What are your top 5 most favorite books of all time?

[dcassetta]

My favourites growing up were The Silver Sword, Maniac Magee, The Babysitters Club books, Point Horror books, and Sweet Valley High.

All-time/adult favourites are:

Persuasion
Pride and Prejudice
The Owens family books by Alice Hoffman (Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, and The Book of Magic)
Any book by Fannie Flagg
Stephen King books (especially Salem's Lot, Needful Things, and IT)

Emma is my favorite Austen, but Persuasion has my favorite line - “You pierce my soul”

 

[Jillpie]

4. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay YES!!! How did I forget this one. When I was done, I was desperate to try another one of her books, but didn't see anything that was so highly rated as this one. I usually go off of Amazon reviews. Oh loved this book so much.

 

[slo]

Gone With the Wind (read this twice)
The Harry Potter books (reading them a 3rd time now)
Tuesdays With Morrie (I need to read this again)
The North and South Trilogy
The Twilight books (I’ve read them more than once - don’t judge - I love my sparkly vampires - LOL!)

 

[holden]

To Kill a Mockingbird
Grapes of Wrath
Harry Potter series
A Prayer for Owen Meany
The Great Gatsby

 

[DisneyHardin]

I've heard so much praise for Nightingale but haven't gotten to it yet, mostly because I'm not a fan of WWII as a fiction setting. But I adored The Great Alone and The Four Winds, which has me thinking I should give it a shot.

I don't get the love for The Nightingale. I love Kristin Hannah books - The Great Alone is one of my top favorite books ever, but I couldn't even finish The Nightingale and I almost never give up on a book and quit reading.

 

[RedAngie]

I’m not embarrassed. Some of my favorites were trashy novels.

Once Is Not Enough and Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann.
Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins

Non-fiction:
Rivers in the Desert by Margaret Leslie Davis, about building LA’s water supply.

Against the Tide by Cornelia Dean, about US coastal issues.

Sudden Sea by R.A. Scotti, about the 1938 Long Island/New England hurricane.

 

[RedAngie]

More trash:

 

[RUDisney]

Children's:

• Charlotte's Web
• Little Princess
• Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
• The Little Prince
• Harry Potter series

Adult:

• Solaris
• One Day
• Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
• Sherlock Holmes

You must be my DD in disguise!

 

[Jillpie]

I don't get the love for The Nightingale. I love Kristin Hannah books - The Great Alone is one of my top favorite books ever, but I couldn't even finish The Nightingale and I almost never give up on a book and quit reading.

Its funny, how you felt about the Nightingale, is exactly how I felt about The Four Winds. I adore Kristen Hannah, but I almost gave up half way thru, it was just so repetitive, and so very depressing to me, it never let up. Just didn't get the love for it. I am the opposite, I devour WWII novels, love them. I can't wait for her next one, she says its going to be an historical one.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Its funny, how you felt about the Nightingale, is exactly how I felt about The Four Winds. I adore Kristen Hannah, but I almost gave up half way thru, it was just so repetitive, and so very depressing to me, it never let up. Just didn't get the love for it. I am the opposite, I devour WWII novels, love them. I can't wait for her next one, she says its going to be an historical one.

The Four Winds was a slow read for me. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I would probably only recommend it to someone if I knew they had a particular interest in the Dust Bowl.

 

[mjkacmom]

So many good books on this list. I graduated HS in 1985, my parents were avid readers, I read every Stephen king book when they came out, many in elementary school (missed school due to being up all night reading “just one more chapter mom.” The Shining was the first one and I was hooked. Jackie Collins was another fun favorite I enjoyed which probably wasn’t meant for 5th graders! My parents let us read anything we wanted.

 

[Kitty 34]

I have read many books so there is no way I could do a Top 5 but here are some favorites I remember....


Thorn Birds
Tombstone
Once is Not Enough/Valley of the Dolls (Thanks RedAngie for reminding me of those books long time ago)
Pretty much anything by Ann Rule (may she RIP) esp...Stranger Beside Me and Small Sacrifices
Books about the Holocaust....I've read soooo many of those.

 

[PollyannaMom]

...But, as a young person who loved the library in the early 70's, I was never introduced to the Little House books, and so so regret that!! I read everything from the Bobbsie Twins to others, but never saw these books. I would have devoured them. I wonder if at age 62, I'd like them lol.

“No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.” ~ C.S. Lewis​

 

[PollyannaMom]

I could never presume to give an accurate Top 5 (It would just be too much pressure!!) But here are a few that come to mind:

Books I've re-read the most times:
The Harry Potter series
Jayne Eyre
Foster Mary (a teen level book by Celia Strang)

Books I recommend to others the most often:
Atomic Habits - James Clear
The Power of When - Michael Breus

Books I've read lately that had me choosing another chapter over sleep:
The Last House on the Street - Diane Chamberlain
The Oysterville Sewing Circle - Susan Wiggs

 

[flyingdumbo127]

What a great quote, PollyannaMom! Children's books have a way of being both healing, fun, and also meaningful in general to reread as and adult. I remember in college how I enjoyed spending time with a friend reading some series in the kid's area of a used bookstore. I still have some favorite kid's books today including Boxcar Children and Baby-sitters Club. It would be fun to discuss these books if any of you also still enjoy them. PM me

 

[NannyBeBe]

Speaking of children's books, I wonder if anyone has read Soft Child: How Rattlesnake Got His Fangs. I have read it over and over and to groups of children every chance I get. It's a very moving little story that moved me to tears the first time I read it.

 

[Shellsbutt]

So many good books on this list. I graduated HS in 1985, my parents were avid readers, I read every Stephen king book when they came out, many in elementary school (missed school due to being up all night reading “just one more chapter mom.” The Shining was the first one and I was hooked. Jackie Collins was another fun favorite I enjoyed which probably wasn’t meant for 5th graders! My parents let us read anything we wanted.

Yes, Jackie Collins was naughty reading for me at that age! Also, Sidney Sheldon and Danielle Steel. My parents had no idea. But that was my sex education at the time, right or wrong.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I'd like to put in a little word for historical romance, also known as bodice rippers-although I've never once read where someone had their bodice ripped. I was introduced to them when I took possession of forty of them when the little supermarket around the corner from me was going to throw them away after trying to give them away for free. They were like potato chips-I devoured them. To my (admittedly snobby) surprise, they were well written, fun, and yes, sexy. Now when I go to the library I always check a few out to go with the other, weightier books I read. My favorite authors are Julia Quinn (The Bridgerton books are *SO* enjoyable!), Lisa Kleypas, and Tessa Dare.

 

[xipotec]

1. Swan Song (Robert Mcammon)
2. The Demon Haunted World (Carl Sagan) life changing book.
3. The Road (Cormac Mccarthy)
4. The Lord of the Rings.
5. Boys Life (Robert Mccammon)

Honorable Mentions: Cosmos : Carl Sagan and Brief History of Time : Stephen Hawking.

 

[Wendy31]

From childhood/girlhood - -

the “Trixie Belden” series
“Little House on the Prairie” series - especially These Happy Golden Years which makes it onto my Top 10 All-Time List
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Little Women - also on my Top 10 List
Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

W/ Honorable Mentions to Secret Lives by Berthe Amoss & From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg.

I also loved Judy Blume & Beverly Cleary & had many other favorites too. And, while I preferred Trixie Belden to Nancy Drew, I still read Nancy Drew. My fav Trixie Belden is The Gatehouse Mystery, & my fav Nancy Drew is Lilac Inn.

I am not much of a classics reader or a “serious” fiction reader. I prefer well-written romance. So, w/ that said, my top 5 romances (but I could probably easily do a Top 10) -

Ashes in the Wind by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, also A Rose in Winter
The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simon
Honour’s Splendor by Julie Garwood
Mists of the Serengeti by Leylah Attar - so, so good!!
The Windflower by Laura London

W/ an Honorable Mention to Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.

I also really enjoy good romantic-suspense & dark romance, if it’s done well. Someone else mentioned Lisa Kleypas, & several of hers are favorites too. Oh, & the “One Wore Blue” series & “The Florida Series” by Heather Graham & “The McCabe Trilogy” Series by Maya Banks too…

So, because I can‘t just narrow my Top All-Time down to just 5, here are my Top 10 of All-Time - -

Ashes in the Wind
Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
In Search of Jimmy Buffett: A Key West Revival by Ashley Oliphant
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Mists of the Serengeti
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Windflower
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

W/ Honorable Mentions to Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton & Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.