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Your Top 10 All-Time Favorite Books
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,806
We may have already done this before, but I'm always curious as to what are people's absolute to favorite books.
A difficult list to compile but I would say for me they are
Edward Abbey: The Fools Progress Uncle Ed's "fat masterpiece".
Sherman Alexie: Flight A great story with a mind-blowing literary climax.
Michael Azerrad: Our Band Could Be Your Life My favorite of many books read on contemporary music.
Wendell Berry: The Unsettling of America A tough choice- one of our finest essayists.
Truman Capote: Other Voices Other Rooms The first truly amazing book I ever read. Haunting, brilliant.
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird Her one and only book but how do you top this one?
Henry Miller: Tropic of Cancer Brilliant.
Henry Rollins: The Henry Rollins reader or any H.R. Real. Raw. Rollins. Hack or pack.
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden or...
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.: Good Bless You Mr. Rosewater I really wanted to say "the complete works of K.V.!
And for good measure, I can already tell one of my all-time favorite books will be the one I'm currently reading:
James Welch: The Heartsong of Charging Elk Sherman Alexie says this about Welch's book (and I can see why), "There are books you read once and put away. There are books you read once and never forget. And then there are those very special books you keep returning to, reading them once or twice a year for the rest of your life. James Welch's Heartsong is one of those very special books. I have read it three times already and plan to carry it around like a traveling salesman, like a zealous evangelist, forcing the book into the hands of strangers and friends, preaching, 'Hey, this may not save your life, but it's certainly going to give you a fighting chance.'"
What are your to 10 all-time favorite books?
A difficult list to compile but I would say for me they are
Edward Abbey: The Fools Progress Uncle Ed's "fat masterpiece".
Sherman Alexie: Flight A great story with a mind-blowing literary climax.
Michael Azerrad: Our Band Could Be Your Life My favorite of many books read on contemporary music.
Wendell Berry: The Unsettling of America A tough choice- one of our finest essayists.
Truman Capote: Other Voices Other Rooms The first truly amazing book I ever read. Haunting, brilliant.
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird Her one and only book but how do you top this one?
Henry Miller: Tropic of Cancer Brilliant.
Henry Rollins: The Henry Rollins reader or any H.R. Real. Raw. Rollins. Hack or pack.
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden or...
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.: Good Bless You Mr. Rosewater I really wanted to say "the complete works of K.V.!
And for good measure, I can already tell one of my all-time favorite books will be the one I'm currently reading:
James Welch: The Heartsong of Charging Elk Sherman Alexie says this about Welch's book (and I can see why), "There are books you read once and put away. There are books you read once and never forget. And then there are those very special books you keep returning to, reading them once or twice a year for the rest of your life. James Welch's Heartsong is one of those very special books. I have read it three times already and plan to carry it around like a traveling salesman, like a zealous evangelist, forcing the book into the hands of strangers and friends, preaching, 'Hey, this may not save your life, but it's certainly going to give you a fighting chance.'"
What are your to 10 all-time favorite books?
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
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Catcher in the rye - I know its very popular but have read it every year since grade 8 and I am 37 now.
Oblomov- Ivan Goncharev, i read this novel in 1st year university and it was great. if you can find it read it.
Native Son - Richard Wright. another one of those high school books that just stuck with me
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky. it was the reason i got into russian lit.
death with interruptions - Jose saramago- great Portuguese writer. this is not his strongest book but has a very interested premise
main street - Sinclair Lewis
The Trial - Franz kafka - had so many twist and turns
the apology- Plato - I would love to think this is how i would act in a court house for my life but sadly i think i would just wimp out
A prayer for Owen Meany- John irving - just very uplifting in a way
there are so many books but these are some of my favorites.
2. A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti -- this is basically my Bible; I read it every time I need inspiration, and if I don't see it on your bookshelf, chances are you'll receive a copy from me the next time I see you.
3. The Riverside Shakespeare -- for my money, the best annotated compilation out there of the Bard's complete works.
4. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger -- say what you will, but if the carousel passage doesn't move you, I don't think you have a goddamn soul. (All of the Glass stories basically destroy me as well.)
5. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville -- basically the whole damn mess of the human condition (obsession, love, pain, madness) finds its way into this book, and it's got some pretty damn gory bits as well.
6. The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley -- changed my life at age 16; this is the most important book I have ever read.
7. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy -- this book absolutely slayed me, and as soon as I finished reading the last page, I started over and immediately reread the book again.
8. Just Kids by Patti Smith -- I don't usually go in for memoirs, but this is perhaps the best book about NYC in the late-1960s/early-1970s; the very poetry of Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe's life together in that time and place is both heartbreaking and uplifting.
9. Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. -- sometimes you just have to let out your inner asshole (and even draw a crude picture of it) in order to let your entire world know that it's fucking absurd; it's cathartic.
10. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett -- this is the book that began my love affair with all other books, and it still has all of the magic and wonder, joy and sorrow, comfort and elation all these many years later.
Of Mice and Men ~ John Steinbeck As sad as this book is, I loved Lenny and that's why it's one of my faves.
Death of a Salesman ~ Arthur Miller The salesman in this book reminded me a lot of my grandfather, that's why I loved it so much.
The Fat Girls Guide To Life ~ Wendy Shanker This book was hilarious and fun to read, and made me feel less self conscious about my weight...
Blue Like Jazz ~ Donald Miller This book helped me find my way back to my faith.
Bad as I Wanna Be ~ Dennis Rodman This book was funny and heartfelt and full of honesty that I did not expect.
Anne of Green Gables ~ L.M. Montgomery This book took me on such an adventure as a kid, I remember imagining myself as Anne.
Wicked ~ Gregory Maguire This book is full of magic and wonder and was so perfectly written, it was turned into a hit Broadway musical, I don't know what more I could say about it.
Catching Fire(2nd book of Hunger games series) ~ Suzanne Collins This was my favorite of the series, I devoured it in no time at all...it was so good.
Supernatural - John Winchester's Journal This book was so much fun to read while watching the series, and to follow along and learn more about John Winchester than you do just from the show. You can also go back and look things up in the journal when Sam and Dean do, and use it as a guide.
Wow, I thought that list would be a lot harder to compile than it was...lol I guess I do read more than I realize...
Tattooed Dissident!
The Graduate
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Ishmael
The Illustrated Man
Celestine Prophecy
Goodbye Columbus
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Metamorphosis
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret
It
Some of my favorites off the top of my head are:
The Witching Hour, Anne Rice
Lasher, Anne Rice
Taltos, Anne Rice
The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice
Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
Beyond Einstein, Michio Kaku
On Writing, Stephen King
Native Tongue, Carl Hiaasen
The number 10 slot is open still. I’m hoping to fill it soon!
1. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
2. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
3. Still Life with Woodpecker - Tom Robbins
4. Atonement - Ian McEwan
5. Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
6. Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
7. The Cider House Rules - John Irving
8. The Liar's Club - Mary Karr
9. Watership Down - Richard Adams
10. The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson
Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Game of Thrones - George RR Martin
The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
The Complete Far Side - Gary Larson (hey, it's leather bound ...)
Tasteful Nudes: ...and Other Misguided Attempts at Personal Growth and Validation - Dave Hill
An Army at Dawn / The Day of Battle / The Guns at Last Light (Liberation Trilogy) - Rick Atkinson
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Family Matters - Rohinton Mistry
The Stand - Stephen King
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Blindness - Jose Saramago
Sophie's Choice - William Styron
Roots - Alex Haley
A Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Vanity Fair - William Thackery
The Concubine's Children - Denise Chong
10 books isn't a long enough list.
I am ashamed to admit that I still have not read The Catcher In The Rye.
Native Son
The God of Small Things
Gravity's Rainbow
Wicked
Celestine Prophecy
Life of Pi
The Cider House Rules
Game of Thrones
Angela's Ashes
Vanity Fair
...I mean, that's got to be a great top ten list right there. I've gotta live at least another 60 years. LOL!
In addition to my list above, Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila, Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus, The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha (edited by E.A. Burtt), and Jean-Paul Sartre's Being and Nothingness have all had a hand in keeping me on this planet.
It - Stephen King
Christine - Stephen King
A Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
A Season on the Brink - John Feinstein
Black Hawk Down - Mark Bowden
The Looming Tower - Lawrence Wright
Where Men Will Glory (the Odyssey of Pat Tillman) - John Krakauer
Echoes in the Darkness - Joseph Wambaugh
Fatal Vision - Joe McGinnis
Flash Boys - Michael Lewis
1. Where The Red Fern Grows- Wilson Rawls
2. Harry Potter- J.K. Rowling
3. Insomnia- Stephen King
4. Of Mice And Men- John Steinbeck
5. The Shining- Stephen King
6. Catcher In The Rye- J.D. Salinger
7. Angels & Demons- Dan Brown
8. The Lost City Of Z- David Grann
9. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World- Vicki Myron
10.. The Hobbit- J. R. R. Tolkien
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly
There's also a song called Gravity's Rainbow by the Klaxons.
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly
I think they're cousins :-))
Yeah, gotta watch that Train- the ride gets bumpy.
Going to give that list another try? Doesn't have to be 10- just your favorites!
http://imgur.com/a/nk0s7
but they're a bit of trouble to post. You have to go to the link, hover your mouse over the smiley, click on the geared wheel to brink up that particular smiley's link and the copy and past that link into an open image box. I have no idea how a computer illiterate like me figured that one out.
Looking forward to seeing you list njnancy!
:-bd btw goncharOv
another book that people might like to read is called the Political Minds by george Lakoff. its look at how the brain looks at the world and how this effects the way we look at the world politically. very interesting stuff.
another great book is mao II by Don Delillo.
2. Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
3. Fahrenheit 451 -Ray Bradbury
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
5. Where The Sidewalk Ends - Shel Silverstein
6. Theodore Rex - Edmund Morris
7. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
8. Tishomingo Blues - Elmore Leonard
9. Foundation - Isaac Asimov
10. Rabbit, Run - John Updike
I pretty much could have put a list of all Stephen King or the entire Foundation/Robot series, but wanted to mix it up. Hard to make a definitive top 10, as I could add some Vonnegut, Lord of the Rings, etc.
Fictional Novels -
The Gods Themselves - Issac Asimov (Was a huge influence on what books i sought for a long time, and it still influences me today. )
The Children's Crusade/Hocus Pocus - Kurt Vonnegut (The first two authors consumed my life from college through my 20's - I would sit in the college library, on the floor amongst the books, and read Vonnegut voraciously. Though I own almost all of the first two author's books - Asimov's best, imho, was easy. Vonnegut not so much.)
A Wrinkle In Time - Madeline D'Engle (i read this book in 4th grade, i believe, and the imagery and feelings still stick with me today. This novel was pivotal in my life - i already wanted to be a writer and was writing poetry and journalling daily - and i still own all those journals back to my grade school days - but this book awakened my imagination and sparked the ability to lose oneself in a novel)
The Talisman/Black House - Stephen King & Peter Straub (I follow both authors, but I am a Stephen KIng fanatic. The original & sequel with Peter Straub are so descriptive and engaged me in an emotional way -I recall being on the bus going to work in the City and I can feel the emotions that caused me to sob uncontrollably, much to my dismay, at one point in the novel (didn't have any tissues either) )
Lisey's Story - Stephen King (This novel just drew me out and brought me into the book; something about how this was written or the subject matter just touched me and i can still feel and see the story right now)
The Witching Hour - Anne Rice (this book is just pure genius. Horror yet sensual; twists, turns, and the level of talent shown in the author's writing is just beautiful.)
Trinity/Mila 18 - Leon Uris (The ability to educate about historical events while weaving a fictional tale about people you feel are real just sucked me in and had me looking for more)
No Exit - John Paul Sartre (In my senior year of high school, the theme for my English honors Class was existentialism - out of all the wonderful novels i read - this one blew me away due to it's complete hell-like existence without any hope for joy)
Tara Road - Maeve Binchy (she could tell a story like the Irish woman she was - this was part of a trilogy, all equally excellent. I was able to live vicariously through the characters and be one with my Irish heritage.)
The Andromeda Strain - Michael Crichton (graphic, and terrifying in it's emptiness)
Nightfall - Nelson DeMille (I love his novels and this one was a fictionalization of a mysterious plane downing in New York - i had a hard time picking one of his novels - but i went with this)
Looking For Mr. Goodbar - Judith Rossner (I was in 8th grade when i read this i think; it is a powerful, scary, sad commentary on personal relationships, loneliness and predatory behavior. - It is a frightening but completely realistic novel. I didn't make the connection between physical violence and emotional violence at that time, unfortunately)
Earth's Children Series - Jean Auel (the research and preparation that caused these books to be so many years apart was worth the wait - I felt simplicity in the way of life and also empowered by a strong female character who is accepted even in 'the stone age)
Ernest Hemingway's complete works (can't pick one - his writing is fine dining for the mind)
Shakespere's Sonnets - no better poetry have i ever read and memorized
I cut out 15 more fiction books - they are mad at me, i know.
^^^ You can make it up to those books by posting their Titles/Authors here. :-)
i know this much is true - wally lamb
owen meany - john irving
the art of fielding - that new guy
excecutioner's song - norman mailer
steinbeck
in cold blood - capote
all three by the kite runner guy
anything by richard russo
I'll come up with more, I'm sure. I have a book "going" at all times.
add: angela's ashes
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14