My Top Five (plus) Favourite Books

These are my favourite books (at this point in my life), expounded upon.

Since these books are quite well known, I know it might seem unnecessary to write a summary about them, but I have never done something like this before, so I thought it would be fun to try.

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes.

This is my current favourite book. I have read it four times and heard it once from my older sister.

Summary: Johnny Tremain, a fourteen-year-old boy, is apprenticed by an old silver smith. He lives in his master's house with the silver smith's daughter-in-law, and her "poor fatherless girls." Due to a tragedy in the work, Johnny is forced to leave the house and find work elsewhere in Boston. He makes many new and valuable friends and at the end of the book is involved in the Boston Tea Party and American Revolution.

Who this is book best for: Someone how loves history, war and a little bit of childish romance:). It is great for ages twelve to eighteen, or a read-aloud for the whole family. But as a word of caution, it does tell some descriptions from the war.

Category: Historical fiction

Movies: I know that there is a movie based off of Johnny Tremain, but I don't want to watch it no matter how good it is! The book stands on its own.

Favourite character: Rab Silsbee

Favourite line: Johnny: “I can see why that Tweedie has never been a master smith. He hasn’t the force of character. As a man he’s no good - if he is a man, which I doubt. I think he is somebody’s spinster aunt dressed up in men’s clothes.”

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I have read this book four times (more than any of the other Little House books) and heard it almost as many.

Summary: Laura Ingalls is a fourteen-year-old school girl living in a small town named De Smet on the Dakota prairie in the 1880s. She enjoys a year of farm life, working in town, school friendships and the literaries every Friday night! Throughout the school year, she struggles with the fact that she will one day have to become a school teacher, and studies hard for the School Exhibition, with surprising results at the end!

Category: Historical fiction - because not everything in it is factual.

Movies: I have seen two episodes from the Little House on the Prairie TV show. I don't agree with such things, but if you like to watch them, that's great; just don't undervalue the books! As with Johnny Tremain, the book(s) should stand on their own!

Songs: There are CDs (and evidently playlists or albums) of a lot of Charles Ingalls' fiddle tunes and folk songs from that time.

My favourite CD is called Pa's Fiddle: Charles Ingalls

American Fiddler. There are two other CDs that I know of. One is called Arkansas Traveler, the other, Happy Land. My favourite song is Yellow Heifer.

Favourite character: Pa (Charles Ingalls)

Favourite line: Pa sang, "'Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light?'"

"Charles!" Ma protested, but she was laughing, because it really was too dark to see.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

I have heard this book from my older brother once, watched the movies two and a half times, and read it twice.

Summary: A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is quite content to stay in his comfortable hobbit-hole and watch his small world around him without a care for adventure. However, things changed for him quite dramatically one day. A wizard by the name of Gandalf and twelve dwarves come and seek his help as a burglar as they make their way across middle-earth to conquer stolen treasure.

Category: Fantasy.

Movie: There are three movies made from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of Five Armies. I enjoy watching the second half of them, and think they did a really good job! Of course there are parts that they took out or added in, but overall, they are quite accurate. I would not recommend them for all ages though. There are some fairly horrific war scenes.

Songs: Of course there are many songs from The Hobbit movies. One of my favourites is The Last Goodbye, sung by Billy Boyd.

Favourite character: Ugh! I don't know! I watched the movies before I read the book, so I think of the movie first. In the movie, my favourite character is Bard; I also like Thorin Oakenshield.

Favourite line: A dwarf talking about Bilbo: "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar!"

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

I read the book once (in eight days!), watched the musical (the play) once, the movie (musical) twice, and listened to the songs countless times.

Summary: In France in 1830, a man named Jean Valjean is imprisoned nineteen years after stealing a loaf of bread and trying to escape a number of times. When he gets out of jail on parole, a bishop shows him kindness which changes his life. For the rest of his life, he is hunted down by the police, but does good deeds to many people, including becoming mayor of a town, adopting a dying woman's child, forgiving his enemies, and saving a man's life.

Category: Historical fiction

Movies: There is a musical, but also another movie made about Les Misérables. If you love the story, go ahead and watch the movie, but my family skipped a part at the beginning regarding Fantine. It is not for all ages and should be previewed.

Songs: From the musical, there are a few hours worth of songs to listen to. My favourites are Valjean's Soliloquy, Who Am I?, The Confrontation, Paris/Look Down, One Day More, Bring Him Home, Empty Chairs At Empty Tables, and Epilogue.

Who is this best for and what are it's faults? This story is not for the faint of heart! There are many deaths, a war, perils in the lives of the characters, and other not-so-pleasant parts to it. I think the book is a great family read-aloud. In both the musical and the book there is bad language. Also, since this book was originally written in French, you have to find a good translation of it. I do not recommend reading a modern one; read one that has English most fitting for the time period.

Favourite character: Jean Valjean

Favourite line: A man in a nunnery talking to the reverend mother. Reverend mother: "No other man than you can, and should, enter that room. Mark that well! A fine thing it would be for a man to go where the happy in death are resting!"

"Sure!"

"Eh?"

"Sure!"

"What do you say?"

"I say: 'Sure!'"

"What is 'Sure'?"

"I do not comprehend you. Why do you say sure?"

"To say the same as you, reverend mother."

"But I did not say sure! rather, I express a possible doubt."

"You did not say it - but I did, to agree with you."

I have other favourite lines, but you'll have to read the book for yourself...

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I read this book once, listened to it three times, watched the 1995 movie twice, and the 2005 movie once.

Summary: In England, a family with five single daughters live in a rich country community. As with all Jane Austen books, live changes very quickly for all the young ladies as soon as young men start to come around more. There are balls, long walks, letter writing, and great conflict with many relationships. At the end, there are many marriages: some expected, some surprising, and others uncalled for.

Category: Fiction

Movies: There are four or more renditions of Pride and Prejudice. I have watched the 1995 version twice and it is one of my favourite movies. I watched the 2005 version once and thought it was too modern. If you love the book, watch the 1995 one! It is amazing!

Songs: As I write this, I am listening to a playlist of all the best songs from the 1995 version. My favourite is the opening titles.

Audio books: My family loves listening to an audio recording of this book, read by Karen Savage on LibriVox.

Who is this best for? I think anyone over the age of twelve would certainly enjoy this book, if you were really interested.

Favourite character: Mr. Darcy

Favourite line: Mr. Bennet speaking to Elizabeth: “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.”

Little Women by Lucia May Alcott

I have read the book at least two times, listened to it once, and watch one movie of it.

Summary: Four teenage girls are living in the U.S. in the 1800s. It follows the joys and sorrows of all of them, but focuses mainly on the second oldest, Josephine "Jo" March. The book (extending into a second book called Part Two, or Good Wives) takes several years to complete, and one sees the girls grow up, get married, etc.

Category: Historical fiction

Movies: There are many adaptations of Little Women, but I have only seen one. It was made in 2019, and I thought it was amazing! If you are one who doesn't want to have a movie wreck your imagination, you might not like it because it is not very accurate. I would recommend it - however, it is quite confusing and fast-paced for anyone who has not first read the book.

Favourite character: Meg March.

Favourite line: Jo: "I'd rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe."

Preparing to be a Helpmeet by Debi Pearl

I have read this book three times (the first time I read it twice in a row!)

This book is entirely different from the other books, in that it is not a novel - it is a Christian book. I highly recommend it to young ladies between the ages of fifteen and marriage. Michael and Debi Pearl are a couple living in the States who have five children which they homeschooled. They are authors of many Christian, homeschooling, marriage and child-training books. This book is very thorough: it tells you a lot of what you need to prepare for before marriage.

Category: Non-fiction, Christian

Favourite chapter: The Italian Prince

Favourite lines: A lovely person is easy to love/Who you are as a single girl will be who you are as a married woman.

What are some of your favourite books?