# Your top 5 favorite books of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049 "2009-02-16T04:39:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/61 "2009-02-16T22:16:57Z")
I, too, had arrive at five by listing the books I’ve read most often: _East of Eden_, John Steinbeck (Of all the epic-scoped books I’ve read, this is my favorite.) _Lake Wobegon Days_, Garrison Keillor (I grew up in a small town; Keillor nails it.) _The Cider House Rules_, John Irving (In a bookstore a couple of hours ago, I picked up their copy of this just to read the line “Good night you princes of Maine, you kings of New England!”) _Lonesome Dove_, Larry McMurtry (This book is a course in characterization.) _Where the Red Fern Grows_, Wilson Rawls (My fourth-grade teacher read it aloud to my class; I’ve read it numerous times since then – and the tears come each time as well. It’s probably the book that started my interest, and toward a career, in writing.) I’m 39. Honorable mentions to Brontë’s _Jane Eyre_ and Hemingway’s _The Sun Also Rises_ and _For Whom the Bell Tolls_, but all of which I’ve read just once (so far). It’s interesting to note the many mentions of John Irving in these lists. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/62 "2009-02-16T22:27:07Z")
Assuming fiction only: 1. _Catch-22_, Joseph Heller (and I’m reading with interest the lists of anyone who also names it, because we probably have similar tastes) 2. _The Gone-Away World_, Nick Harkaway 3. _Watership Down_, Richard Adams 4. _I Capture the Castle_, Dodie Smith 5. _The Brothers K_, David James Duncan Definitely hard to narrow it down. Without even trying, here’s a second five that I love almost as much as the first five: _A Prayer for Owen Meany_, John Irving _The Secret History_, Donna Tartt _New Grub Street_, George Gissing _Three Men in a Boat_, Jerome K. Jerome _The Time-Traveler’s Wife_, Audrey Niffenegger And this isn’t even touching on Kazuo Ishiguro, Diana Wynne Jones, Connie Willis, P.G. Wodehouse…damn. Oh, I’m 33. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/63 "2009-02-16T22:42:39Z")
1. The Lord of the Rings 2. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder 3. Dragon’s Egg by Robert Forward 4. Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope 5. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery **Estilicon** , who chose Barchester Towers, I won’t argue with your choice, but Orley Farm, The Claverings and The Vicar Of Bullhampton are as wonderful and on any given day so are another half dozen of Trollope’s works. It’s like trying to choose your favourite amongst your kids. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/64 "2009-02-16T23:00:06Z")
> [@vison](#): > > **Estilicon** , who chose Barchester Towers, I won’t argue with your choice, but Orley Farm, The Claverings and The Vicar Of Bullhampton are as wonderful and on any given day so are another half dozen of Trollope’s works. It’s like trying to choose your favourite amongst your kids. I assume the both of you have read lots of Angela Thirkell, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/65 "2009-02-16T23:03:46Z")
1. The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien 2. Illusions - Richard Bach 3. Moby Dick - Herman Melville 4. The Botany of Desire - Michael Pollan 5. Nature and the Human Soul - Bill Plotkin ---
**Author:** ![stargazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@stargazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stargazer)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/66 "2009-02-16T23:18:58Z")
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2. Anne of the Island - L.M. Montgomery 3. The Twentieth Wife - Indu Sundaresan 4. Until I Find You - John Irving And I’m having a hard time deciding on #5… John Irving’s _A Widow for One Year_? Gaiman & Pratchett’s _Good Omens_? Austen’s _Persuasion_? One of a couple of books by Anne Lamott? _Gone With The Wind_? _The Phantom Tollbooth_? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/67 "2009-02-16T23:46:08Z")
Not in any particular order: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien Double Star, Robert A. Heinlein Little Fuzzy, H. Beam Piper Yes I know that the Narnia story is several books, but I look at it as one story. I considered putting the Bible on the list but to me it’s sort of in it’s own category… I don’t read it for entertainment, but for guidance. Little Fuzzy is my favorite work by Piper, although I don’t dislike any of his stuff. It’s what I’d give a young person who might be interested in getting into sci-fi. Double Star is the same, for Heinlein. But The Moon is a Harsh Mistress nearly crowded it out. To Kill a Mockingbird is the book I was forced to read in high school, and couldn’t believe I would like. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/68 "2009-02-17T00:22:30Z")
> [@vison](#): > > **Estilicon** , who chose Barchester Towers, I won’t argue with your choice, but Orley Farm, The Claverings and The Vicar Of Bullhampton are as wonderful and on any given day so are another half dozen of Trollope’s works. It’s like trying to choose your favourite amongst your kids. I’ve read all but the last of the “Barsetshire Series”. Unfortunately I was never able to buy (this is Argentina after all), the last book. The same happen with the other books you mention. I’ll keep then in mind if, with luck, I travel to the states later this year. > [@Gadarene](#): > > I assume the both of you have read lots of Angela Thirkell, as well. You are wrong. Would you care to recommend an specific book? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/69 "2009-02-17T00:27:43Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > Assuming fiction only: Did the OP specify fiction only? I didn’t see that if he did. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/70 "2009-02-17T00:33:09Z")
Fiction Only, In no particular order. I’m not putting down any “classics” for some reason. These are just books I like to pick up and read. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe Bomber by Len Deighton The Godfather by Mario Puzo Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson Perdido Street Station by China Mieville ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/71 "2009-02-17T00:36:33Z")
1. _The Lord of the Rings_ 2. _Salt: A World History_ Mark Kurlansky 3. The Chanur series C. J. Cherryh 4. _How Green Was My Valley_ 5. _Starship Troopers_ Robert Heinlein ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/72 "2009-02-17T00:49:20Z")
**Estilicon:** > [@](#): > > You are wrong. Would you care to recommend an specific book? I haven’t read much of her oeuvre, because I have to be in a particular mood for both Thirkell and Trollope, but I have _The Brandons_, _Marling Hall_, and _Cheerfulness Breaks In_, and greatly enjoyed each. (If you don’t know, Thirkell wrote a series of novels (29 of them!) set in Trollope’s Barsetshire county, but set in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. The ones I’ve read have been, by and large, absolutely wonderful, and very much in the Trollope vein.) **RikWriter:** > [@](#): > > Did the OP specify fiction only? I didn’t see that if he did. No, I was just limiting myself, since there’s no way I can compare favorite novels to favorite non-fiction books. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/73 "2009-02-17T01:02:22Z")
1. **Breakfast of Champions** , Kurt Vonnegut 2. **Catch-22** , Joseph Heller 3. **Lord of the Rings** , J.R.R. Tolkein 4. **English Passengers** , Matthew Kneale 5. **Dune** , Frank Herbert Glad to see I’m not the only **English Passengers** fan around here… it’s definitely a sleeper (in that it’s not [yet] as popular as it deserves to be) but well worth checking out. …next time I’m asked, any of **A Prayer for Owen Meany, Watership Down, Snow Crash, Huckleberry Finn** , and Sagan’s **Billions and Billions** (or his **Demon-Haunted World** ) could make the cut… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/74 "2009-02-17T01:31:26Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > …To Kill a Mockingbird is the book I was forced to read in high school, and couldn’t believe I would like. Shakespeare’s plays _Hamlet, Macbeth_ and _Othello_, Lee’s _To Kill A Mockingbird_, Bradbury’s _The Illustrated Man_ and Salinger’s _Catcher in the Rye_ all fall into this category for me. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/75 "2009-02-17T02:57:52Z")
The Stand The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass Memoirs of a Geisha The Bonfire of the Vanities Starship Troopers ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/76 "2009-02-17T02:59:48Z")
In no particular order: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe The Stand by Stephen King Helter Skelter by Vincent Buliousi Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/77 "2009-02-17T03:48:04Z")
[ol] [li]Lord of the Rings[/li][li]The Godfather[/li][li]Babbit[/li][li]Les Miserables[/li][/ol] After that too many choices: Shogun, The Old Man & the Sea, The Stand [a real ending would moved it to third place!] ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/78 "2009-02-17T04:01:02Z")
I’ll try to get some in here that haven’t been mentioned: _The Dollmaker_ by Harriett Arnow – Gertie Nevels is my all-time favorite fictional character. _The Dram Shop_ by Emile Zola – I love Gervaise. The only reason I’m holding off on reading _Nana_ is because of the way she treated her mom (Gervaise). Selfish bitch. _Morality Play_ by Barry Unsworth. I read a lot of historicals and this one, along with _Kristin Lavrandsdattar_ do a great job conveying the importance of religion and the church to medieval people. It was a real eye-opener. _Kristin_ is #4. #5 – gotta get Stephen King in here, so _The Stand_. Female, 63. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/79 "2009-02-17T04:57:01Z")
Fortunately, I have only one kid. 😉 Of _all_ time, eh? 1. _Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors_, Piers Paul Reid. My first BIG OBSESSION, I read this thing _constantly_ in the third and fourth grades. 2. _Guinness Book of World Records_, Norris and Ross McWhirter (sp). From the age of 6 to 19, I religiously bought a copy each year and read it over and over… I cried when I heard that Ross was killed by the IRA and I worried that the books were going to end (I was 9). I now only buy a new one every 5 years or so. 3. The _Dune_ series, Frank Herbert. _Dune_ was really the first book where I caught a sense of the author behind it. 4. _Atlas Shrugged_, by Ayn Rand. A lot of you have problems with this book. _C’est la vie_. 5. _History of the World_, by J.M. Roberts. Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, can distill 7,000 years of civilization into 500 concise, fact-filled pages like the British. Roberts was an Oxford don, so he was particularly well-suited for this task. The above books were chosen from all the rest because they all have the following in common: 1. I’ve owned multiple copies. 2. These books have been re-read God knows how many times. I knew my Guinness books so well that I recognized which records were new from the previous year without checking. I actually tested this one day with my sister - I got the latest (I must have been 11, 12) and she and I went through the books (she had last years, I had the latest) and I would read the records, telling her if this one was different from the one she was reading\*. 3. I went through at least a year-long period where the book(s) were picked up at least every-other day, and they are still on my shelf (Except for _Alive_). 4. Each of these books have been on my shelves for at least a decade, if not longer. I’ve had a copy of _Dune_ since high school, which was _cough_ 25 years ago _cough_. * * * Books that didn’t make the cut: _The Story of Civilization_, vol 1-11, Will and Ariel Durant. _The Prize_, Daniel Yergin. Harry Turtledove’s _Timeline 191_ series (South wins the Civil War and the effects upon subsequent history). _The Stand_, Stephen King. Also, _It_. \*I don’t think I ever confessed to such a display of uber-geekery before, but this is the Straight Dope Message Board, OK? Y’all understand, right? Please? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/80 "2009-02-17T05:06:49Z")
Damn, forgot to give props to _The Book of Lists_, which both me and my wife discovered in 1978 (which was 10 years before we discovered each other. 😉 ) BTW, I’m 41. And male, if the reference to my wife didn’t clue you in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049.md?page=5)