(Editor’s note: this post comes from the now deleted “Bookshelf” page, but I liked it so much I’ve converted it into a post)
I have read many thousands of books in my lifetime. In fact, I have given away more books than I currently own, and I still own two or three thousand. Mrs. Vintage and I have dedicated one whole room of our house as our library, and the bookshelves groan under the weight of the tomes upon them.
I must confess that more than a few of the books I have read in my lifetime were garbage. I was an indiscriminate reader in my youth. I am no literary elitist, but my reading “palette” has improved as I’ve gotten older. If I’m going to plunk down hard earned money on a book, I expect it to be a well written and interesting.
I recently heard about a book called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo (see here). Ms. Kondo recommends keeping no more than 30 books in your living space because the value of books lies in the information contained within and there’s no reason to keep them on your shelves after you have read them. Ms. Kondo is obviously not a bibliophile.
While I do occasionally give away some of my books to make room for new ones, I am not sure if I could live with just 30 books in my home. But if someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to give up most of my books, the ones I have listed below would be the 30 I would keep.
1776 by David McCullough
– Opening act of the American Revolution.
Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
– Extensive history of the American Civil War.
Beside Still Waters by Gregg Easterbrook
– Mr. Easterbrook makes the case that doubt is an important part of one’s faith.
Blue Highways by William Least-Heat Moon
– One man’s journey to discover himself on the backroads of America.
Citizen Soldiers by Stephen E. Ambrose
– The European theater from the day after D-Day to the fall of Germany.
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
– The first Walt Longmire mystery; the high plains of Wyoming are the backdrop to this story of murder and revenge.
The Crucible of War, The Conquering Tide and Twilight of the Gods by Ian Toll
– In-depth account of the U.S. Navy’s war in the Pacific against the Japanese Empire during WW2.
Dune by Frank Herbert
– Set in the far future; a prophet arises to overthrow a corrupt feudalistic government
Hear that Lonesome Whistle Blow: Railroads in the West by Dee Brown
– Fascinating account of building the American trans-continental railroad.
High Adventure by Donald E. Westlake
– Hilarious adventure yarn about drug runners, real estate scams and corrupt police officers in Belize.
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
– Orwell’s experiences during the Spanish Civil War.
The Initiate Brother by Sean Russell
– Fantasy novel set in a country much like our ancient China.
Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison
– Three novellas in one book: tales of revenge and consequences.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
– Probably the greatest western novel ever written.
Lord of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
– Yeah, I know, it’s a trilogy. But you can get all of them in one book, so I am counting it as one.
The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway.
– Hemingway scattered his semi-autobiographical Nick Adams stories throughout his short story collections. This book collects these short stories and puts them in chronological order.
One Man’s Garden by Henry Mitchell.
– Henry Mitchell was the Washington Post’s gardening writer for several decades. This book is a distillation of his best gardening articles.
The Religions of Man by Huston Smith.
– Overview of the world’s major religions.
The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern Mind by Justin Howard and Howard Reid.
– Account of the Egyptian city that housed the Great Library and the Great Lighthouse.
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
– Bio of Teddy’s upbringing and his rise to the Presidency
Roughing It by Mark Twain
– Hilarious account of Mark Twain’s first trip out West.
The Savage Wars of Peace by Max Boot
– Description of America’s “small wars” fought between the big wars. Max Boot has turned into a loon, but this is still a good book.
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
– The future of war and ruminations about the age-old conflict between combat and morality.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
– The first of the Harry Dresden fantasy novels; magic and crime solving set in modern day Chicago.
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
– The best of the Leaphorn/Chee novels. A mystery of a missing archeologist and stolen Native American relics set in the American Southwest.
We We’re Soldiers Once, and Young by Moore & Galloway
– The U.S. Army’s first direct conflict with the North Vietnamese Army in the Ia Drang Valley during the Vietnam War.
A World Lit only by Fire by William Manchester
– Life and faith in Europe during the Middle Ages.
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
– An account of the Dust Bowl and those who survived it.
