This is a new feature for THIRD. This go round, we'll offer two. We plan to offer one -- at least one -- a month. We'll each take a turn. C.I. agreed to go first and immediately changed our title ("10 You Have To Read" -- "too bossy," C.I. termed it). My list is ranked based on my favorites with the number one book representing my favorite book. Books one and six were books my grandfather gave me in 8th grade. Books two and eight were books my parents made me -- yes, made me -- read one summer. The rest I came across on my own. I love these ten books!
1) John Steinbeck - IN DUBIOUS BATTLE
2) Maxine Hong Kingston - THE FIFTH BOOK OF PEACE
3) Edith Wharton - THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
4) Joshua Key and Lawrence Hill's THE DESERTER'S TALE: THE STORY OF AN ORDINARY SOLDIER WHO WALKED AWAY FROM THE WAR IN IRAQ
5) Alice Walker - THE COLOR PURPLE
6) Jules Tygiel - BASEBALL'S GREAT EXPERIMENT: JACKIE ROBINSON AND HIS LEGACY
7) Alexandre Dumas - THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO
8) Carlos Fuentes - TERRA NOSTRA
9) Octavia E. Butler - FLEDGING
10) David Zzyzx Steinberg - THIS HAS ALL BEEN WONDERFUL: A TRAVEL MONOLOGUE FROM SUMMER 1994: THE YEAR PHISH BECAME PHISH