The Dean's List-2020 Edition

2020…the year of Covid-19, will no doubt be a year we will all remember. One would think, with all of the additional time spent at home, I would have had a record year as far as the number of books read, however, I actually do a lot of “reading” through audio books during my commute, so, my reading time was actually cut short. That said, this year I ended up reading 32 books, far short of my annual 50-book goal. However, in all fairness, six of those books were by Brandon Sanderson and he writes some seriously long novels…over 5,500 pages just from those six books!

Several of the books in my Top 10 for 2020 were recommended by my good friend Steve Hoskins as part of a joint inquiry we have begun into the nature of work we call “The Good Work Project”. Also, I am so pleased to include on my list the debut (and unpublished) novel from my daughter, Emily Brooks, Son of Moss and Mountain. I hope you will all have access to this wonderful fantasy novel very soon! Finally, Emily has just self-published a collection of poems and essays called “The Redeemed Imagination” as a free eBook, which I have included here: https://littledidsheknowerdiehl.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3396f524d0a168526eeaba64b&id=0b3d4a08cb&e=46a0030991

2020 Top Ten List (In no particular order)

The Mistborn Trilogy-Brandon Sanderson

Comprised of three books, Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and Hero of Ages, this collection from Brandon Sanderson shows why he is one of the greatest writers of fantasy of our time. Sanderson does what so few writers are able to do; write engaging fantasy that is not derivative. His worlds, characters, systems of magic, and plotlines continually surprise me, which, after 50 years of reading fantasy is hard to do.

The Stormlight Archive-Brandon Sanderson

Let’s just get all of the Sanderson out of the way…bottom line, if you love fantasy, you have to read his work. This series is planned to span ten books with the fourth book having just released in November. I have read the first three (The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer) and am about halfway through the fourth book, The Rhythm of War. Reading Sanderson is a commitment. As I mentioned above, he writes long books. The books in this series average around 1,200 pages each! But, it is worth it…if you love fantasy, which I do.

Victory-Joseph Conrad

It’s Joseph Conrad, so, there are foreign lands, tension, sadness, and a brooding protagonist wrestling with his inner darkness. What’s not to like?

Whose Justice? Which Rationality?-Alasdair MacIntyre

A not-so-brief history of philosophical thought along with commentary from one of the world’s preeminent philosophers. This sweeping volume traces and analyzes philosophical thought from its roots in Ancient Greece through to the Modern Era.

A Failure of Nerve-Edwin Friedman

This book was brought to my attention by Dan Boone, president of Trevecca. It explores the role of leaders in a crisis with particular attention paid to what happens when leaders fail to lead. While it is a bit of a cumbersome read, there are some great insights. His concept of the well-differentiated leader is, by itself, worth the time it takes to read the book.

The History of Work-Richard Donkin

I read this as part of “The Good Work Project” I mentioned above. Donkin starts with the origins of work in prehistoric culture and moves into the present. Donkin highlights the shifting attitudes towards work created by the industrial age, mass production, consumerism, and the Protestant work ethic ending with a recommendation to expand the definition of “value” to include the value of time, pleasure, freedom, family, and friends when thinking about the role of work in our daily lives.

Insomnia-Stephen King

If you have read King’s “Dark Tower” series, this book is a must. That’s all I am going to say because anything else would be a spoiler. King has written so many books, not all of equal quality, that it can be hard to know is worth reading. If you like King, this one should be on your list. If you do not like King, this book will not convince you otherwise.

Son of Moss and Mountain-Emily Brooks

Okay, she is my daughter and I love her, so let’s just get that out up front. That said, for a debut fantasy novel, this book has many of the elements I love including wonderful characters, a unique world with some truly original elements, and a gripping story line that pulls in deeper spiritual and ethical issues. I can’t wait to see what she does next!

Dean's 2008 Top 10 Books List

This year, thanks to the Nashville Library's extensive collection of audio books and 5 hours a week of commuting to and from Mufreesboro, I have broken my single-year record by reading (or listening to) 72 books in 2008.

Below is my Top 10 list and some brief comments about each book followed by a list of all 72 books.

DEAN’S 2008 TOP 10 BOOKS

#1. Leo Tolstoy “Anna Karenina”- Okay, in some ways this is the Russian equivalent of a really long Jane Austen novel, but, because it is Russian, it has a lot more “meat” to it, and of course is a lot darker. Typically Russian novels frustrate me with their multiple storylines, but, in this book the parallel story lines have almost as much interest as the primary figure. The storyline I find most intriguing is that of Konstantin Levin and his conversion to the Christian faith. This book deserves the “hype”.

#2. Albert Camus “The Plague”- Probably the most striking thing about this narrative regarding a “modern” outbreak of Plague in the Algerian town of Oran is how people can adjust to almost any level of suffering. I am always amazed how the most horrifying things we can imagine can become a matter of routine over time. I think Camus is striving to show, though, that even though we can overcome our horror to such things, our resolve to resist them, to the point of death if necessary, is part of the human spirit.

#3. A. Solzhenitsyn “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch”- Using a unique approach, Solzhenitsyn describes, almost moment-by-moment, what a day was like in the Soviet gulag system, and by doing so, provides a broad look at the whole system. The descriptions of the various prisoners and their attitudes toward their imprisonment are an excellent study of human character and personalities. As with “The Plague”, the thing that struck me most was the human desire to survive and the manner in which a person will adapt to live through even the worst conditions while that desire remains strong.

#4. Joseph Heller “Catch-22”- Obviously I had heard of the book and the phrase, but somehow I escaped High School and College without reading it. I have never laughed so hard at a “classic” in my life, and yet, it packs a powerful message about the foolishness of bureaucracy, particularly in a war setting. Anyone who has worked in corporate America will find themselves smiling ruefully as they remember similarly frustrating situations.

#5. Aldus Huxley “Brave New World”- This is another “classroom classic” that somehow I never read, or, if I did, I was too young to get it. I do not know which is more striking in the book; the world Huxley describes or the reaction the “savage” John has to this world. To be honest, the whole thing reminds me of my first trip to New York City with me in the role of “savage”…

#6. William Faulkner “Light in August”- Probably the easiest of the Faulkner books to read (especially if you’ve tried “The Sound and the Fury”). What stood out to me was the indomitable spirit of Lena Grove, a young pregnant girl who pursues the young man who “promised” to come back for her and her complete unawareness of how the consequences of her driving passion are borne by others even more than by herself.

#7. R. L. Stevenson “Kidnapped”- Yet another classic I’ve heard about all my life but never read, Kidnapped has to be the most enjoyable book of the year for me. I have to say Alan Breck is one of my favorite characters in all of literature. If you haven’t read this story, please do so, just for the mere fun of it!

#8. Frank Kafka “The Metamorphosis”- Okay, this one gets the “weirdest” idea award. A young man wakes up to find out he has been transformed into a “beetle” of some sort. From this absurd premise, Kafka delves into the mind of a young man overburdened by family responsibilities and the resulting loss of his “voice” and “identity”. A warning here against those who find themselves pressured into living a life forced on them by the expectations of others…

I have been in a bit of a “nautical” phase when it comes to my “lighter” reading this year. And, just to make things complicated, I had to get myself absorbed into two different nautical series, the “Aubrey-Maturin” series that gave birth to the Russell Crowe movie “Master and Commander” and the “Horatio Hornblower” series. I have loved them both and have listed my favorite two books below.

#9. C.S. Forester “Ship of the Line”- Plenty of drama and the best cliff-hanger ending of any of the Hornblower books. All of the Hornblower books are good plain fun to read and Hornblower himself is an interesting study of the ability men often have to suppress and deny their better qualities in order to live up to some artificial standard they have created for themselves.

#10. Patrick O’Brien “The Mauritius Command”- I found this to be the most enjoyable of the series thus far. Plenty of “action” and Jack “grows up” a bit, in large part because of the announcement of the birth of his son. You really have to read the series up to this point to truly enjoy this particular book. Jack Aubrey is in many ways the “anti-Horatio Hornblower”. He embraces life, including a healthy acknowledgement of his own faults, to the absolute fullest and enjoys the simple things of food, friends and family in a way that Hornblower would never allow in himself.

Below is a complete list of the books I managed to read or listen to in 2008. I have placed an (*) next to those books that I read for the first time. I am one of those people who never tire of reading a good book and will read certain books, like The Lord of the Rings, every year.

Feel free to shoot me a note if you have a question about any of these books, particularly of their suitability for younger readers.

Charlotte Bronte "Jane Eyre"*
Emily Bronte "Wuthering Heights"*
Dan Brown "Angels and Demons"
Pearl Buck "Sons"*
Albert Camus "The Plague"*
Albert Camus "The Stranger"*
Carson "The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus"*
Joseph Conrad "The Secret Sharer"*
Joseph Conrad "Heart of Darkness"*
Ted Dekker "Black"
Ted Dekker "Red"
Ted Dekker "White"
Ted Dekker "Chosen"*
Ted Dekker "Infidel"*
F. Doesteyevsky "The Idiot"*
George Eliot "Silas Marner"*
William Faulkner "Light in August"*
William Faulkner "The Sound and the Fury"*
F. Scott Fitzgerald "The Great Gatsby"*
C. S. Forester "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower"*
C.S. Forester "Lieutenant Hornblower"*
C.S. Forester "Hornblower During the Crisis"*
C.S. Forester "Hornblower and the Atropos"*
C.S. Forester "Hornblower and the Hotspur"*
C.S. Forester "Beat to Quarters"*
C.S. Forester "Ship of the Line"*
John Grisham "The Broker"
John Grisham "The Rainmaker"
Robert Harris "Imperium"*
Joseph Heller "Catch-22"*Irene Hunt "Across Five Aprils"*
Ernest Hemingway "The Sun Also Rises"
Ernest Hemingway "To Have and Have Not"
Ernest Hemingway "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
Herman Hesse "Steppenwolf"*
Aldus Huxley "Brave New World"*
Brian Jacques "Redwall"*
Brian Jacques "Mossflower"*
James Joyce "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"*
Frank Kafka "Metamorphosis"*
C.S. Lewis "The Silver Chair"
C.S. Lewis "The Last Battle"*
C.S. Lewis "Out of the Silent Planet"*

C.S. Lewis "Perelandra"*
C.S. Lewis "That Hideous Strength"*
C.S. Lewis "Mere Christianity"*
Herman Melville "Billy Budd"*
Patrick O’Brian "Master and Commander"*
Patrick O’Brian "Post Captain"*
Patrick O’Brian "HMS Surprise"*
Patrick O’Brian "The Mauritius Command"*
George Orwell "Animal Farm"*
George Orwell "1984"*
Christopher Paolini "Brisinger"*
Plato "Apologia"*
Plato "Crito"*
J.K. Rowling "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone"
J.K. Rowling "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"
J.K. Rowling "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"
A. Solzhenitsyn "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich"*
R. L. Stevenson "Kidnapped"*
J.R.R. Tolkein "The Hobbit"
J.R.R. Tolkein "The Fellowship of the Ring"
J.R.R. Tolkein "The Two Towers"
J.R.R. Tolkein "The Return of the King"
Leo Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"*Virginia Woolf "To the Lighthouse"*
Leo Tolstoy "Resurrection"*
Ivan Turgenev "Fathers and Sons"*
Oscar Wilde "The Portrait of Dorian Grey"
William Young "The Shack"*