Hey friends! Welcome back, and thank you for joining me again this week. I’d apologize for being late again but honestly, that’s just pretty much par for the course at this point. I’m back with another Top 10 list this week, but I’m switching up the medium a bit, and diving in to some of my favorite books. I admittedly don’t read nearly as much as I should, and when I do read, its almost exclusively fiction. I’m sure that says something about me as a person, but whatever. Anyway, as is the case with all of the other Top 10 lists I’ve done, this does not necessarily mean that these are the books I believe should be on a Top 10 “best” books list (though some of them fit that criterion as well), but rather are just my Top 10 “favorite” books. Without further adieu, let’s get in to it!
Honorable Mention* – “Mycroft Holmes” by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse
Yes. That Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 6-time NBA Most Valuable Player, 18-time NBA All Star, and all-time leading NBA scorer. That Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. On top of his undeniable athletic prowess, he’s apparently also a very gifted writer. Most everyone by now is familiar with at least the concept of Sherlock Holmes – great detective, terrible interpersonal skills, bit of a sociopath – but this book actually focuses on Sherlock’s lesser-known (but just as brilliant) older brother, Mycroft. The story follows a young Mycroft Holmes working alongside his best friend Cyrus Douglas to uncover the cause of mysterious disappearances in Cyrus’ birthplace of Trinidad. What is initially believed to be the work of evil spirits luring children to their deaths ends up being something even more disturbing. Full of twists and turns and intrigue and danger and heroism, this book is a great read that is hard to put down.
10. “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown
The Lost Symbol is the third novel in the famed Robert Langdon series (which includes Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code. Unlike its predecessors which were set in Europe, The Lost Symbol is set in Washington, D.C. The novel focuses once again on protagonist Robert Langdon, who finds himself entrenched in not only a centuries-old mystery involving the Freemasons and the founding of the United States, but also in a kidnapping/hostage situation. He must uncover and follow clues to lead him to the rescue of his mentor, and do so while being pursued by the CIA, who believe Langdon himself to be a culprit. There are plot twists, big reveals, death-defying acts, and true audibly-gasp moments.
9. “The Martian” by Andy Weir
In the spirit of full transparency: I did not actually “read” this book, I consumed it via Audible. It was my first experience with an audiobook, and, though I still prefer actually reading the book myself, it was a good experience. This is the first book on the list that isn’t in the mystery genre. Instead, this is almost exclusively a survival sci-fi story. The story begins with the first manned mission to Mars to begin terraforming the planet. Early on in the mission (which was planned to be a one-month stay), a dust storm kicks up and seemingly kills our protagonist and forces the rest of the crew to abandon the mission and leave Mars. As it turns out, our protagonist is not dead (that would have made for a very short book, indeed) but he’s cut off from all contact with NASA as his communication systems were damaged, and he has to figure out a way to survive alone on Mars for as long as he can in hopes that his crew will somehow learn that he’s not dead and come back to rescue him. The novel is an exploration in overcoming adversity, human determination, and the will to survive against all odds. It’s a great book, and who knows, maybe it’ll even act as a blueprint for us one day . . .
8. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
This is the shortest novel on my list, and I was able to read it in a single day (only about 6 hours worth of actual reading time), but it still earns a spot on my top 10 list. Some have argued that this book is more of a “self-help” book, rather than a piece of literature. Regardless of which genre you decide this book fits in, it deserves to be on this list. The book focuses on a young shepherd boy who, after having a recurring dream, decides to seek out the meaning of the dream from a gypsy woman, believing it to be a sign of some sort. According to the gypsy woman, the dream is actually a prophecy, leading him to a great treasure at the pyramids of Egypt. As he struggles with whether or not the gypsy woman was full of baloney, our protagonist meets a mysterious man known as the King of Salem, who offers good coin for the boy’s sheep, and tells the boy to use that money to pursue the prophecy as it is part of his “Personal Legend” to do so. The rest of the book focuses on the main character’s struggle and self-doubt while pursuing his Personal Legend. The story is a not-so-subtle allegory to the human condition and our need (and often inability) to pursue our passions, despite what the world thinks of it. There will be obstacles and many reasons to abandon our Personal Journey, but persevering through is worth it in the end. Having read this book for the first time within the last year, when I was going through some personal struggles of my own, I highly recommend this book as a way to re-evaluate and gain some new perspective in your life.
7. “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Admittedly, I kind of cheated on this one. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is not technically a novel, it’s rather a collection of short stories. Anyone who doesn’t know of Sherlock Holmes by now has to be living under a rock. He has become synonymous with mystery and the detective genre. He’s even found our way in to colloquialisms (“no shit, Sherlock” comes to mind). It’s hard to write anything new about the world’s most famous detective, who has been around for over 120 years, so I’ll just say that, despite the writing style being a bit dry at points (which is just a product of the time in which the stories were written), the cleverness of the protagonist, and the loyalty of his best friend and sidekick, Dr. Watson, makes each of these stories fascinating in their own right. When reading Sherlock Holmes stories, I never find myself wondering if he’ll figure out the mystery, instead I’m always on the edge of my seat to learn how he figured out the mystery. As a literary character, Sherlock Holmes may be my favorite in all of fiction. He is super-humanly brilliant and observant, but is humanized by his interpersonal flaws, his glaring “common sense” blind-spots, and his fierce loyalty to his colleague and best (only) friend. If you have any interest in the detective-mystery genre, but don’t want to read an entire novel, check out one of the short stories in this collection (“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” might be my favorite).
6. “The Institute” by Stephen King
Spoiler Alert: this isn’t going to be the only Stephen King entry on this list. Stephen King is undeniably my favorite author, and the author whose works I have read the most of (though I am not even remotely close to having read everything in his exhaustingly-expansive catalog). When one thinks of Stephen King, they think horror – his name has become synonymous with the horror genre – but I wouldn’t classify The Institute as horror. I would classify it more as a paranormal thriller. The book focuses on, get this, an institute, who finds and abducts children that have displayed either telekinesis or telepathic powers. It’s unclear for most of the novel why the Institute is capturing the children, but ends up being under the guise of “national security” and using them to dispose of “threats to the United States” and doing it remotely. In addition to the main story of the children in their fight for freedom, there’s a side story of a former police officer who finds himself settling in to a quiet life in a podunk town of DuPray, South Carolina. At the beginning of the book, the two stories seem to be completely independent of one another, but, as any reader of Stephen King novels knows, this is not the case, as the two storylines end up interconnected in a very pivotal way near the end of the novel. The book is a thrilling and gut-wrenching tale of friendship being found in the least likely of places, and is a definite page-turner.
5. “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo
Quite often, my being a sucker for marketing, or for “cool” looking things causes me to waste money on things I don’t need or that end up being way less cool than I thought they were when I bought them. This book, however, ended up being one of my best “ooh that looks cool!” purchases that I’ve ever made. I was walking through Barnes and Noble one day looking for a new book, and this was sitting on a display all by itself, with its mostly-black cover, and red-edged pages. The look of the book made me pick it up and read the synopsis on the inside, and though the synopsis didn’t completely enthrall me, the look of the book triggered my sucker-for-marketing senses and I bought it on a whim. Once I started reading, I was completely hooked. This book is considered a fantasy novel, and while there are definitely aspects of the fantasy genre (magic and fairies and whatnot), I would more classify this as a heist novel with subtle fantasy aspects. Even the style of writing is something unique to other books I’ve read, with each chapter being a close third person viewpoint of one of the main characters. While each chapter focuses on the viewpoint of one character, all of the chapters are seamlessly interconnected to tell a larger overarching story. In my opinion, this style really helps to flesh out each individual character in ways that other writing styles can’t quite manage. The story focuses on a crew of 6 criminal and misfit teenagers, each with specific skillsets, banding together to infiltrate a stronghold in the region and extradite a prisoner that has discovered a chemical that can be used to enhance the powers of magic-users. As with any heist, there are tensions and distrust and twists and turns aplenty, but ultimately, the team puts aside their differences to work together to achieve their goal. This is one of the first books I always recommend to anyone who asks for a new book to read. Please do yourself a favor and check it out!
4. “The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams
This one is probably the least likely of my Top 10 to be of interest to the majority of my readers. This novel (or, I guess technically, collection of 5 novels) is a comedy sci-fi novel, but the “comedy” in it is incredibly dry British humor, which isn’t for everyone. The story focuses on the protagonist, Arthur Dent, and his adventures around the galaxy after Earth is destroyed by the bureaucratic Vogons. The book is so goofy and zany and at times seemingly incomprehensible that it’s hard for me to describe why I love it so much, but I do. If you want a good introduction to the book, first watch the movie (starring Zooey Deschanel, Martin Freeman, and Alan Rickman as Marvin), and then, if you’re still interested in the rest of Arthur’s adventures, dive in to the book. If you like dry humor, this will be for you, if you don’t . . . this book (and probably the movie) is not going to be for you.
3. “The Alienist” by Caleb Carr
The Alienist is a crime thriller set in New York City near the end of the 19th Century. The novel follows Dr. Lazlo Kreizler – the titular “alienist”, which is another term for psychologist of psychiatrist – and his “team” – New York Times crime reporter John Moore, who is the narrator of the story, Teddy Roosevelt, who at the time was New York City Police commissioner, Sara Howard, who is originally hired in as a secretary for the police department, and others – as they work to catch a serial killer who is targeting and brutally murdering immigrant children. When I’m trying to describe this book to my friends, I generally describe it as “a much darker and grittier Sherlock Holmes, set in America, rather than England”. This book does delve in to some disturbing themes, which are not for the fainthearted, but the novel is written in such a way that you find yourself unable to put it down despite yourself. Though this is a work of fiction, the use of real-life American icons – such as Teddy Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan – along with real-life locations in NYC, at times it is easy to forget that this is not a historical non-fiction. If you can stomach it, this book will have you on the edge of your seat, and reading until the wee hours of the morning.
2. “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling
Recent Twitter faux pas of the author aside, the impact that the Harry Potter book series has had on me is undeniable. The messages of friendship, equality, love, and standing up to evil despite the cost are ones that are very important. As with my inclusion of Prisoner of Azkaban on my top 10 movies list, I’m not entirely sure why it is that Goblet of Fire is the one book that stands out to me over the rest, but it does. It could be that it was the first time we were really introduced to other wizarding schools, which globalized the story in a way it hadn’t been previously. Maybe it was because it was the first time we really felt that the interpersonal struggles between the characters within the school were as important as the ever-looming threat from outside the walls of Hogwarts. Maybe it was the introduction of some cool magical creatures. I can’t say for certain, but Goblet of Fire has always stood out to me as my favorite book in the series (and, consequently, my least favorite movie in the franchise – though its the one I saw in theaters the most).
This brings us to the number one book on my Top 10 Favorites list! If you’ve been paying attention, at least the author won’t be a surprise. But without further adieu, I present my favorite book! **DRUMROLL**
1. “11/22/63” by Stephen King
11/22/63 is a novel that is hard to characterize. It involves time-travel, so one could not be faulted for classifying it as sci-fi, but it’s so much more than that. The title of the novel is in reference to the day president John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Without giving too much away, the story is about the main character going back in time to try to stop the JFK assassination. The time travel portal that he uses though does not connect him directly to 11/22/1963, it sends him back to 9/9/1958, so much of the novel deals with the main character’s (Jake Epping) life out of time in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The book is a behemoth, coming in at a whopping 849 pages, but as with all of Stephen King’s books, it flies by and never feels like a slog to read through. The amount of research that must have gone in to this book to (seemingly) accurately portray life in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as well as not leaving any plot holes (which is incredibly easy to do in any time-travel story) is staggering. If you’ve got some time, and are looking for an enthralling book that will send you back in time, give this one a read, you won’t be disappointed!
Well friends, there you have it, my list of my top 10 favorite books. This one was particularly fun for me to put together, and I hope you’ve all enjoyed it and maybe even added a couple of them to your must-read lists! What are some of your favorite books? I’d love to hear them in the comments below!
Thank you again for joining me this week, and I will see you all again next week. Until then, stay safe, happy, and healthy! 🙂
Musings Of A Struggling Creator 