Lately, I’ve been getting more questions about the books I recommend. This post is a response to that question. I will update and add to this post as my recommendations change.
As for the literature books I’d recommend…. a little background first.
I was thrilled to get out of school. Finally, I could begin reading and learning what I wanted to read and learn. No more professors telling me what to read. So, with that in mind, these are suggestions.
Mostly, I’d recommend letting kids read what they found interesting.
My wife read a ton of books to our kids when they were young. She used the SonLight curriculum. You’ve likely heard of it. Here is a list of books they recommend by age/grade: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/sonlight
So…
Literature:
Personally, I can’t image not having read:
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
- Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
- The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. (Some parents object to this series. I get it. There is some controversy here.)
My girls really like the Anne of Green Gable Series.
I am a big fan of Shakespeare. But, I only found out I liked Shakespeare after college. Never read any in high-school.
Biographies and Autobiographies. Much of what I have learned, I have learned from biographies and autobiographies. I have a degree in History and Business. Both are basically useless. The history I learned, I learned reading Biographies. After college. Should have read them before college. All of them were far more interesting than anything l learned in those boring college history classes.
That’s literature.
As for books (or documentaries) I have found helpful, I break my lists into three main life categories (based on the old Benjamin Franklin quote: Early to bed, early to Rise, makes a man Healthy, Wealthy and Wise).
That said,
Healthy:
- Superfoods by David Wolfe
- Not a book, but Forks over Knives
- Another documentary: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead by Joe Cross
Wealthy:
- Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki
- The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
- The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino.
- The 12 Life Secrets: Your Ultimate Answers to Getting Everything You Want by Robert Stuberg (I listen to this one for a half-hour every morning. Usually while shaving.)
Wise:
- Mere Christianity (as you know)
- Pretty much any book by Zig Ziglar
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- The Book that Changed Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi
- The Pledge by Michael Masterson (Careful with this one. 95% awesome. There are some adult themed sentences in the book. I honestly would not recommend this one for anyone in high-school. College may be okay. This really is a book written for adults.)
