron on the inside cover, “Seevers 08.” I purchased it from the surplus book sales that preceded every semester. I suspect Cadet Seevers did the underlining when he owned the book and I added the highlighting.
Something clearly appealed to me about the book for me not to sell it for quick cash to the next guy who would take the course and haul it with me around the United States for 50 years. I will keep it though the world has changed so much that the premises within that volume have long since outlived their original intentions and usefulness.
A year ago, I logged all of my books in an Excel file but have been remiss to enter the new books I acquired during 2018, which include three books by Wendell Berry, a pair by Andrew Krivak and a handful of others.
110, Maybe More… No Fewer
I reviewed my list of 500 and identified those that have had a measurable impact on my life; they are my friends. I include 110 books on the final list, 110 books that my life would not have been as full and complete had I not read them. Three-quarters of the books are fiction, and nearly three-quarters were originally published prior to the 21st century. I include the six novels I wrote on the list; they have made my life more complete.
At the top of my list is Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel by Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis. That is the one book I would recommend to every person on the planet. The number two book and the top fiction book is The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis. First published in 1952, I read the controversial book in 1972 when fewer than 200,000 copies had entered the United States. I acquired my copy at a bookstore on 4th Avenue in Anchorage.
The final book on the list is The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux originally published in 1909. The last non-fiction book – The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living by John C. Marshall III published in 2001 – occupies the 97th position.
Stories

I can tell a personal story about each book that I will retain. The first book I read that appears on my list, I read in 1966. I spent many hours at the Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield’s public library. It was cavernous and beautiful, academic and spiritual, intimidating yet welcoming… One rainy afternoon as I slowly walked the narrow aisles surrounded by books, I happened to pull Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl from a shelf. I can never explain why a high school senior killing time as he waited for basketball practice would have taken that book from that shelf, much less be in a library in the first place.
Each of us has our personal taste in reading. With the exception of the first book on my list – which is mandatory reading for all creatures great and small – I will not say, “You should read this…” You will read whatever calls you to read it. That said, I offer my list as a curious collection of books that have impacted my life, books that offer value to all who enter their pages.
Title | Author | © | |
1 | The Joy of the Gospel | Pope Francis | 2013 |
2 | The Last Temptation of Christ | Kazantzakis, Nikos | 1952 |
3 | Winter's Tale | Helprin, Mark | 1983 |
4 | Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: | Brown, Dee | 1970 |
5 | Water Sounds: | Fritsch, Albert J. | 2010 |
6 | The Ragamuffin Gospel | Manning, Brennan | 1990 |
7 | Barabbas | Lagerkvist, Par | 1950 |
8 | Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae | Pressfield, Steven | 1998 |
9 | The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile | Lukeman, Noah | 2000 |
10 | The Memory of Running | McLarty, Ron | 2004 |
11 | Once An Eagle | Myrer, Anton | 1968 |
12 | Travels with Charley: In Search of America | Steinbeck, John | 1962 |
13 | Jesus and the Disinherited | Thurman, Howard | 1949 |
14 | Jesus, A Pilgrimage | Martin, James | 2014 |
15 | The Book Thief | Zusak, Markus | 2005 |
16 | Night | Wiesel, Elie | 1960 |
17 | The Egyptian | Waltari, Mika | 1945 |
18 | Last of the Amazons | Pressfield, Steven | 2002 |
19 | Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom | O'Donohue, John | 1996 |
20 | Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong | O'Donohue, John | 1998 |
21 | The Wisdom of the Native Americans | Nerburn, Kent | 1994 |
22 | Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace: | Nerburn, Kent | 1999 |
23 | The Polar Express | Allsburg, Chris Van | 1985 |
24 | Holy Bible | Anonymous, Anonymous | - |
25 | Jonathan Livingston Seagull | Bach, Richard | 1970 |
26 | The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully | Chittister, Joan D. | 2008 |
27 | Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't | Collins, James C. | 2001 |
28 | All the Light We Cannot See | Doerr, Anthony | 2014 |
29 | Silence | Endo, Shusako | 1966 |
30 | Man's Search for Meaning | Frankl, Viktor E. | 1946 |
31 | Memoir from Antproof Case | Helprin, Mark | 1995 |
32 | Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | 1862 |
33 | The Dead Zone | King, Stephen | 1979 |
34 | A Book of Hours | Merton, Thomas | 2007 |
35 | Befriending the Stranger | Vanier, Jean | 2005 |
36 | Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin | Uris, Leon | 1964 |
37 | The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle | Pressfield, Steven | 2002 |
38 | A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam | Armstrong, Karen | 1975 |
39 | Symposium | Kinney, Kuiper, Bloom | 1969 |
40 | The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search | Boorstin, Daniel J. | 1983 |
41 | Looking ... Seeing: Poems and Song Lyrics | Chapin, Harry | 1975 |
42 | Timeless Wisdom: Passages for Meditation from the World's Saints and Sages | Easwaran, Eknath | 2008 |
43 | Peace Like a River | Enger, Leif | 2001 |
44 | The Way of the Cross | Houselander, Caryll | 1955 |
45 | Good Poems: American Places | Keillor, Garrison | 2010 |
46 | The Stand | King, Stephen | 1978 |
47 | The Hamsa![]() | Kraay, E.S. | 2010 |
48 | ![]() | Kraay, E.S. | 2011 |
49 | Arctic Dreams | Lopez, Barry | 1986 |
50 | The Source | Michener, James A. | 1965 |
51 | The Hobbit (Middle-Earth Universe) | Tolkien, J.R.R. | 1937 |
52 | Traveler | McLarty, Ron | 2007 |
53 | A Soldier of the Great War | Helprin, Mark | 1991 |
54 | Spartacus | Fast, Howard | 1951 |
55 | The Crusader | Eisner, Michael Alexander | 1999 |
56 | So Very Much the Best of Us: Songs of Praise in Prose | Doyle, Brian | 2015 |
57 | The Haj | Uris, Leon | 1984 |
58 | The Dropper | McLarty, Ron | 2009 |
59 | The Book of Guys | Keillor, Garrison | 1993 |
60 | Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel | Berger, Thomas | 1978 |
61 | The Voyage | Caputo, Philip | 1999 |
62 | Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War | Manchester, William | 1980 |
63 | Wuthering Heights | Bronte, Emily | 1847 |
64 | The Theological Implications of Climate Control | Erickson, Brian | 2005 |
65 | Fall of Kings (Troy, #3) | Gemmell, David | 2007 |
66 | Siddhartha | Hesse, Hermann | 1922 |
67 | Hearts in Atlantis | King, Stephen | 1999 |
68 | Carry Me Home | Kring, Sandra | 2004 |
69 | The Wolf at Twilight: | Nerburn, Kent | 2009 |
70 | Neither Wolf nor Dog: | Nerburn, Kent | 1994 |
71 | The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo | Nerburn, Kent | 2013 |
72 | Killing Rommel | Pressfield, Steven | 2008 |
73 | Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino | Rupp, Joyce | 2005 |
74 | Uncle Tom's Cabin | Stowe, Harriet Beecher | 1852 |
75 | The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood | Pyle, Howard | 1883 |
76 | The Voyage of the Narwhal | Barrett, Andrea | 1998 |
77 | Cold Mountain | Frazier, Charles | 1997 |
78 | The Reed of God | Houselander, Caryll | 1944 |
79 | A Prayer for Owen Meany | Irving, John | 1989 |
80 | The Olympian: A Tale of Ancient Hellas | Kraay, E.S. | 2008 |
81 | My Life with the Saints | Martin, James | 2006 |
82 | Flashman | Fraser, George MacDonald | 1969 |
83 | Lord of the Silver Bow (Troy, #1) | Gemmell, David | 2005 |
84 | The Sixth Day: A 17,175-Word Novella About Creation and Prizefighting | Kraay, E.S. | 2012 |
85 | Gaspar: Another Tale of the Christ | Kraay, E.S. | 2014 |
86 | Dwi: Dying While Intoxicated | Kraay, E. S. | 2012 |
87 | The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great | Pressfield, Steven | 2004 |
88 | The Adventures of Don Quixote | Saavedra, Miguel de Cervantes | 1605 |
89 | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Twain, Mark | 1876 |
90 | Look Homeward, Angel | Wolfe, Thomas | 1929 |
91 | Lake Wobegon Days | Keillor, Garrison | 1985 |
92 | Chronicle of the 20th Century | Daniel, Clifton | 1987 |
93 | Shield of Thunder (Troy, #2) | Gemmell, David | 2006 |
94 | Works of James Fenimore Cooper | Cooper, James Fenimore | 1892 |
95 | Last of the Mohicans | Cooper, James Fenimore | 1826 |
96 | Tides of War | Pressfield, Steven | 2000 |
97 | The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life | Pressfield, Steven | 1995 |
98 | Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance | III, Joseph M. Marshall | 2006 |
99 | The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living | III, Joseph M. Marshall | 2001 |
100 | Hotel New Hampshire | Irving, John | 1981 |
101 | The Odyssey of Homer | Homer, Homer | -720 |
102 | The Call of the Wild | London, Jack | 1903 |
103 | The Road | McCarthy, Cormac | 2006 |
104 | Paradise Alley | Stallone, Sylvester | 1977 |
105 | Works Of Robert Louis Stevenson | Stevenson, Robert Louis | 1926 |
106 | Chesapeake | Michener, James A. | 1978 |
107 | Journey to the Center of the Earth | Verne, Jules | 1864 |
108 | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | Verne, Jules | 1869 |
109 | Caribbean | Michener, James A. | 1989 |
110 | The Phantom Of The Opera | Leroux, Gaston | 1909 |
As my grandson’s Confirmation sponsor several years ago, I searched my list of favorite books to give one to him for this special occasion. I selected Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. This has remained a favorite since reading it during my college days- a long time ago.
I have read many on your list, Gene. On several occasions, ( moves) I have been forced to give up some of my collection to book sales. I hope you don’t have to.
Dear Gene:
From the list you compiled from your personal library, I have read some of them, of course in my language. They are, from your listing, the numbered: 17, 24, 32, 71, 88 (The Spanish Masterpiece), 89, 96, 101, 107 and 108.
As you remark, those books have left something in my life.
My best regards to you and family
I find it interesting, Arturo that although we are separated by 77-degrees of latitude we share similar tastes in reading. You have read 10% of the books on my list. I would be interested to know what you consider the best ten books you have read in any language.