Dylan's Top Tens

A list of lists

In high school, my favorite history teacher would have us read the articles he wrote for us, highlight and annotate them, and then make a ‘top ten’ list of the favorite things we learned. He said if you could pull out a top ten list from memory, without needing to reference the material, then you were doing pretty good. If you couldn’t, you’d need to re-read it until you could. That being said, I decided to put together a list of lists: My top ten favorite books, movies, thinkers, etc. This list will be ever-changing and growing.

Top Ten Books

1. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

   Written by a psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust in Auschwitz, this is a story of survivorship and insight into man’s ultimate desire in life: to find purpose and meaning

2. A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards

   Written initially for Christians facing hardships at the hands of the elders at their churches, this is the best study of brokenness and how people need to respond to authority, especially when a spear has been thrown at them.

3. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

   A classic adventure tale of calling the fat and happy person out into the real world.

4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

   Not everything is as it seems, and Rowling proves that in every installment of her series that took the world by storm. Sacrifice above all. This book has powerful lessons for anyone of any age.

5. David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

   It is easy to catch the premise of the book by its subtitle: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. When facing a giant in your life, find a way to make their disadvantage your biggest advantage. But the insight continues to unfold in this mesmerizing read.

6. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

   A personal journal later published as a book, the reader can see the most powerful man in the world figuring out two things: 1) What is reality and 2) how to deal with it.

7. Powers and Thrones by Dan Jones

   This is for history buffs, but can you imagine roughly 1,000 years of history written in 700 pages? Powers and Thrones provides an examination of all the big turns in power throughout Europe from the fall of Rome in 476 AD to the Reformation in 1517, but Jones writes it in a novel-turning style.

8. A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell

   Introducing a new way to explore the world of political philosophy from an applicable, yet meta perspective, Sowell analyzes the history of political and social theory by framing two visions through which thought leaders in our past and present have viewed and analyzed the world.

9. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

   Winner of the Newberry Honor Medal, this novel explores in-depth the trauma of young Brian Robeson, who recently survived a plane crash in the remote northern Canadian wilderness, as he utilizes his resources to survive the wilderness and the messy divorce of his parents back home.

10. The Right Side of History by Ben Shapiro

    One of the bigger sins of our world is disregarding our traditional values as founded in historical ignorance. Shapiro lays out a coherent argument as to why we should seek progress without forsaking the progress we have already made.

Top Ten Movies

1. LOTR

   Normally I would separate them into three movies: 1) Return of the King, 2) Fellowship of the Ring, and 3) The Two Towers. But, I’ll keep them together.

2. The Lion King (1994)

   Don’t give me that new, live-action version. The original is where it’s at. Great lessons for young boys.

3. The Princess Bride

   It is hard to say that a movie adaptation could be better than the book, but it’s true in at least two cases: The Lord of the Rings and The Princess Bride. This movie captures on the comedic while showing the reader the magical-realism aspects of true love.

4. The Dark Knight

   Keith Ledger, RIP, gave us the absolute best rendition of the Joker in this good vs. evil battle. This is by far the best comic book movie ever in the way it explores the depths of the human psyche in understanding good and evil.

5. Dead Poet Society

   This one shocked me. When I first watched it, I was with my parents and we just watched the first thing on Netflix that looked interesting. Since then, I have come to realize the full depth of the movie: life is more about rules. But good memories and living out the artist’s life must come with responsibility.

6. The Breakfast Club

7. Good Will Hunting

8. Forest Gump

9. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

10. Amazing Grace

Top Ten Thinkers*

*Includes authors, political activists, philosophers, etc.

1. Viktor Frankl

2. C.S. Lewis

3. Thomas Sowell

4. Jordan B. Peterson

5. J.R.R. Tolkien

6. Dan Jones

7. Malcolm Gladwell

8. JK Rowling

9. William Wilberforce

10. Andrew Klavan