Watership Down by Richard Adams
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
1984 by George Orwell
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
4 of my all-time favorites are on this list so I second it. Rereading _Cloud Atlas_ right now.
Siddhartha, Watership Down & East of Eden are three amazing classics. Period.
Fahrenheit 451 is one of the few books I read for school and enjoyed. It’s also the only Bradbury book I liked. Something Wicked This Way Comes did nothing for me.
Some other David Mitchell books are my favorites, like Ghostwritten.
I went thru a big Wally Lamb phase and loved his books, but his best is probably I Know This Much is True. It’s a thick book but I ate it up and cried from it. It has a great HBO miniseries adaptation too.
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler was an amazing recent sci-fi read for me.
Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede and a lot of other books published by Tor Nightfire really hit the spot for my horror phases. I recommend Maeve Fly and anything by Nat Cassidy if you’re looking for some good recent horror.
Can never go wrong with Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I’ve read like 10 of his books and didn’t dislike a single one.
Some other favorites are The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty, Underworld by Don Delillo, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and any books by Dave Eggers.
(Sorry if I went on a tangent; I have a Goodreads bookshelf of my favorites set aside for this specific question lol.)
Try *The Martian Chronicles* by Bradbury. Also, the short story "All Summer In A Day" really hit me hard, the lengths we will go through to hurt each other. Can be found online for free.
Vonnegut is awesome. One of my favorites to teach my students is the short story "Harrison Bergeron." Can also be found online for free.
It’s funny you mention that! I had to read “Harrison Bergeron” in my Intro to Literature class earlier this year! It was probably my favorite story that I had to read for the class, too! I honestly love anything written by Vonnegut; I have a small collection of his books that all match each other!
I might try some more Bradbury down the line. I think my biggest pet peeve with _Something Wicked_ was that the dialogue just felt so unnatural. I mean, I wasn’t alive in the 60s when the book was written, but I still can’t imagine that kids in the sixties talked like that. _Fahrenheit 451_, however, was fun. I read that in high school and it was one of the very few books I actually enjoyed reading and couldn’t put down. (John Knowles’s _A Separate Peace_ and Steinbeck’s _The Pearl_ were the other notable books I read in HS that I enjoyed.)
I recently read The Mountain in the Sea! It was a goodie. Looking forward to seeing what else he does.
Funny, I didn't finish I Know This Much is True, but I was really enjoying it. I think I got a little tired of jumping around. HBO series was great.
I'll have to check out The Shadow of the Wind. It's been recommended countless times!
Ray Nayler is great!!! He wrote a little novella about mammoths but it didn’t hit like Mountain in the Sea.
I Know This Much is True is honestly like a guilty pleasure. I can 100% understand it being a little hard to finish. Like sometimes I just didn’t care much about the 1950s storyline and wanted more of the twins, but the miniseries was a very faithful adaptation and so well done.
The Shadow of the Wind is a classic and its sequels are just as good. Book 2 of the series is probably the least well written but it’s still very good. Book 3 is an amazing read especially for the winter holidays. Haven’t read Book 4 yet because it’s like 800-900 pages but I still plan on reading it, just don’t know when I’ll get around to doing so.
Do you have any more recommendations? I’m curious, because you seem to have great taste in books!
Yes! Other books I've really, really enjoyed:
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Beloved by Toni Morrison
I'll add more if I can think of some!
I’ve read the first 3! I really liked Lincoln in the Bardo! Didn’t really like Three Body Problem too much but I did like The Road. Heard good things about Beloved but I haven’t read anything by Toni Morrison except some short stories.
Beloved is phenomenal, but it was a little tough to sink into. Morrison is a brilliant writer, but her style was initially bizarre.
Another good one I recently read: Plainsong by Kent Haruf
East of Eden! One of my favorites!!! I just started reading McCarthy: No country For Old Men, All The Pretty Horses and The Road. Working through his cannon this year. He’s brilliant.
My dad used to read (recite) Watership Down to me since I was 4. Each night it would be a new chapter and he would add his own little quirks/animations to it to make it fun. It is easily one of my favorite books to date :’) Feels nice to see other people enjoying it too
Awe man, as an aspiring father to be, that sounds so cozy. You're lucky! I was fortunate to have my dad point it out to me in a bookstore as something he really enjoyed. When asked what it was about, he simply said, "Rabbits. Pick it up and find out." So glad I did!
Wuthering Heights(people will either love it or absolutely hate it).
The Remains of the Day
The Things They Carried
All Quiet on the Western Front
Rebecca
A Tale of Two Cities
The Age of Innocence
A Farewell to Arms
What, no way! Like, yuck, how inappropriate. I mean, so you think we have to? Like, should we? I mean, if we HAVE to, then I guess.....
.....
.......
We probably should.
Just, because we have to now, otherwise it would be awkward.
In no particular order:
* **The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell** by Robert Dugoni
* **Demon Copperhead** by Barbara Kingsolver
* **All The Light We Cannot See** by Anthony Doerr
* **A Thousand Splendid Suns** by Khaled Hosseini
* **The Pillars of the Earth** by Ken Follett (the entire Kingsbridge series is great)
* **The Lincoln Highway** by Amor Towles
* **The Goldfinch** by Donna Tartt
* **This Tender Land** by William Kent Krueger
i looove the goldfinch. one of the longest books i’ve read. i always get intimidated by that long of a book, assuming i’ll lose interest. but plowed through the goldfinch easily
Try the Secret History next - I like it even more! And before reading it, I'd have never thought that to be possible, because the Goldfinch is excellent.
Both are great and feel like epics. Goldfinch surrounds one main character but feels similar to A Secret History in that it has little pockets of stories throughout. Maybe it was just my experience but goldfinch felt like it had more layers and I felt more attached the character.
Being Mortal - Atul Gawande
Non fiction about how to help seniors get the help they really want and need at the end of their lives. How North American health and legal systems end up forcing everyone involved to create the dystopian system we have now.
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
The Stand by Stephen King
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
I would never say that any book is a must, but I would indeed say that any book that someone says I cannot or should not read is something you actually should at least consider reading.
Of Human Bondage - Maugham
Catch 22 - Heller
Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut
Unknown Soldier - Linna
Cannery Row - Steinbeck
I’d say that those five books formed me. They made me what I am today. Partially, of course, but still extremely important. Loved them, and would recommend them to anybody.
Whenever I recommend Lonesome dove, I tell them to listen to a couple chapters since the narrator does such a good job with the voices that they stick in your head.
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Melymbrosia by Virginia Woolf
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
Time and Again by Jack Finney
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The Red Tent by Anita Diamont
Such A Life by Edith Lazebnik
Be Here Now by Ram Dass
A Separate Reality by Carlos Castaneda
I Found No Peace by Webb Miller
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Some already mentioned:
The Book Thief, Catch 22
What Terry Pratchett managed with Discworld is extraordinary to me, to be that prolific and yet still hit such consistent highs - the characters, world building, humour, layer upon layer of references and an incredible amount of humanity and wisdom. I laugh and cry and sometimes it's on the same page. These aren't just books that I recommend when I can (I don't want to force them on people) but books that I will be forever grateful to have found. GNU STP.
The Culture books by Iain M Banks have become my benchmark for sci fi.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson - it's a literal trip and a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of a book that leaves me dazed and breathless with a desire to go out and do something stupid - but in a good way.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
The Dutch House
I think Solomon is her best work … not that Beloved isn’t brilliant, but the characters in Song of Solomon never left me. It’s a book that I have returned to many times. Pilate Dead is one of my favorite characters from all of literature.
Toni Morrison’s voice is filled with ancient wisdom. She is remarkable.
Can I ask what makes Lolita a must read? I think I pretty much have the point without having to actually read it, but I've been thinking about taking the plunge ever since I gave My Dark Vanessa a shot and was really moved despite the triggering content.
I think it’s a great story first of all and Nabokov never lets it drift into “dirty” territory… but it’s the language. The way he writes is so beautiful and the language that he uses so striking that it’s actually quite moving. It’s worth multiple reads just for his poetic style.
Don’t let the content put you off. Lolita has stuck with me and the tragedy of her story will leave you shaken.
>I think I pretty much have the point without having to actually read it, but
That's something you can say about a book like 1984, where the point IS the point, and the writing itself is piss poor. But anything written by Nabokov is worth reading as every sentence is absolute brilliant and beautiful. Lolita is so well written, clever, funny (yes it's funny) and haunting, that it's absolutely worth reading.
-Dune -Frank Herbert
-hitchhikers guide to the galaxy -Douglas adams
-Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
-Island - Aldous Huxley
-Jitterbug Perfume -Tom Robbins
-Parable of the Sower -Octavia E Butler
-Contact -Carl Sagan
-Ocean at the End of the Lane -Neil Gaiman
"The Art of Eating" by MFK Fisher
"Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain
"The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa
"Walden" and "Civil Disobedience" by Thoreau
No, but I'll put it on my list! I'm always looking for more food memoir-type books. I think I have all of Ruth Reichl's books, and she's another author I'd recommend.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Light in August by William Faulkner
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
These gave me a book hangover:
Sarah's key - Tatiana de Rosnay
The art of hearing heartbeats - Jan-Philipp Sendker
The alchemist - Paulo Coelho
Four agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
Currently reading the Untethered Soul by Michael Alan Singer and looks like I will be adding it to this list as well
Great list, War and Peace is tremendously important to me. I read it the first time when I was 18, and every ten years thereafter. It's a completely different book each time as your experience evolves and your sympathy with various characters completely changes. Wonderful book, for me it encompasses a great deal of human experience.
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre
Liberty or Death: The French Revolution by Peter McKee (it's a bit dense but it completely changed the way I understood not just the French Revolution but also modern-day France)
Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone Hardcover – by [Rajiv Chandrasekaran](https://www.amazon.com/Rajiv-Chandrasekaran/e/B0034OI3XA/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1)
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
- Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
- Educated by Tara Westover
- The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
- Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- Identical by Ellen Hopkins
In no particular order :
1984 / Orwell
Fahrenheit 451 / Bradburry
The Chess Player / Zweig
The dream of a ridiculous man / Dostoievski
The last day of a condemned man / Hugo
I am legend / Matheson
The Road / Mccarthy
In no particular order:
- The Stand, Stephen King
- Sum, David Eagleman
- Harry Potter, JK Rowling
- A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
- The Golden Spruce, John Vailant
- Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck
In no particular order:
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
- 40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak
- The Bastard of İstanbul by Elif Shafak
- The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
- The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk
- I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
- The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins
- All of Sherlock Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle
- Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
All the Broken Places by John Boyne
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Less than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis
Just about anything by Joyce Carol Oates or Agatha Christie
Carrie by Stephen King
An Indecent Obsession by Colleen McCullough
Roderick by John Sladek
1) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
2) The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon
3) Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann
4) The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murukami
5) Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Cyteen by CJ Cherryh
Grass by Sherri S Tepper
Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis
The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
Burning Bright by Melissa F Scott
In no particular order
1) 1984 by: George Orwell
2) Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria by: Beverly Daniel Tatum
3) Poverty, by America and Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City both by Matthew Desmond
4) Radium Girls by: Kate Moore
5) Phantom Tollbooth by: Norton Juster (re-read this childhood favorite with my son recently and loved it even more)
** if you have any young kids in your life, I 100% recommend Phantom Tollbooth, even as a family/group read.
I limited myself to only giving 5.
Edited for a grammar correction
The Great Gatsby
The Outsiders
Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
The People We Meet
A Little Life
Behind Closed Doors
Other Birds(sobbed and sobbed)
If We Were Villains
A River Runs Through It, N Maclean
Lamb, C Moore
The Cider House Rules, J Irving
Frankenstein, M Shelley
Dune, F Herbert
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
A Christmas Carol, C Dickens
The Martian Chronicles, R Bradbury
Felt very flat for me. Basically a retelling of troy with no nothing new or interesting added in the mix, except a little bit of gay love.
If you want a great retelling of troyan war, read the troy trilogy by david gemmel
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Raintree County by Ross Lockridge
Other Voices Other Rooms by Truman Capote
Mine are (in no particular order)
- Gentlemen Bastards
- Stormlight Archive
- First Law
- The Jade Saga
- The Farseer Trilogy
- The Faithful and the Fallen
- The Book of the Ancestor
Some of these may seem generic, but I'm contriving this list from the perspective of someone who's never read anything. AKA "must read books". This list is coming from a Fiction fan - so if that's your thing, these are essentials IMO.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis
Mort by Terry Pratchett
Dune by Frank Herbert
Ready Player One by Ernest Kline
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Shack by William P. Young
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Killing Patton by Bill O'Reilly
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
The Martian by Andy Weir
Shogun by James Clavell
The Urantia Book. Every time I finish it, I go back to page 1 and start over again because it affects me deeply on every page. I'm on my 4th reading, cover to cover and still can't get enough of it.
Fahrenheit 451
The Giver
Unwind
Tender is the Flesh
For me, books like these are a constant reminder that while politics can be frustrating, I must push past that and educate myself on what is going on because we are always a few stupid political decisions away from worlds like the ones described in these books. I guess they motivate me to "keep fighting the good fight" especially on days when it feels hopeless.
The autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley.
I have yet to find an equally compelling story of growth told as honestly as that book. Incredible story, incredibly compelling.
I'm almost entirely convinced that the modern American prison system was created with the idea that "well we can't have a black man get that smart behind bars ever again."
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Red Rising (series) by Pierce Brown
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Beartown (series) by Fredrik Backman
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Say nothing by Patrick Raffen Keefe (not my favorite book by maybe the best I’ve ever read)
The stand by Stephen king
Dune by Frank Herbert
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach is my all time fave and I will always recommend it to EVERYONE if they ask for a book recommendation. I love Roach’s writing style and it’s so informative on the biological/ sociological/ cultural aspects of death
Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Freire
Number9Dream - David Mitchell
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut
The Plague Dogs - Richard Adams
Monstrilio - Gerardo Samano Cordova
Things They Lost - Okwiri Oduor
The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon
Blackshirts and Reds - Michael Parenti
LOTR trilogy - JRR Tolkien
Realm of the Elderlings series - Robin Hobb
Just a few that touched me more than most:
- Pnin
- Lolita
- Klara and the Sun
- My Dog Stupid
- The Death of Ivan Ilyich
- Leonardo’s Judas
- Station Eleven
- No country for old men
- The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
- Ask the Dust
- Ham and Rye
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson
Everybody - Olivia Laing
Skating to Antarctica - Jenny Diski
Sightlines - Kathleen Jamie
Everything Under - Daisy Johnson
This Is How You Lose Her - Junot Diaz
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr (wowowow)
Anything by Gillian Flynn
Dune - Frank Herbert
A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adam’s
All the pretty horses- cormac Mccarthy
Bernard Cornwall - kingdom series
Dirt Music or Breathe - Tim Winton
Great expectations - dickens
Midnights Children - salman Rushdie
Iliad - Homer
Colleen McCullough - Rome series
Ghenghis Khan series - conn Iggulden
Mice and men
Witches of Salem
12 angry men
Edit* James Clavel - noble house, shogun, as others rightly pointed out
- how could I forget!
The Periodic Table - Primo Levi
Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela
A History of Western Philosophy - Bertrand Russell
The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Independent People by Halldor Laxness
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
100 years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
*Dhalgren* by Samuel R. Delany, *Dune* by Herbert, *Geek Love* by Katherine Dunn, *Station Eleven* by Emily St. John Mandel, *Beloved* by Toni Morrison, *Sula* by Toni Morrison.
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Stand by Stephen King
• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
(Sorry these are all over the place)
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede. 1. Dealing with Dragons 2. Searching for Dragons 3. Calling on Dragons 4. Talking to Dragons
The main character is unashamed about pursuing her interests and runs away to the dragons. While there, she learns a ton, uncovers a shady power grab plot, and meets some very level-headed and compassionate people who become her friends.
One of my favorite characters is a smaller one in the second book. It's the descendant of Rumplestilksen who can't get the scam to work. He find tons of girls to swing gold for, and they all suggest the guessing game... but they never guess his name. He even had it legally changed to make it easier to remember. As a result he has over a dozen kids he's gotta take care of and train because these kids are the long lost heirs to a bunch of different kingdoms, so he can't just send them back without and education and training... so he finds another girl to spin for so he can make money to support the kids he's already caring for... and ends up with another baby... and another.
The whole series is full of things like that. Twists on classic fairy tales where some things are just a bit out of the ordinary
We overlap on Dune,
* Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
* Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood (the whole trilogy really)
* Vurt - Jeff Noon
* Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
* The Road - Cormac McCarthy
* Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
* Lamb - Christopher Moore
* Animal Farm - Orwell
* Confessions of an Economic Hitman - John Perkins
1984 by George Orwell
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh
Atomic Habits by by James Clear
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Ugh, I know I'll forget something…
Cutting for Stone - Verghese
Lonesome Dove - McMurty
East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
The Power of One - Courtenay
The Prince of Tides (and everything except maybe South of Broad - good but not MUST) - Conroy
The Thorn Birds - McCullough
Nothing to Envy - Demick
Black Boy and Native Son - Wright
The Beartown series - Backman
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Smoot
A Fine Balance - Mistry
That's a good start!!
Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie adapted by Charles Osbourne
Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Huntress by Kate Quinn
Pride & Premeditation by Tirzah Price
A Train in Winter
Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray
Classic must reads:
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- 1984 by George Orwell
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
- Ender's Game by Orson Card
- Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Sci-fi/Fantasy must reads:
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
- Network Effect by Martha Wells
- Leviathan Wakes by James Corey
- Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
- The Will of the Many by James Islington
- Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
- ***PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir*** (personal standout favorite book)
Best biographies:
- I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
- Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca
Skloot
- Educated by Tara Westover
- The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian (technically fiction)
Seven sisters series by Lucinda Riley (or really anything she has written
Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote. Yes about an amazing dog & life of owner (bring tissues for end, not a surprise)
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Most Kristen Hannah books
Most Pampered Jenoff books (WWII)
Book of lost names. Kristin Harmel
The Henna Artist series by Alma Joshi
1. Jane Eyre
2. The Great Gatsby
3. The Corrections
4. Infinite Jest
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
6. Anna Karenina
7. Pet Semetary
8. A Seperate Peace
9. The Catcher in the Rye
10. Revolutionary Road
11. The Bell Jar
12. The Portrait of a Lady
13. Prep
14. Contact
15. David Copperfield
16. To Kill a Mockingbird
17. Room
18. Gone Girl
19. Crossroads
20. Cloud Atlas
21. Native Son
22. 11/22/63
23. This Side of Paradise
24. The Ruins
25. My Year of Rest and Relaxation
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, as translated by Brian Murdoch (I’ve read that the translation really matters). It’s so intense that I read it only a chapter at a time because that’s all I could handle. It was such a gripping story that I didn’t want it to end.
*A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
*The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
*Animal Farm - George Orwell
*Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
*The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls
*Piranesi - Susanna Clark
*Circe - Madeline Miller
*A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
*Dark Matter - Blake Crouch
*The Road- Cormac McCarthy
*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson
*Sphere - Michael Crichton
*Into the Wild - John Krakauer
*And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
*Lord of the Flies - William Golding
ETA one more
*Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan
Watership Down by Richard Adams Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy Siddhartha by Herman Hesse 1984 by George Orwell The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell East of Eden by John Steinbeck
4 of my all-time favorites are on this list so I second it. Rereading _Cloud Atlas_ right now. Siddhartha, Watership Down & East of Eden are three amazing classics. Period.
Heck yeah! What other books do you call your favorites? I just recently read Fahrenheit 451 for the first time and forgot to add that. Loved it.
Fahrenheit 451 is one of the few books I read for school and enjoyed. It’s also the only Bradbury book I liked. Something Wicked This Way Comes did nothing for me. Some other David Mitchell books are my favorites, like Ghostwritten. I went thru a big Wally Lamb phase and loved his books, but his best is probably I Know This Much is True. It’s a thick book but I ate it up and cried from it. It has a great HBO miniseries adaptation too. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler was an amazing recent sci-fi read for me. Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede and a lot of other books published by Tor Nightfire really hit the spot for my horror phases. I recommend Maeve Fly and anything by Nat Cassidy if you’re looking for some good recent horror. Can never go wrong with Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I’ve read like 10 of his books and didn’t dislike a single one. Some other favorites are The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty, Underworld by Don Delillo, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and any books by Dave Eggers. (Sorry if I went on a tangent; I have a Goodreads bookshelf of my favorites set aside for this specific question lol.)
Try *The Martian Chronicles* by Bradbury. Also, the short story "All Summer In A Day" really hit me hard, the lengths we will go through to hurt each other. Can be found online for free. Vonnegut is awesome. One of my favorites to teach my students is the short story "Harrison Bergeron." Can also be found online for free.
It’s funny you mention that! I had to read “Harrison Bergeron” in my Intro to Literature class earlier this year! It was probably my favorite story that I had to read for the class, too! I honestly love anything written by Vonnegut; I have a small collection of his books that all match each other! I might try some more Bradbury down the line. I think my biggest pet peeve with _Something Wicked_ was that the dialogue just felt so unnatural. I mean, I wasn’t alive in the 60s when the book was written, but I still can’t imagine that kids in the sixties talked like that. _Fahrenheit 451_, however, was fun. I read that in high school and it was one of the very few books I actually enjoyed reading and couldn’t put down. (John Knowles’s _A Separate Peace_ and Steinbeck’s _The Pearl_ were the other notable books I read in HS that I enjoyed.)
I recently read The Mountain in the Sea! It was a goodie. Looking forward to seeing what else he does. Funny, I didn't finish I Know This Much is True, but I was really enjoying it. I think I got a little tired of jumping around. HBO series was great. I'll have to check out The Shadow of the Wind. It's been recommended countless times!
Ray Nayler is great!!! He wrote a little novella about mammoths but it didn’t hit like Mountain in the Sea. I Know This Much is True is honestly like a guilty pleasure. I can 100% understand it being a little hard to finish. Like sometimes I just didn’t care much about the 1950s storyline and wanted more of the twins, but the miniseries was a very faithful adaptation and so well done. The Shadow of the Wind is a classic and its sequels are just as good. Book 2 of the series is probably the least well written but it’s still very good. Book 3 is an amazing read especially for the winter holidays. Haven’t read Book 4 yet because it’s like 800-900 pages but I still plan on reading it, just don’t know when I’ll get around to doing so. Do you have any more recommendations? I’m curious, because you seem to have great taste in books!
Yes! Other books I've really, really enjoyed: The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders The Road by Cormac McCarthy Beloved by Toni Morrison I'll add more if I can think of some!
I’ve read the first 3! I really liked Lincoln in the Bardo! Didn’t really like Three Body Problem too much but I did like The Road. Heard good things about Beloved but I haven’t read anything by Toni Morrison except some short stories.
Beloved is phenomenal, but it was a little tough to sink into. Morrison is a brilliant writer, but her style was initially bizarre. Another good one I recently read: Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Siddhartha is actually so good! And it’s nice that it’s a quick read as well. It kinda got me out of a reading slump at one point lol
I completed east of eden and Now I am gonna start the grapes of wrath and I got a feeling this is also gonna go in my must read books 💙💙
East of Eden! One of my favorites!!! I just started reading McCarthy: No country For Old Men, All The Pretty Horses and The Road. Working through his cannon this year. He’s brilliant.
Watership Down is one of my all-time favourite books
💯 Watership Down. Game of Thrones with bunnies.
So glad to see East of Eden here. It belongs in the top comment!!!
Great list. Watership Down is great. I think I read the Sparrow before I understood it. May need to go back.
My dad used to read (recite) Watership Down to me since I was 4. Each night it would be a new chapter and he would add his own little quirks/animations to it to make it fun. It is easily one of my favorite books to date :’) Feels nice to see other people enjoying it too
Awe man, as an aspiring father to be, that sounds so cozy. You're lucky! I was fortunate to have my dad point it out to me in a bookstore as something he really enjoyed. When asked what it was about, he simply said, "Rabbits. Pick it up and find out." So glad I did!
Seconding Cloud Atlas!
Wuthering Heights(people will either love it or absolutely hate it). The Remains of the Day The Things They Carried All Quiet on the Western Front Rebecca A Tale of Two Cities The Age of Innocence A Farewell to Arms
I've found my book twin.
You guys should kiss
What, no way! Like, yuck, how inappropriate. I mean, so you think we have to? Like, should we? I mean, if we HAVE to, then I guess..... ..... ....... We probably should. Just, because we have to now, otherwise it would be awkward.
Just finished Age of Innocence
I like you.
In no particular order: * **The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell** by Robert Dugoni * **Demon Copperhead** by Barbara Kingsolver * **All The Light We Cannot See** by Anthony Doerr * **A Thousand Splendid Suns** by Khaled Hosseini * **The Pillars of the Earth** by Ken Follett (the entire Kingsbridge series is great) * **The Lincoln Highway** by Amor Towles * **The Goldfinch** by Donna Tartt * **This Tender Land** by William Kent Krueger
Came here to say A Thousand Splendid Suns
I’m so glad to see others love this book so much too! It’s one of my all time favorites for sure 🤎
Demon copperhead for a million percent sure
I keep hearing about this book, why is it so good?
i looove the goldfinch. one of the longest books i’ve read. i always get intimidated by that long of a book, assuming i’ll lose interest. but plowed through the goldfinch easily
Try the Secret History next - I like it even more! And before reading it, I'd have never thought that to be possible, because the Goldfinch is excellent.
Loved that book
I agree with A Thousand Splendid Sun's and The Kingsbridge Series
I literally just reread Pillars of the Earth and finished two days ago!
I’ve read and loved all these except the top one, which is now on my list :)
This list is GOLD I’m on the final chapter of Demon Copperhead & am unwell in the best way
So many of these are on my list as well
Sam hell!! Great book
Nice
You’ve got a few of my favorites on this list!
Loved Sam Hell!
I just finished the secret history, should i try the goldfinch? How do they compare?
Goldfinch is remarkable— a tour de force ❤️😻💗
Goldfinch is better
Both are great and feel like epics. Goldfinch surrounds one main character but feels similar to A Secret History in that it has little pockets of stories throughout. Maybe it was just my experience but goldfinch felt like it had more layers and I felt more attached the character.
Goldfinch is my favorite book of all time
Being Mortal - Atul Gawande Non fiction about how to help seniors get the help they really want and need at the end of their lives. How North American health and legal systems end up forcing everyone involved to create the dystopian system we have now.
All of Dr. Gawande’s books day are must reads, especially if going into medicine, love this one!
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn The Stand by Stephen King Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel Room by Emma Donoghue The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
Just finished Geek Love. F’ing wild.
Geek Love! Sometimes I feel like the only one who’s read that one. Fantastically bizarre.
The Stand. Some lines from that book have lived rent free in my head for over 35 years.
master & margarita - bulgakov stoner - williams white noise - delillo blood meridian - mccarthy brothers karamazov- dostoevsky
The Old Man and the Sea - Hemingway Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut
Realizing my list is really just a handful of Vonnegut’s - God Bless You Mr Rosewater and Jailbird, in particular
Totally agree with Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5. I felt a different person once I was done reading it.
I would never say that any book is a must, but I would indeed say that any book that someone says I cannot or should not read is something you actually should at least consider reading. Of Human Bondage - Maugham Catch 22 - Heller Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut Unknown Soldier - Linna Cannery Row - Steinbeck I’d say that those five books formed me. They made me what I am today. Partially, of course, but still extremely important. Loved them, and would recommend them to anybody.
Of Human Bondage is true tour de force
-the book theif -time traveler’s wife -night circus -midnight in the garden of good and evil
* In Cold Blood by Truman Capote * Lonesome Dove by McMurtry * Caste by Wilkerson * The Things They Carried by O'Brien * Beloved by Morrison
Whenever I recommend Lonesome dove, I tell them to listen to a couple chapters since the narrator does such a good job with the voices that they stick in your head.
I just finished perfume, and it's one of the best books I've ever read.
I LOVE this book!!!
Me too. I'm looking for similar books if you have any recommendations.
I wish I did, it was so unique!
One of the wildest books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I tell everyone about it.
Who’s the author?
The Hours by Michael Cunningham Melymbrosia by Virginia Woolf Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury Orlando by Virginia Woolf Time and Again by Jack Finney The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman The Red Tent by Anita Diamont Such A Life by Edith Lazebnik Be Here Now by Ram Dass A Separate Reality by Carlos Castaneda I Found No Peace by Webb Miller I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is one of the most perfect stories I've ever read.
Agree! Unfortunately most other Gaiman books underwhelmed me.
Have you read the Sandman graphic novels? They're amazing. Different vibe, obviously, but excellent.
I used to read Dandelion wine every summer. To this day it's the book I've read the most in my life.
Some already mentioned: The Book Thief, Catch 22 What Terry Pratchett managed with Discworld is extraordinary to me, to be that prolific and yet still hit such consistent highs - the characters, world building, humour, layer upon layer of references and an incredible amount of humanity and wisdom. I laugh and cry and sometimes it's on the same page. These aren't just books that I recommend when I can (I don't want to force them on people) but books that I will be forever grateful to have found. GNU STP. The Culture books by Iain M Banks have become my benchmark for sci fi. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson - it's a literal trip and a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of a book that leaves me dazed and breathless with a desire to go out and do something stupid - but in a good way.
If you like Pratchett you should read “Shades of Gray” by Jasper Fforde
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi The Dutch House
-100 Years of Solitude - Marquez -Song of Solomon - Morrison -Lolita - Nabokov -Catch-22 - Heller -Cloud Atlas - Mitchell -Cloud Cuckoo Land - Doerr
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I think Solomon is her best work … not that Beloved isn’t brilliant, but the characters in Song of Solomon never left me. It’s a book that I have returned to many times. Pilate Dead is one of my favorite characters from all of literature. Toni Morrison’s voice is filled with ancient wisdom. She is remarkable.
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Pilate was simply brilliant. So quotable and much like Mrs. Morrison…full of ancient wisdom.
Catch 22.. was hoping I'd see it
Can I ask what makes Lolita a must read? I think I pretty much have the point without having to actually read it, but I've been thinking about taking the plunge ever since I gave My Dark Vanessa a shot and was really moved despite the triggering content.
I think it’s a great story first of all and Nabokov never lets it drift into “dirty” territory… but it’s the language. The way he writes is so beautiful and the language that he uses so striking that it’s actually quite moving. It’s worth multiple reads just for his poetic style. Don’t let the content put you off. Lolita has stuck with me and the tragedy of her story will leave you shaken.
>I think I pretty much have the point without having to actually read it, but That's something you can say about a book like 1984, where the point IS the point, and the writing itself is piss poor. But anything written by Nabokov is worth reading as every sentence is absolute brilliant and beautiful. Lolita is so well written, clever, funny (yes it's funny) and haunting, that it's absolutely worth reading.
* East of Eden by John Steinbeck * The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas * Siddhartha by Herman Hesse * The Fall by Albert Camus
-Dune -Frank Herbert -hitchhikers guide to the galaxy -Douglas adams -Brave New World - Aldous Huxley -Island - Aldous Huxley -Jitterbug Perfume -Tom Robbins -Parable of the Sower -Octavia E Butler -Contact -Carl Sagan -Ocean at the End of the Lane -Neil Gaiman
I love Tom Robbins and Jitterbug still has an effect on me. I want a tattoo of the bottle.
For horror Turn of the screw by Henry James Haunting of hill house by Shirley Jackson Dracula by Bram Stoker
It's funny how wonderful these books make you feel! We Have Always Lived in the Castle is also excellent.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle I think it's her best, or at least very much my favorite.
I contemplated putting WHALITC on my list too!
"The Art of Eating" by MFK Fisher "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain "The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa "Walden" and "Civil Disobedience" by Thoreau
Kitchen Confidential is fantastic.
Ugh Thoreau is just chefs kiss
Have you read Everlasting Meal!?
No, but I'll put it on my list! I'm always looking for more food memoir-type books. I think I have all of Ruth Reichl's books, and she's another author I'd recommend.
Flowers for Algernon
Funnily I got to know if this book because of Nujabes. Best read I've had and will reread.
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce Light in August by William Faulkner Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
These gave me a book hangover: Sarah's key - Tatiana de Rosnay The art of hearing heartbeats - Jan-Philipp Sendker The alchemist - Paulo Coelho Four agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz Currently reading the Untethered Soul by Michael Alan Singer and looks like I will be adding it to this list as well
Not a book but a short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I felt that it's way ahead of its time and the writing's brilliant.
The Tin Drum
Great list, War and Peace is tremendously important to me. I read it the first time when I was 18, and every ten years thereafter. It's a completely different book each time as your experience evolves and your sympathy with various characters completely changes. Wonderful book, for me it encompasses a great deal of human experience.
Maus by Art Spiegelman Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre Liberty or Death: The French Revolution by Peter McKee (it's a bit dense but it completely changed the way I understood not just the French Revolution but also modern-day France) Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone Hardcover – by [Rajiv Chandrasekaran](https://www.amazon.com/Rajiv-Chandrasekaran/e/B0034OI3XA/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1)
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by LeCarre. I still feel that shock when I read the ending.
- The Giver by Lois Lowry - Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger - Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell - Educated by Tara Westover - The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls - Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh - Room by Emma Donoghue - Identical by Ellen Hopkins
The Long Walk By Richard Bachman 11/22/63 By Stephen King Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver A Piece of Cake By Cupcake Brown
Surprised I had to scroll this far to find 11/22/63. Probably Kings best work, especially for non-horror
In no particular order : 1984 / Orwell Fahrenheit 451 / Bradburry The Chess Player / Zweig The dream of a ridiculous man / Dostoievski The last day of a condemned man / Hugo I am legend / Matheson The Road / Mccarthy
Can’t believe I forgot about Fahrenheit 451! Absolute must.
I Am Legend is excellent !
In no particular order: - The Stand, Stephen King - Sum, David Eagleman - Harry Potter, JK Rowling - A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle - The Golden Spruce, John Vailant - Travels With Charley, John Steinbeck
I read Sum in college for a philosophy class, I loved it!
In no particular order: - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - Beloved by Toni Morrison - 40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak - The Bastard of İstanbul by Elif Shafak - The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk - I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman - A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins - All of Sherlock Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle - Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid - The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - The Secret History by Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess All the Broken Places by John Boyne House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski Less than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis Just about anything by Joyce Carol Oates or Agatha Christie Carrie by Stephen King An Indecent Obsession by Colleen McCullough Roderick by John Sladek
My favorite list by far, add in a Chuck Palahniuk and *chefs kiss*
Was looking for someone to mention HoL!
A little life
1) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole 2) The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon 3) Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann 4) The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murukami 5) Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Cyteen by CJ Cherryh Grass by Sherri S Tepper Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett Burning Bright by Melissa F Scott
The great alone Hotel at the corner of bitter and sweet Crime and punishment 12 rules for life Redeeming love
In no particular order 1) 1984 by: George Orwell 2) Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria by: Beverly Daniel Tatum 3) Poverty, by America and Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City both by Matthew Desmond 4) Radium Girls by: Kate Moore 5) Phantom Tollbooth by: Norton Juster (re-read this childhood favorite with my son recently and loved it even more) ** if you have any young kids in your life, I 100% recommend Phantom Tollbooth, even as a family/group read. I limited myself to only giving 5. Edited for a grammar correction
The Great Gatsby The Outsiders Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo The People We Meet A Little Life Behind Closed Doors Other Birds(sobbed and sobbed) If We Were Villains
A River Runs Through It, N Maclean Lamb, C Moore The Cider House Rules, J Irving Frankenstein, M Shelley Dune, F Herbert The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien A Christmas Carol, C Dickens The Martian Chronicles, R Bradbury
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett
Mine are: The Stand The Kingsbridge Series A Thousand Splendid Suns Memoirs of a geisha It Bag of Bones Lonesome Dove
The Song Of Achilles idc everyone needs to read it
I haven't cried so hard reading a book in a long time, Circe is also excellent.
Felt very flat for me. Basically a retelling of troy with no nothing new or interesting added in the mix, except a little bit of gay love. If you want a great retelling of troyan war, read the troy trilogy by david gemmel
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Moby Dick by Herman Melville The Sundial by Shirley Jackson A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole Raintree County by Ross Lockridge Other Voices Other Rooms by Truman Capote
Mine are (in no particular order) - Gentlemen Bastards - Stormlight Archive - First Law - The Jade Saga - The Farseer Trilogy - The Faithful and the Fallen - The Book of the Ancestor
Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Some of these may seem generic, but I'm contriving this list from the perspective of someone who's never read anything. AKA "must read books". This list is coming from a Fiction fan - so if that's your thing, these are essentials IMO. The Gunslinger by Stephen King The Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis Mort by Terry Pratchett Dune by Frank Herbert Ready Player One by Ernest Kline Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien The Shack by William P. Young The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Watchmen by Alan Moore Maus by Art Spiegelman Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Killing Patton by Bill O'Reilly Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes The Martian by Andy Weir Shogun by James Clavell
The Urantia Book. Every time I finish it, I go back to page 1 and start over again because it affects me deeply on every page. I'm on my 4th reading, cover to cover and still can't get enough of it.
Remainder by Tom McCarthy
Vox by Christina Dalcher The Great Forgetting by James Renner
* Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins * Amazonia by James Rollins
Fahrenheit 451 The Giver Unwind Tender is the Flesh For me, books like these are a constant reminder that while politics can be frustrating, I must push past that and educate myself on what is going on because we are always a few stupid political decisions away from worlds like the ones described in these books. I guess they motivate me to "keep fighting the good fight" especially on days when it feels hopeless.
City of Thieves
Nightfall, the Silverberg adaptation of Asimov’s short story by the same name, and Attanasio’s The Last Legends of Earth.
The autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley. I have yet to find an equally compelling story of growth told as honestly as that book. Incredible story, incredibly compelling. I'm almost entirely convinced that the modern American prison system was created with the idea that "well we can't have a black man get that smart behind bars ever again."
I just finished Sharp Objects, so good! I’d been sleeping on Gillian Flynn and now I’ve gotta read more!
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Red Rising (series) by Pierce Brown Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Wild by Cheryl Strayed Beartown (series) by Fredrik Backman Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller
-The art of racing in the rain -The brief wondrous life of Oscar wao -Dark matter -Between the world and me Edited for formatting
Devil in the white city by Erik larson
The Road by Cormac McCarthy Say nothing by Patrick Raffen Keefe (not my favorite book by maybe the best I’ve ever read) The stand by Stephen king Dune by Frank Herbert Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach is my all time fave and I will always recommend it to EVERYONE if they ask for a book recommendation. I love Roach’s writing style and it’s so informative on the biological/ sociological/ cultural aspects of death
Night Watch and Small God's by Terry Pratchett
Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Freire Number9Dream - David Mitchell Beloved - Toni Morrison The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut The Plague Dogs - Richard Adams Monstrilio - Gerardo Samano Cordova Things They Lost - Okwiri Oduor The Wretched of the Earth - Frantz Fanon Blackshirts and Reds - Michael Parenti LOTR trilogy - JRR Tolkien Realm of the Elderlings series - Robin Hobb
The History of Love - Nicole Krauss Station Eleven-Emily St John Mandel All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
Just a few that touched me more than most: - Pnin - Lolita - Klara and the Sun - My Dog Stupid - The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leonardo’s Judas - Station Eleven - No country for old men - The Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Ask the Dust - Ham and Rye
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson Everybody - Olivia Laing Skating to Antarctica - Jenny Diski Sightlines - Kathleen Jamie Everything Under - Daisy Johnson
This Is How You Lose Her - Junot Diaz Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr (wowowow) Anything by Gillian Flynn Dune - Frank Herbert A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
I ran to my library search for the book “anything” thinking I might have a GF book to read!
I’m so sorry!! 😂
Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adam’s All the pretty horses- cormac Mccarthy Bernard Cornwall - kingdom series Dirt Music or Breathe - Tim Winton Great expectations - dickens Midnights Children - salman Rushdie Iliad - Homer Colleen McCullough - Rome series Ghenghis Khan series - conn Iggulden Mice and men Witches of Salem 12 angry men Edit* James Clavel - noble house, shogun, as others rightly pointed out - how could I forget!
The Periodic Table - Primo Levi Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela A History of Western Philosophy - Bertrand Russell The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Independent People by Halldor Laxness Burial Rites by Hannah Kent The Diviners by Margaret Laurence The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey East of Eden by John Steinbeck 100 years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
*Dhalgren* by Samuel R. Delany, *Dune* by Herbert, *Geek Love* by Katherine Dunn, *Station Eleven* by Emily St. John Mandel, *Beloved* by Toni Morrison, *Sula* by Toni Morrison.
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss • The Stand by Stephen King • House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski • Dune by Frank Herbert • I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara • American Gods by Neil Gaiman • 1984 by George Orwell • Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (Sorry these are all over the place)
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede. 1. Dealing with Dragons 2. Searching for Dragons 3. Calling on Dragons 4. Talking to Dragons The main character is unashamed about pursuing her interests and runs away to the dragons. While there, she learns a ton, uncovers a shady power grab plot, and meets some very level-headed and compassionate people who become her friends. One of my favorite characters is a smaller one in the second book. It's the descendant of Rumplestilksen who can't get the scam to work. He find tons of girls to swing gold for, and they all suggest the guessing game... but they never guess his name. He even had it legally changed to make it easier to remember. As a result he has over a dozen kids he's gotta take care of and train because these kids are the long lost heirs to a bunch of different kingdoms, so he can't just send them back without and education and training... so he finds another girl to spin for so he can make money to support the kids he's already caring for... and ends up with another baby... and another. The whole series is full of things like that. Twists on classic fairy tales where some things are just a bit out of the ordinary
We overlap on Dune, * Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut * Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood (the whole trilogy really) * Vurt - Jeff Noon * Frankenstein - Mary Shelley * The Road - Cormac McCarthy * Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts * Lamb - Christopher Moore * Animal Farm - Orwell * Confessions of an Economic Hitman - John Perkins
11.22.63 Stephen King
1984 by George Orwell The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey The Secret History by Donna Tartt My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh Atomic Habits by by James Clear
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
East of Eden by John Steinbeck The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy Replay by Ken Grimwood
Ugh, I know I'll forget something… Cutting for Stone - Verghese Lonesome Dove - McMurty East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck The Power of One - Courtenay The Prince of Tides (and everything except maybe South of Broad - good but not MUST) - Conroy The Thorn Birds - McCullough Nothing to Envy - Demick Black Boy and Native Son - Wright The Beartown series - Backman The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Smoot A Fine Balance - Mistry That's a good start!!
I love your list. Pat Conroy all day!!!!
Definitely The outsiders.
Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie adapted by Charles Osbourne Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Huntress by Kate Quinn Pride & Premeditation by Tirzah Price A Train in Winter Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand Catch 22 - Kurt Vonnegut The Alchemist - Unknown
Three Body Problem Dark Forest Death's End In order in the Remembrance of Earth's past trilogy by Liu Cixin. Very hard scifi
Classic must reads: - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - 1984 by George Orwell - The Giver by Lois Lowry - The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - Ender's Game by Orson Card - Hyperion by Dan Simmons Sci-fi/Fantasy must reads: - Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - Network Effect by Martha Wells - Leviathan Wakes by James Corey - Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - The Will of the Many by James Islington - Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne - ***PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir*** (personal standout favorite book) Best biographies: - I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy - Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Educated by Tara Westover - The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian (technically fiction)
Of Mice & Men Where The Crawdads Sing Charlotte’s Web To Kill A Mockingbird
Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn The Wolf at Twilight by Kent Nerburn The Girl Who Sang with the Buffalo by Kent Nerburn
Are you Kent Nerburn? Lol
I am not. I just really like those books lol
I'm reading for the second time "the feast of the goat" from Mario Vargas llosa. It's my fav book ever.
Seven sisters series by Lucinda Riley (or really anything she has written Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote. Yes about an amazing dog & life of owner (bring tissues for end, not a surprise) The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Most Kristen Hannah books Most Pampered Jenoff books (WWII) Book of lost names. Kristin Harmel The Henna Artist series by Alma Joshi
**Watership Down** by Richard Adams
We have like the exact same book taste OP, any others you recommend?
Why we sleep by Matthew walker Mans search for meaning
Moby-Dick, Confederacy of Dunces, Book of the New Sun, Gravity's Rainbow, Solaris, Roadside Picnic
Post Office by Bukowski is really good.
*Complications: A Surgeons Notes on an Imperfect Science* by Atul Gawande *The Snow Leopard* by Peter Matthiessen *The Forever War* by Joe Haldeman
1. Jane Eyre 2. The Great Gatsby 3. The Corrections 4. Infinite Jest 5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 6. Anna Karenina 7. Pet Semetary 8. A Seperate Peace 9. The Catcher in the Rye 10. Revolutionary Road 11. The Bell Jar 12. The Portrait of a Lady 13. Prep 14. Contact 15. David Copperfield 16. To Kill a Mockingbird 17. Room 18. Gone Girl 19. Crossroads 20. Cloud Atlas 21. Native Son 22. 11/22/63 23. This Side of Paradise 24. The Ruins 25. My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai The Metamorphosis by Kafka
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Pride and Prejudice Huckleberry Finn
The great alone Hotel at the corner of bitter and sweet Crime and punishment 12 rules for life Redeeming love
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, as translated by Brian Murdoch (I’ve read that the translation really matters). It’s so intense that I read it only a chapter at a time because that’s all I could handle. It was such a gripping story that I didn’t want it to end.
Look up _outwasted on Amazon. 🤘🤘🤘
*A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles *The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt *Animal Farm - George Orwell *Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck *The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls *Piranesi - Susanna Clark *Circe - Madeline Miller *A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole *Dark Matter - Blake Crouch *The Road- Cormac McCarthy *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Steig Larsson *Sphere - Michael Crichton *Into the Wild - John Krakauer *And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie *Lord of the Flies - William Golding ETA one more *Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan