Remember RIF? Do they still have that in schools? That was without a doubt my favorite day of school. The librarian would call our class to the library, where hundreds of books were scattered out on tables. You could choose 2 books. FREE! I was always the last to finish. I had the hardest time making a decision. I wanted them all! I remember once a boy in my class said, "I don't want one. Take four." Oh, happy day!

This weekend while sitting outside Starbucks discussing books with some friends, Rachel spoke up. "I can't contribute to this conversation. I have only read Christian books. I have no idea what you guys are talking about." She asked me to make a list for her of my top 5 fiction, non-Christian books.

Not an easy thing to do, but I came up with 5 novels and 5 short stories. These are among my top 20 modern works of literature, but I chose these specifically for Rachel. Here's my list:

NOVELS:

*Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck: This book changed the way I think about people. Oddly enough, I've never seen the movie. Jason tells me it's very good, but it cannot be better than the one that plays in my head every time I read this story.

*Love Medicine, Erdrich: Jason introduced me to this writer. Her ability to involve you in her stories is amazing. You never want to leave the world she creates in her books.

*Gulliver's Travels, Swift: I loved this story as a child, as a teenager and as an adult. It has so many layers. It's a great story and a poignant satire.

*My Sister's Keeper, Picoult: Jodi Picoult is a modern storyteller. She creates wonderfully complicated characters. This book asked medical ethics questions that I believe scholars will debate until the end of time.

*To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee: What can I say?

SHORT STORIES:

*The Tell-Tale Heart, Poe: A descent into madness.

*Herrison Bergerion, Vonnegut: This is an amazing prediction of human behavior. I worry that it has already come to be in our education system.

*Murder On The Orient Express, Christie: The template for the murder mystery. I don't care how many times you've seen the movie, if you haven't read the story, you missed out.

*Spoon River Anthology, Masters: Okay, I know, this is more of a prose collection than a short story. But when you read it all together, it creates a vivid, well-plotted story.

*Think Like A Dinosaur, Kelly: My only SciFi offering.

Have you read any of these? Let's talk about it.