The title pretty much says it all. I'm not actually a big reader. But I do enjoy reading and really should do more of it. Here are five books/book series that have been formative for me, growing up.The order is purely chronological. The Bible has been omitted because I feel that to place it in this list would suggest a number of things, and I'm not sure I like most of them.
(1) The Adventures of Tintin - Georges Remi
For those that are reading this having never heard of Tintin, I am sorry. It is probably too late. I read my first book at the age of 7 or 8, and finished the series (20 odd graphic novels) by the age of 13. Many an evening I would spend reading book after book of these; they were addictive!
The series is essentially about a young detective who roams the world solving mysteries. However, the mysteries were just a backdrop in which the loveable, fantastically sculpted characters could flourish. If you are above the age of 15 you will probably be too embarrassed to read them, but perhaps you can persuade you kids to read them someday.
I am not sure if reading these books inspired anything more in me than a love of libraries and a notion that books could be cool, but I suspect that they did. If not, this series still deserves its place.
(2) The Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
Now onto something more familiar, and I doubt an introduction is necessary. In year 4 our class read through the first book and by the time I left Primary school I was completely hooked. This passion of mine did not subside until I was about 15, and I would not be surprised if I read through the series once more, some time in the future. Love it or hate it, it is an epic series and probably represents the largest single part of my childhood.
The character formation is wonderful, and the plot - with it's questionable areas - is still a remarkable achievement. However critics may view the series, it rooted itself in my imagination like no other. For years I was entranced by the idea of Hogwarts, of Diagon Alley, and of the existence of Horcruxes. With these books, I found that I grew far more attached to very atypical heroes - Dobby, Snape, Mad-eye, Hagrid - than the stereotypical protagonists - Harry, Lily, Hermione, Dumbledore - and this taught me an awful lot about how we view heroism; often the true heroes are the people the world write off.
(3) The Heavenly Man - Brother Yun
This is a bit of an unusual one. I only read this once - when I was 17 - and didn't even finish it. To tell the truth it was a birthday present for a friend. But it looked pretty interesting so at about 11pm the day before I had to wrap it and hand it over, I decided to have a sneak peek. At 2am I fell asleep with it still in my hands. It was that good.
It is a true story about a missionary who was instrumental in developing the Chinese house church movement in the 1980s. Pretty scary stuff. He is sent to prison (think beatings, starvation and torture) several times and at one point he doesn't have any food at all. He relies on God entirely and it left me awestruck. Miracles were just a part of every day life. The book opened my eyes to the historical facts regarding the persecuted Church and also taught me a lot about faith.
(4) The Great Mathematical Problems - Ian Stewart
So there comes that annoying time near the end of year 12 when you have to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life. Yeah... So being the eldest child with parents who didn't really encourage me to think about my career as a child, I had no clue. I mean I knew I loved Science but that was about it. I also loved Music and quite enjoyed most of the subjects I'd dropped after GCSE! I decided to pick this book up from the Library in the hope that it would aid my understanding of what "proper" maths is like. Turns out,whatever it is, I love it!
This book is quite specialised but it doesn't require much knowledge beyond GCSE. Having said that, it goes remarkably deep into some really abstract and tricky concepts. It essentially gives the reader a whistle-stop tour through the mathematics of the last 500 years - an era which high school mathematics barely touches - by showcasing the hardest, and most interesting, puzzles; some solved, some still open. It was the basis for an entire paragraph of my personal statement, and indeed was pivotal to my career choice. On top of that, was a really pleasant read. If you want to know whether maths is for you, read it. Seriously.
(5) Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis
If the author seems familiar, this is the same man who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. For the record, that series would have made the top 5 if this didn't. I didn't want to give too much credit to Lewis. Check out the land of Narnia though. It's magical.
Anywho, this book is actually a series of letters written by a demon to his nephew. Read that again if you must. His nephew is in charge of ensuring that a human on Earth spends eternity in Hell and his Uncle (Screwtape) writes to him with guidance. We watch the humans life unfold before us and see the role that the spiritual warfare plays with unparalleled clarity. I have read this book in its entirety three times in the last year.
The concept may sound strange to you, but if you are a Christian I would recommend it above any other (modern) book. It has unveiled the spiritual battles in my life like no other book and teaches the reader something important with every sentence. Though the content is deep and densely packed, the genius style - and frequent satire - of Lewis makes it a delight to read. I seriously can not recommend this book enough. It changed my life.
Hope you guys enjoyed what was perhaps a bit of light relief after my last blog. See you soon!
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