Thread: Top Ten Favorite Books and Why

I know there have been several "Top Ten" lists of books on this forum, but to my knowledge there has never been one that asks the poster, "WHY?" So I want to challenge everyone to list their top ten favorite books of all time (in order, if possible) and tell why those books, out of the millions and millions in print, are your favorite. Here are mine:

1. Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell.
GWTW makes my #1 spot because the novel encompasses the entirety of human emotions: jealousy, hatred, love, compassion, etc. They are all portrayed in a realistic fashion, and when placed against the backdrop of the American Civil War, the story is breathtaking. The title itself defines the novel in which the way of life in the Old South ends forever, swept away to never return. A lover of history and a Southerner myself, I suppose that this book appeals to me because it is a window to a world that is "gone with the wind."

2. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I first read Gatsby as a junior in high school. I was against the novel at first, but as the book progressed, I began to see the central themes of the book. Fitzgerald has truly created a portrait of the American Dream and its corruption.

3. Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown
This thriller used to be my favorite book. Its break-neck occurrence of events kept me flipping page after page well into the night.

4. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
Although I highly disagree with the idea presented here of Christ having a child, it makes for a good fictional story.

5. The Diary of Anne Frank
This book gives hope to the oppressed and I find it a great reminder of why we should never forget what happens in the past so that we don't repeat it.

6. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
Although I hated reading this book, the story is great and the way in which Mr. Darcy insults Elizabeth and then marries her reminds me of how Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara got off on the wrong foot too.

7. Hamlet, by William Shakespeare
This is my favorite out of all of the Shakespeare play, most likely because I read it in school in the modern language instead of the Old English version.

8. Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft
A tale of the separation of the creator and the created that harkens back to the Garden of Eden, I thought that this was a great story but way too long of a book.

9. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
A great tale of the evils of racism and prejudice.

10. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
My favorite book in the Harry Potter series.

What a generic list! Don't mean to criticize but...

The Stranger: Well-written and it presents a different way of looking at the world.

Confederacy of Dunces: Funny as hell.

The Fountainhead: Great story, and the idea behind it is interesting.

Forrest Gump: Funny as hell. Great social commentary.

Without Remorse: Bad ass revenge/action novel.

All Quiet on the Western Front: Best war novel.

American Psycho: Funny and brilliant.

Steppenwolf: It's one of those "He's writing about me" novels.

Great Gatsby: It's the great American novel. There's really nothing not to like about it.

The Pearl: Had to put at least one Steinbeck on here, and this one is probably my favorite of his. Great tale and great commentary.

That was hard. I ultimately cut out Li of Pi and replaced it with Steppenwolf just so Hesse would be on there, as he's one of my favorites. Glass Bead Game almost made the list instead of Steppenwolf. It's hard to pick a favorite among many authors' collections, like Steinbeck and Hesse and Hemingway and Joyce and Faulkner.

It's hard to look through the memories of books I've read and say I have ten favorites out of them but I'll go with it though,

1. Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher, It's a children's book and a short read yet it brings tears to my eyes.

2. Where the Red Fern Grows, I enjoyed reading about nature and dogs growing up and things that have to do with people and dogs surviving in nature, this was another tear jerker, and I liked it because I was a young boy reading it and it was about a young boy.

3 Swiss Family Robinson, Another good book I truly enjoyed, I like the shipwreck survival part of it and enjoyed the family aspect of the book as well. I also enjoyed their accomplishments and pets they acquired as well as the methods the characters used to go about things.

4. The Han Solo Trilogy, It's not just one book I know, but if asked to choose between them and say my part about my favorite it couldn't be done, they are all three equally favorite in my mind. I enjoyed the young boy on the wrong side of the road aspect of the books as well as the living on the wrong side of Imperial Judgement, not saying the empire's judgement were full of morals in the star wars universe.

5. LucasFilm's Alien Chronicles, another trilogy of books i liked equally as well, I enjoyed the adversity of the beings in these books as well as the tear jerker quality to the end, as well as its a story set apart from any human beings.

6. Hatchet, Another survival book about a young boy and once again me being a young boy it worked.

7. Gentle Ben, Another animal and boy book.

8. Interview with the Vampire, A new book I just read a few months ago, I also enjoyed the adversity and understanding in the characters

9. Battlefield Earth, It's the longest sci fi novel i've ever heard of and its a damn good book.

10. Dune, The character's adversity and ideas never yet realized is why I liked this one.

Oh, man. Red Fern made me cry everytime I read it as a kid. Hatchet was one of my favorites back then too. The follow up books with that character were pretty good too.

Originally Posted by tbs21

10. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
My favorite book in the Harry Potter series.

I found this one interesting. For me, this was my least favorite...second least favorite of the series. I think JK peaked with the Prisoner of Azkaban. What is your reason for choosing this one - out of curiosity?

Will have a think about your question and write a top 10 later

For someone who is pretty dead-set on being a writer, my reading list is pathetic. Either that or my memory. I didn't read for years after school and only started again at the end of last year. So the majority of my favourites are books I read in my teens. Here is a short list, less than ten, of the ones that stick at the forefront of my mind - in no particular order.

Brother Knight – Victor Kelleher
I haven’t read this for a long time, and maybe it won’t stand up to my memories of it when I get around to reading it again, but this was a really strange little book by an Australian author. I suppose he aims at teens but the overall theme is our perception, versus the reality of Good and Evil, and seemed very adult and beautifully executed, to my recollection

The Tomorrow When the War Began series – John Marsden
Another Australian author, aimed at teens. This series is seven books long, with a three part spin off he wrote more recently. I read all ten books in a two week period earlier this year, not having read them since I was about fifteen. They still stand up in my opinion. Great Australian fiction about an invasion in the not too distant future and the group of teenagers who survive it.

After You’d Gone – Maggie O’Farrell
I’m not really sure why I loved this book so much. Could have something to do with when I read it. I had just decided I wanted to be a writer, had ploughed through a few books after a long stint of not reading much. Then this book was finished in a 24 hour period and actually had me crying at my desk at work. I got so attached to the characters and I realised that that that’s largely what’s important in writing.

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
A completely cliché selection, but I might have read this book more than any other. When Darcy declares how much he “ardently admires and loves her” I just smile with sappiness.

Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
I loved this book. Funny, and tragic, and clever. I found it overbearing really when reading it, after spending months reading candy fiction, I actually had to take breaks after each chapter to absorb it. I don’t usually do that, I’m an obsessive reader, once I start something, I want it done within a day or two.…. It was tough for my pathetic brain meats, but it was a rewarding little escapade.

The Harry Potter series – J.K. Rowling
Don’t care what anyone says, I grew up with this series and it had a huge impact on my teen years. I read them all again this year, had them done in ten days. I was a complete hermit while reading them, wouldn’t even talk to people, cursed every customer, every friend, who dared interrupt. I still feel like the series, sitting in my bookshelf, is a little collection of friends who I know and love, and whose company I sometimes prefer to that of my real-life friends. My favourites are 3- Prisoner of Azkaban and 6- The Half Blood Prince.

Letters from the Inside – John Marsden
Another teen novel, that I used to finish and then flick straight back to the start and go again. I might be John Marsden’s biggest fan. He has a strong, honest, natural voice, writes from a female POV that I relate to so acutely. All his characters that I grew up reading feel like real people I know, part of me.


And that's all I can think of for now.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell (when I was 7)

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9 yrs. old)

The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9 yrs. old)

The Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell

sheesh..I haven't read a really good book in a long long time.

Originally Posted by Kayleigh7

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9 yrs. old)

The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (9 yrs. old)

I almost put these on my list too. My copy of The Secret Garden is so battered.

I have really nice copies that I am planning on giving to my daughter. I've read them so many times when I was a kid as a way of escaping. I'm hoping she loves them as much as i did.

I actually really like both film interpretations too. Probably The Little Princess more than The Secret Garden. Little Princess was one of my favourite movies as a girl. Now that I'm a boy, well, different story.

Ha

How's it feel being a boy? You crack me up.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with you on that. They did a great job on the movies. The Little Princess was my favorite of all too. Mainly because I could relate so well to her story.

Originally Posted by Beja-Beja

What a generic list! Don't mean to criticize but...

I guess I'm just a generic person. I would like to include more classics, but I've found that most classics tend to bore me to death. Besides, I think I'm more of a thrill-ride-seeking reader.

Originally Posted by Beja-Beja

I found this one interesting. For me, this was my least favorite...second least favorite of the series. I think JK peaked with the Prisoner of Azkaban. What is your reason for choosing this one - out of curiosity?

Picking a favorite out of the entire series was very difficult for me. I really like them all, but Order of the Phoenix is my favorite because I think J.K. Rowling begins to change her tone with Harry's world in the fifth book. (People begin to die, Voldemort actually comes back in the flesh, and Hogwarts is overrun by tyrants from the Ministry of Magic.)

Yiiiaaah (that's gangster for yeah). Some of my favourite books:

1 - Dune, by Frank Herbert. I love the scale, grandeur, and sheer awesomeness of the story. A true work of genius. Giant worms are so cool, as are people fighting with knives and swords in an epoch of space travel.

2 - Moby Dick - I just loved all the philosophical brooding. It was so intriguing. And I like the idea of hunting whales, must have been a hell of a life. Although I am against whale hunting, now that I think about it, but back then who knew there was like a limit or anything.

3 - Wuthering Heights - So dysfunctional and depressing, but so achingly beautiful. One of my alltime favourites. Heathcliff reminds me of Anton Chigurh off No Country For Old Men, that fucking machine. Remember that time when he just stood outside against a tree all night without moving? That pimp.

4 - All LOTR, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion - What can I say? I read 'em all when I was 13, and was totally absorbed, especially by the Silmarillion with it's creation myth, and the scale of its wars and characters. Reading that after LOTR was the quintessential "oh so that's what lead up to everything" experience.

5 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and the other HPs - I loved these books growing up, and this was my favourite of them all, and my favourite of the movie adaptations was this too. Gotta love the "finding hope" theme in the face of not-inconsiderable danger (something eating your soul).

6 - Shake Hands With The Devil, Romeo Dallaire - The book that broke my heart. You want to know just how cruel human beings can be? Then read this book. What happened in Rwanda was, on a smaller scale, arguably more disgusting than the holocaust.

7 - The Chrysalids by John Whyndam

Honorable author mentions: Stephen King, Shakespeare, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, and more. Douglas Adams will probably be on this list once I read some of his work.

3 - Wuthering Heights - So dysfunctional and depressing, but so achingly beautiful. One of my alltime favourites. Heathcliff reminds me of Anton Chigurh off No Country For Old Men, that fucking machine. Remember that time when he just stood outside against a tree all night without moving? That pimp.

I almost went with that one too. Heathcliff is just one of the greatest characters I've ever read.