My Top 10 Books You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Books & Authors

September 13, 2019

A deep breath in book form I posted a picture of Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword on social media this week and mentioned that it’s one of my comfort reads. My friend Josie commented, “I would love a list of your Top 10 books that I might to have heard of already.”

I thought that was a genius idea, and not too hard to pull out of my hat, so here’s a list for you all. Bonus, I couldn’t limit myself to 10, so there’s Honorable Mentions, too. Read on through (photos are links to reputable sites for purchasing) and drop me a note in the comments with your favorites that I’ve probably never heard of.

Fiction

The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley

I mean, it’s a Newbery Honor Book, so someone knew about it, but I’m always surprised how few of my friends know this fantasy novel. Perfect for girls ages 9-14, and delightful far beyond those ages. One thing I love is that McKinley’s fantasy world in this one is reminiscent of the Frontier Provinces of the British Raj in the late 19th century.

The Far Pavilions, M.M. Kaye

Speaking of the Frontier Provinces of the British Raj in the late 19th century…this one dives in whole heartedly. Kaye grew up in India and her love of the country seeps through her novel. She also manages to interweave exposition on complex political machinations, daring adventure, love stories, and murder plots. For late teens or adults (there’s a non-graphic, but grown-up love scene/storyline).

The Man in the Brown Suit, Agatha Christie

My favorite Christie detective is neither Poirot or Miss Marple. It’s not even Tommy and Tuppence who I love more than the famous-er ones combined. It’s Anne Beddingfield, who witnesses a mysterious death and relies on the knowledge she has about head shapes from her father’s studies in phrenology to track a mystery man through a mystery of missing diamonds all the way to South Africa.

Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl’s magical. She is a unique character and you only discover how unique as the story goes on. Maybe you know her (I mean, the book cover says it was a NYT Bestseller). But if you don’t—in case you don’t—I have to introduce you. Leo Borlock’s life is changed when Stargirl enters Mica high school. Great for teens and adults. Bonus: the new Disney streaming service is coming up with a movie version.

The Bird in the Tree, Elizabeth Goudge

There are many not famous Elizabeth Goudge books. There are some that are better known, and my friend who runs Elizabeth Goudge Book Club over on Instagram has plenty of recommendations. This one is never the first one I hear people talk about. And yet, if I’m telling you books that you don’t know about I have to give you The Bird in the Tree. It’s stuck with me in ways I don’t know how to explain. For grown-ups definitely, for thematic reasons.

Non-Fiction

(I like my non-fiction pretty narrative, so there’s lots of memoirs here. See the honorable mentions for a few more straight up non-fiction books.)

The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, Thad Carhart

Thad Carhart’s memoir is one that I will never get out of my head. He fell in love with playing piano as an adult in Paris. This book is a love story to relearning lost things, to pianos, to craft, and to friendship. This is one of very few books in my life that I picked up because of the cover. I wanted to know what was behind that curtained window. I was more than rewarded for my curiosity.

Love and War in the Apennines, Eric Newby

Eric Newby regularly chose adventure over complacency—and wound up as a travel writer because of it. He also had a terribly dry British sense of humor that KILLS me. But this is the story of an adventure he didn’t choose: his World War II service and capture in Italy. On the day the Italians surrendered, the guards came into the villa where the British Officer POWs were held and told them they were leaving and the gates would be open, but the Nazis would arrive soon. One problem, though: Newby had sprained his ankle a few days earlier and couldn’t keep up with the escape.

The Places in Between, Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart walked across northern Afghanistan in January 2002, beginning two weeks after the Taliban fell. His journey is captivating, and his encounters in village after village are eye opening. The Afghanistan we encountered after 9/11 was very similar to the one I read about in The Far Pavilions or in another Eric Newby book, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush from the 1950s. It is a place utterly foreign and endlessly fascinating.

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl, N. D. Wilson

The subtitle of this book is “Wide-eyed Wonder at God’s Spoken World,” and it opens my eyes to see the world around me differently, remembering that God spoke it into being—and he continues to speak its existence. With deep, funny, charming and dang-well-written observations and insights on, y’know, everything, Wilson takes us on a carnival ride through world in the changing of a year with our eyes wide open.

Struck, Russ Ramsey

Russ Ramsey has awesome books. Many of them are retellings of Scripture’s stories and beautifully point back to the Word. This one points to the Maker, the Healer, and the Wounded One who walks with us. Russ got a blood infection that damaged his heart and required emergency open heart surgery. Struck was written in the midst of the pain, the depression, the sorrow. It is the first steps (hard as they are) in the path toward healing, wholeness, and health.

Honorable Mentions:

These Honorable Mentions are here for a couple of reasons. Some are OTHER books by authors above that didn’t make that list, not because they were lesser, but because they were probably a LITTLE more likely to be known.

Some are books by familiar names. You probably know something they wrote, but you might not know THIS one.

Some are just dang good books that I had to cut because I was limited to 10 and so I decided everyone gets a trophy.

You’ll notice more kids and YA books in the fiction part of this list than above. Above, I was trying to be judicious, but the reality is that most of my favorite books were written with a younger audience in mind.

All of them, though, are books that have stayed with me. Many are books that I’ve read more than once.