# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/121 "2009-02-18T16:14:26Z")
In a slightly different twist, the 5 books that influenced my life and love of reading 1. [The Teddy Bear Habit](http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Treasures-Teddy-Bear-Habit/dp/0786815434) - perhaps the first great novel I read as a kid 2. [Follow my Leader](http://www.amazon.com/Follow-My-Leader-James-Garfield/dp/0140364854) - I loved this book as a child, and recently read it with my son. 3. _Franny & Zooey, Raise High the Roofbeam Carpenters, Seymour and Introduction, Perfect Day for Bananafish_ by J.D. Salinger - actually 5 short stories published in 3 separate books, but they make one collective reading - I can read and re-read these over and over and still learn something new. 4. _Lord of the Rings_ - still among my great loves in life 5. _Of Human Bondage_ - W. Sommerset Maughm - this book changed my live and career path. ---
**Author:** ![wisernow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@wisernow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wisernow)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/122 "2009-02-18T16:29:23Z")
In no particular order: 1. The Prize – Irving Wallace 2. Roots – Alex Haley 3. Papillon – Henri Charriere 4. The Drifters – James A. Michner 5. God and Religion – Bertrand Russell ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/123 "2009-02-18T16:34:05Z")
😉 I can’t possibly choose… so this is actually _Five (?) Books I Buy Used Copies Of And Give to Others:_ Silverlock, John Myers Myers (and The Moon’s FireEating Daughter) The Stress Of Her Regard, Tim Powers (also The Drawing of the Dark) The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein (Glory Road and many “juveniles” too!) To Reign In Hell, Steven Brust (also Freedom and Necessity) Masks Of The Illuminati, Robert Anton Wilson and every Terry Pratchett book… wait… that’s at least 50 books :smack: (adds another) ---
**Author:** ![the\_thecat\_hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@the\_thecat\_hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_thecat_hat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/124 "2009-02-18T16:45:48Z")
If someone has way more time on their hands than I do, I would be curious to know what books were mentioned the most, and what authors have the most different books on the lists. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/125 "2009-02-18T16:54:28Z")
1. The Bridge of Birds - Bary Hughart “A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was” When I finish this book, I always feel grateful that the author wrote it. 2. The Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey Ok, this is cheating a little. This is actually 3 books. The first Sci-Fi/Fantasy books I read. 3. Snow Crash - Neal Stephanson 4. Friday - Robery Heinlein 5. Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak It puts a smile on my face. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/126 "2009-02-18T17:20:37Z")
1. Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, Greil Marcus 2. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger 3. Pop. 1280, Jim Thompson 4. We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, Philip Gourevitch 5. Divided Kingdom, Rupert Thomson ---
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/127 "2009-02-18T17:24:13Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > I notice that at least a dozen people have mentioned \*\*Watership Down \*\*as one of their favorites. Anyone wanna take a brief stab at explaining what makes this book so great. (Obviously, I have never read it. I think it has something to do with rabbits.) It’s like the Odyssey only with an alien culture. It’s the search for home, the fight for survival. It’s adventure. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/128 "2009-02-18T18:45:05Z")
Based solely on how many times I’ve read them. 1. \*Fifth Business \*- Robertson Davies - Who did kill Boy Stanton? 2. _Welcome to the Monkey House_ - Vonnegut - One great short story after another. 3. \*Catalina’s Riddle \*- Steven Saylor - Good history, excellent feel for the times, and a solid mystery even after I knew who done it. 4. _Candide_ - Voltaire - Very readable still and, perhaps the best of all possible books? 5. \*Cugel’s Saga \* - Jack Vance - “Once again Cugel left town under a cloud.” I could go on but listing more than five would be cheating. 😉 ---
**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, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/129 "2009-02-18T18:51:20Z")
Lots of good stuff mentioned so far. Much as I like Heinlein (_Starship Troopers, Time for the Stars, The Puppet Masters, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, Have Spacesuit Will Travel_ and _The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag_, among others), he doesn’t break into my Top Five. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/130 "2009-02-18T18:56:51Z")
1. Shogun 2. Dune (the first book only) 3. Lord of the Rings (all three, but doesn’t really get going until the Council of Elrond IMHO) 4. Nine Princes of Amber (and the next four books of the original Amber series) 5. After those four it’s a 50-way tie. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzy1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fuzzy1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzy1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/131 "2009-02-18T19:45:15Z")
One Hundred Years of Solitude–G.G. Marquez Cider-House Rules–J. Irving The Master and Margarita–M. Bulgakov To Kill a Mockingbird–H. Lee Fierce Invalids Home From Warm Climes–T. Robbins ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/132 "2009-02-18T19:58:14Z")
The Razor’s Edge -Somerset Maugham Witness -Whitaker Chambers Animal Farm- George Orwell Angela’s Ashes-Frank McCourt Disciple- Juan Carlos Ortiz ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/133 "2009-02-18T20:10:17Z")
I’m going to cheat and add another author: John O’Hara, who is much, much neglected and due for rehabilitation. It’s hard to beat O’Hara as a short story writer. His last novels sucked horribly, but Appointment In Samarra remains great and will forever. Sorry. I can never resist a book thread and am fascinated that there are so many apparently GREAT books I’ve never read!!! Some are on my “must read” list now, though. ---
**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 18, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/134 "2009-02-18T20:25:56Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > 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. I’ve read all his fiction, but haven’t been able to make myself try the basketball book. Same with Stephen King’s fiction and his baseball book… ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/135 "2009-02-18T21:08:32Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’ve read all his fiction, but haven’t been able to make myself try the basketball book. Same with Stephen King’s fiction and his baseball book… If you are talking about the book King co-authored with another writer about the Red Sox winning their first World Series in a million years, don’t bother. I have rarely been so disappointed in a book; it was a complete waste of time. ---
**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, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/136 "2009-02-18T21:28:07Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’ve read all his fiction, but haven’t been able to make myself try the basketball book. Same with Stephen King’s fiction and his baseball book… Really, you won’t regret it. It reads like fiction (and I mean that as a compliment, not a slam against Conroy’s veracity). Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/137 "2009-02-18T21:31:06Z")
**woodstockbirdybird:** > [@](#): > > We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, Philip Gourevitch Great book. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/138 "2009-02-18T21:33:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Really, you won’t regret it. It reads like fiction (and I mean that as a compliment, not a slam against Conroy’s veracity). Highly recommended. Didn’t it come out a few years ago that Conroy’s “non-fiction” was more in the vein of James Frey? I seem to remember a review of _My Losing Season_ that suggested many details didn’t jibe with reality. ---
**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 18, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/139 "2009-02-18T21:53:03Z")
I don’t mind if Conroy makes stuff up. **Elendil’s Heir** , I’m off to the library site with great trepidation to pick up My Losing Season. Worst comes to worst, at least it’s free. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049/140 "2009-02-18T21:55:39Z")
The Little Princess (a child’s book, but no less a favorite for that, seeing as how I’ve re-read it at least a dozen times over 40 years.) A Prayer for Owen Meany To Kill a Mockingbird Lonesome Dove Stranger in a Strange Land I guess I like to cry when I read, since all five of these books made me cry. So if that’s the ticket, then I should give honorable mention to The Power of One, Sophie’s Choice and Cold Mountain (which is a very difficult book to get into, but once you do the writing is gorgeous. Damn shame they went and made a movie.) Shayna: Girlfriend, you and I are on exactly the same page about Owen. Owen!!! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-5-favorite-books-of-all-time/486049.md?page=8)