Geep's Quasi Top 10 List

For some reason I cannot access the blog when I login and I therefore could not insert my list (that is why it has taken me so long, not just b/c I am extremely forgetful). As you can see I am submitting this under Dan's name so don't be confused. Anyway, it's extremely hard for me to come up with a top 10 b/c I have read so many books and if I don't like a book I just stop reading it and move on to one I do like, in other words I only read books that I like. (There are too many books in this world to bother reading one that I don't really want to read!) Also, b/c I've read so many books it's hard to recall all that I've read and would consider favorites. So, as stated in my title, here is my quasi list of favorite books. (When I get back to Utah I'll check out what books I brought with me b/c I took the ones I couldn't bear to leave behind, but presently I cannot remember all of them.)

Autobiography of Malcolm X (Malcom X w/ Alex Haley)
I loved reading about Malcolm X's life. The kind of person he was and the hardships he endured were amazing to learn about, especially from his perspective. It was also interesting to experience the dramatic changes he made thoughout his life, the events that shaped who he became, and his journey to discover and understand man, whether white or black. B/C of this book I appreciate and understand better what life was like for Malcolm and for other black people in the 60's. Malcolm X has become one of my favorite characters from history and, if you have read this book, you can understand why I admire him as a man and as someone who has changed the life of many people both within and outside of America.

The Princess Bride (William Goldman)
Of course this has to be on my list b/c, if you who were there remember, I cried when Ed gave it to me for Christmas! We cannot deny that we've seen the movie too many times to count and always loved every minute of it. This book is just as fun to read as the movie is to watch. It gives you a better understanding of the characters through detailed descriptions of their histories making them more real and likeable. It's also fun because it has the same kind of humor and the story is just different enough to make the book a whole new experience, yet it is still familiar. The differences are what help make it great. Things like the Zoo of Death, the sharks, and a giant whirlpool, oh and Fezzik is actually from Turkey.

The Neverending Story (Michael Ende)
Please! Please! Please, don't judge the book by the movie! The movie is terrible and should never have been made. I saw the move a couple times when I was like five and liked it, I think, but I read the book in early high school then saw the movie again and experienced the worst let down of my life! The book is so imaginative and the characters are so much more real. For example, the horse Artax was one of my favorites. He could talk for one thing and he didn't die after two minutes either, poo. Also, Falkor the luck dragon is not a giant flying pound puppy, he's a white dragon with a lion-like head, poo again. People should only make movies when they know what they're doing. (Sorry about the rant, but I am still pretty disappointed, if you couldn't tell.) Anyway, there is much more to the story and so many more great characters than the movie even begins to let on.

Seven Years in Tibet (Heinrich Harrer)
Now this is a movie of which we need not be ashamed. Of course I read the book before I saw it, so I know. The book was incredibly interesting to read and provided a lot of information about the culture and the history of the Tibetan people and the Dalai Lama. It follows the Austrian-born adventurer Heinrich Harrer beginning in India around the time of the second World War. B/C of the turmoil thorughout the country and in Europe he was placed in camps where he, after a few failed attempts, escapes with a friend into the Himalayas and eventually into the private Tibetan capital, Lhasa. I think I loved this story becuase of the fact that it is a true account of one man's experience with the unknown, and now non-existing country of Tibet and its intriguing and kind-hearted people.

Dracula (Bram Stoker)
Despite popular belief this is not just a story about a blood sucking man who can turn himself into a bat and likes attractive young women, though this may be the case to some degree. It is also about the timeless struggle of good versus evil and explores the power of love and religion to expel that evil. I admit I was skeptical before reading it but I eventually decided to try it out because my friend Shannon liked it so much. It turned out to be nothing like what I had expected and it was one of those books that you want to keep reading to find out what happens next.

Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
This book was a bit duanting at first because of its length and seeming potential to bore me but once I started I couldn't help liking it, and I had to keep reading. The heroin of the story, Jane, is not the typical rare beauty who captures the fancy of all who meet her but is rather plain and soft spoken. She is smart and good and, though she is not necissarily pretty, it is what is within her that makes her such a wonderful heroin. Jane's life is not easy and everything seems to go wrong for her as if to tell her she can never be truly happy, but because she is stalwart and does not give in she eventually gains the life, however different than she had hoped, and the happiness she deserves.

The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
Though this book is also long it is well worth the effort. It's exciting and the characters are either so good or so bad that you become enchanted by them and their story. The count himself is one of those characters that you can't help but root for even while he ruins others, of course they deserve it though don't they. If you've seen the movie you've only caught a glimpse of how amazing of a story it is. Edmund, later known as the Count, had such a happy and loving life that when the walls collapse around him he cannot see that it is because of people he trusted and even loved until an old priest teaches him the ways of the world. His turnaround from a young and naive man to a powerful and experienced one is amazing to read and the story that follows his clever escape from prison is captivating. And the end, though not what one would have imagined and/or hoped, is happy and charming all the same.

The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
This book I read as an assignment in my AP English class instead of the Awakening, becuase I had already read it, and boy am I glad I chose it. Of course I had to analyze it but, and this hardly ever happened, it actually helped me appreciate the beauty and symbolism of the story and its characters and I loved the story more because of it. Though I can't remember the exact symbols that I discovered and wrote about I remember really enjoying discovering them. The two main characters Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are incredibly good and strong but are forced to face the secrets of their past that eventually bring Arthur to his death and Hester to an understanding of life. The end, though not entirely happy, is one where you are proud of the protagonists and know that they can live their lives in relative peace. It's a classic for a reason.

Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie)
I'd have to second everything that Cheri wrote about it, and I must admit I had forgotten how much I liked it until I read her entry and I stole the idea from her. Though it's been known as a children's story I loved reading every word. JM Barrie wrote it in such a way that every phrase is enchanting and exciting. It's one of those books that must be read aloud. Though I read it to myself, I couldn't help reading out loud to do the voices and hear the magic of the language bringing the charcters and dialogue to life. It's so much fun because it's so witty and clever and the characters, though you know they are entirely fake, become extremely real through the author's descriptions and diction.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
I loved reading this book! I got it for Christmas from Wendi and started it that night. It was so good that I didn't want it to be over when it was. This book follows a beautiful and passionate woman named Janie Crawford. She spends most of her life living her grandmother's dream for her with a rich husband and a high social standing, when he dies she gets plenty of suitors but she likes her new independence too much to bother and, to the surprise of the town, she begins to do just as she pleases and be who she wants. Eventaully, she meets a man twelve years younger who is the kind of person she has dreamed of her whole life. They marry and live happily together in the Everglades until a hurricane comes and, due to other circustances, Janie finds herself a widow again. The story ends with her return to her town as a woman who understands hardache and pain yet is content with her life and finds peace in a time when others would or could not.
- Thanks Wendi! -

This list is not necessarily my Top 10 of all time (b/c I honestly don't think I could come up with something like that) but they are definitely among my faves. This was fun to write, thanks.

PS The last entry was the book I most recently read and can also cover that part of this blog. That's why we started it, right? To share what we have most recently read? Well there ya go, I'm ahead of you all on that one at least!