# Top Ten Favorite Books and Why



## tbs21

I know there have been several "Top Ten" lists of books on this forum, but to my knowledge there has never been one that asks the poster, "WHY?" So I want to challenge everyone to list their top ten favorite books of all time (in order, if possible) and tell why those books, out of the millions and millions in print, are your favorite. Here are mine:

1. _Gone With the Wind,_ by Margaret Mitchell.
GWTW makes my #1 spot because the novel encompasses the entirety of human emotions: jealousy, hatred, love, compassion, etc. They are all portrayed in a realistic fashion, and when placed against the backdrop of the American Civil War, the story is breathtaking. The title itself defines the novel in which the way of life in the Old South ends forever, swept away to never return. A lover of history and a Southerner myself, I suppose that this book appeals to me because it is a window to a world that is "gone with the wind."

2. _The Great Gatsby,_ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I first read _Gatsby_ as a junior in high school. I was against the novel at first, but as the book progressed, I began to see the central themes of the book. Fitzgerald has truly created a portrait of the American Dream and its corruption.

3. _Angels & Demons,_ by Dan Brown
This thriller used to be my favorite book. Its break-neck occurrence of events kept me flipping page after page well into the night.

4. _The Da Vinci Code, _by Dan Brown
Although I highly disagree with the idea presented here of Christ having a child, it makes for a good fictional story.

5. _The Diary of Anne Frank_
This book gives hope to the oppressed and I find it a great reminder of why we should never forget what happens in the past so that we don't repeat it.

6. _Pride and Prejudice, _by Jane Austen
Although I hated reading this book, the story is great and the way in which Mr. Darcy insults Elizabeth and then marries her reminds me of how Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara got off on the wrong foot too.

7. _Hamlet_, by William Shakespeare
This is my favorite out of all of the Shakespeare play, most likely because I read it in school in the modern language instead of the Old English version.

8. _Frankenstein, _by Mary Wollstonecraft
A tale of the separation of the creator and the created that harkens back to the Garden of Eden, I thought that this was a great story but way too long of a book.

9. _To Kill a Mockingbird_, by Harper Lee
A great tale of the evils of racism and prejudice.

10. _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_, by J.K. Rowling
My favorite book in the Harry Potter series.


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## Beja-Beja

What a generic list! Don't mean to criticize but...


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## Dr. Malone

The Stranger:  Well-written and it presents a different way of looking at the world.

Confederacy of Dunces:  Funny as hell.

The Fountainhead:  Great story, and the idea behind it is interesting.

Forrest Gump:  Funny as hell.  Great social commentary.

Without Remorse:  Bad ass revenge/action novel.

All Quiet on the Western Front:  Best war novel.

American Psycho:  Funny and brilliant.

Steppenwolf:  It's one of those "He's writing about me" novels.

Great Gatsby:  It's the great American novel.  There's really nothing not to like about it.

The Pearl:  Had to put at least one Steinbeck on here, and this one is probably my favorite of his.  Great tale and great commentary.

That was hard.  I ultimately cut out Li of Pi and replaced it with Steppenwolf just so Hesse would be on there, as he's one of my favorites.  Glass Bead Game almost made the list instead of Steppenwolf.  It's hard to pick a favorite among many authors' collections, like Steinbeck and Hesse and Hemingway and Joyce and Faulkner.


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## Dayshayde

It's hard to look through the memories of books I've read and say I have ten favorites out of them but I'll go with it though, 

1. Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher, It's a children's book and a short read yet it brings tears to my eyes. 

2. Where the Red Fern Grows, I enjoyed reading about nature and dogs growing up and things that have to do with people and dogs surviving in nature, this was another tear jerker, and I liked it because I was a young boy reading it and it was about a young boy.

3 Swiss Family Robinson, Another good book I truly enjoyed, I like the shipwreck survival part of it and enjoyed the family aspect of the book as well. I also enjoyed their accomplishments and pets they acquired as well as the methods the characters used to go about things. 

4. The Han Solo Trilogy, It's not just one book I know, but if asked to choose between them and say my part about my favorite it couldn't be done, they are all three equally favorite in my mind. I enjoyed the young boy on the wrong side of the road aspect of the books as well as the living on the wrong side of Imperial Judgement, not saying the empire's judgement were full of morals in the star wars universe.

5. LucasFilm's Alien Chronicles, another trilogy of books i liked equally as well, I enjoyed the adversity of the beings in these books as well as the tear jerker quality to the end, as well as its a story set apart from any human beings.

6. Hatchet, Another survival book about a young boy and once again me being a young boy it worked.

7. Gentle Ben, Another animal and boy book. 

8. Interview with the Vampire, A new book I just read a few months ago, I also enjoyed the adversity and understanding in the characters

9. Battlefield Earth, It's the longest sci fi novel i've ever heard of and its a damn good book.

10. Dune, The character's adversity and ideas never yet realized is why I liked this one.


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## Dr. Malone

Oh, man.  Red Fern made me cry everytime I read it as a kid.  Hatchet was one of my favorites back then too.  The follow up books with that character were pretty good too.


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## lilacstarflower

tbs21 said:


> 10. _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_, by J.K. Rowling
> My favorite book in the Harry Potter series.



I found this one interesting. For me, this was my least favorite...second least favorite of the series. I think JK peaked with the Prisoner of Azkaban. What is your reason for choosing this one - out of curiosity?

Will have a think about your question and write a top 10 later


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## Like a Fox

For someone who is pretty dead-set on being a writer, my reading list is pathetic. Either that or my memory. I didn't read for years after school and only started again at the end of last year. So the majority of my favourites are books I read in my teens. Here is a short list, less than ten, of the ones that stick at the forefront of my mind - in no particular order.

*Brother Knight – Victor Kelleher*
I haven’t read this for a long time, and maybe it won’t stand up to my memories of it when I get around to reading it again, but this was a really strange little book by an Australian author. I suppose he aims at teens but the overall theme is our perception, versus the reality of Good and Evil, and seemed very adult and beautifully executed, to my recollection

*The Tomorrow When the War Began* series – *John Marsden*
Another Australian author, aimed at teens. This series is seven books long, with a three part spin off he wrote more recently. I read all ten books in a two week period earlier this year, not having read them since I was about fifteen. They still stand up in my opinion. Great Australian fiction about an invasion in the not too distant future and the group of teenagers who survive it.

*After You’d Gone – Maggie O’Farrell*
I’m not really sure why I loved this book so much. Could have something to do with when I read it. I had just decided I wanted to be a writer, had ploughed through a few books after a long stint of not reading much. Then this book was finished in a 24 hour period and actually had me crying at my desk at work. I got so attached to the characters and I realised that that that’s largely what’s important in writing.

*Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen*
A completely cliché selection, but I might have read this book more than any other. When Darcy declares how much he “ardently admires and loves her” I just smile with sappiness.

*Catch 22 – Joseph Heller*
I loved this book. Funny, and tragic, and clever. I found it overbearing really when reading it, after spending months reading candy fiction, I actually had to take breaks after each chapter to absorb it. I don’t usually do that, I’m an obsessive reader, once I start something, I want it done within a day or two.…. It was tough for my pathetic brain meats, but it was a rewarding little escapade. 

*The Harry Potter *series – *J.K. Rowling*
Don’t care what anyone says, I grew up with this series and it had a huge impact on my teen years. I read them all again this year, had them done in ten days. I was a complete hermit while reading them, wouldn’t even talk to people, cursed every customer, every friend, who dared interrupt. I still feel like the series, sitting in my bookshelf, is a little collection of friends who I know and love, and whose company I sometimes prefer to that of my real-life friends. My favourites are 3- Prisoner of Azkaban and 6- The Half Blood Prince.

*Letters from the Inside – John Marsden*
Another teen novel, that I used to finish and then flick straight back to the start and go again. I might be John Marsden’s biggest fan. He has a strong, honest, natural voice, writes from a female POV that I relate to so acutely. All his characters that I grew up reading feel like real people I know, part of me. 


And that's all I can think of for now.


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## Kayleigh7

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (when I was 7)

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9 yrs. old)

The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9 yrs. old)

The Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell

sheesh..I haven't read a really good book in a long long time.


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## Like a Fox

Kayleigh7 said:


> The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9 yrs. old)
> 
> The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9 yrs. old)


 
I almost put these on my list too. My copy of The Secret Garden is so battered.


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## Kayleigh7

I have really nice copies that I am planning on giving to my daughter. I've read them so many times when I was a kid as a way of escaping. I'm hoping she loves them as much as i did.


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## Like a Fox

I actually really like both film interpretations too. Probably The Little Princess more than The Secret Garden. Little Princess was one of my favourite movies as a girl. Now that I'm a boy, well, different story.

Ha


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## Kayleigh7

How's it feel being a boy?  You crack me up. 

Yeah, I'd have to agree with you on that. They did a great job on the movies. The Little Princess was my favorite of all too. Mainly because I could relate so well to her story.


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## tbs21

Beja-Beja said:


> What a generic list! Don't mean to criticize but...


 
I guess I'm just a generic person. I would like to include more classics, but I've found that most classics tend to bore me to death. Besides, I think I'm more of a thrill-ride-seeking reader.



Beja-Beja said:


> I found this one interesting. For me, this was my least favorite...second least favorite of the series. I think JK peaked with the Prisoner of Azkaban. What is your reason for choosing this one - out of curiosity?



Picking a favorite out of the entire series was very difficult for me. I really like them all, but Order of the Phoenix is my favorite because I think J.K. Rowling begins to change her tone with Harry's world in the fifth book. (People begin to die, Voldemort actually comes back in the flesh, and Hogwarts is overrun by tyrants from the Ministry of Magic.)


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## caelum

Yiiiaaah (that's gangster for yeah).  Some of my favourite books:

1 - Dune, by Frank Herbert.  I love the scale, grandeur, and sheer awesomeness of the story.  A true work of genius.  Giant worms are so cool, as are people fighting with knives and swords in an epoch of space travel.

2 - Moby Dick - I just loved all the philosophical brooding.  It was so intriguing.  And I like the idea of hunting whales, must have been a hell of a life.  Although I am against whale hunting, now that I think about it, but back then who knew there was like a limit or anything.

3 - Wuthering Heights - So dysfunctional and depressing, but so achingly beautiful.  One of my alltime favourites.  Heathcliff reminds me of Anton Chigurh off No Country For Old Men, that fucking machine.  Remember that time when he just stood outside against a tree all night without moving?  That pimp.

4 - All LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion - What can I say?  I read 'em all when I was 13, and was totally absorbed, especially by the Silmarillion with it's creation myth, and the scale of its wars and characters.  Reading that after LOTR was the quintessential "oh so that's what lead up to everything" experience.

5 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and the other HPs - I loved these books growing up, and this was my favourite of them all, and my favourite of the movie adaptations was this too.  Gotta love the "finding hope" theme in the face of not-inconsiderable danger (something eating your soul).

6 - Shake Hands With The Devil, Romeo Dallaire - The book that broke my heart.  You want to know just how cruel human beings can be?  Then read this book.  What happened in Rwanda was, on a smaller scale, arguably more disgusting than the holocaust.

7 - The Chrysalids by John Whyndam

Honorable author mentions: Stephen King, Shakespeare, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, and more.  Douglas Adams will probably be on this list once I read some of his work.


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## Dr. Malone

> 3 - Wuthering Heights - So dysfunctional and depressing, but so achingly beautiful. One of my alltime favourites. Heathcliff reminds me of Anton Chigurh off No Country For Old Men, that fucking machine. Remember that time when he just stood outside against a tree all night without moving? That pimp.



I almost went with that one too.  Heathcliff is just one of the greatest characters I've ever read.


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## Pandora's Head

Wuthering Heights is my favourite too. I think Heathcliff taught me to write complex characters.

The Magus. A book I think everyone should read first in their teens, then again once a decade. Never watch the film.

Those Who Walk Away - if Death in Venice was a thriller and starred Matt Damon.

The Spire - when blind faith goes wrong.

Honour Thy Father - the smell of burning flesh is still in my nostrils after a decade, and I can still hear the banging coming from the cellar...

Tess of the Durbervilles - Tess is a female Heathcliff

bhagavad gita - wonderful, evocative and full of brain GI

Mog The Forgetful Cat - because Mog is cool.

Web - best spider book ever.


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## Patrick

10: On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan. The kind of psychoanalytical writing I often enjoy .

9: Wise Children - Angela Carter. A story I enjoyed for the parallels with Shakespeare and interesting journey of the characters. Plenty of carnival.

8: Regeneration - Pat Barker. This book did more to really address the nuances of psychological traumas during the war than other war novels.

7: The Ropemaker - Peter Dickinson. It's a unique blend of fairy tale and modern fantasy and doesn't fail to explore big ideas. 

6: The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks. Weird and wonderful.

5: Snow Falling On Cedars - David Guterson. A beautifully written novel full of well-drawn characters.

4: Pompeii - Robert Harris. One of the best pieces of historical fiction out there. It's immaculately written, as well.

3: Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl. One of the pieces of literature that really got me into writing when I was a young boy. I adored this book and Roald Dahl for any number of his novels. 

2: To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee. There are few words to describe literature as good as this.

1: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman. I read these when I was about 13/14 and they're really the best fantasy books ever written, as far as I am concerned. On a different planet to most of the modern imitators. I think of those books around today aimed at young people, Pullman's HDM will be the ones to live longest in the memory. My number 1 because the trilogy focuses on all the things I am primarily interested in.


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## JosephB

Sorry. I just can't say in few words why I love these books -- not in a way that isn't trite.

_The Heart is a Lonely Hunter -- _Carson McCullers_

In Cold Blood -- _Truman Capote_

The Great Santini -- _Pat Conroy_

Cannery Row -- _John Steinbeck
_
Of Mice and Men --_John Steinbeck
_ 
Great Expectations -- _Charles Dickens_

The Great Gatsby -- _F. Scott Fitzgerald
_ 
To Kill A Mockingbird -- _Harper Lee
_ 
The Tin Drum -- _Günter Grass
_ 
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- _Ken Kesey


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## Patrick

JosephB said:


> Sorry. I just can't say in few words why I love these books -- not in a way that isn't trite.
> 
> _The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
> 
> In Cold Blood
> 
> The Great Santini
> 
> Cannery Row
> __
> Of Mice and Men
> 
> Great Expectations
> 
> The Great Gatsby
> 
> To Kill A Mockingbird
> 
> The Tin Drum
> 
> One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
> 
> 
> _




While I agree it's impossible to do your favourite novels justice with just a few words, I think you could attribute the authors' names to each of the above, Joe. :lone:


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## JosephB

Mermaid on the breakwater said:


> While I agree it's impossible to do your favourite novels justice with just a few words, I think you could attribute the authors' names to each of the above, Joe. :lone:



There. I guess there are a couple people wouldn't know.


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## JosephB

Baron said:


> Some nice footwork there, props. "You're ignorant if you don't know" is, of course, far better than admitting you were too lazy to credit the authors.
> 
> :read:



Hey, if that's your take -- whatever.


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## Deleted member 33527

I only have three. The Kite Runner, The Host, and Life of Pi. I haven't read that many books.


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## Patrick

Dreamworx95 said:


> I only have three. The Kite Runner, The Host, and Life of Pi. I haven't read that many books.



Are you really serious about putting a book by Stephenie Meyer in there? I am just sayin'. Lol.


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## The Backward OX

JosephB said:


> Sorry. I just can't say in few words why I love these books -- not in a way that isn't trite.


 
What a load of crap.

Emanating from someone who professes to be a writer, to use the excuse that the words would sound trite is uber-pathetic. Why not tell the truth, which is either that you can’t be bothered coming up with justification of your choices, that you have better things to do with your time, or that you lack the skill to provide in-depth analysis of anything?


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## Deleted member 33527

> Are you really serious about putting a book by Stephenie Meyer in there? I am just sayin'. Lol.


Like I said, I haven't read that many books. I'll admit that the Twilight series wasn't that great, but the Host - once you get past all the corniness - is pretty good. Have you read it?


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## RomanticRose

In no particular order:

Five Smooth Stones, Ann Fairbairn
That Man Cartwright, Ann Fairbairn
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemmingway
Testament, Eric Van Lustbader
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
Dolores Claiborne, Stephen King
The World According to Garp, John Irving
The Witches of Eastwick, Updike
We The Living, Ayn Rand


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## Patrick

Dreamworx95 said:


> Like I said, I haven't read that many books. I'll admit that the Twilight series wasn't that great, but the Host - once you get past all the corniness - is pretty good. Have you read it?




Only a sample of it, Dream. Her writing is just too hammy for me. I like your honesty, though. I'll leave you alone in your choices. :smile:


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## JosephB

The Backward OX said:


> What a load of crap.
> 
> Emanating from someone who professes to be a writer, to use the excuse that the words would sound trite is uber-pathetic. Why not tell the truth, that you just can’t be bothered coming up with justification of your choices, that you have better things to do with your time,  or that you lack the skill to provide in-depth analysis of anything?
> 
> You’re all piss and wind, as I’ve said before.



Sorry, but I don't see one description here that would make me want to read any of these. It would take a lot more to write something meaningful, that expresses how I feel about these books -- or that would make anyone else want to read them.  Anything less that I might write would be trite, in my opinion. So yes, there are other things I would rather do with my time.



> or that you lack the skill to provide in-depth analysis of anything?


Ha ha. I didn't see anything in the OP about providing an "in-depth analysis." How do you come up with this kind of shit?


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## Dr. Malone

> Dolores Claiborne, Stephen King



I find that King is much more frightening when he writes about real things like abuse than when he goes for imaginary shit like evil cars.


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## Deleted member 33527

> Only a sample of it, Dream. Her writing is just too hammy for me. I like your honesty, though. I'll leave you alone in your choices. :smile:


Thanks. It's not just that I haven't read that many books. I've actually read quite a few, but I have a really bad memory and if a book doesn't jump out at me I won't remember it. The Host just happens to be a book that I've read very recently and people keep talking about it so it's kind of hard to forget...


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## RomanticRose

Dr. Malone said:


> I find that King is much more frightening when he writes about real things like abuse than when he goes for imaginary shit like evil cars.


 
It's the way the SOB crawls inside the head of an abused woman that gives me chills in _DC.  _And for good measure, he actually creates other characters with depth in a first person piece.  I acknowledge Mr. King can drop some real clunkers (and his clunkers clunk loud), but in _Dolores_, he knocked it out of the park.


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## The Backward OX

JosephB said:


> Ha ha. I didn't see anything in the OP about providing an "in-depth analysis." How do you come up with this kind of shit?


 
Ok, maybe I didn’t hold my mouth right. “In-depth analysis” could be seen by some as another way of saying “sales pitch”. Forget the word “analysis”. Try “in-depth review,” or maybe “review that touches all the nerves, makes the reader want to rush out and buy the book.” That better? 

*tbs21* did ask WHY, and if you gave him a sufficiently emotional-charged reason, he might just rush out and buy one from your list.


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## Dr. Malone

It would be much more interesting to talk about the books than Joseph.

I almost put Heart Is a Lonley Hunter on my list.  I was trying to remember the name, and had to go pull the book from the shelf to remember, so I figured that automatically disqualified it.  Although I've read it several times and absolutely love everything about it.  The fact that she wrote is at 22 or 23 makes it all the more amazing.


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## JosephB

Dr. Malone said:


> It would be much more interesting to talk about the books than Joseph.



Apparently, Mermaid, Baron and OX don't think so.

I think we discussed _The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter _in a another thread. It may be the only book I've read that made me cry.

Have you read _Member of the Wedding? _I haven't yet.


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## Dr. Malone

No, I haven't read any of her other books.  The forward to the edition of Heart is a Lonely Hunter I have suggests that her later work isn't anything special.  I'd definitely give it a read if I ever stuble across it, though.


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## JosephB

Dr. Malone said:


> No, I haven't read any of her other books.  The forward to the edition of Heart is a Lonely Hunter I have suggests that her later work isn't anything special.  I'd definitely give it a read if I ever stuble across it, though.



I just reserved it at the library. 

I have a book that includes _The Ballad of the Sad Cafe_ -- a novella, and five or six short stories. The characters in _Ballad..._ are exaggerated and the story is pretty obvious. The ending was lame, almost cartoon-like. I was kind of disappointed in the short stories too -- although a couple were decent.

So I guess, that's why I haven't rushed to read _Member of the Wedding._


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## lilacstarflower

The Backward OX said:


> Ok, maybe I didn’t hold my mouth right. .



Doubt that was the first or last time.

*My list*

*Little Dorrit - Charles Dickens*
I love this book because it deals with a subject matter that was close to the author's heart; the debtor's prison. It reads like a soap opera, jumping from one set to another, one mind to another and draws you in to each and every little sub-plot. This is a must read for anyone who wants to read Dickens

*The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
*I was intrigued by the idea that the story was told from Death's point of view. Based in Nazi Germany and one girls life throughout the war. I thought I would be disappointed that Death wasn't more prominent, or that he wasn't more of a character rather than just a narrator, but the end did make me cry. One of the few books that have ever done that.

*Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
*My favorite book in the world. I read it every summer. Austen has a great way of telling a story. I love the "unsatisfying ending" that a lot of people dribble on about because Marianne did not get her "true love". To my mind, she did. It would just take her a while to realise that.

*The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
*Beautiful writer. End of.

*A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy (trilogy) - Pamela Aiden
*Always dubious of reading 'fan-fiction', but this trilogy really pulls it off. It follows the P&P story from Darcy's point of view over three books. Darcy is actually absent from a large chunk of P&P - this is what the second book deals with and would deserve to be read as it's own story and not part of the 'bigger picture' as it were. The author makes you understand Darcy in a whole new light. She writes with passion and I read the trilogy in a matter of days it was so good.

Those were the only ones that really stood out for me. No doubt others will pop into my head


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## Crazed Scribe

> The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
> Beautiful writer. End of.



You've just reminded of the film i watched years ago. I thought it was brilliant. 

Thanks for reminding me to read the book!


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## lilacstarflower

Yeah, I loved the film too. The un-abridged version can be a bit long-winded at times as he likes to meander into the back-stories of various characters, but stick with it. When you least expect it, he throws out a brilliant line that makes you think "wow".


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## Crazed Scribe

I've just seen the page count, 1312, which I wasn't expecting. It isn't a bad thing I just expected it to be shorter  

I'm going to give it a whirl and just hope it lives up to my expectations after the film.


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## Leyline

Screw a buncha novels. Here's my top 11 favorite stories. No particular order:


*Space-Time For Springers* -- Fritz Lieber

_Lieber's masterpiece in my opinion. The ultimate cat story, neither sentimental nor cute. In fact, it begins as a lighthearted jape and descends into something deeply tragic. I still can't read that amazing final line without tears threatening. It can also be read as an allegory for growing up and growing jaded to the wonders of the ordinary world._

*A Saucer Of Loneliness* -- Theodore Sturgeon

_Another one that pulls tears from me no matter how many times I re-read. This may be a perfect example of true science fiction. The entire story rests on a speculative element, but the subtle fireworks unleashed by Sturgeon are all human emotion centered. Contains the best depiction of the difference between interior self and exterior appearance that I've ever read. Lovely and hopeful._

*The Big Front Yard *-- Clifford D. Simak

_The very first story I ever read on my own and still one of the best. A different sort of first contact story, beautifully told by SF's master of the pastoral tale, and the champion of ordinary folks. The moral of the story -- that trade is the goal of civilized folk, has never left me. Nor has the protag's dedication to his dog. _

*The Last Castle* -- Jack Vance

_Vance's sloppiest story is better written than 99% of literature, and this is one of his best. Decadent humans start getting their asses kicked and a lesson in the evils of slavery when their indentured servant race turns on them. Can humanity get off it's high horse long enough to fight back or are they nothing more than the shadow of a once great species? Suspense, grandeur, moral lessons and Vance's trademark elegance._

*Creation *-- Jeffery Ford

_In addition to Ford's usual genius with words, this story is deeply touching and a wonderful paen to fatherhood. Ford creates something soul deep here, and this story will haunt you for weeks after you read it. In the best of ways._

*The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas* -- Ursula K. Leguin

_Another one that leaves me weeping. This story serves as a capsule review of my own philosophy, and a warning that almost every 'civilization' rests on pain and misery for SOMEONE. Will you accept the premise or will you walk away from Omelas? A decision we all have to make, eventually._

*Riders Of The Purple Wage *-- Phillip Jose Farmer

_Pyrotechnics and social satire. Farmer's ode to individuality in the face of the easy life is as fresh as tomorrow. A truly dangerous vision and the most hilarious, stylish argument against the welfare state ever penned._

*Along The Scenic Route* -- Harlan Ellison

_Other Ellison stories are better known, more powerful, better conceived -- but none of them are as fun as this one. Ellison prophesized road rage and gave a remedy. But the cure is worse than the disease sometimes, just like winning can often make you the real loser..._

*All Pieces Of A River Shore* -- R.A. Lafferty

_Prime Lafferty, which means it will stand up against any story ever written. Gentle, lovingly evoked, masterfully stylish shaggy dog story that fails to even produce the shaggy dog. The ending is unexpected and strangely disturbing._

*"All You Zombies..." *-- Robert A. Heinlein

_Heinlein's finest piece of short fiction. Equal parts comedy, tragedy and puzzle. A textbook example of structure and pacing. Bizarre, brilliant and beautiful. _

*Gonna Roll The Bones* -- Fritz Lieber

_My second favorite Lieber story. Style as pretty as it comes, a wonderful main character, and attention to even the smallest details make this a joy to read. The final revelation is laugh-out-loud good, and the MC's decision on what to do about it is wonderful._


If you've never read these stories, then I envy you.


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## Dr. Malone

Trainspotting is another of my favorites.  He makes heroin addiction hilarious and narrates the whole thing with Scottish dialect.


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## Patrick

Dr. Malone said:


> All Quiet on the Western Front:  Best war novel.



Birdsong? Regeneration?


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## Dr. Malone

Nope.


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## Patrick

Dr. Malone said:


> Nope.




What I am saying is that you should give a reason why, not just a statement. In my opinion, the writing in "All Quiet On The Western Front" is inferior to the other two novels, certainly in comparison to Faulks who writes on the subject beautifully.


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## Dr. Malone

It's a preference, not a debate.  Please respect my opinion and move on.


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## Patrick

tbs21 said:


> I know there have been several "Top Ten" lists of books on this forum, but to my knowledge there has never been one that asks the poster, *"WHY?"* So I want to challenge everyone to list their top ten favorite books of all time (in order, if possible) *and tell why those books, out of the millions and millions in print, are your favorite*. Here are mine:



The parameters for discussion as outlined in the OP.


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## Deleted member 33527

The Princess Diaries are good books.


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## VinrAlfakyn

No particular order:

*1.The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*: I feel that these two go together because they're part of a bigger story. I've always loved how Tolkien created such an epic world and then just had fun with it.

*2. The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce*: Again, I feel these go together. In these books I was drawn to the main characters and how they cope with the new lives they are given. I love watching them grow in their powers to become the strong, kick-butt mages they are in the later books.

*3. The Symphony of Ages by Elizabeth Haydon*: This is another series, but I see it as one huge book. This one has love, humor, tragedy, hate, mystery, fear. Achmed and Grunthor just crack me up, and I think it's strange how in the first three books I always root for Ashe, but in the next ones I kind of want to see Achmed with Rhapsody.

*4. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden*: This book is just breathtaking. Sayuri/Chiyo's struggle to be with the man she loves and all the things she goes through in being a geisha just drew me into the story and wouldn't let me put it down.

*5. The Swan Lake trilogy by Mark Helprin*: When I first read Swan Lake I didn't know there were two sequels. I got all three for Christmas one year and devoured them. They're short, but beautiful and heartbreaking. Don't be fooled by the "for children" label either. These stories are for all ages.

*6. Anything by Charles de Lint*: I'm cheating, I know, but if you've ever read a Charles de Lint book then you know how hard it is to pick one out of the dozens and dozens of books that he's written. Every single one I've read has been amazing, with an intriguing plot and memorable characters. I'd recommend anything by him.

*7. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin*: This story was beautiful. It's a story of hope, miracles, and love amidst tragedy. The pool table scene has always stuck out in my mind, and there is plenty of humor too.

*8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams*: These five books had me rolling on the floor. The randomness and impracticality of many of the things in these books just made me love them all the more. In these books you will find God's final message to his creations, what really happened to Elvis, meet an immortal who found an interesting way to spend his eternity, and a poor creature who is killed by the same person every time he is reincarnated. Be ready to laugh!

*9. The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan*: This book is one of pride, misunderstanding, love, and accepting yourself and your family. Out of all of Amy Tan's books, this one ties with only one other as my favorite.

*10. The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan*: My other favorite Amy Tan book. This one is very sad, but also triumphant. The story was just one of those that really drew me in.

If we could include more than ten I would add: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander.


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## Deleted member 33527

The Alchemist was pretty good.


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## Firewriter23

Like a Fox said:


> *The Harry Potter *series – *J.K. Rowling*
> Don’t care what anyone says, I grew up with this series and it had a huge impact on my teen years. I read them all again this year, had them done in ten days. I was a complete hermit while reading them, wouldn’t even talk to people, cursed every customer, every friend, who dared interrupt. I still feel like the series, sitting in my bookshelf, is a little collection of friends who I know and love, and whose company I sometimes prefer to that of my real-life friends. My favourites are 3- Prisoner of Azkaban and 6- The Half Blood Prince.



I feel the same way about the series.  I as well grew up with these books and as I read them I just felt like I was in a different world all together.  I'm actually in the middle of reading them all again because I just feel like I need the escape from my world to theirs.


As for my list...

1.  Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling- Reason stated above.

2.  Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin- I just really enjoyed this.  It just seemed like a good read to have.

3. Lucas by Kevin Brooks- I read this in high school and even though he's more of a young adult writer, I just really loved this book.  It was just a perfect summer read.

4.  Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume- A great book about a girl that just lost her father.  I enjoyed this mostly because I lost my grandfather and it just was a wonderful book.

5.  The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright- A perfect book.  Honestly.  I can't even describe how much I loved it.  I work at Borders and I recommended it to many people all of which have bought it.

Thats really all for right now though.


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## lilacstarflower

adding to my list

*Jurassic Park* - *Micheal Crichton 
*Purely because I couldn't put it down until I had finished it. Imaginative, fast-paced with a moral message that still stands nearly two decades after it was originally published. Plus, I love dinosaurs.


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## Patrick

lilacstarflower said:


> adding to my list
> 
> *Jurassic Park* - *Micheal Crichton
> *Purely because I couldn't put it down until I had finished it. Imaginative, fast-paced with a moral message that still stands nearly two decades after it was originally published. Plus, I love dinosaurs.




You can see a real dinosaur here. If you go about it in the right way, you can quite often see him grazing in the tips and advice section. :smile:


----------



## Garden of Kadesh

*1: Catch22*

Funny, funny book. All the circular dialogue, the undercurrent of insanity, the different characters, the criticism of bureaucracy and war...so much stuff going on without being confusing. Joseph Heller's style is completely unique in this one. 

*2: Slaughterhouse Five*

Hard to choose a favorite amongst Vonnegut's collection, but I'd go with this one. It's strange, clever, and oddly touching.

*3: The Hobbit*

A quintessential book for kids, and just as good for adults. It's steeped in folklore and highly imaginative, like LOTR/Silmarillion but easier to read.

*4: Heart of Darkness*

Bite me. Lots of people hate this novel, and I don't understand it. The prose is gorgeous, the themes are skillfully developed, and the plot is interesting. It has a slow narrative pace, sure, but it's under 100 pages. Suck it up. :smile:

*5: The Sound and the Fury*

Almost painful to get through, but once it's over, it sticks with you. Southern gothic at its best.

I'm going to stop, carpal tunnel syndrome is kicking in.


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## Squalid Glass

Hmm, let's see.


1.) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -Kesey 
Also an amazing movie.
2.) Catcher in the Rye -Salinger
Doesn't matter what anyone says, this book is a masterpiece.
3.) Nine Stories -Salinger
Bananafish? Love and Squalor? Teddy? Come on now.
4.) The Handmaid's Tale -Atwood
Dystopia at its finest.
5.) Things Fall Apart -Achebe
I first read this right before reading Heart of Darkness. That was an interesting week.
6.) The Bell Jar -Plath
-Plath was a genius. 
7.) Hamlet -Shakespeare 
-No words needed.
8.) Purple Hibiscus-Adichie
-This book is like an African retelling of my life through a girl's eyes. Haha
9.) 1984 -Orwell
-Another classic.
10.) Franny and Zooey -Salinger
What can I say? I love Salinger.


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## Dr. Malone

> 4: Heart of Darkness
> 
> Bite me. Lots of people hate this novel, and I don't understand it. The prose is gorgeous, the themes are skillfully developed, and the plot is interesting. It has a slow narrative pace, sure, but it's under 100 pages. Suck it up.



I love that one.  It's a little tame by today's standards, but the concept is so deep and frightening, and the prose so smooth and easy to read, that the book really impressed me.



> 6.) The Bell Jar -Plath
> -Plath was a genius.



I completely forgot about that one.  I definitely feel that Plath did a better job with the poetic prose than Kerouac ever did.


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## JosephB

I came close to putting _The Bell Jar _on my list.


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## Tom88

Wow, I did not find Heart of Darkness's prose smooth or remotely easy to read.

I really had to labour through it and didn't get much out of it, aside from the odd flashes of brilliance (one-liners). Much respect to it though.


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## Dr. Malone

> Wow, I did not find Heart of Darkness's prose smooth or remotely easy to read.
> 
> I really had to labour through it and didn't get much out of it, aside from the odd flashes of brilliance (one-liners). Much respect to it though.



I thought the prose was suprisingly modern.  The beginning on the boat took a page or two to get used to, but after that I felt like both the story and the prose flowed well.

The book has also been hugely influential which I think counts for something.  Not necessarily in my enjoyment of it, rather in my appreciation of the story.  It was also pretty controversial stuff when he wrote it.


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## Squalid Glass

Dr. Malone said:


> The book has also been hugely influential which I think counts for something.  Not necessarily in my enjoyment of it, rather in my appreciation of the story.  It was also pretty controversial stuff when he wrote it.



Not to mention decades later when Achebe called him a "bloody racist". haha


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## skyye

1. Harry Potter- I'm a teenybopper.
2. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
3. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
4. A Little Princess.
5. Stargirl by Jerry Spenelli


hmmm....


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## Garden of Kadesh

Squalid Glass said:


> Not to mention decades later when Achebe called him a "bloody racist". haha



I read his criticism shortly after I read HoFD. He accuses Conrad of advancing the "savage African" stereotype and reducing African culture to a insulting backdrop - and I couldn't disagree more. Hell, it's the exact opposite; Heart of Darkness is a criticism of western imperialism and hypocrisy! (among other things)


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## Squalid Glass

I tend to agree with you. Although I still hold Achebe in high regard and would be too terrified to disagree with him to his face, if ever the chance provided itself.


----------



## Blue Shades

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. If You Could See Me Now
3. PS, I Love you............ I liked the funny parts, but I liked the movie better.
4. Around the World in 80 Days
5. Oliver Twist

What else?? done thinking!


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## VinrAlfakyn

Adding to my list

*The Black Jewels Trilogy-Anne Bishop:* I thought these books were absolutely brilliant and would recommend them to anyone. Since it would take too long to say what I would like to say about it, I'll keep it short. They're fantasy books, they are like nothing I have ever read before, and they've got a little bit of everything in them. Dark power, love, rape, hate, murder, arrogance, misunderstandings, battle, vengeance, madness, deceit, castration. I could keep going but I promised to keep it short.


----------



## SevenWritez

In no particular order, top ten:

Ask the Dust / John Fante

The Great Gatsby / F. Scott Fitzgerald

Number9Dream / David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas / David Mitchell

The Catcher in the Rye / J.D. Salinger

The Stranger / Albert Camus

The Beach / Alex Garland

Out Backward / Ross Raisin

The Sun Also Rises / Ernest Hemingway

Notes from Underground / Fyodor Dostoevesky (I don't know how to spell his name)


----------



## Dr. Malone

I'm dying to get my hands on Mitchell's stuff.  Between your praise and the blurbs I've seen comparing him to Pynchon, I've become very excited about just the prospect of his work.

I'm too poor to be buying new books right now, though, and none of his stuff has shown up on the online literary forums I download from.


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## Deleted member 33527

Every book by Paulo Coelho. I'm reading The Alchemist right now and it's fantastic.

Site Oficial do Escritor Paulo Coelho


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## SevenWritez

Dr. Malone said:


> I'm dying to get my hands on Mitchell's stuff. Between your praise and the blurbs I've seen comparing him to Pynchon, I've become very excited about just the prospect of his work.
> 
> I'm too poor to be buying new books right now, though, and none of his stuff has shown up on the online literary forums I download from.


 
You definitely should pick him up. Number9Dream is my personal favorite of his work, but Ghostwritten (his debut) seems to be the one most people consider the best place to start with him. Cloud Atlas should be read last, though. It's his greatest achievement yet also requires much more work to get through than his other novels.

Isn't there a library near you?

EDIT: I hated The Alchemist. I think my hatred for it stems from the fact that I spent twenty dollars on it and then after page ten realized I hated the book. It was a very sad day for me. I didn't have a job then and I think the twenty bucks was birthday money.


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## Deleted member 33527

> EDIT: I hated The Alchemist. I think my hatred for it stems from the fact that I spent twenty dollars on it and then after page ten realized I hated the book. It was a very sad day for me. I didn't have a job then and I think the twenty bucks was birthday money.


I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it.


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## StephenP2003

_- I, Robot_, Isaac Asimov -- Intelligent, entertaining SF. What more can you ask for? The stories in _I, Robot_ are funny and fun, and this book is the foundation of good artificial intelligence fiction, rightfully so.

_- Brave New World_, Aldous Huxley -- One of the most thought-provoking stories I’ve ever read, though I wouldn’t call it a "story"; it’s more of a concept, which is executed very well even with limited action. I’ll probably read this one again, eventually. And I don't read books more than once.

_- Calculating God_, Robert Sawyer -- I finished this one this week. I'm wondering why I never picked up a Sawyer book until now. Incredible and original concept (well, original to me), well-executed, and I think people of all faiths would enjoy it if they can think for themselves. Well, abortion-clinic bomber Christ-Terrorists might not like it.

_- Ender's Game_, Orson Scott Card -- Just an all-around fun, dark novel -- which I guess is a paradox. If you read SF, you've probably read this one.  And you probably didn't really like the rest of the series.

_- Empire,_ Orson Scott Card -- To enjoy this one, you'll have to put on your big-boy pants and refrain from whining about the author's bias. If you handle that, enjoy a chillingly plausible, entertaining story, OSC style.

And it's getting late and I need to get back to work, so enjoy the rest of my list without the "why." Or you can bitch about it. 

_- The Accidental Time Machine_, Joe Haldeman

_- Galatea 2.2_, Richard Powers

_- Rosemary's Baby_, Ira Levin

_- Hatchet_, Gary Paulsen

_- Harry Potter Series_, J.K. Rowling


----------



## VinrAlfakyn

Adding to my list:

The Forgotten Garden-Kate Morton

The only thing I can think to say is that this book is amazing. It raises questions (at least in my mind) like "how far is too far, when it comes to someone you love?" and "should we let our past shape who we are, or rise beyond it?" This last one isn't talking about what we've done in our past, but about things that were done to us which we had no control over. Apart from that, it's a great story, sometimes reminiscent of The Secret Garden.


----------



## Taxiday

I know this may sound wierd, but it is a four volume non-fiction piece by Sir Winston Churchill - A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. It is no lonbger up to date but a marvelous vista of history extremely well-written.


----------



## SparkyLT

*Tithe* by Holly Black
I really can't say what about this book so fascinated me, but I loved it instantly. I still do, even more every time I read it. Maybe it's just because it was the book that introduced me to urban fantasy.

*The Uglies Series* by Scott Westefield
One of my favorite authors. The Midnighters series is good too. I think this series subliminally influenced one of my favorite stores of mine, so that's pretty cool. Futuristic viewings of Earth - especially less-than-optimistic ones - are another of those things that fascinate me.

*A Great and Terrible Beauty* by Libba Bray
Oh _wow_. I seriously need to buy this series. More fantasy, not really urban fantasy - maybe you'd call it realistic fantasy? One of the few romance-y stories I've really liked. Man I need to read them again.

*Inkheart* by Cornelia Funke
More urban-realistic-whatever fantasy. Storybookish, and come on, it's a book about a book coming to life, how awesome is that?

*Hideaway* by Dean R. Koontz
Honestly it's hard to pick a favorite Dean Koontz. This is the first one I read, so I'll go with it.

*Lord of the Flies* by William Golding
I read it for literature last year, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. It was enjoyable and actually had a discernable message. The end was a bit too perfect but I guess you can't have it all.

*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban* by J. K. Rowling
Okay, okay, lynch me. I read them in the formative years, and I loved the third one best.



Past #3 it's not really in order. And I read so many books - most of them not memorable - that I really can't think of that many. These, I either have in my own library, or really _really_ want there.


----------



## Dr. Malone

I forgot about Lolita.  I'd replace Steppenwolf with Lolita on my list.


----------



## Deleted member 33527

> *Inkheart by Cornelia Funke*
> *More urban-realistic-whatever fantasy. Storybookish, and come on, it's a book about a book coming to life, how awesome is that?*


Really? It put me to sleep.
*



A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
		
Click to expand...

*Haven't read that one yet but it's on my list.
*



The Uglies Series by Scott Westefield
		
Click to expand...

*I loved this series too. I think it's a realistic view of the vain monsters some humans are.


----------



## Patrick

Of the books I've read in recent times, including none of those I mentioned before (they are also recent, or at least quite a few of them are), so let's say the last couple of months, Darwin's "Voyage of the Beagle" and "The Origin of Species" have to be up there as all-time classics. "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" by Dennett is also a great read and a unique combination of philosophy and biology. Shubin's, "Your Inner Fish" to continue with the theme of evolution. A couple of others such as Spinoza's " The Ethics", Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" and Hume's "A Treatise of Human Nature", if people are interested in reading all things enlightenment; for all things reformation, Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" is excellent with the focal point being Thomas Cromwell. I also just finished reading a great book by Gombrich called "A Little History of the World", and I'd advise that one to all younger readers for a very convincing overview of humankind's his/herstory. Even history students will learn an enormous amount from this book. Probably the most enjoyable book I've read in a long time. Alongside my favourite philosopher, Spinoza, in fact.

You should also read McEwan's "Saturday" if you want to enjoy wonderful writing by, quite possibly, the finest author of our time. It would be rather longwinded to say "in my opinion".


----------



## VinrAlfakyn

SparkyLT said:
			
		

> *A Great and Terrible Beauty* by Libba Bray
> Oh _wow_. I seriously need to buy this series. More fantasy, not really urban fantasy - maybe you'd call it realistic fantasy? One of the few romance-y stories I've really liked. Man I need to read them again.



Loved that trilogy. I cried so bad at the ending of the third one, my friend thought my husband had died or our hometown had blown up or something.

If you like urban fantasy, check out Charles de Lint. He's got maybe 40 or 50 books, so there's plenty to choose from. I would recommend his Newford stories, but his others are good too. Personal favs: Someplace to be Flying, Moonlight and Vines, Spirits in the Wires, and The Onion Girl, but I haven't even made a real dent yet into all the different books he has, and I still haven't read one I didn't like.


----------



## Dr. Malone

> Charles de Lint. He's got maybe 40 or 50 books



Good lord.  That seems a bit obscene.


----------



## SevenWritez

Ham on Rye is now one of my favorite books. I take back everything I ever said about Bukowski.


----------



## VinrAlfakyn

Dr. Malone said:


> Good lord.  That seems a bit obscene.



I know. I've only read 11 of his books, but I loved them all, so I'm kind of glad he has so many more. Even if he never writes another one, I'll be reading "new" ones for a while.


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## Deleted member 33527

Wrong thread. Nevermind.


----------



## Deleted member 33527

> If you like urban fantasy, check out Charles de Lint.


Nevermind.


----------



## Dr. Malone

> Just finished: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively. The main character was a total bitch, the book was an emotional roller coster.
> 
> Currently reading my first Stephen King novel. People seem to like him. Also reading a couple of romance novels.



This is the Top Ten Favorite Books and Why thread, not the What Are You Reading thread.  I think you're mixed up.


----------



## Deleted member 33527

Oops. Hahaha.


----------



## SparkyLT

Dreamworx95 said:


> Really? It put me to sleep.


I was probably more infatuated with the idea than the book itself; I was reading most of Funke's books at the time and Inkheart happened to be the one I bought. I think I actually liked The Thief Lord better, but I haven't read it in so long, I'm not sure anymore.

And you've GOT to read _Great and Terrible Beauty_. Vinr Alfakyn isn't the only one who cried at the end, and I don't usually cry over anything. Go. Read. Now.


I forgot about Sarah Monette and Charles de Lint. And Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and Eoin Colfer. There's quite a few authors I really like, but I can't decide on specific books for them. Bleh.


----------



## Deleted member 33527

> I was probably more infatuated with the idea than the book itself; I was reading most of Funke's books at the time and Inkheart happened to be the one I bought. I think I actually liked The Thief Lord better, but I haven't read it in so long, I'm not sure anymore.


I liked Inkheart for the idea too, but the story itself was blah I think. Also, I read it because it had a pretty cover and every time I went to the library I saw it sitting on the shelf and it just kept staring at me so I finally decided to just take it.

I love the Thief Lord. 

A Great and Terrible Beauty is on my list. Promise.


----------



## ThePinkBookworm

Holy Bible.
If You Want To Write.
Eragon.
And Then There Were None.
Teenager Liberation Handbook.
Anne of Green Gables.
Unseen Hand.
Pagan Christianity.

Nothing else I can think of, at this moment.

Just my thoughts,

Li Li:read:


----------



## Hoot08

On the Road
American Psycho
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1984
Brothers Karamazov
Sirens of Titan
Visions of Gerard
Dr.Sax
The Holy Barbarians
Crime and Punishment

I know, a lot of Kerouac.


----------



## Tom88

Hoot08 said:


> On the Road
> American Psycho
> One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
> 1984
> Brothers Karamazov
> Sirens of Titan
> Visions of Gerard
> Dr.Sax
> The Holy Barbarians
> Crime and Punishment
> 
> I know, a lot of Kerouac.



This list is pleasing to me eyes


----------



## ross

I can't recommend The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini enough. Brilliant book.


----------



## Hoot08

Agreed, The Kite Runner was wonderful. I had to read it for High School, summer reading. I was floored by how great it was. Normally reading assignments are lame books that are pushed on students with few exceptions. However Hosseini's novel was simply incredible, not on my list of top 10 but amazing nonetheless.


----------



## moderan

The OP says "books" not novels...that makes things different.

ten in no particular order

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail-Hunter S. Thompson-portions of the book are absolutely brilliant, insightful regarding the human condition, and some of the descriptions/action/one-liners are among the best I've ever read.

Stand on Zanzibar-John Brunner-amazingly prophetic and extremely readable despite the very dark subject matter and experimental format. The title refers to the number of people that would be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the island of Zanzibar (now Madagascar). The book itself is about the pressures and effects of overpopulation.

Throne of Bones-Brian McNaughton-one of the darkest of dark fantasy books, featuring tales set in the homeland of the ghouls, winner of the World Fantasy Award. The language McNaughton uses has to be read to be believed. The descriptions are impossibly apt and the turns of phrase are just so.

Ball Four-Jim Bouton-very possibly the best sports book available. Bouton and editor Leonard Schecter manage to keep the awkward jock language to a minimum and a story emerges that turned the world of baseball on its ear. The inside baseball aspect is fascinating, and the pictures the author paints of what goes on in a major-league locker room are still true and vivid almost forty years later.

The Lottery and other stories-Shirley Jackson-almost unheralded and unknown in the shadow of The Haunting of Hill House, this collection of related stories carries a spooky charge that creeps up on you later, when you're thinking about what you've read. Subtle, insidious, elegant, and ultimately terrifying.

Starlight-Alfred Bester-some of the best science fiction short stories ever written. Bester had style to burn and ideas to boot. The Four-Hour Fugue, Fondly Fahrenheit, and the Men Who Murdered Muhammad are standouts in a standout collection. Wins mention here by a nose over Kornbluth and Lafferty.

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (3 vols). The best sf short stories, novelettes, and novellas of all time, voted on by the members of the SFWA. Too many fantastic pieces to mention, from Asimov to Zelazny.

The Dark Country-Dennis Etchison-unparalleled creepiness and a slew of original ideas mark this collection of Etchison's shorter works. Ever wonder about the people who work overnights? Etchison did...and had some things to say about how they got there and where they go. Also includes the truly eerie tale Wet Season.

Other Days, Other Eyes-Bob Shaw-one of the truly original concepts in science fiction, slow glass, is at the heart of this involving novel, almost pastoral in outlook. The characterization is realistic and the message profound.

Hothouse-Brian Aldiss-Millions of years in the future, man has evolved into an arboreal species living on a sauna of a planet. Superbly realized and elegantly written by one of the masters of sf.


----------



## Mr. Madeleine

Tough choices, I have read many excellent books. Here's my list for novels. 

1 - *Les Miserables*, by Victor Hugo: the most touching story I have ever read. Great historical background, thought-provoking themes, and both the scenes and the characters come fully alive: Jean Valjean of course, and also Thenardier, the latter's daughter etc. Even at over 1,400 pages, I have read it more than half-a-dozen times and I sure will read it again. 

2 - *In Search of Lost Time*, by Marcel Proust: I'm now reading it for the second time. Great characters (I especially like Odette and the Verdurin) and parody, plenty of wisdom, and a most pleasurable read. I believe it is the best novel ever written, and it is here in second place only because of personal preference.  

3 - *War and Peace*, Leo Tolstoy: much for the same reasons as Les Miserables, the characters of War and Peace are unforgettable, especially Pierre. 

4 - *Huckleberry Finn*, by Mark Twain: hilarious and thought-provoking; though the main issue today seems to be on slavery and racism, Mark Twain went much farther than that in this novel: for example, religion and education, which were probably more apparent to the readers of his time. 

5 - *Far from the Madding Crowd*, by Thomas Hardy: my favourite from Hardy, also loved Tess of D'Ubervilles and Return of the Native. Hardy always succeeds in taking me out of my own world to live into his.

6 - *The Grapes of Wrath*, by John Steinbeck: Steinbeck paints the economic scene well, and the westward journey is most real.

7 - *Sacred Games*, by Vikram Chandra: great gangster novel from India, excellent characters, especially Ganesh Gaitonde , Zoya and the policeman Sartaj. 

8 - *Go Tell It On the Mountain*, by James Baldwin:Baldwin is one of the most eye-opening novelists I have read. I felt I became African-American for the duration of the read. 

9 - *The Makioka Sisters*, by Junichiro Tanizaki: the best novel from Japan imnsho, takes you completely in. 

10 - *Poison Sleep, *by T.A. Pratt*: *my favourite fantasy novel, for the beautiful execution in language and vividness.
__________________________________________________________________
Other categories:

My favourite children book is _Maniac Magee_ by Jerry Spinelli. Loved Mars Bar!

My favourite plays are Shakespeare's _Richard II _(for the language), Ernest Thompson's _On Golden Pond_, Eugene O'Neill's _Anna Christie_ and of course Oscar Wilde's _The Importance of Being Earnest_. 

My favourite poets are Federico Garcia Lorca, Seamus Heany, Sylvia Plath and Kay Ryan. 

My favourite military history books are Sir Alistair Horne's _The Price of Glory_, Harrison Salisbury's _900 Days_ and _The Rommel Papers_. These books are human epics. 

My favourite science book is R.A. Fortey's _Life: An Unauthorized Biography_. Natural history at its very best, the book is much alive.


----------



## Mira

(in no particular order)

1. *The Great Gatsby* by F. Scott Fitzgerald. First time around, this book was read for an English class in high school. Since then, I've read it so many times, I've lost count.

2. *The Tomorrow when the War Began* series by John Marsden. I read this series so many years ago, but I think it's a huge reason why I love reading as much as I do. I'm pretty sure I read all the books in less than two weeks (and I was probably 11 years old).

3. *The Things They Carried* by Tim O'Brien. A bizarre book to have on here for a girl, but a beautiful and moving story, that is just so well written.

4. *Love* by Toni Morrison. Beautiful and moving, a very different love story that challenges A LOT of societal norms and expectations. 

5. *Love in the Time of Cholera* by Gabriel Garcia Marques. We read it for school, and I really hated it. After a year, I picked it up again, and somehow fell completely in love with it again.

6. *The Virgin Suicides* by Jeffrey Eugenides. Crazy and bizzare, but still one of my absolute favorites.

7. *Girl with a Pearl Earring* by Tracy Chevalier. Ok, I know it's pop culture, but a guilty pleasure is allowed, right?

8. *Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley. So different from the books I normally read, but still so fascinating. Kind of scary if you take it a warning of where we're headed (please let's not go there).

9. *One Hundred Years of Solitude* by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Basically, I'm just a huge fan of Marquez.

10. *Foundations* by Isac Asimov. The man is basically just brilliant. Not much more to say about that.

For someone who normally tells people that she hates science fiction and fantasy, it suprises me how many books in kind of that general category showed up on the list. I guess I've been influenced heavily by my two ex-boyfriends, who are both fans of the genres? Honestly though, these are just kind of a random selection, because I probably have a hundred favorite books....


----------



## Deleted member 33527

Jane Eyre is the best book I've read so far.


----------



## Fleurdelis

I'm just going to give my favorite:
*
Les Liasons Dangereuses* - Genius.  It comprises letters, most of which are written either by Valmont or Merteuil, two inveterate liars and master manipulators.  It starts with Merteuil asking Valmont for a favor.  He refuses.  And then it's just ON.  They are waging this silent war, using all the other people in the novel as their soldiers.  

And the other people are strong characters, too.  Every movie made based on this book has weakened the other characters to make the story easier to tell.  But Laclos makes no such concessions.  

Tourvel is tactical and dishonest, Cecile is sharp as tacks, and her mother, Madame do Volanges is a force, plain and simple.

It is a masterpiece and, by far, the best novel I have ever read.


----------



## Cefor

Okay, I'll try and get my favourite ten down in order, it will be hard to choose out of the multitude of books I own.
_*NB: You will notice an absence of classical works, purely because they make me fall asleep. *_

1. ... You know what forget the numbering I can't decide so here are ten of my favourite books EDIT: series and/or books and/or trilogies; in no particular order.

*The Algebraist - Iain M. Banks*: If you've read any of Iain Banks' works and haven't picked this one up I think you're missing out. Science fiction at a high, I loved it. It is an excellent book. One scene in particular is my favourite, though a plot spoiler.

*Twilight Series, Breaking Dawn in particular - Stephanie Meyer*: Now I don't know why people are allowed to put _Harry Potter_ on the list, and yet when someone mentioned _The Host_ (also good book) someone asked why they could put that on their list. This series is great, and I've read it over again and again, and will continue for some time. _Breaking Dawn_ is in particular my favourite for the multitude of characters brought together and the great fantasy elements added, with their powers. 

*The Old Kingdom trilogy - Garth Nix*: What an amazing set of books, they were another set that I've read over and over again. _Sabriel _and _Lirael _were the better of the three, in my opinion. _The Abhorsen_ went a bit off track I thought. Nice ending though.

*The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F Hamilton*: What a great, but long, book; it seriously took me about five days of solid reading to get this done (for comparison, _Order of the Phoenix_ in two days. _Breaking Dawn_ two days, etc.) It was so immersing it's unreal, there is so much background to piece together all that's going on it's hard to keep track; but that's something I love about books like this, they are blatantly well thought-out works and it amazes me that an author could keep it all together when writing such a long novel. It's even got two sequels. The science backing up the fiction, in a way that makes sense, but obviously wouldn't work; to my distress.

*The Earthsea series - Ursula K LeGuin:* Five amazing books, I had one of those  four-in-one books with the first four and then bought _The Other Wind_ separately. At the time of reading it, I think I was 12, reading the second book at night was not a good idea; it scared me something rotten. I've since lost the first (four) book, so I need to buy it again. I loved the whole story behind them, each technically separate enough to read on its own, but together tells a story so clever and brilliant. Ged is an amazing character, and you are with him through his days as a young boy, growing up and learning about the magic he can control - and then his mastery and progression into something much more than he probably ever imagined.

*Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkien*: Need I say more? Everybody knows it's great, everybody loves it, and I think it should be included in the Classics. I haven't managed to fully read _The Silmarillion_ yet, but I think I probably should get to work on it at some point.

*Peace and War - Joe Haldeman:* Another great Sci-Fi. Absolutely loved it, reading it again currently. 'Nuff said.

*Graceling and Fire - Kristin Cashore*: Some really great books, fantasy (again) and an immersive world with excellent characters. _Fire _is actually more of a prequel than sequel and is based in part of the world (Kristin's world) that wasn't shown in _Graceling_, but shows how the main antagonist of _Graceling _came to be and why he just suddenly appeared and took over the kingdom of Monsea (well as sudden as you can get, waiting for your adoptive parents to die and leave their kingdom to you).

*Earth's Children series - Jean M. Auel*: Great stories set in the stone age, I hate saying stone age but there you go, roughly 35,000 years ago at the last of the latest Ice Age. Tells the story of a young woman and her life, being brought up by Neanderthal man after her own family was killed in an earthquake. She had to learn to communicate with signals, not words and to train herself to memorise quickly; with her not having the racial memories of the Neanderthals to help. The second book onwards was the best, in my opinion. She meets 'The Others', more people like her (homo sapiens) and she comes to terms with how the Others live. Great books, please read them if you haven't.

And last, but not least:
*Sniper One - Sgt Dan Mills:* Not a novel, but a great look into the life of a sniper in the Middle East. A thoroughly thrilling read. 

Wow, that took me a while. Now I have read _Harry Potter_, but excluded it from the list because I feel the writing to be horrible and childish, I mean, I used to love it; but when I tried to read it again it was just... horrible. *shudder*

Science fiction and fantasy are, quite obviously, my favourite genres. I generally dislike fiction set in our world, reading is my way of getting away from all the crap in my life. If I want to read about other worlds then I will, sticking it to the man all the way.

If you've read this far, I salute you.
Cheers,
Cefor

EDIT: Oh my goodness I forgot *Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr - Christopher Paolini*. Awesome books, and he started to write them when he was 15... inspiration for writing my own stuff and being famous by the time I'm 21, wait, I only have 3 years left. Damn.


----------



## gagoots

1) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - The story just breaks your heart, lets the light in, and patches it back up

2) Infinite Jest - A lot of work, but so, so worth it. There is so much here that I don't know where to start except to say it should be required reading for aspiring authors.


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## tommethew

Top Ten Favorite Books :_

1. Never Let Me Go_ by Kazuo Ishiguro
2. Bone by Jeff Smith
3. Ambani & Sons by Hamish Mcdonald
4. A Journey by Tony Blair
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
 6. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy8. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
 9. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
10.The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
​


----------



## tanner123

*The red badge of courage:* Probably one of the greatest novels ever written. Stephen Crane is a legend, and his insight into the human character transcends the battle field as recognizable and correctable flaws shared by most people. There is literally something in it for everyone, even if your not a huge fan of civil war books. 

*A Clockwork Orange: *This one is pretty much self explanatory, so I wont really go into detail save for acknowledging Anthony Burgess genius. 

*Fear and loathing in Las Vegas:* I found it incredibly well written, gripping, and just plain awesome. If I were ever to go on a drug binge in Las Vegas, I would do it under the guise of Dr. Gonzo. 

*The Tin Drum:* Nobel prize; enough said. 
*
Great Expectations:* I was never a big fan of that brand of formal English, commonly seen in Dickens writing, but this book is - without sounding like a rolling stone reviewer - a roller coaster of awesomeness. 
*
All Quiet on the Western Front:* I chose to do a high-school ISU comparing the likeness of it and The Red Badge of Courage, and I wholly stand by my decision to do so. Not to repeat what another poster has said, but, easily the best war novel ever written. 

*The Art of War:* I don't even care, this book is brilliant. There's literally nothing that could be better about it.
*
The Wealth of Nations:* Not much of an attention grabber, and uncharacteristic to my previous choices-except maybe, the art of war- there's more to this book than simply moral sentiments. It should be regarded as a mirror, rather than used as an economic textbook. 

*Of Mice and Men:* I'm a huge fan of Steinbeck so I had to add this. 

*Ulysses:* James Joyce is awesome.


----------



## Ambrivian

Here are some of my favorite books, in no particular order.

The Inheritance Cycle – Eragon, Eldest and Brisingir are three of my favorite books of all time. Christopher Paolini creates a huge world with an in-depth storyline. I first got Eragon and Eldest when I was about ten I think, and I felt they were too large of books for me to read, but I’m glad I finally did.

The Jason Bourne Series -  I don’t know how many books this counts as, and I know I haven’t read them all, but the ones I have are definitely my favorites. They are fast-paced action-adventure novels that have huge casts of characters and take place in a multitude of settings.

The Jack Ryan Books – Tom Clancy writes these books that each have their own story and follow the life of Jack Ryan. But if you put the books together then you have a biography where each book leads into the next. The thing that makes it worth your while is that it’s a spy-thriller.


----------



## Cressida

An amazing selection of books featured on this thread. Some of them I have never heard of so clearly I must go away and read some more.

My selection is below in no particular order. These are the books that for various reasons I can read over and again.

Lucky Jim   Kingsley Amis
Remains of the Day   Kazuo Ishiguro
The Coot Club   Arthur Ransome
Rebecca   Daphne du Maurier
A Town Like Alice   Neville Shute
Decline and Fall   Evelyn Waugh
Birdsong   Sebastian Faulks
Jane Eyre   Charlotte Bronte
The ‘Harriet Vane quartet’   Dorothy L Sayers
Brighton Rock  Graham Greene


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## Brightstar94

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
                 I'm sure everyone knows why i love this book. Somehow everytime i read it, it just gets me in that one place that good books do. Her book Villette, which is hardly ever mentioned is also really really good.
2. The Constant Gardner by John le Carre
              I'm a huge John Le Carre fan, which may make me a bit biased but this is by far my favorite one. I love how he describes characters and the way he uses words. This story has romance in it but not at all mushy it's just subtle and wonderful.
3. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
              This is such an underrated book in my opinon. I mean everyone knows the musical and the movie but i really like the way it's presented in the book
4. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
         Something about this book is somehow uplifting despite its dark storyline. 
5. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
           Oscar Wilde's the bomb. End of Story
6. hamlet by William Shakespeare
            Who doesn't love Shakespeare? Hamlet is personally my favorite for some reason. The characters are so rich and i can sympathize with each one.
7. Persuasion by Jane Austen
         one of her most underrated books but i really love the way she writes in general.
8. The Gun Seller by Hugh laurie
         Everyone knows the author of this book as House M.D. or part of Fry and Laurie but here we get to see his wonderful writing ability. He uses exactly the type of humor i love which is dark and really really cynical.
9. Anne of Green Gables by l.m. Montgomery.
         My mom read this to me when i was littel and needless to say i've loved it ever since.
10. The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
         Totally historically innacurate but also really really good.


----------



## Bilston Blue

*Birdsong* - Sebastian Faulks. So beautiful a story that if I did crying I would have. He paints pictures with words with such simplicity.

*The First Forty-Nine Stories* - Ernest Hemingway. Not so much for his story telling, more his style of writing. The way his excessive use of 'and' lends a rhythm to the writing is really quite brilliant. 

*Bag of Bones* - Stephen King. No apologies for a King entry in here. I love his story telling. This is my fave I think. His characterisation is magnificent.

*D-Day* - Stephen E. Ambrose. Turns a monumental moment in world history into a collection of individual acts by normal, everyday, working class folk without losing perspective in terms of the significance of those events. History writing at its best (in my humble opinion).

*The Blitz* - Juliet Gardiner. Reading this made me feel thankful I was born thirty five years after the event, and proud to be English, and humble too.

*The Fatal Englishman* - Sebastian Faulks. Three biographies of brilliant Englishmen who died young.

*Is this a Man?* - Primo Levi. Read it and see for yourself. I couldn't bring myself to be happy for a few days after reading this. A great book need not be an enjoyable one to read.


----------



## Bilston Blue

> 6 - Shake Hands With The Devil, Romeo Dallaire - The book that broke my heart. You want to know just how cruel human beings can be? Then read this book. What happened in Rwanda was, on a smaller scale, arguably more disgusting than the holocaust.


 
I have a book on my shelf that I haven't yet got round to reading; A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, by Gil Courtemanche, set during the Rwandan genocide. I'm afraid to read it, I'm almost afraid of how good a book it will be, and I'm afraid of crying as at 35 I'm still a book crying virgin.


----------



## Verum Scriptor

This list was difficult to compile. By adding some titles I had to remove others. In no particular order here they are:

"D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II" -Stephen E. Ambrose
Although Ambrose has come under criticism I enjoyed this book. It was well put together, highly educational, yet easy to read, and it encouraged me to read other WW II documentaries.

The Lord of the Rings (whole series) -J.R.R. Tolkien
I love these books. Every time I read them I learn more about Tolkien's world... He created a world, complete with history, cultures and languages. Then he gave us a brief glimpse of some of the things that happened within his world.

"White Fang" -Jack London
A childhood favorite. One of the books that I give credit to for my love of reading.

"Good Omens" -Terry Pratchett and Neilgaiman
I laughed from cover to cover... Then laughed some more... I am laughing right now.

"Hamlet" William Shakespeare
There are many characters that I love in this play, but Hamlet is my favorite... Is he insane?

"My Favorite Summer: 1956" -Mickey Mantle
This was the first adult level book that I read. Also about one of the greats in a sport that I loved.

"The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" -Douglas Adams
Another incredibly funny book. I believe that I came close to unconsciousness from lack of breathing while reading this book.

"Count of Monte Cristo" -Alexandre Dumas
Great plot. Gave me inspiration for plot lines of my own.

"Timeline" -Michael Crichton
I could not make a list of my favorite books without including some of this authors’ works. If I were to include all of his works that I wanted, the list would be comprised entirely of Crichtons books. Every time I read one of his books I feel as though I have just been through a college course.

"White Fang" -Jack London
A chilhood favorite.  One of the books that I give credit to for my love of reading.

"Good Omens" -Terry Pratchett and Neilgaiman
I laughed from cover to cover... Then laughed some more... I am laughing right now.

"Hamlet" William Shakespeare
There are many characters that I love in this play, but Hamlet is my favorite... Is he insane?

"My Favorite Summer: 1956" -Mikey Mantle
This was the first adult level book that I read.  Also about one of the greats in a sport that I loved.

"The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" -Douglas Adams
Another incrediably funny book.  I believe that I came close to unconciousness from lack of breathing while reading this book.

"Count of Monte Cristo" -Alexandre Dumas
Great plot.  Gave me inspiration for plot lines of my own.

"Timeline" -Michael Crichton
I could not make a list of my favorite books without including some of this aurthors works.  If I were to include all of his works that I wanted, the list would be comprised entirly of Crichtons books.  Every time I read one of his books I feel as though I have just been through a college course.

I know this list is a bit hodge podge, but I have been accused many times of being a jack of all trades.


----------



## Verum Scriptor

Oh, and how did I not include "The Canterbury Tales" -Geoffrey Chaucer?
I especially enjoy satires which have their attention focused on society (Mark Twain comes to mind).


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## nicolam2711

Found it quite hard to pick my top ten favourite books.  Always feel like I'm forgetting about something

1. The Harry Potter Series - J. K. Rowling

I realise it's more than one book but as a few people have mentioned growing up with these books gives them a special place with me. Also loved so many of the characters throughout the series.

2. Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

I have read all of Jodi Picoult's books but for me this one stands out as my favourite.  Love seeing the story switching points of view and feeling sympathetic for all of them.

3. Matilda - Roald Dahl

Absolutely loved both the book and film as a child.

4.  This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen

This book for some reason has been re-read quite a few times.  Just an enjoyable story really.

5. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire

Enjoyed this spin on the classic children's story. Couldn't get into the rest of the series but loved this first book.

6. My Best Friend's Girl - Dorothy Koomson

This was sad at times, but still a heart warming story.

7. Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli

Can't really explain why this has always remained one of my favourites.

8. The Great Gatsby -  F. Scott Fitzgerald

Read this at school and loved it.

9. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown

My favourite of this series. Didn't enjoy The Lost Symbol as much but looking forward to reading the next one.

10. Lord of the Flies - William Golding

Running out of reasons to explain why these are my favourites. This one was also a book I read in school.  Loved seeing how the children coped without adults.

These books aren't necessarily in order of favourite. Still feel like I'm missing some important ones that should have been on this list but for now this will do.


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## moderan

Why pick? Whichever ten are closest to-hand at any given time are the best.


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## nicolam2711

Yeah I find it difficult as I keep every book I have ever purchased and regularly give out favourites to friends. Hard to keep track of all the favourites when there's so many.


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## Nee

*War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells*

*Of Mice and Man, by John Strinbeck*

*Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury *

*On the Road, by Jack Keroack *

*Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein *

*Dune, by Frank Herbert  *

*Bag of Bones, by Stephen King *

*Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling *

*Joli Blon’s Bounce, by James Lee Burke*

*Grave Tattoo, by Val McDermid*


*.*


----------



## Travers

Here are my top ten in no particular order.

Now I Am Six - A. A. Milne.
It's not a novel but a book of poems, I hope that's allowed in the list. Nothing so quickly takes me back to my childhood and I find the poem 'Us Two' so touching.

A Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams.
This was my first real read of a more adult kind when I was... I don't know, 11 or 12. It was great to see that even adults could be silly.

Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams
As soon as I finished The Hitchhiker's Guide I picked this straight up and I've loved it ever since. I was mortified however, by the BBC dramatisation of it. Horrendous! 

Men At Arms - Terry Pratchett
It's very thought to pick my favourite Discworld novel but I think this has to be it. I love all of the guards novels in particular, they show off Pratchett's ability to create fully rounded characters perfectly. 

Insomnia - Stephen King
The man is a master of his own imagination. He can pluck ideas out of nowhere am turn them in to tense and creepy novels. Again it was tough to choose but I think this was his best.

I'm going to have to stop at give because I really should be asleep right now. I'll add more later on.


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## 7who8what9yep

Wow it would be so difficult to figure out my top ten. I'll have to think about it.


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## death cab

This is tricky. These will really probably just be the first ten books that come to my mind when I hear the word favorite, and in no special order.

The Shining by Stephen King - Mr. Kings magnum opus, in my humble opinion. I saw the film first years ago and was immediately interested enough to get the book from my local library. Amazing stuff, and Jack Torrance may just be my favorite character in all of literature.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane - Actually read the book first this time, and glad I did. This is the book that got me hooked on the psychological aspect of thriller and horror novels. Scorsese didn't do a bad job of booting it for the silver screen, either. 

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - Brilliant masterpiece. Awesome language and the perfect metaphor for teenagerdom. 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon - Very cute.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach - Got it for Christmas last year and read it two or three times since. The characters are very lively and I highly recommend it. 

Misery by Stephen King - Freaking awesome. Read it for a book report freshman year and loved it ever since. Annie Wilkes has to be my favorite villain of all time. 

11/22/63 by Stephen King - Not a favorite for all King fans, but I loved it. It doesn't hurt that I have a strong interest in the JFK assassination, either. The love interest was great and I think it's the first time I ever found romance in a novel to be as if not more interesting than the topic at hand.

My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Pro Wrestling by Bret Hart - I've loved professional wrestling ever since I can remember and I'm not ashamed to say it. I've read many autobiographies (mostly ghost-written, this one isn't) and this was the most truthful and revealing of them. The dry sense of humor he has is great too. The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.

The Manhattan Hunt Club by John Saul - I'm a sucker for a cheap thriller and this is as good as they get. Which reminds me, I need to read more Saul soon!

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris - Who doesn't love this book? Or at least the movie?


----------



## Pluralized

Jeez - It is hard to pick favorite books, since I love them all for their own reasons.

A Thousand Splendid Suns -- Khaled Hosseini -- First book I read with a female protagonist that I felt actually portrayed true subservient misery properly, and it was written by a man. This book echoed in my head for months afterward, and I can still taste broken molars.

Dune - Frank Herbert -- Probably the most believable epic story, due to the MC you can't help but love and relate to. I have read the entire series and refer to it often just to reset the buttons in my head when my prose goes wonky. Which is all the time.

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga - Grips my heart unlike anything I've ever read.

Demian - Hermann Hesse (of course) -- Superb, powerful, fast read. Hesse, even through translation, is a master of emotional scene-building.

On The Road - Kerouac -- Read this in one sitting. Fastest, most entertaining book ever. Loved every word.

Sailor Song - Ken Kesey -- This story is set in a sort of unorthodox post-NWO land where the UN controls everything, but organized religion is still quite powerful. Mr. Kesey is a master of outlandish characters, all of whom make you shake your head and smile.

Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen -- A unique story, set on a Depression-era train which contains a roving circus, replete with all manner of hooligans, drunks, and thieves. A page-turner, and such a powerful ending that I actually cried a little. Chuck Norris-style, but still.

Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco -- So dense and complicated, but somehow you end up trusting that he actually is telling a story the entire time, and at the end, you realize how powerful the whole thing was and is. Probably a masterwork that will be studied after his death as one of the most complex and brilliant pieces of work ever devised. 

DaVinci Code - I hate to say it, but the ending sucked horrifically. The only reason it is on my list is the opening scene in the Louvre. So real and so great. Loved every bit of it. The rest of the book, was, meh.

Wait, did I just burn one of my slots for Dan Brown? Crap. The last place will go to Robert Ludlum's The Lazarus Vendetta. Purists will scoff, but this is a great book that moves very quickly, and keeps your interest the entire time. The storyline is coherent, the tension is consistent, and I finished it in three nights. It stands out as one of the best I've read.


----------



## Yurika

Wow. How to choose? Here goes nothing:

10. _Watership Down_ by Richard Adams. Kind of bullied into this one by my English teacher who made us read everything _but _the prescribed books. I loved it. Talking rabbits with their own culture, history and traditions? Classic fantasy with some dandelions thrown in.

9. _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ by C.S. Lewis. Reading this book is like going through a rite of passage. Read it as an adult and it made me feel like a kid again.

8. _The White Queen_ by Philippa Gregory. I love history and I love fiction - I love Philippa Gregory. This one is my favourite. She even mixed in a bit of fantasy to bring the War of the Roses to life.

7. _Spud _by John van de Ruit. Maybe I'm biased, being South African and having gone to a boarding school as John and his characters did... This is South African high school culture at its best. It's like a checklist of all the stupid stuff you've done (sneaking out, getting stuck in windows etc.) and should have done.

6. _Labyrinth _by Kate Mosse. This woman has the ability to describe an environment and capture an atmosphere in such a way that you truly lose yourself in it. It's all mystery and potions and spells and car chases and journalists and power plays... Yes please!

5. _The Clan of the Cave Bear_ by Jean M. Auel. This is nothing less than excellent. The research that went into this and the creativity involved in putting together a social system for neanderthals and cro-magnons... Astounding. The story was expertly crafted. I didn't care much for the rest of the books in the series (especially _The Plains of Passage_ - fell asleep four times), but I kind of forced myself into reading them. The first remains the best, though.

4. _Eragon_ by Christopher Paolini. Nothing like a good story about dragons and elves. Classic fantasy. Paolini wrote the first draft for this book when he was 15 - and this little fact finally convinced me that I could be writing too. It was the catalyst to building my own fantasy series.

3. _Papillon _by Henri Charriere. So much controversy around this book. True story of a fugitive that managed to escape from various prisons in South America. It has everything from gambling and murder to lepers and coconuts.

2. _The Catcher in the Rye_ by J.D. Salinger. For anyone who has ever hated the idea of conformity. Warning though: the book has been linked to a number of murders and assassinations, including that of John Lennon and Rebecca Schaeffer. I found the story to have a positive message, but it did make me want to scream at graffiti artists.

1. _The Hobbit_ by J.R.R. Tolkien. The first fantasy book I ever read, and the one that catapulted me into this vast genre. And to top it off, Tolkien was born in South Africa. Nothing like hiking the Hogsback Mountains and seeing the world through his eyes.


----------



## spartan928

I read Papillon when I was 15 and loved that book. If you haven't read it check out Unbroken; A WW2 Story of Survival. You will not put it down.


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## Yurika

Thanks! Gonna check it out


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## philistine

Off the top of my head, and in no particular order:

1. _Sons and Lovers_ by D.H. Lawrence
2. _No Longer Human_ by Osamu Dazai
3. _The Count of Monte Cristo_ by Alexandre Dumas
4. _Love in the Time of Cholera_ by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
5. _The Tunnel_ by Ernesto Sabato
6. _Forbidden Colours_ by Yukio Mishima
7. _In Search of Lost Time_ by Marcel Proust
8. _The Plague_ by Albert Camus
9. _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_ by Jules Verne
10. _The Woman in the Dunes_ by Kobo Abe

That was much more difficult than I'd originally anticipated. :O


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## escorial

Cannery Row
To Kill A Mocking Bird
The Cement Garden
Saturday
Black Dogs
Paw Tracks in the Moonlight
Kes
The Modfather
Animal Farm
The Complete Works of Edgar Alan Poe


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## Omi

Oh geez. Only ten? Numbers one through three are in order, the rest are just books I really loved in no particular order. 

1. Off Season by Jack Ketchum
It made me want to be a writer. It totally connected with my taste in horror fiction and still does. I want to write like Ketchum. 

2. The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
Holy crap. Yes. Excellent book for showing just how terrifying and awful people can be and how sometimes a good person does horrible things. I very nearly put this one at number one. 

3. Jurassic Park by Micheal Crichton
The very first 'serious' novel I ever read. I read it after seeing the movie. I really prefer the book; the movie left out so much good stuff!

4. Red by Jack Ketchum
The first book that made me cry. The whole book is magnificent. 

5. Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite
My introduction to Brite and what an introduction it was. Blew me away. Loved it and everything about it. 

6. The Lost by Jack Ketchum
Really portrayed the sociopaths killer well. Gave me chills. 

7. Tie: City Infernal and Infernal Angel by  Edward Lee
I sometimes find that Lee veers into purple prose but these book were exactly right and Lee paints a vivid and fascinating portrait of Hell.

8. Monstrosity by Edward Lee
I have a special place for this one because I picked it up when I was young and lost it before I could read it. I discovered Lee another way through Ketchum and then found this book later and was like: "Hey! I remember buying this and I know that author!" 

9. House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski
Is it horror, an autobiography, a film review, a love story or all of them mashed together? Whatever it is, it is awesome. 

10. The Andromeda Strain by Micheal Crichton
I loved this book, one of the finest thrillers I've ever read. Part techno-thriller, part science-fiction, all excellence.


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## John T. K.

Well I can't pick just ten and I know I will forget some great books and not mention them, but here it goes anyway and in no particular order:

The Winds of War/War and Remembrance, by Herman Wouk.
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.
The Shining, by Stephen King.
Dune, by Frank Herbert.
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, by Hunter S. Thompson.
Light in August, by William Faulkner.
Dracula, by Bram Stoker.
The Gunslinger series (some much better than others) by Stephen King.
The Second World War series by Winston Churchill. A little windy but very informative.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

I could go on and on, really.


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## Este

I've read loads of books and here are five of my favourites, as I couldn't really find ten of them

Worth Dying For by Lee Child: It has one of the most shocking and emotional storylines of any of the Jack Reacher novels so far

The Crucifix Killer by Chris Carter: Not the creator of The X Files, but a former criminal psychologist wrote this exciting serial killer thriller

All the Pretty Girls by JT Ellison: A very good serial killer thriller, with the main characters, a police detective and an FBI profiler, in a relationship, something different

Rain Gods by James Lee Burke: I'm not into noir, but this was very well written and had a good storyline and characters

The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver: A good psychological thriller with many exciting twists that Jeffery Deaver is renowned for putting in his stories

What do you think?


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## Boofy

My top ten reads of all time are probably:

*1. The Dune Saga *- *Frank Herbert* (Not including James Herbert's Star Warsy continuation and subsequent massacre of the series... but up until then, these were perfect. Don't get me wrong... I love Star Wars. That just wasn't what these books were intended as)

*2. 1984 -* *George Orwell* (An obvious choice, but more deserving than most I can think of)

*3. The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson *(I met him, he put in writing that I was the greatest person who ever lived. I am obligated to put him on the list. I actually love everything he's written thus far, but this one is my favourite)

*4. The Book of the New Sun *- *Gene Wolfe* (I will NEVER write anything this good... I mean never. It's a Sci-Fi dressed as a Fantasy anyway)

*5. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller* (Absurdly funny, aggressive satire well ahead of it's time)

*6. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley* (Come on, you know why)

*7. Temeraire - Naomi Novik *(Amazing fantasy twist on history. Fantastic female author)

*8. A Song of Ice and Fire - George R R Martin *(The best fantasy I've read in a long time)

*9. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams* (The frustrating thing is that Comedy Sci-Fi is dead and I can't bring it back, God damn it. He was too good at what he did)

*10. Too Much Information: Or Can Everybody Just Shut Up for a Moment, Some of Us are Trying to Think - Dave Gorman* (Whimsical pedantry. Yep. That says it all)


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## ShadowEyes

Boofy said:


> *6. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley* (Come on, you know why)



Hey Boof, I never read it 'cause I can't find it in the bookstore, but Huxley wrote an earlier book called Point Counter-Point, which is supposed to be better than Brave New World.


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## Boofy

On the list she goes! Thank you, Mr. I appreciate that a lot. ^^


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## ShadowEyes

Well, since I'm here and I finished reading the poetry, I'll throw up a list for shots and goggles:

1.  The Gospel of John  -- Only gets better with re-reads and historical understanding.
2.  The Lord of the Rings -- Thought-out.
3.  Howl's Moving Castle -- Wonderfully dense plot.
4.  Dune #1  --  Viewpoint shifts between character dialogue.
5.  The Rithmatist -- Unique magic system with _illustrations_!!
6.  The Name of the Wind  --  A nice ego-trip.
7.  The Everlasting Man -- Interesting paradoxical contrast to everything else.
8.  Goblin Quest -- Just plain fun. 
9.  Swann's Way -- Eventually I'll get to reading this, but just from the first couple chapters, I can tell it'll be worth the wait.
10.  The Book of Strange New Things -- A cool character relationship that withers one way and expands another.

Welp, I covered all the genres to cover my butt.


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## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord

*1. The Bible
* I am not sure I can explain this one, but I'll try. It is beautiful, with the darkest brokenness and the brightest redemption. It is the center of everything I believe in. My favorite parts are Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, the Gospels, and Revelation.

The rest of these are in no particular order. It's too difficult to figure out which I like best.

*The Chronicles of Narnia--C. S. Lewis
*These are probably some of the best children's books of all time. My favorites are the Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Last Battle.

*Sophia House--Michael O'Brien
*There is so much depth of thought in this book. People will always say how some books have a plot line in the physical and some have a plot line in the emotional, but I think that this one has a plot-line that is somehow even deeper than emotions--a soul-level plot line. The characters were also very raw and true-to-life.

*The House at Pooh Corner--A. A. Milne
*This book made me laugh more than any "adult" book has. It is whimsical but also has depth.

*The Hobbit--J. R. R. Tolkien
*Pure fantasy storytelling at its best.

*The Kalevala--Elias Lonnrot
*This is the epic poem of Finland; it's basically a lot of their folklore compiled into a loosely connected narrative. It is a window into Finnish culture; I like the mythology and symbolism, and Illmarinen and Lemminkainen's mom are two of my favorite characters of all.

*1984--George Orwell
*It disturbed me, but stuck with me. Masterful writing.
*
Til We Have Faces--C. S. Lewis
*It's a tragedy, allegorical, a re-telling of the Cupid and Psyche myth. The fall of the protagonist was extremely well-done, and I loved the characters.

*Voyage to Alpha Centauri--Michael O'Brien
*Michael O'Brien doesn't usually write science fiction, but this was very good. As always with Michael O'Brien, the characters really stuck with me and it was very deep. The story was simply amazing.

*Anderson's Fairy Tales--Hans Christian Anderson
*I'm not sure this counts as one book, but, oh well. These range from ironic and whimsical (Hans Clodhopper) to these sweeping, beautiful narratives like the Snow Queen and the Marsh King's Daughter.


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## Teb

In no particular order

Interesting Times - Terry Pratchett - Probably my favourite Discworld but not by far, Night Watch is a close runner up. 

Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham - From the very start it holds my attention, brilliant.

Temple - Matthew Reilly - Guilty pleasure. Disengage brain, relax and let the action flow. This guy does not stop for realism.

Indigo Slam - Robert Crais - The first ever Elvis Cole and Joe Pike book I found, in a charity store, 50P it cost me. Hooked since then.

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller - Yossarian lives, nuff said.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Phillips K. Dick - Overlooked by many, my copy is well thumbed and probably in need of replacement.

Night Warriors - Graham Masterton - One sick puppy but the Night Warrior series are great reads all round.

Flying Start - Hugh Dundas - Autobiography of a fighter pilot in the war.

Piece of Cake - Derek Robinson - Another one harking back to the RAF in the war, this time fictional. Great characters though.

Red Dwarf Omnibus - Rob Grant/Doug Naylor - Who doens't like Red Dwarf, and what better than the book. 


Honourable mentions to Team Yankee (Harold Coyle), Goodbye Mickey Mouse (Len Deighton) and Mody Dick (Herman Melville)


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## Dreamer

tbs21 said:


> 4. _The Da Vinci Code, _by Dan Brown
> Although I highly disagree with the idea presented here of Christ having a child, it makes for a good fictional story.



Old post but... Jesus was a man was he not, or was he some sort of an alien?


1. Dracula by Stoker 
I have read this book probably one too many times, doesn't change that it is a good read. 

2. Jaws by Benchley
I literally use Jaws to evaluate libraries when I move, if they don't have Jaws in their catalog then I've found it is usually a poor [limited] selection. 

3. Jurassic Park by Crichton. 
Could never really get into the movies [really only good one was the 1st but then that might have just been the actors - Neill & Goldblum - and the guy who played the warden (Robert Muldoon - Peck)] and the new one simply sucks it is ridiculously stupid. 

4. Rod: The Autobiography 
My mother read it, and it sounded hilarious at parts. It's a cute read in a way. 

5. Dune (whole saga, you just can't read one really) by F. Herbert
To Boofy, Dune actually has some depth to it... Star Wars is flaky child's play in comparison. Even the movies can't be compared - I mean Sting as an actor. Dune to Star Wars is like comparing von Gogh (or Monet) to a finger painting. 

6. Night Watch & Day Watch by Lukyanenko 
Some may find the books / series a tough read, I enjoyed them. Unfortunately, I've only ever found those two in the local libraries. 

7. LOTR, Hobbit and Silmarillion by Tolkien
I've read them all, enjoyable. So much better than modern [finger painting quality] books of the same mindset / background. 

8.  War and Peace by Tolstoy
This one I liked, could never really get into  Anna Karenina though I tried a few times to read that one straight through. 

9. Call of the Wild by London
My grandfather bought one of the original 1903 versions - which was illustrated unlike some of the newer publication versions [unless the library one I read people had torn the pages out of]. It's been in the family for years. 

10. Jæger – i krig med eliten by Rathsack
Cousin sent it to me. It is very good. I also wanted to read Operation Dark Heart by Shaffer but the fact the book is totally censored [it isn't the original version] pretty much curbed that.


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## ra1902

I've been thinking about this. It's a hard question to answer only because I've read lots of books, mostly when I was younger. I mean I would start at the beginning of an shelf in the library and take however many books I was aloud to check out than I would repeat the next week. Either way, I'll make this easy on me and pick the ones that still stick out in my mind. 

Fear Street Saga - R.L Stine
     I cannot say just one book although Silent Night I wore out my copy and remembered having taped it up so much that my mom eventually replaced it for me. I'll probably say they wouldn't have the same effect now, but when I was a kid I spent my nights reading them over and over. 

The Last Vampire Series -Christopher Pike 
     Almost the same with R.L Stine.  They were what I wanted to be when I grew up. 

Chasing Forever Down - Nikki Godwin (Top Books for me right now)
     She brings me into this world that I would never know about. I feel like I am right there with the characters. 

Motocross Me - Cheyanne Young
      It's just a cute little book and reminds me of being at the track. Although different types of race tracks it still reminds me a little of my life growing up. 

Partials - Dan Wells
      It makes me wonder and I fell for the characters. 

Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Vern
      This was one I had to read in high school and decided it couldn't have been good then I chose to read it in college. (It was him or someone else) It turned out to be a really good book. 


I am sure there would be tons more but honestly these are the ones that are top of my head. I tend to like authors total works so it makes it rather difficult to pick just one.


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## Amnesiac

1. *The Book Thief - Markus Zusak* Told from the perspective of Death, this is truly an amazing book... It made me sob, the way no other book ever has.
2. *The Contortionist's Handbook - Clive Clevenger* - Strange book, but very compelling. Protagonist is a headache sufferer...
3. *The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Luis Zafon* - A wonderfully romantic, stormy, almost gothic tale
4. *The Onion Girl - Charles DeLint* - Phenomenal book... Beautifully written, fantasy/spiritual, and not without some real darkness... One of the best books I've ever read.
5. *Illusions - Richard Bach* - Written in his beautifully offhand and colloquial way, it is an amazing book, and I get something new out of it, with every reading.
6. *Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami *- Writing reminds me of J.D. Salinger, and it's a beautiful and surreal tale, like much of Murakami's stuff.
7. *Like A Charm - Karin Slaughter* - A series of short stories that center around a charm bracelet, and a story for each charm. Macabre and dark, Karin writes the first and last stories, like fastening the clasp, and guest authors write the rest of the tales.
8. *The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury *- Well, _anything_ by Bradbury, really... Frickin' _master_
9. *Market Forces - Richard Morgan* - Fantastic book... Set in the near (alternative) future. Excellent read...
10.* Virtual Light - William Gibson *- (as well, his short story anthology, "Burning Chrome.") Cyberpunk, and prophet of the internet, which he called, "The Sprawl." Exciting stuff!

So many more books... Every once in a while, I'll load up huge boxes of books and truck them over to the library and donate them, or donate them to a school, or to Goodwill. I am a voracious reader. I have so many more favorites...


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