The Yellow Library's Top 10 Books Ever

In my last 2 decades of reading and collecting, some books just stayed with me throughout the years long after I have read them. They are the ones that are not just wildly entertaining but also strike a chord within all of us and resonate with the truth.   They demonstrate the strength of the human spirit and inspire us to live life to the fullest.  Here is the list of the most beautiful and unforgettable books I have ever read.   I hope someday you will get to read them too!   (Click on any title for more information.)


1.  Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
One of the most gripping sagas I have ever read, Pillars of the Earth is a breathtaking concoction of princes, princesses, castles, love, war, and revenge. Set in medieval England, it is so meticulously researched that Follett was able to blend fact with fiction and weave it into a compelling story that is impossible to put down.

2.  Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Get lost in the haunting world of pre-war Japan where geishas flourished, whose beauty regimen were practiced religiously to beguile the most powerful of men, whose charm and cunning were made into an art, and for whom true love was never an option.  An amazing story of survival and the search for true love.

3.  Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Based on the true story of The Lost Woman of San Nicolas, this book is an amazing story of survival, hope and the strength of the human spirit.

 

4.  The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
One of the most inspiring books I have ever read, Life of Pi won the Man Booker Prize in 2002.

5.  The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
More than eighty years since Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth in 1932 the book is still as compelling and poignant today as it was then.

6.  90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper
A gripping true story about a man who met a terrible accident, was pronounced dead, went to heaven, and came back to life after 90 minutes. In those minutes he had a glimpse of heaven in all its glory which he says no words on earth can aptly describe. 

7.  The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
A book that is so strikingly simple, elegant, beautiful, and yet so powerful it resonates with the truth. Its purity is what makes it profound and it never fails to strike a chord within each one of us, young and old alike.

8.  Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
A love story shrouded in mystery. It is a gripping read with an atmosphere bordering on gothic.

 

9.  The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Considered to be one of the first mystery novels ever written, The Woman in White was the first book to feature many of the elements we find in many thrillers today such as the "white lady", domestic murder for money, sprawling manors in the English countryside, etc. Collins narrates the story as several characters in an epistolary style that is very genuine and creative!

10.  Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The legendary persona of the ultimate detective, Sherlock Holmes has no need for any further explanation.

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