When I think back on my childhood, I remember reading a lot. Books were always around the house, but I especially remember really working hard at the library summer reading program. I have great memories of Frog and Toad and choose-your-own-adventure books. But like many teenage boys, I didn’t keep up the habit as much when I entered high school. I was surprised to realize so many of the books that shaped me came from that same period.
I had great reading role models growing up. My dad was a huge reader. We always had books at home for all ages and genres and interests, from illustrated classics to the hardback classics that came in those boxes from some mail order subscription. I also had two friends that were great about sharing books with me. I think this led to me being pretty open to a strong recommendation. As a result, my current reading life includes a lot of variety.
Nowadays I gravitate towards outdoorsy books, gritty mysteries, and nerdy nonfiction. Looking back, I see the origins of those preferences in the books I’m sharing with you today. However, if someone I trust recommends it to me, I’ll also read literary fiction, sci-fi, and the occasional romance or fantasy.
Most of the books I’m sharing today are genre-specific, getting at the roots of my love of a particular type of book. There are also some turning-point books that changed my view of what reading could be and how I thought about my reading life. For that, I’m thankful for these books that shaped me.
The Books That Shaped Will
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
The Firm
Raise the Titanic! (Dirk Pitt Adventure #4)
Rogue Warrior
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Jurassic Park
What books have shaped you? Have you read any of these? Please tell us in the comments section!
P.S. Check out our team’s The books that shaped me series.
About the author
Will Bogel is our What Should I Read Next Executive Producer. His go-to genres are outdoorsy books and gritty mysteries.
22 comments
This is awesome! Is Will on Goodreads? I’d love to keep hearing his recommendations. My husband is a fairly new reader, and always asking me to help him find books.
Unfortunately I’m not on Goodreads. About the only place I talk books publicly is our Team Best Books event and the occasional podcast appearance. You could point him to the podcast, especially if you have a bit of an idea of what he likes and cherry picked some episodes for him.
I read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in high school too and I loved it! Years later I was able to see a professional performance of Hamlet at a matinée and then Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at night. The same actors played the same roles in each production, but with wildly playful and hilarious differences. It was excellent!
Melissa, that sounds so much fun!
I LOVE your reading list! Sometimes I think I’m not a “real girl”! LOL Five children and 18 grandchildren would disabuse anyone of that idea rather quickly! However, growing up with childhood heroes Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes did not prepare me for most female reading circles. A career as a U.S. Navy Officer probably didn’t either, and you can see why I’d have a soft spot for military thrillers and SEALS in particular. I think I may have everything Clancy and Custler wrote, including their non-fiction.
I’m not always living the wild life vicariously, however. One of my favorite books has always been Lindbergh’s Gift From the Sea.
Thank you so much Will. I’ve already recommended “Rogue Warrior” to my husband, and noticed the other “honorable mentions” alongside that book. Good for Christmas ideas. Just a great post!!
I recommend trying the CJ Box novels ~ outdoorsy and great character development set in mystery and crime solving.
Susan, I’m sorry to say I’ve read 5 or 6 CJ Box books and I’m not sure I like the character development of Joe Pickett. I enjoyed his writing a lot and the stories, but the further I got into the series the more I questioned whether I liked Joe.
I’ve read Jurassic Park and The Firm. A Time to Kill will always be my favourite of Grisham’s. As a teenager, I recall my grandfather being worried about my reading choices when he saw me reading The Twelve Caesars by Robert Graves. Did it have an huge impact on me? Probably not other than I think it was the first non-fiction I had read. The one book that did and continues to have an impact is Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. It gave me the underpinnings to become an empathetic nurse and conflict resister.
Great list. I would recommend the 2 Kevin Fedarko books, The Emerald Mile & my favorite book of 2024. A Walk in the Park.
Also a couple of submarine books, The Terrible Hours by Peter Maas and Blind Man’s Bluff by Sherry Sontag & Christopher Drew with Annette Lawrence Drew.
Happy adventures.
Will, I would love to hear about your nerdy nonfiction reads! Maybe a follow-up post?
Will- thank for your list! I wonder if you (or anyone) can give me a recommendation: my boyfriend is going to Switzerland. He loves hiking, being outdoors, adventure, and the same kind of books as you. I’d love to give him a book that enhances his trip!
Eiger Dreams for sure! Although I will admit it’s one of the few Jon Krakauer books I haven’t gotten to yet. Not about the Eiger specifically but more mountaineering in general. In a totally different vein The Accident by Chris Pavone takes his familiar European spy stories to Zurich.
Thanks, Will! I’ll check those out!
Love that you read Anna Pigeon! I read the first few in the series years ago and revisited the first one last year. I’m looking forward to continuing! Have you read Dead Money by Jakob Kerr? It had the same feel as The Firm for me, set in the tech world of the Bay Area.
I’ve got to thank Holly on our team for introducing me to Anna Pigeon. I’ve not read or even heard of Dead Money, so thanks for that recommendation, Kelli.
I love this list. I read a lot of these books ages ago, but they were some of the first real non school related reading I’d ever done so I remember them fondly.
If you were a fan of Hunt for Red October and got into submarine books, I recommend TWO books with the title Typhoon—one is by Mark Joseph (and he also wrote To Kill the Potemkin) and the other is by Robin White. Both are good! I am also a fan of the Horatio Hornblower books, as well as the Master and Commander series by Patrick O’Brian. If you are at all into literary sea adventures, this is for you!
Thanks for letting Will share his formative books. I’m with him on The Firm and Jurassic Park and definitely need to challenge myself with a reread of Hamlet. Speaking of The Firm, it was Grisham’s second novel but the one that brought him fame (and eventually fortune). His first was A Time to Kill, which was rereleased after The Firm became so popular. It too became a blockbuster and remains my favorite Grisham book.
Love reading your list, Will! I am glad you found Anna Pigeon… As a former Park Ranger, I loved how she captures some of the fine nuances of ranger life, along with unputdownable plot lines !
I remember staying up all night and reading The Firm in the 1990s. I loved the book and the movie. I think there is a Netflix movie that is a sequel? I need to look that up.
Books of any type that were historical or gave you a view into the past, & set in a location other than the US, (but not always). It could be Little Women to James Michener, Thomas Hardy, Anne Frank, Erik Larson or Mary Stewart’s Crystal Cave series. I’ve loved discovering narrative non-fiction, they can be page-turners. I suggest “Challenger,” “The Art Thief” & “Killers of the Flower Moon” as great examples of this genre.
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