ᏓᎪᎵᏰᏍᎬ ᎾᏊ
The school used to tell me reading was good, but then they’d take away my book when I didn’t put it down for lessons. The joke was on them, though; what fool only has one book in their bag?
The Lord of the Rings
By JRR Tolkien
I have little to say about this masterpiece of literature that hasn’t already been said by countless others. I could ramble about the intricacies of the worldbuilding for days (I have before and will again), I could expound upon the wondrous plotline and increasingly fascinating characters for hours, and I could wax philosophical about the necessity of the message of hope, love, and enduring bonds of friendship found throughout all six books for years. In a way, I suppose I’m doing all that right now. I read these books every year, and I have for over a decade. For me, no other book weaves worldbuilding, love, and wordcrafting together, and no other man at any other time could have written it.
The History of the Ancient World
By Susan Wise Bauer
A brief overview of the world, beginning around 7000BC and ending, as the title says, with the fall of Rome and the end of Antiquity. Though this is the first work of her’s that I’ve read, Bauer may well become my favorite historian; the way she delivers the narrative and the interdisciplinary research she’s done for this book is astounding. She’s managed to make these stories relatable, entertaining, and, occasionally, comedic. Even for folks that don’t care for millennia-old histories, this will be easy to follow and entertaining to read.
Liar's Retreat 