Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe detective stories)
Lee Child (Jack Reacher - Hobo not Vagrant!)
Tolkien
I find all these authors very re-readable. 
Terry Pratchett - lots of novels, and humor
Gene Wolfe - complex stories with plenty of depth so you can find more with every reading
John Barth – combination of the two others
My first thought was that one would be Vonnegut, but I’ve read lots of his stuff and while he’s one of my favorite authors I think I’d get tired of rereading him over and over after a while.
So I’ll go with:
Mark Twain - classic American humorist, lots of novels and short stories.
Neal Stephenson - writes huge sci-fi books that would take me a while to plow through, and I don’t think I’d ever get tired of rereading Snow Crash or Cryptonomicon.
David McCullough - because I’d need some non-fiction and he seems like a good fit.
And then I would be sad that I never get to read Catch-22 again.
Mark Twain and Isaac Asimov definitely, particularly if it included their complete works as it would give me a chance to non only re-read favorites but catch up on all the ones I haven’t read.
On a similar note, I think I would go with Terry Pratchett. AS others have said, lots of humor and interesting reading. Plus, I haven’t yet read any of the Wee free Men or Tiffany Aching books yet (although I think I have some of them on my Kindle).
Not having access to a TV or Internet for a year would give me a chance to catch up on a lot of reading.
I missed the “for a year” part of the OP. That makes a big difference if it’s not a permanent thing. I might have to put Vonnegut on that list after all. Sorry Mr McCollough!
Pratchett, Hiaasen, Ellison
Jane Austen
Patrick O’Brien
William Makepeace Thackeray
Depends a bit on what else there is to do on the desert island or in the woods.
Patrick O’Brien
Jim Butcher
David McCullough
A copy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica would keep me busy for a year.
I first read this as “you’re there with the author”, which was intriguing. That said:
- James Joyce
- Agatha Christie
That would keep me more than occupied.
Her books would be a years worth of reading alone.
I hope I don’t die before Outlander finale book comes out~if it doesn’t, my wraith will wreak revenge involving Gaelic curses and venomous things in unpredictable places.
Has your wife sought out and read other fiction by Gabaldon? She’s done some fun novellas and short story collections, most involving characters affiliated with Outlander characters or story lines. Worth scouting out.
Okay, but if you are a big time reader like me- who can easily read a book a day if no TV- and maybe two eve, then Getting three authors who together have written say 20 books is gonna be a poor choice, no?
I have all of his books, including “Sheps Army”, and yes I re-read them every so often, but that is like 7? book?
All good choices.
Absolutely. Innocents Abroad and Roughing it are two of my faves.
IMHO those are even better than most of the regular Discworld series. Read them!
Oh, well for me- maybe a month.
- Bernard Cornwell.
Those are the same sub-series. But there are non-Discworld books like Nation, the Nomes, Johnny Maxwell, and Dodger.
Elizabeth Linington, including the ones she wrote as Dell Shannon and Leslie Egan (three series of police procedurals)
Isaac Asimov (I prefer his nonfiction to his fiction)
Louis L’Amour (mostly, but not all, westerns)
All of which i read and found- meh.
In general I agree- but the three Foundation books are great.
First one was good, I agree. I got distracted somewhere in the middle of the second, and never finished them I’ve been thinking about starting over, though.
If I wanted to survive, I would take R.A. Heinleins works. His heros are unrelentingly positive and not weak. Failure is not an option.
Put a strong redheaded woman on the island and I may never want to leave. I have just described most of Heinlein’s work.
Every Heinlein unconventional hero is Heinlein’s idealizised veiw of himself. Every strong woman is his wife Virginia.
This reminds me of how, supposedly, when G. K. Chesterton was asked what one book he’d want to have with him on a desert island, his reply was Thomas’s Guide to Practical Shipbuilding.
So, are we supposed to consider books/authors that might be of practical use to us? 
Heinlein
Piper
Cussler
I would have named Flint, for the Ring of Fire series, but he’s not the only author
And the same goes for the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.