Of course, if I were to list all my favorite books, we’d be here all day and I’d still be far from being finished. So I’m going to name only a few of them. And why not? Books make great Christmas presents (hint, hint).
*Freddy and the Ignormus, by Walter R. Brooks. This is my favorite Freddy book, and its theme couldn’t be more timely. It’s all about being afraid of something that isn’t real! If that doesn’t sum up 2022 in seven words, I don’t know what could.
*Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy L. Sayers. This intimate peek into the advertising business is just endlessly fascinating! You almost forget there’s a murder to be solved, you get so wrapped up in slogans, jingles, etc.
*The Chessmen of Mars, my all-time favorite Edgar Rice Burroughs book–even more than Tarzan of the Apes. All that need be said is that “This book puts you there”–“there” being a Martian backwater where the game of chess is life and death. Really, if you’ve never met Ghek the Kaldane, you’ve really missed something.
*Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton, exposes the destructive hubris that underlays our worldly business and scientific triumphs. Talk about building foundations on sand! Ours are built atop a sinkhole.
And is it really necessary for me even to mention Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia?
All these books are, in their own way, parables. Maybe the authors didn’t know that they were writing parables–but that only makes their achievement more impressive.
For great fantasy writing I recommend the Edgar Rice Burroughs books, and for great Christian fantasy I recommend Lee Duigon’s Bell Mountain series!
To be mentioned in the same paragraph with the immortal ERB— wow!
I can’t say I have a favorite Burroughs book or series, for it’s been over 40 years since I read his writings. However, the hollow Earth-themed Pellucidar series with David Inns, and the Carson Napier of Venus Amtor series, I would place high on my list.
Franke E. Peretti’s “This Present Darkness,” Henry Morris and John Whitcomb’s “The Genesis Flood,” “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell, “Hinds’ Feet On High Places” by Hannah Hurnard, “Great Prophecies of the Bible” by Ralph Edward Woodrow, and “Last Days Madness” by Gary DeMar rank high on my list.