10 Books

1. Aztec,
   by Gary Jennings
   Fascinating historic fiction - a must for multiple readings.

2. Memoirs of a Geisha,
   by Arthur Golden
   A very intriguing captivating personal story.

3. Angela's Ashes
   by Frank McCourt
   An incredible look into another era, culture, and way of thought.

4. Les Miserables
   by Victor Hugo
   One of the great timeless epics.

5. A Thousand Shall Fall
   by Bodie Theone
   This is the second volume of a trilogy and is the only one of the three books that I've been able to read. It's so good though, that I've read it five times already.

6. Texas
   by James Michener
   The modern stories connecting the historic-fiction chapters would have been better omitted. But since this is a novel that demands more than one reading to really appreciate its many depths of thoughts, it's recommended on the first time read to simply skip over "The Task Force" chapters, and later pick up on them around a third or fourth rereading of the novel. Other recommended books by Michener: Hawaii, Tales of the South Pacific, Alaska.

7. East of Eden
   by John Steinbeck
   In fact I recommend all of Steinbeck's writings.

8. Tommyknockers
   by Steven King
   A delightful and fascinating read.

9. On the Beach
   by Nevor Shute
   A haunting reality check - recommended for politicians especially.

10. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    By Victor Hugo
    Forget the movies. None do the story justice.

    There's another book I would like to recommend but I can't remember the author's name nor the spelling of the title. Taking a stab at it, the title is "The Melengro Beanfield War". [The Milagro Beanfield War, by John Nichols - M] A really great read. I've read it twice and would have a third time but it was taken in a cell search a few months ago.

- Angelo