[Here are this month’s great recommendations from staff member Christopher Jennings Penders. Click on a title to place a hold. You can find previous Chris Picks through the “What to read” link at the bottom of this page or type “Chris Picks” into the search bar on our homepage.]

---

Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog
While on a hiking trip, Ted Kerasote met a lab-mix dog and the two of them bonded. Merle, the name Ted bestowed on the dog, followed Ted through his journey. Deciding to claim the dog for himself, Ted brought Merle home and gave the dog permission to live inside and/or outside. Lessons learned from giving Merle free rein can be applied to all dogs, which is one reason this book resonated with me.

Charlotte’s Web
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this book before, but that’s only because it’s one of my all-time favorites. I’ve re-read it almost as many times as I’ve watched the movie “Jaws,” from which I can quote practically before the actors speak.

Watership Down
I’ve heard varying things from people about this book. Some love it. Some don’t. There doesn’t seem to be a happy medium. One thing I want my readers to know is that I won’t list a book here that I haven’t read and liked. A “new” classic published in 1972, Watership Down tells the story of two brother rabbits as they set out in search of a new home after theirs has been destroyed.

Fire Bringer
Part quest, part hero story. Like Watership Down, Fire Bringer tells the story of anthropomorphized animals, this time deer. Fire Bringer brings to life a possible hero in Rannoch, who may be the one deer who can unite his herd against a malevolent force, another buck determined to wrestle control away from the peaceful existence the deer have become comfortable with.

A Dog’s Purpose
Combining two of my favorite topics and making it work can be challenging, but W. Bruce Cameron pulls it off. A Dog’s Purpose is Bailey’s story. Bailey is reborn many times as he searches for why he is here. The movie is entertaining as well. And yes, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a HUGE sap. If you read A Dog’s Purpose or even watch the movie, I dare you to come away without a tear.

[Here are this month’s great recommendations from staff member Christopher Jennings Penders. Click on a title to place a hold. You can find previous Chris Picks through the “What to read” link at the bottom of this page or type “Chris Picks” into the search bar on our homepage.]

---

Since I gave up photography a few years ago, I returned to writing, my first creative outlet. I thought I’d share some of my favorite books on the craft. The first two, Still Writing and Dancing on the Head of a Pen are currently my favorites. I have read them multiple times.

Of course, a Ray Bradbury book MUST grace this list. Every book on this list is a must read, if you want to understand the craft of writing and what it takes to be a writer.

Still Writing
Dani Shapiro

Dancing on the Head of a Pen
Robert Benson

Writing Down the Bones
Natalie Goldberg

If You Want to Write
Brenda Ueland

Bird by Bird
Anne Lamott

Becoming a Writer
Dorothy Brande

Zen in the Art of Writing
Ray Bradbury

The Writing Life
Annie Dillard

I vividly remember getting The Writing Life for Christmas when it was published in 1989, so you can clearly see how long writing has been an integral part of my own life.

All of these books have been important to me in one fashion or another and I recommend each one for different reasons. 

[Here are this month’s great recommendations from staff member Christopher Jennings Penders. Click on a title to place a hold. You can find previous Chris Picks through the “What to read” link at the bottom of this page or type “Chris Picks” into the search bar on our homepage.]

---

To celebrate Independence Day in the United States, I’m highlighting three of my favorite history writers still writing today. You can’t go wrong reading a book from one of these authors:

David McCullough
Nathaniel Philbrick
Del Quinton Wilber

My favorites from McCullough are:

Path Between the Seas
This book is about the construction of The Panama Canal.

The Great Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is another feat of mankind. One of the things I like so much about McCullough’s style is the research he puts into each book he writes. He writes for the layperson without sacrificing knowledge. You can pick up any of his books and not be disappointed.

My favorite from Philbrick is:

In the Heart of the Sea
This book put Philbrick on the map and still resonates deeply with me after several years. The incident discussed in the book laid the groundwork for Melville’s quintessential novel Moby Dick.  I highly recommend scoping out Philbrick’s other books, including Mayflower and The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. While as well-written and researched as In the Heart of the Sea, the latter two books don’t pack as big a punch for me as did In the Heart…  I think it’s because In the Heart… is the first book I read by Philbrick and it made such a huge impression on me because I’m a big Moby Dick fan. Not to take anything away from Philbrick’s other books, because he is a fabulous writer and you certainly can’t go wrong in choosing to read any of his books.

My favorite from Del Quentin Wilber:

Rawhide Down
Del Quentin Wilber wrote an amazing book about the near assassination of President Reagan. I read Rawhide Down several years ago and recently picked it up again and the book still resonates with me. I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, and that’s one of the reasons these histories still connect with me: I lived through the same time.

[Here are this month’s great recommendations from staff member Christopher Jennings Penders. Click on a title to place a hold. You can find previous Chris Picks through the “What to read” link at the bottom of this page or type “Chris Picks” into the search bar on our homepage.]

---

One piece of my worldview is that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. I believe we all return. Here are a few books that helped me realize this for myself.

I don’t expect everyone to agree, but if you keep an open mind while reading these books, you may come away with a few more questions about what you believe.

Destiny of Souls is the follow-up to Journey of Souls, in which author Michael Newton, a certified hypnotherapist, puts clients under deep regression to reveal their previous lives. This compelling book will have you rethinking what happens after we pass.

Old Souls
Journalist Tom Shroder followed University of Virginia professor Ian Stevenson to India to research children who remember past lives. I found it fascinating that many of the children (ages 5-8) when shown pictures or brought to their “old” families, could pick out who they were close to in their last life. This is also the first place where I read that birthmarks are sometimes wounds that reveal how people died in their previous lifetime. Whether you believe it or not, these stories of children recalling their last life in great detail may have you reconsidering life and death.

Soul Survivor
“Plane on fire!” “Little man can’t get out!” These are the words of James Leininger, who, a bit after his second birthday, started having nightmares, and not just bad dreams but night terrors, in which the young boy would wake night after night screaming that phrase and others. This behavior continued for months with no resolution. When little James provides details about aircraft that he should not know, his parents become concerned, and then curious.

On Life After Death
Having had a near-death experience myself long before reading this book, and always having a sense that something beyond existed, this book gave me comfort in knowing that others felt the same way and were unashamed to discuss such events.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has been a master at explaining life and death for years and On Life After Death should live in the pantheon of “Life and Death” books (along with her groundbreaking On Death and Dying).

Raymond Moody scored big with his Life After Life book when it first appeared in 1975. I have since read many more of his books, and each one has deep meaning for me.

Reincarnation Blues: A Novel
All Milo wants is to stay with his lover, Suzie, who is also the one he refers to as “death.” The one who helps him cross over during each of his nine thousand-plus deaths. According to author Michael Poore, we each get ten thousand lives to prove we are worth moving into the great beyond.

Does Milo prove his worth? You’ll have to read the book to discover the answer.