# Name your all-time three favorite novels, in order. No more than three, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2025, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316 "2025-12-02T03:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/81 "2025-12-03T14:49:28Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > [@Author\_Balk](#): > > > > This has two of the four. Based on this I’m adding Jitterbug Perfume to my “to read” list. > > I’ve read all of Tom Robbins’ books and Jitterbug is my favorite by far. At some point I had read all of Tom Robbins’ novels up thru “Skinny Legs And All”. “Still Life With Woodpecker” was my favorite book at one point – I used to read it at least once a year. But looking back, everything before “Jitterbug Perfume” just seems dated and I don’t think they have aged well. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/82 "2025-12-03T14:51:15Z")
The Book of the New Sun – Gene Wolfe (Technically a Tetralogy, but it’s one complete story) Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell All the Birds in the Sky – Charlie Jane Anders ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/83 "2025-12-03T15:01:45Z")
1984 - George Orwell Titus Groan - Mervyn Peake A Storm of Swords - George R.R. Martin ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/84 "2025-12-03T15:13:55Z")
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/85 "2025-12-03T15:39:17Z")
The Brave Cowboy - Edward Abbey Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/86 "2025-12-03T15:43:54Z")
The Cheerleader – Ruth Doan MacDougall With the Next Man Everything Will Be Different – Eva Heller Waiting to Exhale – Terry McMillan ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/87 "2025-12-03T16:09:07Z")
Your titles all follow a theme! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/88 "2025-12-03T16:27:17Z")
Lolita, by Vladimir Nabakov Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole The Mezzanine, by Nicholson Baker (this is more a novella) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/89 "2025-12-03T19:21:33Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > _Metzger’s Dog_ – Thomas Perry Big fan of Thomas Perry - and what I consider humorous thrillers. Think my fave such book of his is Island. And - not humorous, but his Butcher’s Boy books are as good as any thrillers out there. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/90 "2025-12-03T21:01:17Z")
I’m losing concentration as I age, and do more doom scrolling than novel reading. **Lord of the Rings** (altho I didn’t finish the last reread) **Catch 22** (on the last reread some of the jokes had worn out, but the intelligence and originality seemed sharper than ever.) …and Zelazny’s **This Immortal,** which I’ve reread 8 times in the last 10 years, so I’m giving it its due. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/91 "2025-12-03T21:24:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > One of C.S. Forester’s “Horatio Hornblower” novels, like **Hornblower and the Atropos** I’m listening to this title right now. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/92 "2025-12-03T21:26:58Z")
Wow, these would all be on my top ten! (Well, I might go with Baker’s _Room Temperature_…) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/93 "2025-12-03T21:31:38Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > Suit yourself. Maybe you could try focusing on the book’s strong feminist message which is far more amenable to today’s standards. The **film** ending per wik_i- As Scarlett consoles Ashley, Rhett prepares to leave Atlanta. Having realized that it was Rhett, and not Ashley, whom she truly loved all along, Scarlett pleads with Rhett to stay, but he rebuffs her and walks away into the early morning fog. A distraught Scarlett resolves to return home to Tara, vowing to one day win Rhett back._ > [@CalMeacham](#): > > One of C.S. Forester’s “Horatio Hornblower” novels, like **Hornblower and the Atropos** Most were great it is hard to pick just one. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/94 "2025-12-03T21:39:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The **film** ending per wik_i- As Scarlett consoles Ashley, Rhett prepares to leave Atlanta. Having realized that it was Rhett, and not Ashley, whom she truly loved all along, Scarlett pleads with Rhett to stay, but he rebuffs her and walks away into the early morning fog. A distraught Scarlett resolves to return home to Tara, vowing to one day win Rhett back._ That’s the book’s ending as well. Are you saying that this ending is incongruent with a strong feminist character? The entire last half of this book is about how Scarlett rebuilds her fortune by rejecting society’s expectations of her and running her own business. I could expound further, but I don’t want to hijack this listing thread. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/95 "2025-12-03T21:40:26Z")
This is great - a reminder of many books I love, and a potential reading list of ones I haven’t. I don’t think, unless I missed it while doing a quick reach-through, that these three books are on anyone else’s list: 1. The Famished Road, by Ben Okri 2. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier My third choice is a YA novel, and I read it originally as a teen, but I still re-read it once a decade or so and find it resonates beautifully. > [@Author\_Balk](#): > > Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty I do love me some Liane Moriarty! I wish she’d churn out books faster; I’m always on the lookout for new ones. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/96 "2025-12-03T21:43:22Z")
I haven’t read any of his other works, and it sounds stylistically similar, so I’ll have to check it out! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/97 "2025-12-03T21:51:44Z")
Yes. For a different sort of Baker novel, I like _Checkpoint_, and parts of _The Fermata_. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/98 "2025-12-03T23:28:36Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > . I could expound further, but I don’t want to hijack this listing thread. I wont ague with you on that, but I think we can agree there are thousands- if not more of great books with a strong female character, etc- without wading thru the worst cesspool of crap racism since Birth of a Nation. Virginia Wolfe? Margaret Atwood? Simone de Beauvoir? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/99 "2025-12-04T00:30:48Z")
I love the book, and you do not. You are obviously far superior to myself. Maybe you will turn vegan in the future, you are so upright. Let’s get back to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316/100 "2025-12-04T01:42:58Z")
STOP HIJACKING THREADS WITH DUMB ARGUMENTS, YOUR THIS CLOSE TO BEING BANNED. YOU’VE BEEN BACKSLIDING A LOT LATELY. **Moderating:** Everyone, feel free to spin off a thread for sidebars if you like. **If you are responding to something in a thread that is basically off-topic or likely to lead to a hijack, try this:** How to **Reply as a linked Topic** : Click Reply, in the upper left corner of the reply window is the reply type button, _looks like a curving arrow point to the right_. Choose **Reply as linked topic** and it starts a new thread. As an example, you can choose GD, IMHO or The Pit for it. That is actually the best method. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-your-all-time-three-favorite-novels-in-order-no-more-than-three-please/1025316.md?page=6)