A dangerous question to ask me is, “What are some of your favorite books?” I could talk for hours. There are so many good ones! Below are my all-time favorite fiction books. I have read through each of the following at least 4 times. I don’t re-read many books, but this is an indication of how wonderful these books are to me.

These are not in order. That would be too hard.

Please comment and let me know your favorite fiction books. I am always looking for a good read!

 

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, including The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.

I cried at the end of the last book the first time I read it. Not because it was sad, but because it was over. Middle Earth. The Shire. Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. So many wonderful characters and such rich detail in creating a deep, rich story of good vs. evil. I think this might be the book series that convinced me, as a young man, that we could learn from fiction. For me, it was learning virtue and wanting to embody it as some of these characters did.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia (series) by CS Lewis

I remember crying at the end of the last book, The Last Battle, as I read it to my children when they were little. Being young, they didn’t understand why I was crying. “Are you sad, Daddy?” No, I wasn’t sad. I told them that sometimes you can tears of joy, and the picture that Lewis paints of eternity was that beautiful. And how I wish that some fictional characters could become real. There are many from these books I would love to meet in person. Reepicheep, anyone?

Lewis wrote these books as allegories for the Christian life, and I learn something from them each time I read through them.

NOTE: I am firmly in the camp that you should read them in the order that Lewis wrote them, meaning start with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and not The Magician’s Nephew.

 

Harry Potter (series) by JK Rowling

Another classic tale of good vs. evil, where good really is good and evil really is evil. I appreciate that about the Harry Potter series. And watching the kids grow over the series was fun. This is also the only series which I enjoy listening to as much as reading. The version I have on Audible was read by Jim Dale, who won many awards for his work on the books. They are so good!

 

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Oh, how I came to love Ender. He is one of my favorite characters in any book. This is a sci-fi book with spaceships and aliens, yet it isn’t really about the sci-fi stuff at all. Wonderful. Brilliant. A quick read. I read a few others in the series and, except for Ender’s Shadow, none of the rest could rise to the excellence of the first.

 

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

If I remember correctly (which means this could be completely fabricated by my memory/imagination), before Harry Potter came along, this was the best-selling book in the English language after the Bible. It is an allegory about a character named Christian traveling from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City and the trials and other characters he encounters along the way. A very insightful book for those trying to live life as a Christian. It always challenges me.

 

The following receive Honorable Mentions. I love them, but have not re-read them (or as often) as the previous list.

 

World War Z by Max Brooks

I never would have expected that a zombie book would be one of my favorite books. I don’t care about zombies or horror. Yet… this book is amazing. It is a series of short stories collected after the Zombie War has been won. The main character, working for the UN, wants to collect the stories of how people around the world survived. It is so creative. People in large cities, people in rural communities, people alone, people in groups, various countries around the world, and how they responded differently. A fascinating book that is more about human nature than about zombies.

 

The Space Trilogy by CS Lewis

Not as popular as The Chronicles of Narnia, but very good. Deep. Thoughtful. One of my favorite exchanges between fictional characters takes place in the second book, Perelandra.

 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A book added within the last five years. Told from the perspective of Death about the life of a little girl living in Germany during World War II. Powerful.

 

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

A book added this year! What a wonderful and unexpected surprise! I want to be more like Theo.