As a follow up to the 10 albums that have impacted me the most in my life, here are the 10 books that have been most influential to me.

STUDY /DEVOTIONAL BOOKS

1. The Bible: This is a no-brainer. "Faith comes from hearing the Word of God," Paul wrote, and its true. I began reading it frequently in college, curious to see what was really in there. I'm still reading it, and still seeing new things and previously unnoticed subtleties. This book has made me a better husband, father, employee, and neighbor. More importantly, it shows me how to deal with it when I fall short in these areas. It is truly, "Living, active, sharper than a two edged sword."  Her.4:12

2.  "The Prodigal God" by Timothy Keller. Keller has been referred to as a CS Lewis for the 21st century. He is a theologian, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian, one of New York City's largest churches, and a best selling author.  This was the first of his books I ever read, though I have since read many others. Prodigal God (which Ive also heard him preach as a sermon) focuses not on the frivolous younger son in Jesus famous parable of the prodigal. Nstead, Keller insists the story is really about the older son; the one who stayed home, always obeyed, served his father, and, in a twist that must have angered Jesus' original audience of Pharisees, never enters the celebration his wayward but humbly repentant brother is ushered into. I began to see my students and church youth in general in a whole new light. 

3. "No Cross, No Crown" by William Penn. Yes, the founder of Pennsylvania William Penn. Simplicity, humility and surrender aren't optional in the Christian life. Period. Best quote from the book, "No pain, no palm; no thorn, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown."

FICTION

4. "Follow My Leader" by James Garfield. This children's book from the 1950s is the first book to have a major influence on my life, and it continues to even today. My fourth grade teacher shared it as a read a loud. I do not remember much of the story, and I haven't read it since, but I do know the basic plot was about a blind boy getting his first guide dog. At that point, I decided I wanted to work with kids who had disabilities. My dreams changed from time to time but I always came back to  this. My first summer job was at a camp for the blind, I majored in special education, and, although I have switched over from special ed teacher to regular classroom several years ago, this book more than anything else is what led my career on the trajectory it has been on my entire life.

5.  "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. I first read this as a middle school kid on the recommendation of my brother, just for fun. A lot was lost on me, but I loved the idea of being lost on a deserted island with a bunch of friends. Mayhem and murder aside, it created in me a fantasy of my buddies and I literally owning our own little world. I've read it probably 20 times since, for fun and as a teacher of teenage readers. I see new things in it every time: a clear lesson on humanity's innate sin nature; Simon, the Christ figure, the only one to see the problem was within, and getting killed for it; the failure of reason (Piggy), government (Ralph), and militarism (Jack) to get at the real source of the beast on the island.  My love for this book inevitably rubs off on my scholars. 

6. "Bless the Beasts and Children" by Glendon Swarthout. This is a book about a group of teenage outcasts who meet at summer camp.  In an attempt to strike a blow against an adult world that has let them down, they sneak out of camp one night to set a herd of bison loose into the wild.  Seriously, that's the plot. What's more amazing is that Swarthout makes it work.  A bit dated now (It was published in 1971) I was still able to enjoy it as a read a loud with my then 16 year old daughter just a couple of years ago.  If "Lord of the Flies" reminds us that even the most proper of humankind have a fallen sin nature, BTBAC shows us that even the most broken of us are redeemable.  This book intrigued me so much regarding camp culture, I decided to work at summer camps all through high school and college, and I have been a director of a summer camp for the past 15 summers.  The novel's leader of this band of campers, Johnny Cotton (Are his initials a coincidence?) has been a model of vision casting leadership that I still look to today as I teach and coach 13 and 14 year olds.  And even the rabbit we currently use in our show is named Cotton, not so much for his white, fluffy fur, but in tribute to this literary hero of my youth.

NON FICTION:

7. "The Cross and the Switchblade" by David Wilkerson.  For some reason, this Pentacostal testimony of a small town pastor who goes blindly into New York's ghettos with the Gospel was kicking around our Catholic household all the years I was growing up.  I read it several times before having my own spiritual turning point, and even then it always impressed upon me the need to get to the heart of a problem when dealing with social issues such as addiction and gang violence.  It more recent years, this nonfiction work has only rung more and more true.  David Wilkerson went from pastoring a church of 30 or so farmers in rural Pennsylvania to founding what has become the single most successful drug rehab program in the world.  We have had the blessing of visiting some Teen Challenge sites and talking to TC leaders many times over the years, always coming away blessed and impressed.  One very fond memory is a show Rose and I did at TC in Nashua, NH, which was for high school girls.  My daughter was maybe 12 years old, and after the show, which was outdoors, I was busy picking up props, and the girls welcomed Rose to come and sit in the lawn with them, where they played with our rabbit and talked about whatever teen and tween girls talk about.  It was such a beautifully normal scene: kids in the suburbs having a friend over to hang out on a Saturday afternoon.  And it all goes back to young  Pastor  Wilkerson obeying a call from God when almost everyone else thought he was biting off more than he could possibly chew.

SELF HELP / INSTRUCTIONAL

8.  "The Juggling Book" by Carlo. I have many, many books on juggling and magic on my shelves, but this was my first. I learned to juggle by teaching myself when I was 14.  That same year, my brother, Tom, found this book in a local book store.  I may have learned more tricks from some other books (including one of my honorable mentions) but none inspired me in my juggling pursuits more. It was the right book at the right time to give me the shot in the arm I needed to take my new craft to the next level.  

9.  "Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic" by Mark Wilson.  While my brother Tom bought me the above book, his son, Michael, introduced me to this next one.  For years after he first showed it to me, I coveted it, and often asked him to bring it back out when I was at their house visiting.  Then I found a copy in Marden's, a discount store common throughout Maine, and I was able to buy it for a fraction of its normal cost. I have used it for my show, and for students over the past three decades.  The instructions are so clear, I've even had students build their own props to use over the years.

10.  "Manipulative Miscellanea" by Reginald Bacon.  This small book opened my eyes to prop manipulation, a catch phrase for nontraditional  juggling that is not so much about tossing props in a pattern, as it is, well, manipulating them.  In teaches ideas with canes, cups, bottles, plates, hats, silverware and more.  I have an entire routine build from prop manipulation.  I act out the account of Mary and Martha from Luke 11, as I hurriedly set a table for Jesus, who is an unseen voice throughout the skit.  During the corona virus shut down,  this skit has been made into a video and seen on at least three continents.

HONORABLE MENTION:

"The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis

"Juggling with Finesse" by Kit Summers

"The Baseball Encyclopedia"

The "Unwind" dystology (5 book series) by by Neal Schusterman