For those of you not familiar with the Omnibus, it is a classically-based history, literature and theology curriculum published by Veritas Press. Throughout each year, the student reads classics, and discusses them in light of history, modern culture, and the Bible. It is truly one of the most rewarding studies for a student of any age (as long as they're at least 12 or 13 ;D). You can find out more about the Omnibus here.
Now, let the list begin!
Omnibus I
Semester 1: The Histories by Herodotus;
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis;
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
Semester 2: The Best Things in Life by Peter Kreeft;
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis;
Omnibus II
Semester 1: Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney;
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien;
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers
Semester 2: The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer;
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri;
The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth
Omnibus III
Semester 1: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens;
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan;
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Semester 2: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Omnibus IV
Semester 1: The Iliad by Homer
Poetics by Aristotle
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Semester 2: The War with Hannibal by Livy
Eclogues by Virgil
Metamorphoses by Ovid
Omnibus V
The City of God by St. Augustine of Hippo
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
And, while I think I could make projections...I still have three semesters left before I tell you anything final. ;) That in mind, here are my current top-ten Omnibus books (these are ones that you may love or hate, but you have no choice: they must be read). Please note that some books mentioned above may be more beneficial, but classics, generally speaking, are all beneficial, and the ones I list below are simply my favorites, where a favorite is measured by rereading (and not by force XD), thus they are listed in descending order of how many times I've read them. ;)
Top Ten Omnibus Books
1. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
4. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
5. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
6. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
7. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
8. The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth
9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
And those, my friends, are books you must read. You'll learn to love foreign worlds, hate rings, appreciate the simple joys in life, fight monsters, play mind games with demons (or rather, avoid playing them); you'll love and hate the same person, deal with betrayal and freedom, find out things about England you never knew before, find yourself more horrified with hell and in love with heaven than ever before, and you may just encounter Mr. Darcy. Let me know how it goes.
Meridian
Thanks for this post!
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