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Doorways to Great Reading

If there's a one-world government, it's television. King of the Technological Age, he sits enthroned in homes around the world, a little box of images and sound emitting edicts to his unified followers from his electrical shrine. That description may be a bit overwrought, but the fact remains: more people these days would prefer to watch TV than read a good book.

Many parents are desperate to expose their kids to quality literature, whether it's a classic like Anne of Green Gables, a more recent novel like Mimus, or simply something other than the TV Guide. In response, a number of literature-based curricula have been developed, and in turn have become increasingly popular among both homeschool families and school educators.

As great and noble as this effort has been, there are a couple problems we see with the literature-curriculum approach: 1) literature is treated as curriculum, and 2) children aren't exposed to the depth and variety available because reading is limited to the curriculum suggestions. Consequently, a lot of children grow to dislike reading, associating it as they do with schoolwork and not having a good time.

We've accumulated many of the titles used by the major literature-based curriculum lines, and those products are among our best sellers. We're also not entirely opposed to the literature approach, but we also want to offer a much broader selection of literature, titles that don't find their way into the program guides but are nevertheless worth reading.

Numerous book lists, catalogues, and publishers (including many dedicated to reprinting the more obscure classic titles) have guided us in the construction of our fiction and literature sections. (Employees have also been an important factor in this process, and you can read about their favorites here.) Doorways to Great Reading collects the best of these lists in one place.

Discovering classic literature is more than just checking off titles from a master list, however. Though books like Honey for a Child's Heart, The Well-Educated Mind, and The Book Tree are great places to start and offer excellent guidelines, they are still jumping-off places. Developing the skills to find good books on your own (and imparting those skills to your children) is the end these books are supposed to help you achieve.

When Lucy Pevensie opened the wardrobe and found Narnia, her first experience with a snowbound landscape gave her little indication of the adventure and wonder she'd find there. Great books are the same way: the more you read, the more you realize how many are really out there, and the better you get at finding them.

If your adventure in the realms of literature hasn't started, or is still in its beginning stages, use the booklists you'll find here as maps of sorts, there to help you navigate but not to make the journey on your behalf. The travel is up to you, and whether you decide to explore Ben-Hur or The Wind in the Willows, it's travel that will take you far from your front door and back many times over.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Adam Bede
Everyman's Library
by George Eliot
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$24.00
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
by Romola Anderson, R. C. Anderson
1st edition from Henry Holt and Company
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Call of Duty
Leaders in Action Series
by Steve Wilkins
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$16.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Carry a Big Stick
Leaders in Action Series
by George Grant
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
Children & Books
by Sutherland Zena
6th edition from Scott, Foresman & Co.
for Adult
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$4.20 (2 in stock)
Children of Dune
Dune Chronicles Book 3
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$50.00
City of God
by St. Augustine, translated by Marcus Dods
from Modern Library
for 10th-Adult
in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED)
$26.00
Collected Poems of T. S. Eliot
by T. S. Eliot
1st edition from Harcourt
for 10th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$25.00
Complete Tales of Uncle Remus
by Joel Chandler Harris, retold by Julius Lester, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
from Dial Press
Animal Fantasy for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$50.00
Confronting Christianity
by Rebecca McLaughlin
from Crossway Books
for 11th-Adult
in Beginning Christian Apologetics (Location: XAP-BEG)
$19.99
Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand, translated by Brian Hooker
1963 Reprint from Heinemann Educational Books
Drama for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Dandelion Wine
by Ray Bradbury
Reprint from Avon Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.00
Death by Living
by N. D. Wilson
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Art & Culture (Location: XCU-ART)
$18.99
Distant Mirror
by Barbara W. Tuchman
from Ballantine Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$20.00
Dune
Dune Chronicles Book 1
by Frank Herbert, introduction by Brian Herbert
Second Ace hardcover, 2019 from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$40.00
Dune Messiah
Dune Chronicles Book 2
by Frank Herbert
from ACE Publishing
Science Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$50.00
Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children's Book
by Anita Silvey, editor
from Roaring Brook Press
for Adult
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$6.30 (1 in stock)
Everything Sad Is Untrue
by Daniel Nayeri
from Levine Querido
for 11th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$18.99
Favorite Poems Old and New
by Helen Ferris
from Delacorte Press
Poetry for All ages
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$26.99
Finding Truth
by Nancy Pearcey
from David C. Cook
in Worldview Resources (Location: XWV-RES)
$22.99
Frankenstein
Everyman's Library
by Mary Shelley
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Horror for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$22.00
From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya
by Ruth Tucker
2nd edition from Zondervan
History of missions for 11th-Adult
in History of Missions (Location: XCH-MIS)
$32.99 $14.00 (2 in stock)
Give Me Liberty
Leaders in Action Series
by David Vaughan
from Cumberland House
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Leaders in Action (Location: BIO-LIA)
$17.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners
by John Bunyan
from Hendrickson Publishers
Autobiography for 10th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Hosanna in Excelsis
by David & Barbara Leeman
from Moody Press
for 3rd-Adult
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$15.99
Hound of the Baskervilles
Oxford Children's Classics
by Arthur Conan Doyle
from Oxford University
for 7th-Adult
in Mystery & Suspense (Location: FIC-MYS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Institutes of Biblical Law Volume I
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
for 11th-Adult
in Biblical Law (Location: XTH-LAW)
$40.00 $25.00 (2 in stock)
Institutes of Biblical Law Volume II
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
in Biblical Law (Location: XTH-LAW)
$35.00
Institutes of Biblical Law Volume III
by R. J. Rushdoony
from Chalcedon / Ross House Books
in Biblical Law (Location: XTH-LAW)
$25.00 $16.00 (1 in stock)
Laura Ingalls Wilder: Pioneer Girl
by Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Pamela Smith Hill
from South Dakota State Historical Society Press
for 7th-Adult
in Little House Materials (Location: LIR-LHM)
$39.99
Les Miserables
by Victor Hugo, translated by Charles Wilbour
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$42.00
Literary Landmarks for Young People
by Mary E. Burt
from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$19.60 (1 in stock)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, translated by Richard Howard
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
$18.00
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Lost in a Good Book
Thursday Next Book 2
by Jasper Fforde
First American Edition from Viking Press
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Mission Accomplished
by Scott James
from New Growth Press
for All ages
in Easter & Lent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Moby-Dick
Everyman's Library
by Herman Melville
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$35.00
Mutiny on the Bounty
by Charles Nordhoff & James Normal Hall
Book Club Edition from Little, Brown & Company
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Mythology
by Edith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
Mythology for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$29.99
Omnivore's Dilemma
by Michael Pollan
from Dial Press
for Adult
in Culture of Food (Location: COOK-CUL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
One Thousand Gifts
by Ann Voskamp
from Zondervan
in Suffering & Hope (Location: XCL-SUF)
$18.99 $8.00 (2 in stock)
Ordinary Hazards
by Nikki Grimes
from Wordsong
for 10th-Adult
2020 Robert F. Siebert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.99
Out of the Silent Planet
Space Trilogy Book 1
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$24.00
Penrod
by Booth Tarkington, illustrated by Gordon Grant
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Perelandra
Space Trilogy Book 2
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$25.00
Pickwick Papers
Penguin Classics
by Charles Dickens
from Everyman's Library
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$26.00
Poor Richard's Almanack
by Benjamin Franklin
from Peter Pauper Press
for 7th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$10.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Practical View of Christianity
by William Wilberforce
from Hendrickson Publishers
Religion/Philosophy for 11th-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
$12.95 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Prison Poems
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
from Zondervan
for 9th-Adult
in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN)
$11.99
Radical Disciple
by John Scott
from InterVarsity Press
for Adult
in Discipleship & Community (Location: XCL-DIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Respectable Sins
by Jerry Bridges
from NavPress
for 9th-Adult
in Repentance & Avoiding Sin (Location: XCL-REP)
$19.99
Restaurant At the End of the Universe
Hitchhiker's Trilogy #2
by Douglas Adams
Book Club Edition from Harmony
Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Richard II
The Arden Shakespeare (Heath's English Classics)
by William Shakespeare, edited by C.H. Herford
from D. C. Heath and Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sex and Money
by Paul David Tripp
from Crossway Books
for Adult
in Repentance & Avoiding Sin (Location: XCL-REP)
$22.99
She Stoops to Conquer
Merrill's English Texts
by Oliver Goldsmith, edited with an introduction and notes by Mabel A. Bessey
from Charles E. Merrill Company
Comedic Drama for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Hitchhiker's Trilogy #4
by Douglas Adams
from Crown Publishers
Humorous Science Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Steeped in Stories
by Mitali Perkins
from Broadleaf Books
for Adult
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$22.49
Surprised by Joy
by C. S. Lewis
from Harcourt
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
That Hideous Strength
Space Trilogy Book 3
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Fantasy for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$30.00
This Way to Books
by Caroline Feller Bauer
for Adult
in Recommended Book Lists (Location: LIR-REC)
$8.40 (1 in stock)
Three Famous Short Novels by William Faulkner
by William Faulkner
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.00
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
35 Anv from HarperTrophy
Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
1961 Pulitzer Prize winner
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$26.99
Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
from Harper Perennial
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Twice-Told Tales
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
1st THUS from Reader's Digest
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Unbroken (Adapted for Young Adults)
by Laura Hillenbrand
from Random House
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Everyman's Library
by Harriet Beecher Stowe
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$28.00
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
Reissue from Atheneum
for 10th-Adult
1972 Carnegie Medal
in Scribner Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SCRIB)
$29.99
Well-Educated Mind
by Susan Wise Bauer
2nd edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$35.00
Well-Educated Mind (old)
by Susan Wise Bauer
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for Adult
in Clearance: Home School Resources (Location: ZCLE-HSR)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
What the Night Sings
by Vesper Stamper
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.99
Worldliness
by C. J. Mahaney
from Crossway Books
for 10th-Adult
in Repentance & Avoiding Sin (Location: XCL-REP)
$12.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
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