One of my grandchildren has me involved in a project that requires short video responses to various prompts, and a recent question was about the books I’ve read that have influenced me the most.
Now, I love making lists – favorite vacation spots, favorite restaurants, favorite songs, favorite prophets, favorite whatever. And I love refining those lists because that means I’m experiencing new things.
Not long ago, for instance, I decided my favorite food is now “sauce.” Pretty much any type of food that involves a great sauce – from biscuits and sausage gravy to a flavor-packed pomodoro over pasta – is a hit with me.
But a list of most influential books? Where to even start!?
To narrow things down, I came up with this simple rule: I would only list books that were important because of the influence they had on me. In other words, if I loved a book because of its great writing or great storytelling or both, that alone wasn’t enough to get it on the list.
Then I realized that every truly great book I’ve read influenced me as a writer. I could list hundreds of those – from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard to The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese to classics like The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas to pretty much anything by Charles Dickens or Ernest Hemingway. And that doesn’t include books that are on the technical aspects of how to write well.
Eliminating those as options left me with books that influenced who I am as a person and how I live. So, here’s that list, or at least my top five, in no particular order except that I saved the best for last …
One, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I don’t know when I first read this book, but I remember how I felt when I read it, because I get that same feeling every time I re-read it. Which is fairly often.
For me, To Kill a Mockingbird represents the best of the best of Southern storytelling, which is saying something considering how many great books there are by great Southern storytellers. But I rank it as “influential to me” because it shaped how I think about race, parenting, justice, kids, fellow southerners, empathy, and relationships.
Two, Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
When an obviously brilliant person writes about their subject of expertise, you learn something. When that brilliant person also is writing from personal and very painful experiences, you feel what you are learning. And when that brilliant person writes it in a way you, as a non-brilliant person, can actually understand, what you learn and feel sticks with you and changes you.
Perhaps my biggest takeaway from Man’s Search for Meaning is that humans have the freedom to choose how we will deal with the adversity we face in life, and if we choose hope, we can live in that freedom regardless of what anyone does to us.
Three, Tender Warrior by Stu Weber
My friend and former boss gave me this book and, along with it, a challenge. It was the right book at the right time, because it opened my eyes to an important truth: There is a God and He’s not me.
As an agnostic at the time, I found myself pulled to re-examine what I really believed and why. That led me to study the world’s religions more closely, including atheism. I even bought (and mostly read) a two-inch thick book called Dictionary of World Religions. It’s still on my shelf.
Systematically, I began dismissing the belief systems I thought were flawed. When I got to Christianity, the religion of my youth, I realized I needed to evaluate Jesus and not His flawed followers. And when I did that, I came to the uncomfortable conclusion that Jesus really is who He said he is. Presented with that was true, I had no choice but to accept the offer He was freely giving me. So, I did.
There were some key people who were involved in that decision, but Tender Warrior was the book that opened my heart to hear and receive the offer.
Four, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
I could create an entire list of books by Lewis that have profoundly influenced me, not only what I believe but how I process theology and how I write about weighty matters.
The thing is, I don’t agree with everything Lewis wrote, but I respect how he thinks things through and comes to legitimate and logical conclusions. Great writing isn’t great because it makes you nod your head in agreement all the time, but because it helps you understand who you are and what you believe. The head nods along the way are a bonus.
Mere Christianity, in particular, is a clear, concise presentation of the basics of what it means to believe in and follow Jesus. I nod my head often every time I read it, which is pretty much once or twice a year.
Some of his other books are too heavy for me (e.g, The Abolition of Man), and I’m not a particular fan of his adult fiction, especially the sci-fi stuff. It’s just not my cup of British tea. But I’ve read several of his books and essays many times, including the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, Surprised by Joy, A Grief Observed, and The Weight of Glory.
Five, the Holy Bible by God
I knew of the Bible when I was growing up, because we went to church as a family every Sunday and I did all the youth group stuff. But, as the saying goes, just because you park your rear end in a garage, that doesn’t make you a car; and just because you sit in a pew, that doesn’t make you a Christian.
Eventually, that changed. I still can’t say that I fully know the Bible, but I’m learning from it every day.
Inspired by a friend’s elderly father who had read the Bible at least once a year since he was 14, I decided to read the entirety of the Good Book. It took me 18 months, partly because I was also reading a companion commentary written by the guy who had inspired me.
I use a reading plan now that gets me through the whole Bible in about 50 weeks each year, which leaves me some room to miss a day or linger on passages that I need to study more intently.
For those who believe, the Living Word speaks to us in strange and mysterious ways that transform who we are and how we live. That’s my experience.
So, that’s my list. I’d love to know the books that would make your list, because that’s how my “to-read” list grows. And that’s how find books that influence me and my life.
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