What books have other folk described as their favorites?

Cafe Society
1

Inspired by this thread.

What book(s) have the most people or sources recommended to you, praised highly, or described as their favorite book. Not YOUR favorites, but the ones you’ve heard and read about the most as being peoples’ favorites. Feel free to add your reactions if you read them, or comment on other posters’ lists.

I think the obvious examples would be the Bible and Tolkein, so I’m going to remove them from consideration. Feel free to list either authors or specific books.

My top 6 (in no particular order) would probably be:

  1. Jane Austen
  2. Wuthering Heights
  3. To Kill A Mockingbird
  4. A Confederacy of Dunces
  5. That trilogy of hugely thick books. Man, what are the names? Neconicron? The one had a section on eating Captain Crunch… Loads of people love them, but I was underwhelmed.
  6. Terry Pratchett

There might be a few more I’m not thinking of at the moment, but I’m very confident that those 6 would fit in my top 10. Maybe I could add an author or 2 like Tom Clancy, Stephen King, Parker, or something, but I tend to think folk seem to like reading those authors works, more than contending any specific book - or set of books - is exceptional.

2
  1. Dune, by Frank Herbert
  2. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein
  3. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
  4. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
  5. The Amber Series, by Roger Zelazny
  6. Crime and Punishment, by Feodor Dostoevski

Is your #5 possibly The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson (who also wrote the Cryptonomicon)?

3

Atlas Shrugged, unfortunately.

4

Yeah, that was it. Sorry I was too lazy to search.

5

My daughter has practically memorized the Harry Potter books. I read them all once, and saw the movies. However I do get points for being the one who introduced her to them. One day she was getting on my nerves, so I handed her Sorcerer’s Stone and told her to read the first ten pages. She was hooked after that. :slight_smile:

6

English Passengers, recommended by Twickster and several other Dopers. It’s awesome.

Too many of my friends have recommended The Help, Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey. :frowning:

7

I think Hitchhiker’s Guide series deserves a place on my list. I liked it a lot when I first read it, not enough to get through all of the books when I tried again 20 yrs later.

8

Well, as the OP notes, Tolkien stands alone. I seemed to be one of the ponly students at my nerdy, all-male Catholic high school who DIDN’T get heavily into*** Lord of the Rings.***
It ssure FELT as iff all my classmates were reading it and recommending it.

I’ve never really enjoyed the sci-fi or fantasy genres, but my circle of friends has always included loads of people who are. These people tend to assume I’m bound to like the same books they do, so I’ve lost count of how many people have told me I’d LOVE Douglas Adams (I don’t, notm by a long shot) and Terry Pratchett (I’ve never read any of his books).

9

Well, as the OP notes, Tolkien stands alone. I seemed to be one of the ponly students at my nerdy, all-male Catholic high school who DIDN’T get heavily into*** Lord of the Rings.***
It sure FELT as if all my classmates were reading it and recommending it.

I’ve never really enjoyed the sci-fi or fantasy genres, but my circle of friends has always included loads of people who are. These people tend to assume I’m bound to like the same books they do, so I’ve lost count of how many people have told me I’d LOVE Douglas Adams (I don’t, not by a long shot) and Terry Pratchett (I’ve never read any of his books).

I’ve also been around a lot of avid Kurt Vonnegut and Ayn Rand fans. I sort of liked Slaughterhouse Five and could tolerate*** The Fountainhead***, but never liked either author enough to read more than that.

10

A Prayer for Owen Meany. As my friend Al asked me ten or so years ago, “Half the girls on match.com list it as their favorite book…what the hell is it?”