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*The Lord of the Rings
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Iain M. Banks’ Look to Windward
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Banks’ The Player of Games
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Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon
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The Stand
I base this on how these books influenced my own writing style as well as how much I enjoyed them.
Only 5?? I have at least 50 books on my “Top Five List”. 
Okay, here’s five in no particular order:
Roots by Alex Haley–I’ve read it several times and never get tired of it. The story just sucks me in again and again.
Prayer for Owen Meany–This one has been mentioned by several posters already, so I don’t really have anything new to add.
The Stand by Stephen King–Again, mentioned several times already.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon–Actually, then entire series but Outlander is the first and best. Best time-travel novel ever, IMHO.
Watership Down by Richard Adams.
Great thread.
Life, The Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams
One For The Money - Janet Evanovich
Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens
Mallory’s Oracle - Carol O’Connell
L.A. Reqium - Robert Crais
Ah, thank you SO much Eve for starting this thread! I have all sorts of books to get at the library now!
Anyway, here are the ones I read over and OVER again…
1.)Pride and Prejudice - I don’t know what it is about Jane Austen or this book in particular that resonates with me. I think I would have been an Elizabeth Bennett type if I had lived during this time. I definitely would have been friends with her! What a kick arse woman.
2.)Howard’s End or A Room With A View - EM Forster is one of my favorite writers of all time. Howard’s End is a bit depressing of course, but the way he develops the characters and pulls you into their mundane, little English lives…well, it’s pure genius. A Room With a View is one of the most romantic stories ever. (If you’ve seen the movie, please try to block out that tiresome Helena Bonham Carter and read it with a fresh eye!)
3.)The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton. Ok, so the woman can’t write a happy ending to save her life…but dang it, this book is just so lovely and sad. Is there a more tragic and endearing character than Lilly Bart?
4.)Out of Africa - For some reason I can only read this in the summer…and preferably outside. It’s one of those books where you feel as if you are actually in the environment the author is writing about. Isak Dinesen is just an incredible writer.
5.) I was going to say LOTR, The Hobbit , but since that is frowned upon, I will say…Agnes Grey by the lesser known Bronte sister, Anne. This is the grittier version of Jane Eyre, but I like it for it’s honesty. And it still has the romantic ending!
Oh gosh, there are too many. It’s tough to choose!
I can only think of one book that I’ll probably read more than once:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, by Michael Chabon. – New York City in the 1940s; menschy Brooklyn jewish kid; Golden Age of Comics complete with X-ray specs and Hypno-coins; Houdini; A “fictional” superhero worthy of an actual comic book; sentences, metaphors, and similes that bring a tear to my eye.
Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card. Really awesome; I recommend it to everyone. I first picked this up in high school, at some point.
Stalky & Co., by Rudyard Kipling. About a bunch of young boys at a boarding school to prepare them for Eton in the 19th century, based on Kipling’s own school days. Comfort reading, for me; I first picked this up in 5th grade.
In 6th grade we read The Dark is Rising, and it inspired me to go poking around in our library’s fantasy section. After reading the rest of them, I started in on Anne McCaffrey, and my love affair with fantasy and SF really began. My favorites in her Pern series were the ones about the bard girl; Dragonsong and Dragonsinger. (Yes, I know there were others, but those two were my favorites, for whatever reason.)
The Belgariad, a series of five books by David Eddings. His flaws as a writer have been much remarked upon, but there is something genuinely appealing about these books. Comfort reading, to me. First picked these up in 8th grade, IIRC.
The Silmarillion by Tolkien, just to be weird. Comfort reading, somewhat; until it mysteriously disappeared from my room, I probably read it once a year. It never loses its vast scope and depth, to me. First picked this up in grade school, I’m not sure exactly when.
Of course, these are dependent on what I’m doing, time of day, etc. Stalky & Co and The Silmarillion have permanent spots; Dragonsong is semi-permanent; and the rest are subject to change.
Ulysses by James Joyce. What somebody said–not to be pretentious but I reread this one every couple of years and get something new out of it every time.
Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway. Okay, it’s not a novel. Very interesting reading though, about death, bullfighting, writing, and art.
The Arrangement by Elia Kazan. I don’t know what exactly grabbed me about this book as I first read it as a high-school senior (I think) and it’s about a middle-aged man’s mid-life crisis. But there is something so very honest about it. (At the time I first read it I had no idea who Elia Kazan was. A novelist, for all I knew.)
The Women’s Room by Marilyn French. Kind of same as the above but from the woman’s point of view.
Love Medicine by Louse Erdrich. You want funny? It’s in here. People whose lives seem very very ordinary, trappers and unemployed Indians and schoolteachers and such, but who turn into extraordinary characters.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee/Walker Evans. Again, not a novel–but a good story. (Actually although it’s not supposed to be fiction, I suspect it is.)
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Rendevous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
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The Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
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Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
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I, Robot by Issac Asimov
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
“Darkness at Noon,” a short novel in which an old Bolshevik arrested during the Stalinist terror ponders what went wrong with the Russian Revolution and with his own life. (By Arthur Koestler)
“Love in the Ruins” A man pursues three different women as the world collapses around him. (By Walker Percy)
“Beloved” A black woman escapes slavery only to have the emotional scars of the slavery destroy her life. (Toni Morrison)
“The Brothers Karamazov” Four brothers wrestle with the guilt they feel over their incredibly nasty father’s death. One of the brothers is the murderer but they all feel guilt. Lots of religious discussions and parables. (Fyodor Dosteovsky. Nietzsche thought that Dostoevsky was the only author who had taught him anything worth knowing about human psychology, and I agree.)
“The Poisonwood Bible,” about missionary who takes his family to the Congo. Because of his bullheadedness he cannot convert the Africans but he refuses to the admit defeat and keeps his family as prisoners in Africa. (Barbara Kingslover)
Fwiw, this is the current list of the “nations favourite” 21 as selected by BBC listeners/viewers a month or so ago - you have to discount LOTR in the final choices as it was the subject of one of those teen vote bestest-bestest type campaigns:
Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (William Hague MP)
Captain Correlli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières (Clare Short MP)
Catch-22 by Joseph L Heller (John Sergeant)
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (Ruby Wax)
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (Arabella Weir)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (David Dimbleby)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling (Fay Ripley)
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (Benedict Allen)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (Sanjeev Bhaskar)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (Lorraine Kelly)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis (Ronni Ancona)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Sandi Toksvig)
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (Ray Mears)
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (Jo Brand)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Meera Syal)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Alan Titchmarsh)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (John Humphrys)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Simon Schama)
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (Bill Oddie)
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne (Phill Jupitus)
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (Alistair McGowan)
Shana , we seem to have very similar tastes in authors! What are your feelings on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall? Of Anne Bronte’s two novels, I would say I prefer it to Agnes Grey; it is in some ways remarkable for a mid-Victorian novel, particularly in its views of marriage and alcoholism. I always think of the Bronte brother, Branwell, when reading about Arthur Huntingdon’s decay.
I bought The Tenant of Wildfell Hall a month ago due to my interest in Universal Salvation. Still haven’t gotten around to reading it though.
“Burr,” by Gore Vidal - The beginning of his American suite. The characters are richly detailed, as is the description of very old New York City. Best of all, the story goes on from here and follows the family from 1830s New York to 1950s Hollywood (of course, it takes 4 or 5 books to get there, but that’s OK with me).
“A Tale of Two Cities,” by Charles Dickens - I’m hooked right from the famous beginning - “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” I know how it turns out and I still keep reading.
“A Man in Full,” by Tom Wolfe. Like Vidal, the devil is in the details, and there are tons of details. A great big rambling story of converging plot lines. An African American girl is raped by a college sports star, a Donald Trump-like developer watches his empire crumble, and a young man is rescued from a Soutern California prison by an earthquake - somehow Wolfe brings them all together.
“The Magnificent Ambersons,” by Booth Tarkington. A wealthy family falls apart as if fails to keep up with changing America. Sort of overshadowed by the Welles film version, but worth the read.
Whatever Elmore Leonard has just written. I’ve never picked up a novel of his that I didn’t enjoy.
**She died a Lady - by - John Dickson Carr ** A who/how dunnit. I know who and how it was done for about 12 years. I’m still reading it. Extremely hilarious.
** Poems of Jerusalem - by - Yehuda Amichai** I recently got this [as a present] and I love the naked reality of the poems.
**To Kill a Mockingbird - by - Harper Lee. ** Go read it for yourself, if you’d like to know why.
** Fear of Flying - by - Erica Jong ** Funny, and exciting
** The Catcher in the Rye - by - Salinger ** A classic.
*Happy Newyear, all *
I decided to omit repeats such as Lord of the Rings, Hitchhiker’s Guide, and Mists of Avalon, which are already on here, and stick to ones not yet listed.
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As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner: Bill was doing the multiple POV first person narrative when Tarantino was just a twinkle in his daddy’s eye. This story, where the black sheep of the family sacrifices himself to end the atrocity of his mother’s funeral procession, is genius.
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The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell: When transmissions of beautiful music from outer space hit Earth, of course the Jesuits have to be the first to send a mission to this new world. Father Emilio Sandoz, sainthood material before the trip, comes back a ruin, having experienced the worst fate a person could possibly live through. Read the book to find out what that fate was.
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Wicked, by Gregory Maguire: The Wicked Witch of the West was neither wicked, nor a witch, and not even from the West. Hear her side of the story (far more compelling and tragic than Dorothy’s) in this amazing novel. Now a Broadway play that I will be able to afford to see someday…
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Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke: When a mysterious race makes contact with Earth, a chain reaction takes place in which the human race’s destiny is revealed. I read this novel at a formative time in my life, and it really made a strong impression.
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Grendel, by John Gardner: Beowulf only told his side of the story, but here, the monster speaks. Very deep and enlightening (I love books that tell the story from the “villain’s” point of view, which just reinforces my opinion that there are no villains, just misunderstood freaks who don’t get to tell their tales because the victor writes the story).
Honorable Mention: The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin: Simply the best fantasy written since Tolkien, IMO. Martin doesn’t let the reader rest in his assumptions of what will happen next; he is not afraid to kill of your favorite character or introduce a plot twist that bends your mind, all the time writing in a lucid style that keeps you on your toes.
Eve,
I have found Cranford online. I’ve only read the first chapter so far, but it looks charming!
Such a tricky question to answer…
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien: I know it’s on about every other list. I don’t care. I’ve loved it since I was a 'tween.
Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book - Maxine Hong Kingston: The story of a Chinese-American playwright in the sixties, mixed with a heavy dose of Chinese folklore. I’d love to see the movie, but I don’t know how they’d make it.
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky: It’s already been summarized above. I went into it afraid that it would be too dense for me, and found I couldn’t put it down.
The Stranger - Albert Camus: Practically a novella, but I could read it over and over again. Bonus: the inspiration for one of my favorite Cure songs.
and now for something completely different -
Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding: Yes, I know it’s cribbed shamelessly from Pride and Prejudice (which, for what it’s worth, I also love). But it makes me giggle every time I read it, which Jane Austen cannot do.
David Copperfield. I choose this book because it tells you how to be a happy person. And it’s not a deeply hidden secret, requiring you to unwrap layers of meaning and metaphor. It’s right out there in the open. People need this book even more now than they did in Dickens’ time.
Emma. Jane Austen has some very shrewd insight in this book. Actually, in all of her books, but I like this one best. I think it’s because she understands exactly how people lie to themselves so effectively.
Catch 22. Story about an American pilot in World War II. It’s so true.
The Grapes of Wrath. This is the most powerful story ever written. It’s just amazing.
The Phantom Tollbooth. Whenever I get depressed, I read this. It works like a charm. It’s a children’s fantasy novel about a lonely boy who gets a mysterious gift that allows him to meet a variety of funny people.
**Harry Potter 1-5.
Doug Adams: Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy
Donbas: A true story of an escape across Russia. Jacque Sandlesque **
All my Dave Barry & Dilbert books.
Have you ever tried Ross Thomas?
“What Elmore Leonard does for crime in the streets, Ross Thomas does for crime in the suites.” – Village Voice.
I personally have always preferred Thomas. Try The Money Harvest (1975) or Chinaman’s Chance (1978) or the Edgar-winning Briarpatch (1985) or The Fourth Durango (1990).