Friday 5 fave....books

I love to read.  I enjoy all types of books, but this list is about fiction.  Stories that stay with me and I continue to think about long after the last turn of the page.   (This list would probably be different the next time I was asked my 5 fave books...but for today...this is it.)

1.  The Agony and the Ecstasy-- a biographical novel about Michaelangelo by Irving Stone.  This is based on 495 letters of correspondence written by Michaelangelo. It describes living and painting conditions, and how the Vatican really ruled everything in the Rennaissance era.   I only read it because Marjorie Peay Hinkley said it was her favorite book...and now it's one of mine too.
 
2.  The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.  I received my first copy of this book as a birthday present in 7th grade.  I thought....really....a WW2 book?  But I loved it, and have re-read it several times.  The books description , as found on Amazon, is:  As the nazi madness swept across Europe, a quiet watchmaker's family in Holland risked everything for the sake of others, and for the love of Christ. Despite the danger and threat of discovery, they courageously offered shelter to persecuted Jews. Then a trap brought about the family's arrest. Could God's love shine through, even in a nazi prison camp and beyond?    Let's just say Corrie Ten Boom is a hero and an example of mine.

3.  To Kill a Mockingbird- by Harper Lee.  This is a wonderful story filled with universal themes about fairness, race, and stereotypes, as told by Scout....a 6 year old girl about her lawyer father, Atticus Finch when he represents a black man accused of raping a white girl.  I read it in my Sophomore English class..then read and taught this book to groups of Sophomores when I taught English as a beginning teacher.  It is filled with insights.

4.  Three Weeks with my Brother -by Nicolas Sparks.  I now you are thinking....really?  But I can't get this book out of my mind, and heart.  It's about a 3 week trip around the world and  he reminisces along the way about his growing up years and his mother's love, real tragedies and finally author triumph.  This is all told with stops at Mayan Ruins,  Machu Pichu, Taj Mahal, Egyptian pyramids and the Northern Lights to name a few. Sparks's account shows how he and his brother both evolved on this voyage. "Somehow there was a chance we could help each other, and in that way, I began to think of the trip less as a journey around the world than a journey to rediscover who I was and how I developed the way I did."

I would love a "three weeks with my sisters" trip around the world.....now that would be something.

5.  Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.  This is on my top movie list and top book list for a reason.  It's expanisve and historical filled with characters that stay with you.  It's really an anti war novel about the women left behind.  -- James Lee Burke said it well:  "Gone with the Wind is one of those rare books that we never forget. We read it when we're young and fall in love with the characters, then we watch the film and read the book again and watch the film again and never get tired of revisiting an era that is the most important in our history. Rhett and Scarlet and Melanie and Ashley and Big Sam and Mammy and Archie the convict are characters who always remain with us. No one ever forgets the scene when Scarlet wanders among the wounded in the Atlanta train yard; no one ever forgets the moment Melanie and Scarlet drag the body of the dead Federal soldier down the staircase, a step at a time. Gone with the Wind is an epic story. Anyone who has not read it has missed one of the greatest literary experiences a reader can have."