# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/81 "2009-02-17T05:56:39Z")
1984 The Lord Of The Rings Slaughterhouse 5 Shogun For Whom The Bell Tolls ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/82 "2009-02-17T17:06:25Z")
the Sotweed Factor Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance History of Western Philosophy Catch 22 One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/83 "2009-02-17T17:26:14Z")
> [@Gadarene](#): > > I assume the both of you have read lots of Angela Thirkell, as well. Who? ---
**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, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/84 "2009-02-17T17:27:50Z")
See my reply to **Estilicon** above. ---
**Author:** ![statij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@statij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statij)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/85 "2009-02-17T17:36:21Z")
1. The Brothers K - Glad to see at least one mention here. Why this book isn’t more widely read and appreciated will forever trouble me. My Great American Novel. It couldn’t be any greater or more American. This book almost made me believe in god. Not quite, but almost. 2. Confederacy of Dunces 3. Cryptonomicon 4. The Sot-Weed Factor 5. Infinite Jest 2-5 in no particular order. M,39 ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/86 "2009-02-17T18:03:47Z")
Oh, dear. I forgot Kristin Lavransdattir. I left off a lot of books. ☹ I hate these lists. I can’t nail down a mere five. 50, maybe. 500, more likely. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/87 "2009-02-17T18:16:26Z")
\*Lonesome Dove Band of Brothers The Three Musketeers The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy The Hunt For Red October\* ---
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/88 "2009-02-17T20:04:25Z")
> [@statij](#): > > 1. The Brothers K - Glad to see at least one mention here. Why this book isn’t more widely read and appreciated will forever trouble me. My Great American Novel. It couldn’t be any greater or more American. This book almost made me believe in god. Not quite, but almost. Wow, that’s a strong endorsement. I’ve almost bought that one on a number of occasions. I read David James Duncan’s short story collection _“River Teeth”_ and thought it was fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/89 "2009-02-17T20:57:29Z")
This is an impossible task. I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to five, but, nonetheless, here are five books that I liked, for a variety of reasons: The Chronicle of Battle Abbey (written by a bunch of conniving monks) \*Les lettres persanes \*(baron de Montesquieu) Maps of Time (David Christian) Solomon Gursky Was Here (Mordecai Richler) Hand Tools – Their Ways and Workings (Aldren Watson) I’m 178 years old. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/90 "2009-02-17T21:43:28Z")
The Bible _Orthodoxy_, by G. K.Chesterton _Vanity Fair_, by William Makepeace Thackeray _The Phantom Tollbooth_, by Norton Juster _Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered_, by E. F. Schumacher ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/91 "2009-02-17T21:46:28Z")
I’m 38. Gone With The Wind Watership Down The Haunting of Hill House The Chronicles of Narnia The Shining or Jane Eyre **Skald** , I love The Lords of Discipline! When I saw your post, I was seized by a sudden urge to read it again… ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/92 "2009-02-17T22:52:46Z")
Born Again - Kelly Kerney Cat’s Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - Cory Doctorow Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams …pretty lite I suppose, but enjoyable. 26, btw. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/93 "2009-02-17T22:54:13Z")
> [@Windwalker](#): > > …Do people actually read these lists? 😉 I’m reading yours right now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/94 "2009-02-17T23:06:33Z")
Male, 30 _Lolita_ by Vladimir Nabakov _Love in the Time of Cholera_ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez _Chronicle of a Death Foretold_ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ by Robert A. Heinlein _The Omnivore’s Dilemma_ by Michael Pollan ---
**Author:** ![Vimp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vimp/32/4186_2.png) [@Vimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vimp)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/95 "2009-02-17T23:42:08Z")
How can you pick just five ?? The best I can do … 1. “Group Portrait With Lady” - Heinrich Boll. Probably the best novel I have ever read. 2. “The Anubis Gates” - Tim Powers. I like just about all of his books, but this one is my favorite. 3. “The Knot” - Tim Wynne-Jones. Best Canadian novel I’ve read. 4. “Foucault’s Pendulum” - Umberto Eco. 5. “A World Lit Only by Fire” - William Manchester. Great description of the medieval world. I’m fascinated by how many poster has mentioned “Cryptonomicon” as one of the top 5 - I’m trying to read it right now, and not exactly getting into it (yet) - I keep trying to read it and then get distracted by something else (last night it was “Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair,” so you know my standards are not set reeeal high) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/96 "2009-02-18T00:06:30Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > the Sotweed Factor > Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance > History of Western Philosophy > Catch 22 > One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest Gotta squish Gravitys Rainbow in there too. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/97 "2009-02-18T00:26:40Z")
Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien The Mote in God’s Eye + The Gripping Hand - Niven & Pournelle Earthsea (the original 3 books) - LeGuin Discworld - Pratchett (O.K., 36+ books isn’t really fair, I choose…Hogfather…and Soul Music) The Demon Haunted World - Carl Sagan The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Doyle (hey, it’s _one_ book on my bookshelf) Hippos Go Berserk! - Boynton (or maybe Pajama Time!) The Man Who Walked Home (any collection that has it) - Tiptree Wait, is that 5? 🙂 These are books that, when I finish (and sometimes in the middle), I hold them like a dear friend, wipe the tears, and spend a bit of time reflecting. I’ll be 58 in a few weeks. I have 8 kids–maybe that explains the emotionality. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/98 "2009-02-18T00:44:11Z")
Well if we can count series I’ll throw Carlos Castaneda’s Don Juan series on my list. What? Don’t give me that look. Yes, I know where I am, but they were fun, interesting reads. ::d&r:: ---
**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 18, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/99 "2009-02-18T00:53:12Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > … **Skald** , I love The Lords of Discipline! When I saw your post, I was seized by a sudden urge to read it again… Yup. Great book. You might also like Pat Conroy’s _The Great Santini_, a thinly-veiled autobiographical novel about his love-hate relationship with his hardass Marine dad, and _My Losing Season_, a nonfiction account of playing basketball for the segregated Citadel in the Sixties. Both are terrific. ---
**Author:** ![TheDerf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@TheDerf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheDerf)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/100 "2009-02-18T00:59:15Z")
Before I read the thread and let it influence me 😉 1. _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ Robert Heinlein 2. _Ender’s Game_ Orson Scott Card 3. _Black Echo_ Michael Connelly 4a) _LOTR_ JRRT 4b) _Dune_ Frank Herbert 4. _The Gunslinger_ Stephen King HMs go to: _The Talisman_ S. King, the rest of the Harry Bosch series by Connelly, and the Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049.md?page=6)