Some Books I Like
I like several more books than these. These books are listed because they changed the course of my life.
Books On My Journey to Flourishing
Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, books that helped me sincerely enjoy reading for the first time
Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology and The Protestant Era, books that helped me understand my family's faith as my own
Walker Percy, Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book, which is not an ethics text, but is the book that formed my ethics the most
Plato, Republic, and Aristotle, Politics, books that helped me understand the world around me
Orsan Scott Card, Ender's Game, one of many stories that showed me the inextricable connection between fiction and reality
Books On My Journey through the World of Mathematics
My personal philosophy is that math books should address the student at their level while also providing some "optimal frustration" - challenging them to create some solutions on their own while providing them with a solid foundation through elementary exercise. The books below catalog my personal journey in a semi-chronological order (with some moments being more frustrating than others!).
Steven Lay, Analysis With An Introduction to Proof, by my recently-passed professor. A very patient introduction to mathematics, which now guides my own teaching style.
Walter Rudin, Principles of Mathematical Analysis, the book that showed me that math, written efficiently, is incredibly beautiful. This book taught me to dig for the answer rather than to expect the answer to be given to me.
David Lay, Linear Algebra with Applications. A text that concretized my firm belief that an introductory linear algebra course should not begin with the definition of a vector space.
John Fraleigh and Neal Brand, A First Course in Abstract Algebra, and Joe Gallian, Contemporary Abstract Algebra, which made this subject feel like the most obvious way to categorize the mathematical world.
Gerald Folland, Real Analysis, and Walter Rudin, Real and Complex Analysis, books whose covers are now falling off when taken out of their place in the center of my library.
John Conway, A Course in Functional Analysis, the first book I read from cover to cover and worked nearly every example in an attempt to truly understand if I enjoyed what I did. (I do!)