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My Top 5 Favorite Books and Why I Read Them

Mark Rivera
Blog, Blog Post, Blogs, books

I used to hate reading books. Why would I want to read a book if it will only convey to me the knowledge I already have? Also, you have the movies right? I was wrong and yes, that’s how I used to think. When I read I want to be mentally stretched. I want to search for clues, ask questions, find answers, and mostly I want to learn. Below is a list of My Top 5 Favorite Books and Why I Read Them, they have hundreds of lessons to teach me and I keep coming back to them years after I first read them.

1st) E.H. Gombrich The Story of Art - I love art history and learning about the different techniques used in paintings. I love to see the soft, delicate, and gentle texture applied to the paintings. My favorite part is the smoky soft-light brown texturized look applied as well as the detailed depictions of the subject.

1st) Also at number 1, is E.H. Gombrich The History of the World, (I know I couldn’t make up my mind) - Its fascinating to learn about the Ancient Egyptians, the Maya civilization, and who followed. Learning about Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Attila the Hun, and Genghis Khan who was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire is fun to learn about.

2nd) 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea - It fascinating to dive into the life of Salvador Alvarenga, a 36-year-old fisherman from El Salvador who survived fourteen months in a small boat drifting seven thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean, from learning how to hunt at sea to drinking turtle blood and fending off sharks.

3rd). Dragon's Gift: The Druid Series by Linsey Hall - Awesome book. Fast paced, full of action, lots of humor, exciting, fantasy book.  I love the characters like Ana, Bree, Cass, Del and Nix and the cool shape shifter mage Lanchlan Munroe.

4th). Mud, Sweat, and Tears: The Autobiography of Bear Grylls - This book is an all round great one. The adventure legend and star of NBC Running Wild, Bear Grylls shows us what is takes to overcome adversity when we are nearly broken. This book is the epitome of courage, bravery, dedication, and humility.

5th) QB: My Life Behind the Spiral - His life story was fascinating. Young suffered from an anxiety disorder and never really cared about money or fame. He was super competitive and loved football, he was constantly pushing himself to the limit in order to see how good he could become.

So technically, that’s 6 books

Photographing Nature as Abstract Art

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