I have always loved to read. Beyond just a pastime, books have been my friends, an escape, solace. But there are 2 that have left lasting impressions above and beyond the others. As a child, it was King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. As an adult, it is The Good Soldiers by David Finkel.
I’ve enjoyed so many books over the years and most have stuck with me. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why these 2 surpassed the others because many books tell great stories, have great characters, and are beautifully written.
They’re obviously very different books but emotionally they are the same. They affected me so deeply and the memories are so rich, I feel I’ve actually lived them both.
The follow up to Good Soldiers, Thank You for Your Service, is more well known because it was made into a movie with Miles Teller. I have read it and it’s wonderful, but The Good Soldiers transported me to Iraq, put a rifle in my hand, and killed my friends.
I am looking for books like this. Any genre, any age group. Any book that is so ingrained you feel like it’s a part of your life story.
Works of history.
Thucydides - History of the Peloponnesian War
Urofsky - Louis. D. Brandeis: A Life
Rakove - Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution
Appleman - East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea
Fisher - Paul Revere’s Ride
Murphy - Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas
Akbar - Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan
Massie - Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War
Hatchet by Gary Paulson is the novel and author that opened me up to a lifetime of reading.
Catcher In The Rye, because it was probably the first book I had to read for school that I genuinely wanted to read. I think it may have been the book that started it all for me.
Everyone else- The Color Purple. To Kill a Mockingbird.
Me- The Neverending Story ._.