Classic Books Every Man Should Read

A few days ago the First Reader found a list of '18 Classic Books Every Man Should Read in 2018' and being an avid reader for over fifty years now, he clicked on it and read through their list. A little bit later, he made a snort of derision. "Most of these are crap," he told me. "And some are boy's books. At least Huckleberry Finn." Then he sent me the link and suggested I create a list for the blog. "Do you want to make suggestions?" I asked, then pointed at the shelves of L'Amour. "Your favorite of those?"

He took a minute to think about it. "Sackett Brand if I have to pick just one."

So I posted the question on Facebook, and Mewe, and Gab. A couple of days later, I had far more suggestions than I could possibly use for a reasonably-sized list, so I decided I'd break it up into two lists. One is a list of thoughtful books every man, and woman, should read. The other will be a book list for boys who we want to grow into men.

This is a list targeted more toward the masculine virtues, but I've personally read many of the books, and highly recommend them for any well-rounded mind, sex notwithstanding. We did discuss creating a list of books for the feminine virtues as well, and I plan to come back to that at another time. I'm also dropping the time constraint. These are timeless books. There's no deadline, no one is expecting a book report from the reader here, and there's no grade penalty if you skip some. This is a recommended list, not a required one!

And on that note, many of the contributors suggested that pleasure reading is every bit as important as the hefty mindful improvement books. Too many of today's schoolchildren are indoctrinated to think of reading as an onerous chore and once they are no longer required to read, they quit reading. I'd challenge you, if you think you hate reading, (although I suspect few of my readers fall into that category) to pick up a fiction book and read for the joy of it. Because men are sexy when they read. Women are sexy when they read. And reading the same books makes for fantastic conversations...

Collected Works of Kipling Collected Works by Robert Service Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlen Federalist Papers by Publius Bluejacket's Manual Redliners by David Drake Moby Dick by Herman Melville The Old Man and the Boy by Robert Rourke The Essay on Duty, and the Essay on Friendship by Cicero What's Wrong With the World by GK Chesterton Caliphate by Tom Kratman Plato's Republic Descarte's Discourse on Method The Way West by AB Guthrie Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Tell the Truth by Jeff Cooper On Hunting by Ortega y Gasset Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen by H Beam Piper The Art of Blacksmithing by Alex W Bealer the Cook and Housekeeper's Complete Universal Dictionary by Mary Eaton Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig The Sea Wolf by Jack London Shane by Jack Schaefer Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad The Brothers Karamazov by Feodor Dostoevsky A Town like Alice by Nevil Shute The Fountainhead by  Ayn Rand Harvest of Stars by Poul Anderson Meditations by Marcus Aurelius The Rise and Decline of the Third Reich by William Shirer War as I Knew It by George S Patton Jr An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith Autobiography of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass All's Quiet on the Western Front by Erich M Remarque For Whom the Bells Toll by Hemingway May Your First Love be Your Last by Gregory Clark Nero Wolfe (any title)  by Rex Stout Conan by Robert Howard The Big Sleep by  Raymond Chandler The Abolition of Man by CS Lewis Declare by Tim Powers One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexander Solzhenhitsyn The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck The Joy of Cooking  by Irma Rombauer Chilton's Easy Car Care The Art of Manliness by Brett McKay The Unorthodox Engineers by Colin Kapp She  by H Rider Haggard Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know by Hirsch The Art of War by Sun Tzu Lone Star Planet by H Beam Piper Dune by Herbert The Notebooks of Lazarus Long by Robert Heinlein On War by Clausewitz The Nightwatch  by David Atlee Phillips Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts The Martian  by Andy Weir Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll True Grit by Charles Portis Complete Do It Yourself Manual from Handyman Magazine Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Finite and Infinite Games by Karse this Kind of War by TR Fehrenbach Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour by George Washington