Your Top 10 favourite books of all time?

[SleepyDormouse]

Again my favourite books would be different each time I was asked. Its hard to whittle it down to just 10!

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The dragon series by Anne McCaffery
The Liveship Chronicles by Robin Hobb
The discworld series by Terry Pratchet (especially the witches ones)
The Belgariad series by
The Mists of Avalon series by Marion Zimmer bradley
Poison Study by Maria V.Snider (but not the next books in series as they are no comparison, especially the last!)
Spirit walker series by Kate Elliot
The dark is rising series by Susan Cooper
How to train your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell

 

[SevenStars]

The Andromeda Strain. Michael Crichton

Interview With The Vampire. Anne Rice

Doctor Sleep. Stephen King

The Shadow Of The Wind. Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Colour Purple. Alice Walker

To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee

Beloved. Toni Morrison

The Talented Mr Ripley. Patricia Highsmith

I Am Legend. Richard Matheson

Haunted. James Herbert

The list goes on and on............

 

[Phyrebrat]

Nice to see two of my list are on other members' lists, too.

Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke

Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes

My other 8 are:-

(All-time favourite book) The Elementals - Michael McDowell
It - Stephen King
Duma Key - Stephen King
Moses, Citizen and Me - Deliah Jarrett McCauley
A Room with a View - E M Forster
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Suzanna Clarke
Airframe - Michael Crichton
Weirdstone of Brisingamen - Alan Garner

pH

 

[AnyaKimlin]

My top four have been there for nearly thirty years. Mist Over Pendle I read more than once a year and love it just as much every time I read it. I wasn't sure if I could have Shakespeare's Henry IV. Cuckoo's Calling and One Door Closes have recently replaced Little Women and Father Brown.

1) Mist Over Pendle by Robert Neill
2) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3) Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
4) Hound of Death by Agatha Christie
5) The Dales Series by Gervase Phinn
6) Red Shift by Alan Garner
7) One Door Closes by Peter Sissons (I know it's not fiction but this was a book that seriously surprised me and engrossed me)
8) Cuckoo's Calling by JK Rowling
9) Sunset Song (Also Cloud Howe and Grey Granite) by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
10) Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs

 

[psikeyhackr]

Jeez, how did I forget this:

The Space Merchants by Frederick Pohl

The Space Merchants is a science fiction novel, written by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth in 1952. Originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine as a serial entitled Gravy Planet, the novel was first published as a single volume in 1953, and has sold heavily since. It deals satirically with a hyper-developed consumerism, seen through the eyes of an advertising executive.

The Space Merchants - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is rather ironic that electronic computers hardly existed in 1952 and IBM had not even entered the market but now we have computer consumerism.

You can't run a Ma & Pa grocery store without a 2 GHz dual-core with 4 gig of RAM and a terabyte drive.

And you must upgrade every three years.

psik

 

[Mark_Lawrence]

Reddit r/fantasy concluded a poll on favourite fantasy books of all time.

499 members each chose their top 5.

The full results are here: The top /r/fantasy novels of all time, RESULTS THREAD! : Fantasy

Top 100 here: (I've read at least part of 32 of them)

A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin – 182
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien - 130
The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss -116
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson - 85
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan - 79
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson - 75
The Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch - 66
Discworld by Terry Pratchett - 55
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - 47
Harry Potter by JK Rowling - 46
The First Law by Joe Abercrombie - 41
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - 39
The Dark Tower by Stephen King - 30
The Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence - 29
The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb - 24
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - 23
The Black Company by Glen Cook - 20
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman - 20
Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K Leguin - 19
American Gods by Neil Gaiman - 14
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis - 14
The Drenai Saga by David Gemmell - 14
Watership Down by Richard Adams - 13
The Riyria Revelations by Michael J Sullivan - 12
Prince of Nothing by R Scott Bakker - 11
The Belgariad by David Eddings - 11
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay - 11
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolf - 10
The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny - 10
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - 10
Raven's Shadow by Anthony Ryan - 10
The Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist - 10
The Demon Cycle by Peter V Brett - 9
The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle - 9
Lightbringer by Brent Weeks - 9
Codex Alera by Jim Butcher - 8
The Coldfire Trilogy by CS Friedman -8
Dragonlance Novels by Various Authors (linked the first one listed on Goodreads) - 8
The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay - 8
The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb - 7
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman - 7
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien - 7
Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay - 6
The Magicians by Lev Grossman - 6
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - 6
The Princess Bride by William Goldman - 6
The Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb - 6
The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski - 6
Acts of Caine by Matthew Woodring Stover - 5
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie - 5
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephend R Donaldson - 5
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper - 5
The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie - 5
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams - 5
Abhorsen by Garth Nix - 4
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman - 4
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon - 4
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel kay - 4
The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks - 4
The Powder Mage by Brian McClellan -4
A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
Vlad Taltos by Steven Brust - 4
The Bas-Lag Cycle by China Mieville - 3
The Black Jewels by Anne Bishop - 3
Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E Howard - 3
Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert - 3
The Dying Earth by Jack Vance - 3
Elric by Michael Moorcock - 3
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson - 3
The Empire Trilogy by Ramond Feist and Janny Wurts - 3
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - 3
Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey - 3
The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham - 3
Night Watch and Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko - 3
The Once and Future King by TH White - 3
A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - 3
Red Country by Joe Abercrombie - 3
The Saga of Recluse (could only find GR link to book 2) by LE Modesitt Jr - 3
Stardust by Neil Gaiman -3
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle -3
Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - 2
Bartimaeus by Jonathon Stroud - 2
Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold - 2
The Dagger and the Coin by Daniel Abraham - 2
Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey - 2
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson - 2
Exiles by Melanie Rawn - 2
Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake - 2
Guardian of the Flame by Joel Rosenberg - 2
The Inheritence Cycle by Christopher Paolini - 2
The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick
Last Call by Tim Powers -2
The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron - 2
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny - 2
The Low Town Trilogy by Daniel Polanksy - 2
Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock - 2
The Old Kingdom Trilogy by Garth Nix - 2
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - 2
The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings - 2
Riddle-Master by Patricia A McKillip - 2

 

[Mouse]

Damnit, I forgot to put The Picture of Dorian Gray on my list.

 

[Foxbat]

Moby Dick
The Grapes Of Wrath
Frankenstein
Dune
In The Skin Of A Lion
To Kill A Mockingbird
Flowers For Algernon
The Shrinking Man
The Water Of The Hills (Jean de Florette/Manon Of The Springs)
Dandelion Wine

 

[AnyaKimlin]

My two favourite aren't on the list.

 

[Hex]

Without having thought about this carefully enough:

Austen (the whole lot, but especially Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice)

Susan Cooper The Dark is Rising

CS Lewis Chronicles of Narnia

Melina Marchetta Lumatere Chronicles

Robin McKinley The Blue Sword (lots of hers, including Sunshine and Beauty)

Patricia McKillip (for years I'd have said The Riddlemaster trilogy because... my God) but just to be different I'll go with The Book of Atrix Wolfe.

Lois McMaster Bugold's Chalion books (I like the Vorkosigan saga books but they're nowhere near as well-written and marvellous).

Ahdaf Soueif In the Eye of the Sun.

Anne Michaels Fugitive Pieces

Vikram Seth An Equal Music


and Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones (anything by Diana Wynne Jones) but that's 11...

and -- argh -- there was a critic-turned-writer who wrote the most perfect and beautiful novel I have ever read, about a young girl holidaying in France in an old hotel. I can't remember anything more about it except a general feeling of awe (hopeless!). Anyone?

Lemme see... His Dark Materials, Darkness at Noon (Arthur Koestler), Complicity (Iain Banks, but I loved the Iain M Bankses too)... must stop but Hitchhikers and the Drenai... and Garion and Nine Princes in Amber and All My Sins Remembered and (of course) Earthsea and Elidor and Lolita and Bleak House and and and and... <boom!>

EDIT: Oh lord. I didn't even mention Holly Black or Sarah Rees Brennan or Cinda Williams Chima... (or Fortunately The Milk)

EDIT2: Or Tigana and Under Heaven. Argh! I am no good at lists.

 

[Heather Myst]

I'm surprised with only one book out that the Stormlight Archive series ranks so high on the Reddit list.

 

[Glisterspeck]

Mine occasionally change too. And if we were including short stories, I really like the Conan and Elric stories, but my favorite writing overall is probably found in Kafka's shorts. (The opening to Lathe of Heaven, listed below, is one of my very favorite bits of prose.)

Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe
The Stranger - Camus
Baudolino - Umberto Eco
The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula Le Guin
Dune - Frank Herbert
A Handmaid’s Tail - Margaret Atwood
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
Latro in the Mist - Gene Wolfe
Cat’s Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
When Gravity Fails - George Effinger

 

[Hex]

Argh! The Handmaid's Tale should have been one of mine, too, and a Vonnegut... probably Slaughterhouse Five.

Now I think about it, I'd like 1984 as well.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Argh! The Handmaid's Tale should have been one of mine, too, and a Vonnegut... probably Slaughterhouse Five.

Now I think about it, I'd like 1984 as well.

Oooh, so we're adding now (I can't remember what was in my first list):

The Deptford Trilogy, Shadow of the wind/Prisoner of Heaven, House of the Spirits, whatever Neil Gaiman I didn't mention before, Sevensummers (just wait, everyone, it'll be on lists everywhere...), Gone with the wind, Walter macken... Should I stop...

 

[Abernovo]

Hmm, Hex, your favourites are very similar to my reading list!

For me, purely off the top of my head, in no particular order (and I apologise to Hex for similarities):

Jane Austen - Persuasion (although Pride and Prejudice is close behind)

Susan Cooper - The Dark is Rising series

Alan Garner - The Owl Service

CS Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia

Captain Marryatt - The Children of the New Forest

Iain Banks - The Business/Whit/Complicity/The Crow Road (sorry can't decide, plus his sf)

Robert A Heinlein - Job: A Comedy of Justice (the one novel he wrote, which I think is superb, although several were good)

Alistair MacLean - When Eight Bells Toll (a lesson in how to write pulp perfectly)

Stella Gibbons - Cold Comfort Farm (sublime)

Angela Carter - The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (although almost anything she wrote might make the list)

----------
Aargh! So many others I could add. E Nesbit's Psammead series and The Railway Children, The short stories of Saki (H H Munro), The Táin Bó Cúailnge, John Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes and The Day of the Triffids, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and a few others of hers, Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon, Georgette Heyer's Georgian romances, several Diana Wynne Jones books...and so many more!

 

[Glisterspeck]

Argh! The Handmaid's Tale should have been one of mine, too, and a Vonnegut... probably Slaughterhouse Five.

Now I think about it, I'd like 1984 as well.

Between Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five, it's a coin toss for me, but I really like the religious play with Bokononism in Cat's Cradle. Ten is tough! As a kid, let's say before high school, I mostly read the classics, and I haven't listed any of my favorites there, but here are a quick five:

The Mysterious Island - Vernes
Kidnapped - Stevenson
Gulliver's Travels - Swift
Ivanhoe - Scott
A Connecticut Yankee in King Author's Court - Twain

Also, I think I read all of the Three Investigators books, including the choose your own adventure ones. They should count as one, I think.

 

[LadyDarkWood]

My first post after my introduction, yeah!
Let's see.. I'll write them down with no particular order

Robert Heinlein "Stranger in a strange land" (My first Heinlein.. it was mindbreaking!!)

Yuri Sergeyevich Rytkheu "Un Sogno ai Confini del Mondo" (I wrote the title in Italian 'cause I couldn't find online which was the ENglish version ... but a proper translation should be "A dream at the world's borders")

George R. R. Martin "A Song of Ice and Fire" (even though I're read only untile Storm of Swords part One I simply love the world and the characters he created... it's the fantasy world I would have loved to write about. Fantasy and yet to realistic!)

J.R.R. Tolkien "The Hobbit" I found it in the library of my middle school. It was amazing!

Arthur Golden "Memoirs of a Geisha" (loved it and read it in one day!)

Susan Vreeland "The Passion of Artemisia" (because it was my first English book I read while studying abroad... since then I never stopped!)

Surely there are more but for now... here they are!

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

This is quite difficult. I'm putting this list down, but I already feel like I'm forgetting something. It's fun to see everyone's lists though, and those books that tend to show up again and again. These are in no particular order:


The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
A Song of Ice and Fire - GRRM
Dragonsdawn - Anne McCaffrey
Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
Liveship Traders - Robin Hobb
The General's Daughter - Nelson Demille
Gentleman Bastards Series - Scott Lynch
Death by Black Hole - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

 

[HoopyFrood]

Egads, this is always a tough one. I'll give it a go.

Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Othello - Shakespeare
The Waste Lands (book three of the Dark Tower series) - Stephen King
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein
The Hallowe'en Tree - Ray Bradbury

Er, now I'm hitting a wall. Although if Towers of Midnight ends as well as it's been going throughout then that'll probably get added to the list.

And then there are generally loads of books like Discworld, Good Omens, His Dark Materials, Malazan books, loads of Stephen King, Chronicles of Amber, Lord of Light, things like Wuthering Heights, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd, plays like Spanish Tragedy, Epicene, Shoemaker's Holiday...

Haunted James Herbert

I've just finished this! I wasn't all that blown away by it towards the end...until the reveal about (maybe spoiler?) his sister being behind it all. I loved the idea that she was still being downright horrible to him even from the beyond. I just thought it a nice twist to the whole love lasting beyond death and all that.

 

[Gnrevolution]

ASoIaF - G.R.R. Martin
Best Served Cold - J. Abecrombie
Brave New World - A. Huxley
Good Omens - T. Pratchett
Hyperion - D. Simmons
Flowers for Algernon - D. Keyes
The Sparrow - M.D. Russell
Perdido Street Station - C. Mieville
Random Acts of Senseless Violence - J. Womack
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - S.R. Donaldson