1. A Walk in the Woods- Bill Bryson
This book is a great take on the Appalachian Trail. Bryson is rediscovering his native country and decides the best way to do that is to walk the trail. This is one book that has really given me a desire to hike the AT.
2. The Things They Carried- Tim O'Brien
This is O'Brien's memoir of the war in Vietnam. I read a short story from this book my senior year in high school. This book talks about the war and the reasons behind it, but it also digs deeper into the men who fought the war. I laughed and cried with this one.
3. The Road- Cormac McCarthy
Post apocolyptic/nuclear holocaust novel. McCarthy is one of my favorite authors. The chemistry and relationship between the father and son in this story is amazing. To what ends would you go to survive and protect the only thing that you have left?
4. A Walk Across America- Peter Jenkins
Jenkins has recently graduated college and is recently divorced in this book. He walks away from everything in 1973 to find the real America. This is another book that really makes me want to just walk. To throw on a pack and leave.
5. Bleachers- John Grisham
I love Grisham's law novels, but this is not a law novel. Bleachers is a book about small town life and football. I read it in next to no time. It is not a very intimidating read, but it is a great book.
6. The Daybreakers- Louis L' Amour
I know that L'Amour wrote a million books. I also know that many of his works run together. This book is my favorite of his. It is part of the Sackett series. It was the first L'Amour book that I read. It is one that you cant put down.
7. Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card
Book about a kid who has to save the world from aliens. What can get any better than that?
8. Monster- Frank Peretti
Peretti is a great author and this was the second book by him that I have read. It really makes you think about what is right and what is wrong. It also takes the whole 'If you have not seen it then it does not mean that it does not exist' idea into account.
9. Friday Night Lights- H.G. Bissinger
Everyone has seen the movie, but I recommend that you go out and get the book. If all else fails ask me and I will loan you the copy that my brother stole from our high school library. The book covers things that the movie could not. It goes into detail about the oil bust and the de-segregation that was taking place in Texas during the 1980's. The characters are deep and complex. These are real people. That is what makes this book so good is that it is real.
10. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil- John Berendt
I always heard that this was one of those books that you should read if you like southern literature. I found it for a quarter and read it in two days. Part fiction part reality it is a book that kind of haunts you. I really like how the city of Savannah was as much a main character as anyone else.
11. The Orchard Keeper- Cormac McCarthy
This was McCarthy's first novel and may be his best. As I have stated before, I am a big fan of McCarthy and am tying to read all of his books. This book is in the same vein as William Faulkner and that is a good thing. It is another book that takes place in the south. Knoxville, Tennessee area to be precise. McCarthy paints this book, he does not write it. The characters and landscapes are beautifully written.
