Five Books Everyone Should Read is a new feature we’re running in 2015. We’ve asked some of our favorite authors, readers and bloggers to share five books that touched them or have stayed with them throughout the years.
My Top Five Books of All Time
I feel like there should be dramatic music or something to go with that title. So wow, top five books ever. This is kind of a tough one, honestly. I’ve read so many over the years it’s going to be hard to pick just five. But because Holly asked me to, I shall give it a go.
I’ll define my Top Five as books I have read and enjoyed multiple times. I’m not going to list them in order, however because that’s like picking your favorite kid. I just can’t. Plus, they fall in different genres entirely so there’s that aspect of it too. Not fair to compare urban fantasy to sociology, right?
Jonathan Haidt’s Righteous Mind
There aren’t too many books out there that make me sit up and go holy crap, then prompt you into research in grad school but Haidt’s book definitely did that for me. I’ve read it multiple times since first picking it up two years ago and every time, I find new aspects of it. Which is not to say that I agree with everything he argues but the main argument that people make different value judgments beyond harm and fairness really shook my world.
Nalini Singh’s Archangel’s Blade
Ah Dmitri. He’s been on just about every one of my top lists because well, I’ve read his book so many times. Whenever I get stuck on my own writing, I go back to this book and immerse myself in the storytelling, the world building and most importantly, the characters. Dmitri and Honor are just – it’s pitch perfect storytelling and it’s by far one of my all time favorites.
Martha Raddatz’s The Long Road Home
This book is personal to me in a lot of ways. I read it when I was a lieutenant getting ready to go downrange for the first time. I read it before I took command. And I’ve read it again since then. This book is more than a war story. It’s about the families on the Homefront waiting for news, it’s about the commander trying to get his soldiers back. It’s about war and family and it’s one of the very best books to come out of the Iraq war.
Laura Kinsale’s The Shadow and the Star
Not name dropping at all but when I finally got to meet Laura at RWA this past year, I was completely over the moon. I was trying so hard to play it cool but it’s not everyday that you meet a writer that not only wrote books that were a solace to you as a kid but wrote books that made you want to be a writer. She’s an incredible author and her books have truly stood the test of time with me. Laura has multiple books on my reread shelf but Samuel and Leda will always have a special place in my heart.
So I first discovered Anne’s books in my middle school library. I read Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern first and was completely confused by the entire world. Then I found Dragonflight and everything made so much more sense (this was before the internet for you young whippersnappers out there). I devoured everything by Anne when I was a kid. Her Crystal Singer trilogy, the Tower and the Hive. Dinosaur Planet. I had no idea that Anne was a groundbreaker in her field – to me she was just an amazing author who wrote these fantastic stores. When she passed, I felt like I had lost a close friend. Dragonflight remains one of my all time favorite books that I reread quite frequently.
So what are your top five books? Any genre, let’s hear it!
About the author:
USA Today Bestselling author Jessica Scott is a career army officer, mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs, wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she’s a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.
She’s also written for the New York Times At War Blog, PBS Point of View Regarding War, and IAVA. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of OIF/New Dawn and has had the honor of serving as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas twice.
She’s pursuing a graduate degree in Sociology in her spare time and most recently, she’s been featured as one of Esquire Magazine’s Americans of the Year for 2012.
Check out Jessica’s latest release, All I Want for Christmas is You.
Those Anne McCaffrey books must be something else since Nalini Singh recommended the same books. They’re going up on my TBB list. Thanks for the list, Jessica! 🙂