Another Book-Related Meme

Just a day after my lamenting how notoriously bad I am at completing and passing along blog memes, Fr. Longenecker tags me with a meme regarding "must read" books and authors:

Three non-fiction books everyone (at least every Catholic) should read
1. Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI - I'm currently reading it, and highly recommend this study of the life of Christ authored by Christ's Vicar.
2. Witness to Hope by George Weigel - The definitive biography of Pope John Paul the Great.
3. Letters to a Young Catholic by George Weigel - Experiencing Catholicism as a "sense of being".
(Honorable mention: The Confessions of St. Augustine)

Three books of fiction everyone should read
1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - In my opinion, the greatest work of fiction in the 20th Century.
2. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - You don't have to be a child to appreciate the beauty of this magnificent and poetic work. Then again, maybe you do (at least at heart).
3. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Heartbreaking, yet hopeful.
(Honorable mention: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain)

Three authors everyone should read
1. J.R.R.Tolkien
2. Charles Dickens
3. G.K. Chesterton

Three books no one should read
I've only read one book in my life that I would recommend that NO ONE should EVER read under ANY circumstances, and that's The Amityville Horror. I read that book years ago as a student (it was inexplicably among the books offered for sale through my Jr. High School and I stupidly purchased it), and Satan used that book to haunt my dreams for months.


I tag the Darwins, Jean, and Tertium Quid.