# Your Ten Favorite Books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2000, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451 "2000-05-03T13:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/1 "2000-05-03T13:44:45Z")
OK, let’s take this up a notch from the “Favorite Movies” thread. These are not the ten BEST books, just the ones you’d take to that desert island. I am playing fair and not choosing my own—so, Ike, you mustn’t pick any you edited, OK? In no particular order— Collected “Variety” Obituaries—great readin’, thousands of miniature biographies Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Anita Loos)—very funny flapper diaries Vile Bodies (Evelyn Waugh)—I STILL say it’s the best Waugh! New York Then and Now—great photo collection Little Me (Patrick Dennis)—hilarious “autobiography” The Twelve Caesars (Suetonius)—'nuff said My Way of Life (Joan Crawford)—the height of camp, and I do love Joannie Little Dorrit (Chas. Dickens)—that and Old Curiosity Shop are my fave Dickens Now, Voyager (Olive Higgins Prouty)—best tear-jerker ever written Emma (Jane Austen)—My fave Austen I’ve left a lot out, of course . . . But I’ll bet I’m the only person to have Suetonius and Joan Crawford on the same list! I’m nothin’ if not eclectic. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/2 "2000-05-03T13:52:11Z")
How about if I pick three, and use the room I saved by leaving the other seven behind to pack a short-wave radio? I could probably only read three novels in the time it would take the Coast Guard to rescue me, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![the\_Scarlet\_Pimpernel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@the\_Scarlet\_Pimpernel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Scarlet_Pimpernel)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/3 "2000-05-03T14:10:25Z")
Good gravy, Eve, only ten? Itll take me a while to pare it down - how long to I have to get back to you? When I moved to Denmark, planning to be here for only a year, I took THREE BOXES of books with me! AND had some more shipped over once I got here! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/4 "2000-05-03T14:22:42Z")
Today’s favorites (in no particular order): Replay by Ken Grimwood Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany Small Gods by Terry Pratchett Titan by John Varley The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow Last Call by Tim Powers Staroamer’s Fate by Chuck Rothman ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/5 "2000-05-03T14:30:20Z")
Silence of the Lambs Jurrasic Park The Glitter Dome A hitchhikers guide to the galaxy Fear and loathing in Las Vegas The gang that couldn’t shoot straight It Catch 22 Dave Barry slept here The Godfather ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/6 "2000-05-03T14:33:50Z")
**Only** ten??? In no particular order: 1. _The Most of S.J. Perelman_; 2. _I, Claudius/Claudius the God_ by Robert Graves; 3. The _Heaven’s Command_ trilogy by Jan Morris; 4&5 Two (but I can’t decide) volumes of Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O’Brien; 4. _Para Handy Tales_ by Neil Munro; 5. _Alice in Wonderland/Alice’s Adventures through the Looking-glass_ by Lewis Carrol, to keep me sane; 6. _The Deptford Trilogy_ by Robertson Davies: all Canadians stranded on desert islands are compelled by law to a minimum Canadian Content level; 7. _The Great War and Modern Memory_ by Paul Fussel because it’s so damn brilliant; 8. To be practical, _The SAS Survival Handbook._ **Scarlet Pimpernel** : _three boxes?!_ You have my sympathy. I have nearly _30_ huge Rubbermaid ™ boxes in my storage area, plus four bookcases’ worth in the apartment. This is why I will probably never move, and eventually be found dead one day under 500 pounds of books… **Eve** ; I have something no Joan fan should be without; if I were to send this to you c/o EW, do you think it would arrive, or would it get pinched by Joe the mailroom boy? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/7 "2000-05-03T14:36:28Z")
spooje— Elinor Glyn’s “It” or Stephen King’s “It?” I’ll take the former any day . . . ---
**Author:** ![dekayx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@dekayx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dekayx)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/8 "2000-05-03T14:54:02Z")
To Kill a Mockingbird The Godfather Ball Four Profiles in Courage Atlas Shrugged North Dallas Forty Huckleberry Finn The Autobiography of Malcolm X Roots Something by Stephen King - lets go with Dolores Claiborne ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/9 "2000-05-03T15:03:46Z")
Aside from How to Build a Raft out of Seashells and other survival guides, which I would definitely find useful if I were stranded, I would take the following solely for reading pleasure: The OED Hawaii by James Michener Les rêveries du promeneur solitaire by Rousseau Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë The Godfather by Mario Puzo Pentimento by Lillian Hellman The Little, Brown Handbook A couple good foreign language textbooks The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer It’s really hard to pick only 10. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/10 "2000-05-03T15:05:32Z")
1. _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_ - Pirsig 2. _The Stranger_ - Camus 3. _Nausea_ - Sartre 4. _Atlas Shrugged_ - Rand 5. _Critique of Pure Reason_ - Kant 6. _Tao Te Ching_ - Tzu 7. _Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel_ - Burton 8. _Plato’s Dialogues_ 9. _The Count of Monte Cristo_ - Dumas 10. _Romeo and Juliet_ - Shakespeare ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/11 "2000-05-03T15:06:48Z")
Woohoo, list time! 1. Tuesday’s with Morrie by Mitch Albom 2. The Stand by Stephen King 3. An American Life by Ronald Reagan 4. Beowulf 5. The Bible - Sure, I go for the religious aspect, but it is a pretty good read in it’s own right 6. Encyclopedia Brittanica - Well, I did read the whole thing (as a library aide in high school) and I did learn a lot 7. Loose Balls by Terry Pluto - A history of the ABA 8. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - lump them all together 9. The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family 10. The Grapes of Wrath Hmm, that’s a strange mix of books. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/12 "2000-05-03T15:08:31Z")
By the way, Rodd, GREAT selection of some of my favorite authors, too—Jan Morris, S.J. Perelman, Lewis Carroll, Robert Graves—I could easily survive on YOUR desert island, too! ---
**Author:** ![Globe-trotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@Globe-trotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Globe-trotter)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/13 "2000-05-03T15:10:04Z")
Great topic, Eve! Let’s see if I can control myself and choose only ten. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas), unabridged. The Three Muskateers (Alexandre Dumas) Dombey and Son (Charles Dickens) The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov) Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) The Plague (Albert Camus) Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) A prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving) One of Robertson Davies’ trilogies, not sure which today Ask me again tomorrow and I may come up with an entirely different list. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/14 "2000-05-03T15:12:17Z")
Hmmm, I’m going to cheat a little bit. - The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander - The Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett - War for the Oaks by Emma Bull - The Collected Works of Neil Gaiman - Last Call by Tim Powers - The Collected Works of Cecil Adams Which is only six items, but those collected works really stretch things out. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/15 "2000-05-03T16:20:29Z")
Only ten? Well, that means I had better make ‘em some BIG ol’ books. In approximate chronological order: 1. Ovid, _Metamorphoses_ 2. Sir Thomas Malory, _Works_ 3. Ludovico Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ 4. William Shakespeare, _Complete Works_ (of course) 5) Jane Austen, _Pride and Prejudice_ 5. Charlotte Bronte, _Villette_ 6. Lewis Carroll, _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass_ (thanks for reminding me, RH) 7. Dorothy L. Sayers, _Gaudy Night_ 8. Walter M. Miller, _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ 9. Umberto Eco, _The Name of the Rose_ ---
**Author:** ![mega\_the\_roo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/16 "2000-05-03T16:36:00Z")
Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll Welcome to the Monkey House - Kurt Vonnegut Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods - Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers The Great Dialogues of Plato ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/17 "2000-05-03T16:44:56Z")
In no particular order _East of Eden_, Steinbeck _Tortilla Flat_, Steinbeck _Crime and Punishment_, Dostoevski _Lolita_, Nabakov _The Stranger_, Camus _Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemmingway_ and some lighter stuff, _Confederacy of Dunces_, Toole _Geek Love_, Dunn _The Lazlo Letters_, Novello \*The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock \*, Robbins ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/18 "2000-05-03T16:53:52Z")
I would bring: [ol] [li]ELOISE by Kay Thompson. (what can I say, I’m obsessed.)[/li][li]Fifth Business by Roberson Davies (and I’m an American!)[/li][li]A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving[/li][li]The Bible (I’m not religious, but it’s chock-full of good drama.)[/li][li]Tao Te Ching. (see above)[/li][li]Ulysses by James Joyce (Hey, I’d have plenty of time to get through it, wouldn’t I?)[/li][li]Complete Works of Shakespeare, if I’m allowed. If not, just Hamlet.[/li][li]Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung[/li][li]Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. (the most simplistic explaination of Freudian superego/ego/id theory around. And makes me feel 5 again.)[/li][li]A diary [/ol][/li] I like my list. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/19 "2000-05-03T17:01:34Z")
Eve, until now, I was the only one I knew who read Gentlemen Prefer Blonds. I think it’s the funniest book written. I read it last year (not for the first time) on the plane on my way to Paris just to get psyched up. And if your edition has the original Ralph Barton cartoons in it — wow! Here’s my list: 1. Of Mice And Men – Steinbeck. A diamond of a book. 2. Mansfield Park – Jane Austen. MY fave Austen. 3. A Year In Provence – Peter Mayle. Lightweight stuff, but it’s a vacation in a book. 4. Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories – Gene Shepherd – R.I.P., Gene. 5. Ringworld – Larry Niven. Got me started on tech, physics, etc. Let’s include Ringworld Engineers under this heading, but not Ringworld Throne, thank you. 6. The Good Earth – Pearl Buck. Bound feet, anyone? 7. Shogun – forget author’s name, but good stuff. 8. My Family and Other Animals – Gerald Durrell – R.I.P., Gerry. 9. Grapes of Wrath – Steinbeck. Can’t read it very often, too heartbreaking and gripping. That goes for watching the film, too. 10. Lord of the Rings trilogy – Tolkien. I know, I know, it’s cliched, but excellence is a good way to get to be a cliche. Besides, there’s a movie coming out from New Zealand that doesn’t look half bad. Elijah Wood (Elliott from E.T.) as Frodo. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451/20 "2000-05-03T17:29:07Z")
No way I can put these in any sort of order. 1. _How We Die_, by Sherwin Nuland 2. _In The Lake of the Woods_, by Tim O’Brien 3. _The Reckoning_, by Sharon Kay Penman (and to a lesser extent all the books that came before it in the series.) 4. _The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry_ 5. _The Sound and the Fury_, by William Faulkner 6. _The Mists of Avalon_, by Marion Zimmer Bradley 7. _Sophie’s Choice_, by William Styron 8. _The Prince of Tides_, by Pat Conroy 9. _I Know This Much is True_, by Wally Lamb 10. _Catch-22_, by Joseph Heller Honorable mentions go to _The Stand_, _Frankenstein_, and _Presumed Innocent_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-ten-favorite-books/18451.md?page=2)