More books!  Please note that these haven't been in any particular order - other than Cache Lake Country which is just too awesome and made such an impression on me that it had to be in the first spot...

 

The Book of Three

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite series of books when I was a kid.  You might notice that it's a bit worn... I've read this book (and the others in the Prydain series) just a few times.  The High King (which is the final book in the series actually won the Newbery) is actually my favorite in the entire series, but it wouldn't have been as good if I hadn't gotten to know the characters prior to reading it.  This is the start and it's wonderful.  This is a little scary at spots, but is really totally 4th grade + safe and an awesome adventure story for kids.  Mr. Alexander lived in Philadelphia, near where I grew up, and I wrote to him when I was a kid and he wrote back a very nice letter that was obviously actually written (rather than some photocopied thing) and that made it even better for me...

 

 The Swiss Family Robinson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This book is a bit weird for me - I used to read this book 2-3 times every year from 5th grade on.  I think the concept of this family making do with the few surviving items from their boat and what they find and can make use of on the island where they become shipwrecked is really interesting.  I've always liked self-reliance and adventures and, for some reason, the idea of getting shipwrecked on a tropical island (and getting rescued of course.)  The weird bit for me is that I never realized how over-the-top this book is on the religious front.  When I was a kid I don't think I really processed it and just focused on the story, but I have a harder time now getting past all of the praising to what's actually going on with the family.  Also, looking at it again as an adult, if you are looking for a book that accurately depicts what it would be like to be marooned on an island - this isn't the book for you.  The island where the Robinson family finds itself seems to have flora and fauna from every continent, all neatly living together in the same place.  It's interesting and I also love the illustrations in the addition that I have (that ragged thing above), but it's not quite what this was when I was a kid.

 

The Boy Scout Handbook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I actually bailed on the boy scouts when I was a kid, but I think that's because of cub scouts - completely boring exercise.  No camping, no hiking, no trips, no fishing, nothing.  Just making coffee can lanterns at John White's house.  I think his mother did her best, but I had joined-up with slightly higher expectations regarding how much time we were going to spend in the woods...  No fault to her, but I did end up bailing on the scouts.  I also didn't really like the whole 'ranking' thing.  Didn't see the need to jump through a bunch of hoops to impress adults that I didn't really feel the need to impress...  Anyway, my grandfather did have the old Boy Scout manual (might have been my father's?) and this was the sort of stuff that I wanted to be doing...    I read through this book on a regular basis.

 

 Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sure, Choose Your Own Adventure were fun, but I was a D&D guy as a kid and Endless Quest books were awesome!  My mother (who read a wide variety of books) used to refer to her romance novels as 'brain candy' - stuff you read when you wanted entertainment, but didn't necessarily want to think a whole lot.  This was my brain candy when I was a kid (this and Hardy Boys books.)  I really loved the Endless Quest books - especially the ones in the picture above.  Mountain of Mirrors was probably the first that I read in the series and remains my favorite.

Alex Crittenden