More than any other medium, the written word has arguably had the most formative influence upon my personality and beliefs. In books I received my first glimpses of far flung lands and heroic endeavors, imbibing from their exploits a yearning to see it all myself. As I grew older the desire to merely see was honed into a passion to know and understand the significance of all things.
If you would like to know more on why I think you ought to read, or how to develop good habits for consistent reading, you can begin here: Making time to read. If you would like a definitive list of recommended reading on all subjects, check What's on my bookshelf. For a look at my literary diet, see the book list for 2009.
There are also many persons whose remarkable stories I heard online or through word of mouth, which also excited in me a zest for life.
I could list a great deal more, but these are the ones which, for better or worse, have moved me most to live expansively. The list is arranged chronologically.
Complete Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Waterson - These oft' profound and always witty comics were my childhood companions until the age of ten. By them I learned not only how to read, but began to think deeply about life, to laugh and grieve and cherish the treasure of friendship. In his own way, Waterson instilled in me an awareness of death, destiny, and one's existence. By the imaginative stroke of pen and watercolor he imparted real appreciation for nature and art, philosophy and also levity.
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe - Perhaps I was eleven when I received a beautiful edition of Defoe's classic tale of shipwreck, complete with paintings by the illustrious N.C. Wyeth. The combination of manliness and spirituality have hung on my memory ever since.
Disney Movies - Lots of them. While in certain ways wishing I had not been oversexed at age five by the emotional deluge of thirty wispy cartoon romances, I cannot deny the lasting impact of their poppy songs, vibrant colors, and themes of problem/resolution, good/evil, beautiful/horrid,love/loneliness.
Hatchet, Gary Paulsen -
My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George -
Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia & Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy -
Lord of the Flies, William Golding -
Kim, Rudyard Kipling-
Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret - Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor
Karl Bushby - Longest walk in history, over 14 years and more than 36,000 miles.
Confessions - Augustine
Autobiography of Charles Haddon Spurgeon - W. Y. Fullerton [review]
Missionary Patriarch: The True Story of John Paton, John Paton
The Life of A. W. Pink, Iain Murray Ω [review]
The Worst Journey in the World, Apsley Cherry-Gerrard
Sailing Alone Around the World, Joshua Slocum
Heinz Stücke - The most traveled man in history did it on bicycle, and on a dime.
If you would like to know more on why I think you ought to read, or how to develop good habits for consistent reading, you can begin here: Making time to read. If you would like a definitive list of recommended reading on all subjects, check What's on my bookshelf. For a look at my literary diet, see the book list for 2009.
There are also many persons whose remarkable stories I heard online or through word of mouth, which also excited in me a zest for life.
I could list a great deal more, but these are the ones which, for better or worse, have moved me most to live expansively. The list is arranged chronologically.
Complete Calvin & Hobbes, Bill Waterson - These oft' profound and always witty comics were my childhood companions until the age of ten. By them I learned not only how to read, but began to think deeply about life, to laugh and grieve and cherish the treasure of friendship. In his own way, Waterson instilled in me an awareness of death, destiny, and one's existence. By the imaginative stroke of pen and watercolor he imparted real appreciation for nature and art, philosophy and also levity.
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe - Perhaps I was eleven when I received a beautiful edition of Defoe's classic tale of shipwreck, complete with paintings by the illustrious N.C. Wyeth. The combination of manliness and spirituality have hung on my memory ever since.
Disney Movies - Lots of them. While in certain ways wishing I had not been oversexed at age five by the emotional deluge of thirty wispy cartoon romances, I cannot deny the lasting impact of their poppy songs, vibrant colors, and themes of problem/resolution, good/evil, beautiful/horrid,love/loneliness.
Hatchet, Gary Paulsen -
My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George -
Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia & Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy -
Lord of the Flies, William Golding -
Kim, Rudyard Kipling-
Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret - Dr. & Mrs. Howard Taylor
Karl Bushby - Longest walk in history, over 14 years and more than 36,000 miles.
Confessions - Augustine
Autobiography of Charles Haddon Spurgeon - W. Y. Fullerton [review]
Missionary Patriarch: The True Story of John Paton, John Paton
The Life of A. W. Pink, Iain Murray Ω [review]
The Worst Journey in the World, Apsley Cherry-Gerrard
Sailing Alone Around the World, Joshua Slocum
Heinz Stücke - The most traveled man in history did it on bicycle, and on a dime.
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