I read a lot of books in 2020. I enjoyed all of them, but five of them were especially entertaining and or life changing. Here are five books that I can't recommend enough.
5. Stiff by Mary Roach
“The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken. I have never before had occasion to make the comparison, for never before today have I seen a head in a roasting pan.”
Though she isn't a scientist or a doctor, Roach, in her words "fakes her way through interviews with experts she can't understand" well enough to write interesting and disturbing books about topics ranging from human cadavers to life in outer space. Mary's interest in niche topics is inspiring to me. I'm squeamish about death, but I was still able to laugh along with her stories because they are full of witty humor. Stiff is a must-read for anyone who plans on donating their body to science.
4. Church of Cowards: A Wake Up Call to Complacent Christians by Matt Walsh
“Follow me,” says Our Lord. Keep moving. Keep going. The job is not yet done. Christ commands us to “be perfect” just as our Heavenly Father is perfect, knowing full well that we are not perfect, and in this life will never be. But we can strive toward perfection, toward holiness, toward home. That is what it means to have faith. Faith is in the striving, in the climbing, in the grasping for something we cannot yet see.”
This book isn't a happy read. Walsh asks the question, "If 70% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, why don't we act like a Christian nation?" He writes about the problems with today's church as well as what needs to be done to turn the tide. It is a short read and changed the way I looked at my relationship with God. If you feel like you have become a lukewarm Christian, this is the book for you.
3. 1984 by George Orwell
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”
There is a reason that this book from the 40's was at the top of Amazon's best seller list for months last year. The dystopia described in 1984 bears striking resemblances to today's America. We tear down statues, hate on people for two minutes at a time and then move on, and nix words that don't fit with the agenda of the day. 1984 is the origin of commonly used words such as, "big brother", "memory hole", and "newspeak". Though it's not a fun or happy read, its intensity and importance makes up for it. This book should be a required read in all highschools.
2. Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
"Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity to become molded into the form of the typical inmate."
Viktor Frankl was a neurologist and psychologist who survived the holocaust and went on to write Man's Search For Meaning, along with several other books. The first half of this book documents his experience in a concentration camp, watching other prisoners. He talks about the importance of meaning during hardship, and how that was the difference between prisoners who gave up and prisoners who maintained their sanity. The second half explains logotherapy, a psychological theory that Frankl came up with that is based on the patient's meaning. Reading such a harrowing tale put my problems into perspective while at the same time giving me hope for the future.
1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Pride and Prejudice isn't a basic romance book. It's an honest commentary on marriage and womanhood. The romance goes hand in hand with the development of Elizabeth's character. Throughout every chapter, I empathized with Elizabeth, feeling her frustration and eventual happiness. The characters' personalities are perfectly sculpted and the dialogue is wonderfully written. It is the highest quality fiction book I have ever read. If you are a woman, this book can help you understand yourself. If you are a man, Pride and Prejudice will help you understand the women in your life.
Links to Books:
Church of Cowards - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48674070-church-of-cowards
Man's Search For Meaning -https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning
Pride and Prejudice - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1885.Pride_and_Prejudice
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