To All The Books I’ve Loved Before
by Devon A. Corneal
A child of the ‘80s, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Willie Nelson/Julio Iglesias duet “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.” I go back to it now and again for a hit of nostalgia. I do the same with some of my favorite books. I revisit the stories that make me laugh, cry, remind me of important events in my life, or teach me something that’s all too easily forgotten. Some of them are children’s books. Others are stories I found as an adult, carving out time to read during my morning commute or stealing it when the kids weren’t looking. I’ve fallen in love with books my entire life, and am happy to be sharing some of my most beloved with you.
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The Poisonwood Bible
I read The Poisonwood Bible one rainy afternoon on the porch of an old farmhouse in rural Virginia. I hardly noticed the inches of rain that fell that day because I was so transfixed by the story of Nathan Price and his daughters and their journey into the Belgian Congo in 1959. An epic yet completely intimate story, the three-decade struggle of the Price family and the Congolese people for autonomy and salvation is impossible to put down.
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Outlander
Available from:For sheer escapism, nothing beats the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Historically accurate, except for the time-traveling thing, Outlander is the perfect blend of fantasy, historical fiction, romance, sex, political intrigue, and family dynasties. Oh Jamie, if only you were real.
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Wicked
This book triggered my appreciation of a fairy tale gone awry and forever changed how I think about Dorothy, Oz, and flying monkeys. Gregory Maguire turned “The Wizard of Oz” on its head and helped my twenty-something self re-evaluate what it means to be “good” or “wicked” at a time when everything else seemed black and white.
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Texts From Jane Eyre
This is my newest love. Ever wonder what your favorite characters would say if they could text? Author Mallory Ortberg did, and the result is a hysterical, insightful, strange, witty, and exuberant collection of texts between our most revered, reviled, and respected literary figures.
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Where the Red Fern Grows
Available from:Thirty years later, this book still makes me cry. The story of a young boy’s relationship with his two coonhounds is more than a coming-of-age tale for its protagonist, Billy Coleman. It’s a book about determination, responsibility, loyalty, friendship, and loss. Read it, but don’t forget the tissues.
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The Lords of Discipline
Available from:This book started my (strictly literary) love affair with Pat Conroy. I re-read this book every year to revisit the powerful and disturbing world of four young men during their years at a military college. Conroy describes even the most brutal hazing poetically, and takes four friends on a life-altering journey through loyalty, fear, love, pride and, ultimately, betrayal.
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The Eyre Affair
Available from:It’s almost impossible to describe The Eyre Affair in any way that does it justice. There’s a detective named Thursday Next, dodos as pets, people who jump in and out of novels, alternate endings to classic fiction, and kidnapping. Somehow, and I’m not sure how, it all works brilliantly.
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On Love
Tracing a love affair from the moment Chloe and the book’s narrator meet through its (inevitable?) demise, On Love takes readers from initial infatuation to intense passion, to utter happiness, to boredom, and then despair, never letting us doubt the incredible power of love itself.
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The Time Traveler’s Wife
Henry De Tamble is a librarian, a husband, a father, and a time traveler who can neither control his ability nor keep his clothes on when he skips across decades. Clare is his wife, who first meets Henry when she is six and marries him when she is twenty-three. Their unconventional love story is one for the ages.
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
This classic story of the Pevensie children and their adventures through a wardrobe into Narnia has stayed with me since childhood. After years on the shelf, I think it’s time to dust it off and share the evil power of the White Witch, the temptation of Turkish Delight, and Aslan’s sacrifice with my son. I only hope he loves it as much as I did.
