Thanks Rob, your book looks interesting. I just purchased a new copy on Abe Books for $6.08 plus $4.25 in shipping.

I like well written science fiction. "Hail Mary" by Andy Weir, It's currently my favorite.💗 I liked "A Street Cat Named Bob" by James Bowen, a true story.

Some that I remember with great fondness don't stand up to rereading for me (especially Rebecca).

Two novels that remain favourites of mine and have stood up over time: Eye of the Needle (Follett), and The Orphan Master's Son (Johnson). In non-fiction, it would be Red Notice (Browder). I think about Bill Browder often (his follow up book Freezing Order is also good, but not as good, IMO).

Fiction: Pillars of the Earth

Non-Fiction: Devil in the White City

I've just finished reading Sir Anthony Hopkins' Memoir: We Did OK, Kid. I found it a bit tedious, but kept at it. Fun fact: he and my father were born on the same day.

Oh Elmer, Yes! Both the Herman Wouk ”war” books. Several of John Irvings..Garp, Owen Meany, Cider House. Ishigura Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go( heartbreaking).

Lord of the Rings, read them all but only loved The Hobbit . Cannot leave out my much read Barbara Pym. Adore her humor and the English ways of earlier times.

Here’s a nugget re young visiting vicar.:

” The new curate seemed quite a nice young man, but what a pity it was that his combinations showed, tucked carelessly into his socks when he sat down.”

Spoken by the “old maid” parishioner.

Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. If you have only seen the movie, which is wonderful too, the book is stunning. Steinbeck had great style, and an ear for dialogue. The book goes far beyond the movie.

I don’t read books much but one book I read as a teenager and still read again occasionally is ”The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair. (I’m 78 now) I agree with hobbitmom’s selectionof of this book.

All from when I was young and impressionable and always had a book in my hand

days, more than today's readings.

Any of James Herriot's Animal Stories, taken from real life as an animal Doc.

"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom (or any of his series)

"To Kill a Mockingbird"...read over and over.

The Michael Connelly Series...Detective Stories

Sue Grafton series.

These are all from my younger years...today's reading varies so much they don't

seem to "stick" in my mind...but, I really don't need to reread any of my younger

favorites either now. "To Kill a Mockingbird", has been made into a movie, of course.

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez, English translation.

La Storia - Elsa Morante, in the original Italian.

Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann. Scorsese’s film covers only a fraction of the violence and hate against the Osage Nation for surpassing the local whites in terms of wealth and its outward symbols.

The Worst Hard Time - Timothy Egan, history of the American Dust Bowl.

The Life and Times of Michael K - JM Cotzee

A Pale View of Hill - Kazuo Ishiguro

A whole lot of Alice Munro before she was Me Too'd. Now I can't bring myself to pick up a single story of hers.

For me, I’d have to agree with Grapes of Wrath and To Kill a Mockingbird.

I asked DH since he’s such a reader. He mentioned both War and Peace (Tolstoy), and Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky). Also, Men to Match My Mountains (Irving Stone), and Lincoln (Gore Vidal).

I hope it’s not too “out there” to mention Charlotte’s Web. It holds a special memory for me and my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. McCracken.💕

En Famille & Sans Famille by Hector Malot are always my favourites because those novels started my love of books and reading at a very young age.

I love many of the books mentioned here, but Just Kids by Patti Smith is probably my very favorite.

Yum, so many of my favorites mentioned here! Probably my ultimate favorite is War and Peace that I'm reading now for likely the 5th time. A close second for favorite is David Copperfield and most other Dickens' works. These books show masters at work. I also love The Magic Mountain - I read it again over Christmas when I went on a long trip and the unfamiliar environment at my destination coincided with that of the character in the book (although, like Bookwoman, not a tuberculosis sanatorium). I loved Winds of War, Project Hail Mary (hope the movie does it justice) and Grapes of Wrath. I also love Charlotte's Web although my ultimate favorite children's book has to be Anne of Green Gables. So many more, too many to list.

I was in my late 20’s when I read Winds of War and War and Remembrance..Those two books began an assortmant of WW11 books. i read a bunch of James Michener books after that. I have read The Jungle several times, and many of the others mentioned.

In recent years I have read several Erik Larson books, and esespecially liked The Devil In the White City.

stacey_mb, I'm also a huge Dickens fan and reread my favorite, Bleak House, on a regular basis.

Mine is a throwback: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. The wordplay drew me in as a kid and now, and even to this day still little things in life are reflections from the book, including the Terrible Trivium, the disappearing city, and the two brothers who agree to disagree with everything the other one agrees with.

The other is To Kill a Mockingbird. First read when I was 11, since my brother was reading it for high school, and I always read his books. And every time thereafter, it reminds me what fine writing truly is. It is always a delight to read fine writing. Roger Ebert was another fine writer, as an illustration that fine writing is beyond style, genre, etc.

The Lord of the Rings---JRR Tolkien

Kristen Lavransdatter--Sigrid Undset

Both read and reread throughout my life (I'm 80)

I read a great deal of history but I doubt I could choose a favorite. My particular interest is post Roman Britain, late Roman and post Roman Europe, Viking. A fairly recent read, The Children of Ash and Elm by Neil Price, is brilliant.

Elmer, this is such a good thread- thank you for starting it.

I really don't know as I have so many favorites, but I am reading through the suggestions here and realizing that so many of the popular Bestests I've never read. I am particularly taking note of Herman Wouk. I believe I read Marjorie Morningstar way back when, and I feel like I remember seeing his books in my parents' house growing up but I don't think I read them. Winds of War is going on my to be read in 26 list. Edited to add, I checked and pretty sure it was Caine Mutiny that was on the bookshelves... never read that one either.

I can agree about Grapes of Wrath for sure as well as Gone With The Wind, and Anne of Green Gables. I did really like some of the John Irving books, but they don't make it to my best of the best list.

I've been trying to read more of the classic books that either I never read, or read in school and plodded through them.

One book that did blow me away and is fairly current ( published 2014 so this century for sure is The Lovesong of Miss Queenie Hennessy.

One very telling point I note when reading through the lists everyone shared, is that there are no very current books on the list. I usually shy away from the current ones. To each his her own.

Bleak House is my favorite too. I am also a Howards End and Brideshead Revisited fan.

More than one. All the Michael Connelly Lincoln Lawyer books, and the Harry Bosch books.

Forgot earlier but, another favorite non-fiction book is Cooked: Michael Pollan. Very informative and enjoyable to read.

When I was pregnant in 1980, I read The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff. It is about raising a baby "in arms"...the way primitive people do. I chose to raise my baby that way. She was held constantly. Breastfed on demand. Slept with me. No regrets. I only had one child, but if I had others, I would have done the same thing. I got lots of flack from people, but I was old enough (34) that I was secure in what I was doing. Instead of making her spoiled and insecure, it made her very independent. Sure, I believe there are other ways to raise strong, independent children, but this is how I chose to do it. Loved the book, and wrote a thank you to Jean Liedloff.

PS In my 20’s and 30’s many of my favs were SciFi: passed on to me and not current. Arthur c Clark, Robert Heinlein, Asimov, Ray Bradbury, F Herbert(Dune)

LOVE "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier.

I agree, Kristen Lavransdatter and Lord of the Rings. The writer of Kristen Lavransdatter won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and very deservedly so. It's an outstanding book.

For nonfiction, Barbara Tuchman 'The Guns of August' which I read in my freshman history class with Dr. Williams from UAA. He also turned me on to the War Poems of Wilfred Owen.

I was into mountaineering in my 20s, and Eric Shipman and H.W. Tilman were very interesting reads about early climbing in the Himalayas (although it's likely very dated now in terms of how they treated people)

I was into Russian literature, also through college classes, Oblomov was awesome - my dh and I still joke about twinkling elbows engaging in life versus stiff, wooden society represented by Stoltz. - and Crime and Punishment as somebody already mentioned, is haunting . Brothers Karamazov is another one - murder by proxy type of situation if I got that right - Dmitri told Smerdyakov to kill the father, right ? (that's just off the top, sorry).

Edgar Allen Poe Telltale Heart , wow! My high school English teacher played the record for us, other than the record, could've heard a pin drop ! I did not understand some of his stories but read them all anyway.

Agatha Christie - I read piles of them as a teen - and now am considering a re-read

Greek/Roman mythology - all I could get my hands on - the plight of Persephone and her mom Demeter was impactful to me. Seems almost like a version of the apple in the garden of eden

Currently, Mick Herron Slow Horses series is very engaging... a side-story novel 'Secret Hours' as good as Le Carre!

David Mitchell 'The Bone Clocks' is one I couldn't put down, I love the way his novels thread through to one another in a way, but I have more to read on that - I haven't even read Cloud Atlas, although I got through. the movie twice and understood it a little.

And everything by Ann Patchett

Sorry if that rant didn't fit the assignment ;)

I've read many of the books mentioned on this thread, but my favorites are those that entertain and distract me upon re-reading them. Books with heavier subject matter don't qualify. I find it difficult these days to read the dense prose typical of the writing in earlier centuries.

@Kendrah

“A whole lot of Alice Munro before she was Me Too'd. Now I can't bring myself to pick up a single story of hers.”

Same for me.

DD1's favorite book is Forster's A Room With a View. When we travel, we buy a copy of it in the local language. So far, we have French, German and Italian, and we were able to find a graphic novel version in London. It's a fun project. I am hoping for a Kamer Mit Uitzight when we go to Amsterdam in the spring.

lat62, the movie of Cloud Atlas does a great disservice to the book, which is one of my favorites. It's so cleverly conceived and written; each chapter is an homage to a different type of literature. His Black Swan Green, which is somewhat autobiographical, is also excellent.

At the fundraising ($600,000 last year) used book sale where I volunteer, the Bobbsey Twins books are still very popular. They are collected in a separate box and not combined with other vintage publications. Other books that are separated because people are looking for those titles, are Nancy Drew and Harry Potter, among others..

You read my mind,Ded. I was going to say my favorite books were The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and Uncle Wiggily. I got these every year for Christmas and birthday, and I still have every one on a bookshelf. I have been a reader since before first grade, thanks to these books, and it has carried all my life. I go to the local library every Wednesday for over 50 years and read at least two books a week.

I was never a Bobbsey Twins/Nancy Drew person But I loved the Hardy Boys. Yeah, same author....

" But I loved the Hardy Boys. Yeah, same author.... "

Not exactly. Take a look at the Wikipedia info as I just did, the picture isn't quite as neat as your comment suggests. Both series and others came out of a book production business that used the work of many different writers using a standard nom de plume for each series. It says Leslie McFarlane wrote 19 of the first 25 Hardy Boys books and 21 overall but he seems to have been less involved with Nancy Drew.

My husband read the Hardy Boys, and I have all his old books, too. We are both big readers, but unfortunately, neither kid is.

I adore reading and always have so it is hard for me to have an absolute favorite. I am another Dickens lover and classics in general. For a modern book I do reread The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield regularly. The main character is a serious reader. I am presently reading the Flavia De Luce mystery series by Alan Bradley. A friend sent me the first three, It started well but half way through the whole series is taking a down turn. We shall see. It is fairly fluffy stuff but the main character is obsessed with Chemistry which is sort of fun.

There are so many books I love, but the one I return to at least once a year since 1966 is Professor Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It never fails me.

I remember when someone told me that Carolyn Keene, the supposed writer of the Nancy Drew novels, actually didn't exist and the books were created by various other people. I loved the Nancy Drew novels as a child and I was almost shocked to hear this!

I had a similar experience. I was an enthusiastic Hardy Boys reader up to about age 10 and hoped that some day I might have a chance to meet Franklin R Dixon. Nothing ever popped up about him in the newspapers we got or elsewhere, my reading tastes moved on, and I forgot about it. It was probably a few decades later that I learned that the books were written by a team, there in fact was no one named Franklin R Dixon, and that was that. The bubble popped. It gave me a chuckle at the time and still does now.

In the absence of enough information, kids will assume and believe just about anything. Adults do that too.

Stacey, the father of one of our neighbors, now deceased, wrote three of the Nancy Drew mysteries. He made the mistake of mentioning it in an interview and that was that since they were very strict about not letting on that Carolyn Keene was not the author. our neighbor had such a fascinating life in her own right, but this was very cool.

This will probably bring about some eye rolls but whatever. My favorite book of all time is A Christmas Carol. I am a Dickens fan in general but that is my favorite. I have no idea how many times I have read it or listened to it in audiobook form.

For the rest of my reading, I admit I prefer floofy, frivolous and fanciful historical romance novels. I am no scholar.

No eye rolls at all. It's a wonderful book.

Amylou, if you are reading a Christmas Carol you are a serious reader. It isnt fluffy by any means. It is great literature.

The book that always comes to my mind when asked about any that I read and that had an impact on my thinking is ”A Tree Grows In Brooklyn” author Betty Smith. It’s now considered a classic - it’s 75 years old now. I was a young teen when I read this book.

Yes, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn! As for fluffy or non-fluffy reading, I am a firm believer that if an individual finds reading to be rewarding and enjoyable, that is a legitimate end in itself regardless of the type of literature. I also think that A Christmas Carol is great literature, as do many other people judging by the number of times the theme has been copied over the years in other productions.

I should’ve mentioned that I loved the Harry Potter series! I didn’t care that I wasn’t included in the target audience. The imagery in the writing caught & held my attention.

Two of my favorites are Roots and the Lonesome Dove series.

KW, I loved Harry Potter, too, though I didn’t make it all the way through the series. Like The Phantom Tollbooth, the wordplay, the creative use of language, appeals to me.