Everybody has a list of favorite things in life.
Here’s my list of books and stories. What’s your list?
THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS AND STORIES OF MY LIFE
Note: These are stories well worth the reading, well worth the writing style.
Some are disturbing. Some are inspirational.
Some are quite worthless save for their lingering images.
All are compelling in one way or another.
Most are difficult to forget, even if you try.
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Andersen, Hans Christian. THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
Benet, Stephen Vincent. THE REVOLT OF THE MACHINES (a.k.a. Nightmare No. 3)
Bixby, Jerome. IT’S A GOOD LIFE
Bradbury, Ray. DANDELION WINE, THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING, THE SMILE, TO THE CHICAGO ABYSS, THE TOYNBEE CONVECTOR, SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
Caldwell, Erskine. GOD’S LITTLE ACRE
Carlin, George. BRAINDROPPINGS, NAPALM AND SILLY PUTTY
Carroll, Lewis. ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
Chabon, Michael. WEREWOLVES IN THEIR YOUTH
Cleaver, Eldridge. SOUL ON ICE
Cozzens, James Gould. CASTAWAY
Davies, Valentine. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
Defoe, Daniel. ROBINSON CRUSOE
Dickens, Charles. A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Einstein, Albert. RELATIVITY FOR THE LAYMAN
Elliott, Bob and Ray Goulding. FROM APPROXIMATELY COAST TO COAST
Farmer, Philip Jose. THE LOVERS
Faulkner, William. INTRUDER IN THE DUST
Frankl, Viktor. MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING
Goldman, William. THE PRINCESS BRIDE
Gray, William. FUN WITH DICK AND JANE
Hemingway, Ernest. THE GREEN HILLS OF AFRICA
Henry, O. THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
Hunter, Evan. BLACKBOARD JUNGLE
Huxley, Aldous. BRAVE NEW WORLD
Jackson, Shirley. THE LOTTERY
Jones, Guy and Constance. PEABODY’S MERMAID
Kazantzakis, Nikos. THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
Kelly, Walt. POGO
Kerouac, Jack. BIG SUR, ON THE ROAD
Khayyam, Omar. THE RUBAIYAT
Kiersey. PLEASE UNDERSTAND ME
Latham, Irene. LEAVING GEE’S BEND
Lee, Harper. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
MacDonald, John D. THE GIRL THE GOLD WATCH AND EVERYTHING
Matheson, Richard. I AM LEGEND, BID TIME RETURN, THE SHRINKING MAN
May, Robert L. RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
Menninger, Karl. THE HUMAN MIND
Merritt, A. THE MOON POOL
Miller, Walter. A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ
Moore, Clement C. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Nabokov, Vladimir. LOLITA
Orwell, George. 1984
Parker, Dorothy. COLLECTED POEMS
Raines, Howell. MY SOUL IS RESTED
Reage, Pauline. THE STORY OF O
Reed, Jim. DAD’S TWEED COAT, CHRISTMAS COMES BUT ONCE A DAY, YOUR PEOPLE MY PEOPLE, HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN BOOK, WHAT I SAID
Rilke, Rainer Maria. COLLECTED WORKS
Robinson, Frank. THE POWER
Sagan, Carl. THE COSMIC CONNECTION
Schulz, Charles M. “I NEVER PROMISED YOU AN APPLE ORCHARD” (THE
COLLECTED WRITINGS OF SNOOPY)
Schweitzer, Albert. OUT OF MY LIFE AND THOUGHT
Serling, Rod. WALKING DISTANCE
Sheehy, Gail. PASSAGES
Shulman, Max. BAREFOOT BOY WITH CHEEK
Silverstein, Shel. WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS, FALLING UP, RUNNY BABBIT
Smith, H. Allen. HOW TO WRITE WITHOUT KNOWING NOTHING
Smith, Thorne. THE NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS
Spillane, Mickey. I, THE JURY
Steinbeck, John. TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY
Stevenson, Bryan. JUST MERCY
Stoker, Bram. DRACULA
Tazewell, Charles. THE LITTLEST ANGEL
Teasdale, Sara. COLLECTED POEMS
Terkel, Studs. WORKING
Thomas, Dylan. A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES, UNDER MILKWOOD
Thurber, James and E.B. White. IS SEX NECESSARY?
Thurber, James. THE THIRTEEN CLOCKS
Tolkien, J.R.R. THE HOBBIT
Voltaire. CANDIDE
Vonnegut, Kurt. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, HARRISON BERGERON
Watterson, Bill. CALVIN AND HOBBES
Wells, H.G. THE HISTORY OF MISTER POLLY, THE TIME MACHINE, THE
WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE DOOR IN THE WALL
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler. POETRY
Williams, Tennessee. BABY DOLL
Wilson, Edward O. CONSILIENCE
Wylie, Phillip. FINLEY WREN, GLADIATOR
The lessons I learned from some of these books and stories never quite go away.
The ideas they proffered endure. The images they evoke don’t fade
Jim Reed’s Red Clay Diary podcast at www.youtube.com