Glenn Beck Recommended Books, November 2011

Glenn Beck has been recommending books since his show first appeared on Fox News, shortly after Barack Obama was inaugurated as president. I've been watching his show since he was on CNN, and I have a subscription to his new internet program.

I've read many of his book recommendations, and I usually am not disappointed.

He generally recommends so many books that I don't have time to read them all. It is also difficult to put them all on one page, which is why I am starting to divide his recommendations by month. I nearly always am in the process of reading one of his book recommendations.

Here are the books that Glenn Beck has recommended, and the books of Glenn Beck's guests, for the month of November 2011.

The books that we read are often influenced by what is going on at the time. November 2011 has so far been a month of chaos. Occupy Oakland has been involved in riots and Greece is about to default. Our way of life could come to an end at any time, plus there's an election coming up in a year.

This month's recommended books involve the end of the world as we know it, preparing for the unexpected, and learning about the history of an election that was eerily similar to the one that is coming up.

Glenn Beck always seem to be releasing new books. Just in time for Christmas, Beck has released two new books: The Snow Angel and Being George Washington.

The Snow Angel is a book about memories. This book is also about changing your family tree; changing the cycle of abuse in your family. One of the characters has Alzheimer's. Beck says that this is one of the best books that he's ever written.

Being George Washington is a book about George Washington: what was the guy really about, and how can you be like him.

If you've been following Glenn Beck for a while, then you know that Glenn Beck really admires George Washington. In fact, one of the books that he released this month is about George Washington (see above).

Glenn Beck originally recommended these two books over a year ago, but he also recommended these books this month as well. I still haven't had the chance to read either, although I have read quite a bit of another Beck recommendation on George Washington, The Real George Washington (I really like that book, but I have so many books to read, sometimes I get distracted and start reading something else... and this is a very big book).

Sacred Fire is a book about George Washington's religious faith. Beck said that this is one of "the best books ever" (23 November 2011). This book uses Washington's own words to tell us about what kind of person Washington was.

Tempest at Dawn is a book about the Constitutional Convention. While that may sound dry, this book is written like a novel. Out of 21 Amazon.com customer reviews, this book has an average of 5 stars, so we can say that this book probably is not dry and boring.

During World War II, the Jews were mercilessly persecuted by the Nazis. Fortunately, there were some families that were willing to stand up and do what they could to save as many people as they could. One of these was the Ten Boom family.

This family hid as many Jews as they could to help save them from certain death. At the time, anybody who helped the Jews in this way could be killed themselves, but they courageously helped many. Corrie, in fact, was taken to a concentration camp, but she was miraculously released a week before the Nazis killed all the women her age.

You can help save the Ten Boom museum (and receive her book, The Hiding Place), for a $25 donation at www.tenboom.org. If you can't afford that much, the book is also available at Amazon.com.

Trevor Loudon is the author of Barack Obama and the Enemies Within. The cover of the book even says that it is endorsed by Glenn Beck. Loudon is the author of the New Zeal blog. I have been following him on Facebook for a while; the first time I heard of Loudon was from Glenn Beck. If you want to learn more about Obama's influences, this book will help you in your quest.

Speaking of the enemies within, Casey Anthony had some enemies within her. She grew up not really having to face the truth, and became an empty shell of herself. Beck wrote a book with Keith Ablow at the beginning of 2011; he hadn't read this book himself, but he did feature this book on his show on 21 November 2011. Ablow believes that Anthony's personality has similarities to the people in the Occupy Wall Street movement - the people of the Occupy movement were able to be recruited because they also aren't facing the truth.

Sometimes it seems like the enemies within are inside our own Congress, especially in light of the new findings that congress members have been involved in insider trading, and it's perfectly legal. Throw Them All Out focuses on how our politicians are taking advantage of their position as lawmakers to make money off of us. This book, and the author Peter Schweizer, were featured on Glenn Beck's For the Record on November 18.

Another issue that is affecting America is indoctrination in the schools. Indoctrination is a book about how radicals have been affecting what is being taught in our schools. Glenn Beck said on November 29th "I would really like you to read this." If you have a student in public schools, or are trying to figure out where to sent your child to school, it is probably even more important that you read this book.

Left, Right, and Christ was featured on Glenn Beck's program on November 10; it was also featured on Glenn Beck's news site, The Blaze. This book discusses the fact that there are Christians on both sides of the political fence, both right and left. This book is meant to get you to think about faith and politics.

In Defense of Faith was written by a Jewish man who supports Judeo-Christian ideas as a way to make society better. Unfortunately, the media seems to be going in the opposite direction. Glenn Beck wants you to read this book to discover that the church is the solution, not the problem.

Glenn Beck has recommended watching this movie before. I watched it about a year ago when I was trying to learn more about what it was like during the Weimar Republic. Beck is comparing today, and especially the way that the media is reacting to media events, to this movie.

The media is keeping most people occupied with irrelevant stories such as the Justin Bieber paternity case or Kim Kardashian's 10-week marriage. They're trying to keep us asleep, like those in the Cabaret, to keep our mind off our troubles and off important things.

Although the problem of illegal immigration has taken something of a back seat to the problems caused by the economy, Occupy Wall Street, and the European collapse, it still is a big problem. One of the people that has been on the front lines of fighting this problem is my governor, Jan Brewer. Her book, Scorpions for Breakfast, talks about her story in the fight against the illegal immigration problem. This book was featured during one of Glenn Beck's For the Record shows this month.

If you're looking for more insight on the problem of illegal immigration, this may be your book. Amazon reviews on this book as of this writing are quite mixed: an equal number of people love this book, giving it five stars, as the number of people that hate this book and give it one star. Nobody gave this book anything in between. My theory is if you like what Jan Brewer is doing and you're interested in this problem, you'll probably love this book, but if just thinking about her makes you want to go punch a wall, you probably shouldn't waste your money on this book.

Eric Metaxas is the author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (an excellent book that I loved). Beck had him on the show on November 16th. This book is based on the Socrates and the City group that Metaxas held on a regular basis. It was a lecture series that featured different speakers and addressed important questions of life.

This book was also featured by Focus on the Family's evening broadcast.

It doesn't take very long for an assassination to take place (Beck's topics have been so happy this month): it only takes about 2 seconds. This is why you need to be prepared for the events that can change your life (which hopefully won't include an assassination attempt).

The gift of fear is that little part of you that tells you that something is just not right. I have heard many stories about people who were prevented from going to work at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001; people who have trusted their hunches have avoided other situations as well. These two books are useful in these days.

Glenn Beck calls 1948: Harry Truman's Improbable Victory and the Year that Transformed America an "amazing, amazing book". I haven't had the chance to read it yet, but it looks like this book has relevance for today. Harry Truman was an incumbent president with a low approval rating. So how did he get reelected? Nobody thought that he had a chance; that's why the newspaper printed that Dewey Defeated Truman.

The author, David Pietrusza, is also the author of 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents, which was a book featured by Glenn Beck a couple of years ago.

Looking for a little fiction? We can't be serious all the time, can we? Well, Glenn Beck's fiction recommendations aren't exactly sunshine and lollipops, but I generally enjoy the books that he has recommended.

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 is a book written for teens. For homeschooling families, there is a free curriculum available. This book is the first of a series. The kids in this series have spectacular powers. They are being enticed to go to the dark side. For those that do not comply, there is always cell 25. Not knowing what to give him, I bought this for my 14 year-old nephew for Christmas; he told me that he really liked it.

Hummel's Cross is a story about a German fighter pilot in World War II. It is written by Brad Schaeffer, who made his GBTV debut on November 2. Schaeffer is a smart guy, and his book gets quite a lot of good reviews from readers on Amazon.com.

One Second After was briefly mentioned by Beck this month on his radio program, although he's mentioned the book before. If an EMP attack were to be blasted off against the United States, we might see a situation like this where we have to survive without electronics.

How did the Great Depression occur? Was it just something that happened, or did it occur because of a small group of bankers making decisions that affected the rest of us? The Lords of Finance discusses four central banks in the years prior to the second World War, and the actions that they took that affected everyone financially. In a world where the Federal Reserve holds about $1.6 trillion of America's debt, this book may have relevance for today, in addition to the historical significance.

The Road to Serfdom has been around for decades, and is a classic (in the last couple of years it has seen a resurgence of popularity partially due to Beck's recommendations). His belief is that central economic planning by the government leads to governmental control in other areas in the lives of the people. We see how central planning affected Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and fascist Germany. This book used to be banned by the Soviet Union, in fact, and owning a copy of the book could get you sent to the gulag.

The Seven Tipping Points of Freedom is a book that I hope to get the chance to read one of these days (I have a long list of books that I want to get around to reading). Freedom as we enjoy it (even in its diminished state due to so many recent governmental regulations) has been rare throughout history. How did we get the freedom that we enjoy today? This book talks about seven events in world history that helped us get the freedom that we have today.

History tends to repeat itself, and today, it looks like we are repeating many of the elements of the early 20th century. The world's economies seem to be falling apart, like they were during the 1930s. People seem to be looking for a leader to help them solve their problems, like people were in the days leading up to Mussolini and Hitler. The more we learn about what happened during that time period, the more we can recognize problems and act accordingly (prepare, vote for the better leader, etc.).

Glenn Beck says that In the Garden of Beasts was "one of the toughest books I've ever read." This is a book about an American family that lived in Berlin during Hitler's early years. The book covers the lives of this family as Germany slowly starts to pass repressive laws and then starts to persecute the Jews. It looks like a book worth reading, but it may be somewhat disturbing to read, so don't read it if you're looking for a pick-me-up.

Last year, I read Eric Metaxas's book Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (another Glenn Beck recommendation from the past), and I really enjoyed it. It was an inspiring book, and if you haven't read it, I recommend it. If you want to read more about Bonhoeffer, then you might be interested in his Letters and Papers from Prison, which was recommended by Glenn Beck this month.

Evidently, Glenn Beck (or at least his wife) is a country music fan. The House of Cash is a look into the life of the country music singer Johnny Cash, written by his son.

This book has photos, copies of handwritten notes, and other information about the music legend. Evidently, Cash was a man of faith, even though he wasn't perfect (none of us are).

I personally think that I will pass on this one, primarily because I am not a fan of country music. If you like Johnny Cash, you will probably like this book. If you know someone that likes Johnny Cash and are looking for a Christmas idea, you might want to check this out.

November 5 is Guy Fawkes Day. Why does Britain have a day named after this guy, and why are people Occupying Wall Street, Oakland, and other cities around the world wearing his mask? Guy Fawkes was involved in the plot to blow up the Parliament building, along with the king and other royals who were inside, on November 5, 1605; he believed that the government was making life difficult for the Catholics. He was caught, and then he was sentenced to a horrendous death: being hung nearly to death, disemboweled, beheaded, then chopped into four pieces. Fawkes jumped off the platform before he could be hung almost to death and spared himself of some of that torture.

Glenn Beck did not say to go out and watch this movie, but he did talk about Guy Fawkes day on Episode 38: Mutually Assured Economic Destruction, which aired on November 2, 2011 (available on GBTV). He spoke of this movie and included a clip of it on his show. It may be a useful movie if you're trying to learn more about how these protesters around the world think.