Five books.

So what five books would you recommend for someone who has never read a book before? I thought this was a great question. I watched a young Millennial  give a short lecture. He said that statistics show that 30 to 35 % of Adults have never read a single book in a year. So he wondered how to get folks to read books. In his life, he has read thousands of books. Including almost all the “Classics.” 

Then he said this:

“Knowing what I know now, about books. And reading. What five books would I tell folks to read first? Because I know if they read even one of these books…then they would start their journey of reading a hundred more. And some are “Classics.” But Classics put a lot of people off, after thirty pages or so…they quit reading. I think that is because they didn’t have emotional connections to the story in the book. So here are my five books to start folks down the path to becoming a “Reader.”

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Hobbit, the Book Thief, the Alchemist, and, finally, The Graveyard Book. “

Those were his five books to get folks pulled into the Reading Sphere.  

I have read all five books, and I understand why he chose them. Not sure they would be the five I would pick…but I grew up reading for thirty five years before he was even born. So perhaps my list would b be different. I would have to give it some serious thought. I mean I read early. I could read before I started school in the First Grade. Granted, I was not reading : War and Peace, or : “The Fall of the Roman Empire.” Those would have to wait until 8th Grade or so. So what books did I read first. Children’s books, of course. Lots and lots of “Dick and Jane”, “The little Engine that Could.” And , of course: “Curious George and the man in the Yellow Hat.”

We had Encyclopedia’s galore in my house: Britannica, World Book, and Colliers - along with the cheaper ones like : “Funk and Wagnnals” Compton, and the brightly colored illustrations of the Kid’s Encyclopedia : The Golden Book.  We had so many encyclopeidasa that I can’t even remember  all their titles.  We had more than the ones I listed.  I loved reading through them. 

But that wasn't all the reading material in my home. Magazines, and Comic Books, and Highlight at School…those were also readily available. But he said books.  So I have to stick with those. Around Fourth Grade, I got into the “Hardy Boys”, “Tom Swift” and even “Nancy Drew.” So surely they would count as books that turned me into a rabid reader. Or was it Science Fiction? Asimov, Clark, Heinlein, Bradbury, Simak…et all. I read them all. Loved them. 

But then I thought about the two books that really got me into reading  deeper stuff. One Non Fiction, one Fiction book. “PT 109 “ about John Kennedy in WW II. Loved it. Sat in my back yard on West 30th, sipping my Mom’s home made Sweet Ice Tea while laying on a lawn chair.  I was in Sixth Grade. And that book got me hooked on both Biographies and Historical Fiction. Then there was the biggest book I had ever read …and I read it that same summer. The Sand Pebbles. Later that was made into a movie, I guess they both were.  

And then, finally, towards the end of 6th grade, one of the Nuns pulled me aside and said:

“Kevin, I think you have a good enough mind to read this book. You are a little young for it, but I think you can handle it.”

That book was: “ Catcher in the Rye.”  The first “Banned Book” I had ever read. In that book, the main character and his best friend and his girl …sneak into a closed pool and broke the HS Swim Record for the 50 meter freestyle. In Tenth Grade, me, my best friend Eddie, snuck into Fairview HS’s Swimming pool at night. Our HS did not have a pool or swim team.Eddie used a stop watch as, just like in the book, I broke the HS record for 50 meters. Maybe because my best friend was holding the stopwatch ( or maybe), I just was that fast. LOL 

So even tho the book had “taboo” topics, like masturbation and teenage angst, I chose the swimming part to focus on. LOL 

So what Five books would I recommend to a Non Reader to start them reading? Two books  leap to mind. Funnily enough, one is a Western. Good old Louis L’Amour and “Flint.”  I am fairly certain if you read that one book, you would read all of the more than 100 books he wrote.  

The other is: “To Serve them all my Days.” Although the Author is much more famous for his book: “God is an Englishman.” And that Author would be : R. F. Delderfield.  I have read that book over a dozen times. And It tells the story of a man from his childhood, until his last years. How he survived the First World War…became a Teacher at a small second rate Boarding School, and finally rose to Headmaster. It covers generations, two World Wars, and the Great Depression…and is believable from page one! 

So now I have to ponder the other three books. What would you choose as your five : “starter books.”