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Books That Never Get Old

No matter how many books I finish, I’ll never be well-read. I’ve gone through plenty of books, even some classics, but am lucky to remember major plot points.

Maybe that’s why it’s so easy for me to pick up a book I’ve read before – I’ve forgotten most of it. Still, my favorites are worth reading again and again, even if I remember every word.

These are the books I could read a million times – year, after year, after year. These are the books that, once I’m done reading them, tempt me to flip back to the first page and start over. These are the books that I hesitate to recommend to people, because if they don’t appreciate the literary brilliance I’m likely to end the friendship.

Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry

My mother told me Lonesome Dove was the only western I ever had to read, and it’s my absolute favorite.

Lonesome Dove follows has-been Texas rangers, Captains Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, as they take one final adventure to Montana. Since they’ve wiped out most of the West’s Native Americans and fulfilled their duties as rangers, they decide to become cowboys and head north with a herd to the country’s last wilderness.

Prepare for a story of adventure, love, betrayal, heroism, daddy issues and everything else you can imagine. The characters are relatable and human, and by the end of their trip you’ll feel like one of the crew.

If you don’t have the patience for this hefty book, the Lonesome Dove TV miniseries is just as good. A cast of Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Duvall, Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Anjelica Huston should be enough to convince you to rent it.

The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton

This book is dripping with adolescent angst, and I lapped it up in my not-so-troubled preteen years. It is prime young-adult literature.

The Outsiders is the classic story of two rival groups of teenagers, the Greasers versus the Socs. Throw in a few deaths, a burning church and teenage romance, and you’ve got a literary stew going.

The characters in The Outsiders also have the coolest names ever. Nobody seemed to think twice about naming children Ponyboy or Sodapop. I used to desperately hope that somebody would give me a righteous nickname like Two-Bit, but I’ve since changed my mind.

References to Gone With The Wind and Robert Frost’s Nothing Gold Can Stay solidify this book in my list of favorites. Read it and pass it along to an angsty adolescent.

Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

Most Gone With the Wind fans are hopeless romantics, but not me. I’m a stone-cold realist, and still find reasons to love this book.

Gone With the Wind is set in the South during the Civil War. Scarlett O’Hara’s a bombshell, and spitfire to boot. When things turn bad and the men go to war, she’s left to fend for herself and she’s good at it.

Say what you will about Scarlett’s morals, but girl knows how to get things done. Sure, she’s a little materialistic and perfectly willing to steal her sister’s man for his money, but she’s also the only reason her family makes it through the Civil War. I’ll take survival over being a lady any day.

If you can’t deal with the cliffhanger ending of Gone With the Wind, pick up the sequel, Scarlett, written in 1991 by Alexandra Ripley. Scarlett says “fiddle-dee-dee” to the South and heads to her father’s homeland of Ireland. The book got bad reviews, but I still liked it.

A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold

Aldo Leopold is, or should be, a state hero. He’s an ecologist that had a plot of land near Baraboo, Wisc., and wrote A Sand County Almanac about spending a year on that land, plus some conservation essays.

Leopold split the first half of A Sand County Almanac into months, and I make a point to read the book monthly. The January chapter should be read in January, the February chapter should be read in February. You get the idea.

I think my favorite thing about Leopold is that he’s not Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau takes way too long to make his point, and my eyes cross before I can get through a page of Walden. Leopold is smart, funny and brief. That’s my kind of author.

Anything by Barbara Kingsolver

This author can do no wrong. Prodigal Summer is my favorite of Kingsolver’s books, but every one is killer. They’ve all got strong female characters and heavy references to the balance between humanity and ecology. Young readers should start off with The Bean Trees.