50 books explained

Two posts ago I listed 50 books I believe everyone should read.  In the next series of posts I will explain why I have put down some of the books on that list.

21.  The jackrabbit factor by Leslie Householder

  I read this book at the suggestion of Heather Hansen.  About the same time I was reading this book I was reading 'the dream giver' and 'the greatest miracle in the world'.  I was struggling with personal things at the time, and this book helped a lot.  I was looking for a job, which today can be very discouraging.
  The books plot is fairly simple: a family is struggling financially, and the husband and wife have a fight.  The husband feels like a failure.  He can't keep his wife and kids fed.  He stalks away, and falls asleep angry, and has a dream.
  In the dream he is part of a crowd that keeps moving and picking up sacks.  In the sacks are things that bring pleasure; food, water, clothing.  The crowd keeps moving, never stopping.  They are always hurrying, always wanting more.  The man notices a few who break away from the crowd chasing rabbits.  He wonders why some are breaking away despite what the majority of the crowd thinks of them.
  He eventually breaks away and learns the secret of catching jackrabbits.  You have to first believe that the opportunity will come for you to catch a rabbit, and once it comes you have to stretch out and grab it.  Once he learns the secret he wakes up, and becomes financially successful.
  The rabbits represent opportunity.  The world is full of opportunities for us to expand, to break away from the crowd, so to speak.  The important thing that I learned from this book is that this world is a world of plenty.  Even though the economy may not be at peak level, everyone can be successful.  You need to first believe and understand this very important principle.  Once I realized this, I starting believing that I would find a job.  Within 4 days I have found not one, but TWO jobs!   There is hope out there, not matter your circumstances.

46.  The dream giver by Bruce Wilkinson

  This is another meaningful book to me.  I read this right after The Jackrabbit factor.  As I mentioned above I was looking for a job at the time I read these two books, and was discouraged.  The Jackrabbit factor was the beginning, and this expanded my vision.
  The dream giver is a story about a Nobody named Ordinary.  Ordinary was young, and he grew to have dreams.  These dreams led him to question the existing society among the Nobody's.  Among the Nobody's, few had dared to have something like a dream.  They lived, ate slept and died as Nobody's.  Nobody did anything extraordinary.   The few who tried left, to find Dream Land.  Many of those who left came back.  They came back because to venture into the unknown is a hard thing.
  So once Ordinary decides he wants to follow his dreams, he starts out on his adventure.  His mother, father and friends all follow him a little ways, begging him to turn around and come back.  He learns to tune out their arguments, and this helps.
  This first trial is much like his later ones.  He comes to a river, which he has to figure out how to cross.  He tries and tries and tries, each time failing.  When he is about to give up and go home, help comes.  It is another Nobody who had made the journey to the Dream Land.  He had decided to come back and help those who tried to follow their dreams.
  The book tells of many more trials that Ordinary faces, among them being lost in a desert, finding food, and other hard things.  Eventually he gains his dream, which makes him incredibly happy.  Once Ordinary gains his dreams, his desire is to go back and help other Nobody's follow their dreams.
  There are many, many lessons to be learned and parallels found between this story and life.  Ordinary can symbolize anyone, you, me your friend, or whoever.  We all have dreams, and we all want to follow them.  But there is a difference between those who attain their dreams, and those who spend all day dreaming.  Those who get anywhere in life act.  Action is key to success in life.  if we don't take that first scary step into the dark, we won't get anywhere.
  If we take action to follow our dreams we will encounter trials, or resistance.  When I was searching for a job I turned in countless resume's and applications to businesses all over Logan.  I had interviews, was told tI would get a call, many, many times.  None of them turned into anything.  But once I read this I took the message of persistence, and determination to heart.  Less than a week after I read The Jackrabbit factor and The dream giver I got two jobs.  Sometimes all our trials take is realizing our problem, then having hope that things will improve.

30.  The greatest miracle in the world by Og Mandino

  This is one of many books written by Og Mandino.  I found this book while wandering through the shelves at the Logan Library.  I didn't think my mom or grandma had read this book, but when I was them they both had.  After I read it I can see why:  it is a classic.
  The book is a story about a reasonably successful man, who while going to work in Chicago one day meets an old man, who is dressed in rags.  He is feeding pidgins while standing in the snow.  After a few encounters the men meet and form a remarkable relationship.  The old man, who refers to himself as a "rag picker" talks to the successful man about being successful.
  Well that happens to be something that the first man knows quite a bit about, or so he thinks.  But the rag picker starts discussing things like philosophy and religion.  That is something the first man doesn't know much about.  The rag picker has read quite widely, and discussed these subjects with a lot of people.  In fact, the term "rag picker" refers to someone who finds those who are down on their luck, those who want to end their lives because they believe themselves to be of no worth, and helping them understand their truth worth and potential.
  The rag picker in this story asks the first man about his personal, family life.  The successful man doesn't have a good relationship with his family, having devoted a large amount of time to his business.  Well, the rag picker discusses the need and benefits of having a strong family.
  At the end of this book the rag picker dies, and leaves a letter addressed to the first man.  The letter is entitled "You are the greatest miracle in the world".  I don't remember all it says, and can't quote any of it.  But it said in essence But reading it right before Christmas, after having gone through surgery, I thought that that message, that God thinks I am the greatest miracle in the world, meant a lot to me. The story, as well as many other stories written by Og Mandino are written in such a way as to not come across as self-righteous. They make sense, and have inspired me, as well as others.  This is definitely a must read.