# Books, books, books, and more books! **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [January 1, 2026, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234 "2026-01-01T10:11:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/21 "2026-01-02T17:55:31Z")
1. _The Color of Magic_ - Terry Pratchett’s _Discworld_ series 2. _Storm Front_ - Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series 3. _Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone_ - JK Rowlings Harry Potter series 4. _The Book of Three_ - Lloyd Alexander’s _The Chronicles of Prydain_ series 5. _Into the Storm_ - Taylor Anderson’s Destroyermen series 6. _A Wrinkle in Time_ - Madeleine L’Engle’s _Time Quintet_ 7. _Elric of Melniboné_ - Michael Moorcock’s _Elric_ series 8. _The Curse of Chalion_ - Lois McMaster Bujold’s _Chalion_ series 9. _Lord Foul’s Bane_ – Stephen R. Donaldson’s _Chronicles of Thomas Covenant_ series ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/22 "2026-01-02T19:48:11Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > _Lord Foul’s Bane_ – Stephen R. Donaldson’s _Chronicles of Thomas Covenant_ series I wouldn’t call that a kids’ book. > [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > _Into the Storm_ - Taylor Anderson’s Destroyermen series I’d call that (and his Artillerymen series) SF, not fantasy. And I wouldn’t call it a kids’ book, either. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/23 "2026-01-02T21:50:14Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > First Books in a Fantasy Series > > > [@SCAdian](#): > > > > I wouldn’t call that a kids’ book. The topic of the _first_ list called for YA books, but the second list did not. The fact that some of the books on it happened to be YA books was simply because they were not specifically excluded, but one list has nothing to do with the other. The next list might be “Books frequently stolen from bookstores,” “banned books,” or “Books turned into Hitchcock films.” ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/24 "2026-01-03T01:41:52Z")
Oops. Don’t pay any attention to me. I’ll just sit here in a corner and try to figure out where my mind went, and why it left without me… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/25 "2026-01-03T05:24:47Z")
**First Books in a Fantasy Series** 1. _The Color of Magic_ - Terry Pratchett’s _Discworld_ series 2. _Storm Front_ - Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series 3. _Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone_ - JK Rowlings Harry Potter series 4. _The Book of Three_ - Lloyd Alexander’s _The Chronicles of Prydain_ series 5. _Into the Storm_ - Taylor Anderson’s Destroyermen series 6. _A Wrinkle in Time_ - Madeleine L’Engle’s _Time Quintet_ 7. _Elric of Melniboné_ - Michael Moorcock’s _Elric_ series 8. _The Curse of Chalion_ - Lois McMaster Bujold’s _Chalion_ series 9. _Lord Foul’s Bane_ – Stephen R. Donaldson’s _Chronicles of Thomas Covenant_ series 10. _The Summer Tree_ - Guy Gavriel Kay’s _The Fionavar Tapestry_ series Next: **Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/26 "2026-01-03T12:17:26Z")
**Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy Or maybe my English teacher was just Hardy-obsessed. But she put me off his novels for life. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/27 "2026-01-03T13:50:07Z")
**Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy 3. _A Separate Peace_, John Knowles ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/28 "2026-01-03T14:46:11Z")
**Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy 3. _A Separate Peace_, John Knowles 4. _The Old Man And The Sea_, Ernest Hemingway ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/29 "2026-01-03T15:47:11Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > **Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy 3. _A Separate Peace_, John Knowles 4. _The Old Man And The Sea_, Ernest Hemingway 5. _The Scarlet Letter_, Nathaniel Hawthorne I Googled to make sure this was still being taught 40 years after I finished high school, and it sure is. Lots of new books, including recent Pulitzer Prize winners, but this is still there. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/30 "2026-01-03T18:47:43Z")
> **Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy 3. _A Separate Peace_, John Knowles 4. _The Old Man And The Sea_, Ernest Hemingway 5. _The Scarlet Letter_, Nathaniel Hawthorne 6. _Great Expectations_, Charles Dickens ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/31 "2026-01-04T12:10:49Z")
> **Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy 3. _A Separate Peace_, John Knowles 4. _The Old Man And The Sea_, Ernest Hemingway 5. _The Scarlet Letter_, Nathaniel Hawthorne 6. _Great Expectations_, Charles Dickens 7. _The Stone Angel_, Margaret Laurence (In Canada, eh?) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/32 "2026-01-04T12:22:29Z")
> [@](#): > > > **Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy 3. _A Separate Peace_, John Knowles 4. _The Old Man And The Sea_, Ernest Hemingway 5. _The Scarlet Letter_, Nathaniel Hawthorne 6. _Great Expectations_, Charles Dickens 7. _The Stone Angel_, Margaret Laurence 8. _Hamlet_, William Shakespeare not a novel, but novel-length, read like one, generally, and ubiquitous on high school reading lists-- been Googling, and it seems to be the thing that comes up most often ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/33 "2026-01-04T17:15:45Z")
> **Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy 3. _A Separate Peace_, John Knowles 4. _The Old Man And The Sea_, Ernest Hemingway 5. _The Scarlet Letter_, Nathaniel Hawthorne 6. _Great Expectations_, Charles Dickens 7. _The Stone Angel_, Margaret Laurence 8. _Hamlet_, William Shakespeare 9. _Brighton Rock_, Graham Greene ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/34 "2026-01-04T21:26:17Z")
**Typical High School English Lit Novels** 1. _Lost Horizon_, James Hilton 2. _Return of the Native_, Thomas Hardy 3. _A Separate Peace_, John Knowles 4. _The Old Man And The Sea_, Ernest Hemingway 5. _The Scarlet Letter_, Nathaniel Hawthorne 6. _Great Expectations_, Charles Dickens 7. _The Stone Angel_, Margaret Laurence 8. _Hamlet_, William Shakespeare 9. _Brighton Rock_, Graham Greene 10. _To Kill a Mockingbird_, Harper Lee **Picture books with amazing artwork** 1. _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ [as illustrated by Anthony Browne](https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/mar/29/anthony-browne-alice-in-wonderland-lewis-carroll) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/35 "2026-01-04T23:59:43Z")
**Picture books with amazing artwork** 1. _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ [as illustrated by Anthony Browne](https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/mar/29/anthony-browne-alice-in-wonderland-lewis-carroll) 2. _Dinotopia_, written and illustrated by James Gurney Gurney’s assignments as an illustrator for National Geographic required him to work with archaeologists to envision and paint ancient cities that no one alive today has ever seen. This inspired him to imagine his own Utopia, a civilization where sapient dinosaurs and humans coexist peacefully. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/36 "2026-01-05T18:22:05Z")
**Picture books with amazing artwork** 1. _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ [as illustrated by Anthony Browne](https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/mar/29/anthony-browne-alice-in-wonderland-lewis-carroll) 2. _Dinotopia_, written and illustrated by James Gurney 3. _Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book_, written and illustrated by Brian Froud. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/37 "2026-01-05T20:24:54Z")
- _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ [as illustrated by Anthony Browne](https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/mar/29/anthony-browne-alice-in-wonderland-lewis-carroll) - _Dinotopia_, written and illustrated by James Gurney - _Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book_, written and illustrated by Brian Froud. - _Realms of Fantasy_, written / edited by Malcolm Edwards and Robert Holdstock, various illustrators. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/38 "2026-01-06T03:19:31Z")
- _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ [as illustrated by Anthony Browne](https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/mar/29/anthony-browne-alice-in-wonderland-lewis-carroll) - _Dinotopia_, written and illustrated by James Gurney - _Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book_, written and illustrated by Brian Froud. - _Realms of Fantasy_, written / edited by Malcolm Edwards and Robert Holdstock, various illustrators. - _The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable_, written by Terry Pratchett, illustrated by Paul Kidby. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/39 "2026-01-06T12:11:32Z")
**Picture books with amazing artwork** 1. _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ [as illustrated by Anthony Browne](https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/mar/29/anthony-browne-alice-in-wonderland-lewis-carroll) 2. _Dinotopia_, written and illustrated by James Gurney 3. _Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book_, written and illustrated by Brian Froud. 4. _Realms of Fantasy_, written / edited by Malcolm Edwards and Robert Holdstock, various illustrators. 5. _The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable_, written by Terry Pratchett, illustrated by Paul Kidby. 6. _The Arrival_, written and illustrated by Shaun Tan I gave my elderly mother a copy of Tan’s book. It made her cry, evoking memories of her own displaced childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234/40 "2026-01-06T12:54:25Z")
1. _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ [as illustrated by Anthony Browne](https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2015/mar/29/anthony-browne-alice-in-wonderland-lewis-carroll) 2. _Dinotopia_, written and illustrated by James Gurney 3. _Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book_, written and illustrated by Brian Froud. 4. _Realms of Fantasy_, written / edited by Malcolm Edwards and Robert Holdstock, various illustrators. 5. _The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable_, written by Terry Pratchett, illustrated by Paul Kidby. 6. _The Arrival_, written and illustrated by Shaun Tan 7. _Where the Wild Things Are_, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-books-books-and-more-books/1026234.md?page=3)