Best books … chosen by Solomon Burke

The King James Bible. Hey, my name is Solomon, so this is kind of required. It’s my No. 1 read. I’ve read the Bible all the way through around 20 times, although I also go to it daily for certain scripture. The Bible is my home.

The Koran. The Koran is a book of profound love and faith. That is what I get from it and I urge anyone who wants to have an understanding of our Muslim brothers and sisters, or simply a deeper understanding of their own faith, to read the Koran.

The Complete Hans Christian Andersen (Gramercy, $20). I am a grandfather of 89 grandchildren, and this book is a staple in my home. “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Thumbelina,” “The Little Match Girl.” We all love these stories.

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Complicity by Anne Farrow, Joel Lang, and Jennifer Frank (Ballantine, $26). I believe that we either learn from the past or are forced to repeat it, so I am a student of history. This 2005 book, subtitled How the North Promoted, Prolonged, and Profited From Slavery, gave me a very different perspective on the slave industry and the policies of the early United States. It is not a story to be proud of, but it is a story we should all know and try to understand.

The Appeal by John Grisham (Doubleday, $28). This is a fictional story about corruption in our courts, but it is most likely closer to reality than we like to think. I have read all of Grisham’s books. Like most everyone else, I devoured this one.

Not Easily Broken by T.D. Jakes (FaithWords, $24). I like stories of faith that describe the real world that we all live in, and then open our eyes to all of the little miracles that happen. This is just a story of a couple and their family who go through the daily problems that face us all, and who actively decide to stay together in spite of their differences and problems. It’s a story we all need to hear over and over because, at the end of the day, what’s most important are our own beliefs, our families, and our promises to them.