The best way to unwind without turning your brain to mush is to curl up with a good book. Here are five wonderful works of literature that will sharpen your mind and calm your spirit.
1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice has long been a favorite of mine. Jane Austen weaves a clever, engaging tale of a young woman living in a time far too constricting for her independent spirit. The story follows Elizabeth Bennet, her four sisters, her neurotic mother, and long-suffering (but clueless) father.
This tale is truly high literature, and will keep your mind occupied and entertained without the toxic dose of drama so often present in your average television show.
And like my high school professors always said, “Real men read Jane Austen”.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." -Jane Austen
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien
Ok yes, I’m cheating and sneaking three books into one entry. But it’s worth it!
You all know the story by now. Eccentric old Bilbo Baggins of Bag End throws a wild party, and then vanishes, leaving his nephew Frodo a comfortable house with plenty of nice silver, and a golden ring that proves to be a lot more trouble than one might expect.
Gandalf the Grey shows up on Frodo’s doorstep and tells him the ring is the ‘One Ring to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them…’ Suffice to say that Frodo Baggins and his faithful friend Samwise Gamgee are in for an interesting adventure.
"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost..." -J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Andrew “Ender” Wiggins is a genius. He knows it, his sociopathic brother knows it, and the International Fleet knows it. In this futuristic tale, the “Buggers”, an insectoid alien race from outer space, have attacked Earth twice. Ender and other highly intelligent children are being sent to space to be trained as the next generation of brilliant military leaders, to stave off the inevitable third Bugger invasion.
If you enjoy military strategy, witty genius banter, and perfectly beautiful reasoning from a mind as powerful as Ender’s, then this is your book.
"Human beings are free except when humanity needs them." -Orson Scott Card
4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris, near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the Master of its thousands of locks. Marie-Laure is blind; her father builds a perfect scale replica of their neighborhood so she can learn her way around. Later, when the Nazis occupy Paris, they flee to Saint-Malo, carrying with them the museum’s most valuable and sought after jewel.
Meanwhile, in a German mining town, young orphan Werner grows up with his sister, enchanted by a crude and broken radio they find in a rubbish heap. Werner’s mechanical brilliance earns him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth.
Werner is painfully aware of the human cost of his intelligence, and when he finds himself in Saint-Marlo, his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.
"They'll say you're too little, Werner, that you're from nowhere, that you shouldn't dream big..." -Anthony Doer
5. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Name of the Wind is a little-known and hugely underrated epic tale of one man’s search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.
This is the kind of book that forces you to engage every part of your brain. The hero is intelligent, impulsive, and incorrigible. If you hope to keep up with him, you’re going to need every ounce of your considerable intellect.
And it is worth every moment. This is the kind of book that, instead of putting you to sleep if you read it on your lunch break, will awaken parts of your mind you didn’t know you had, and instill in you a sense of purpose and clarity.
"It's like everyone tells a story about themselves in their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story." -Pat Rothfuss
