I am always on the lookout for good books to read. I have joined an online book club called Goodreads, where I can see what people I know are reading and view their recommendations.
Anyway, in conjunction with my Top Ten Movie list and my Top Ten Everything list, here are my top ten favorite novels:
1. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (the new Masterpiece Theater movie of this is great, too!)
2. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
4. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
5. The Harry Potter Series, by J. K. Rowling, especially books 3, 6, and 7
6. Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery (most of the whole series is pretty good)
7. The Story Girl and The Golden Road, by L. M. Montgomery
8. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
9. The Scarlet Pimpernel and El Dorado, by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
10. The Twilight series, by Stephenie Meyer
I'm somewhat embarrassed that this list doesn't include more intellectual classic novels. But, at least in my opinion, that was what required reading in school was for (c'mon, I'm not going to truthfully say that Crime and Punishment or Of Mice and Men are on my list of favorites!) I like to read for pleasure. What are your favorite books?
8 comments:
I'd say you've got a few classics there. They just all happen to be romances or children's stories (of sorts). I'm currently readin Emma and I'm having a hard time getting through all the proper explanations of things. Perhaps it's just too similar to the movie for me to really enjoy since I've already spoiled the book by watching the movie. However, Wuthering Heights is among my favorites. I swear I've never met anyone as nutty as some of the characters in that book.
I agree with Rachael that you have lots of classics. And I am going to be good and not say anything about Potter and Meyers. (Except maybe if I did say anything, I'd urge a distinction between "pleasure" and "guilty pleasure.") Hahaha. I so cannot keep my promises to myself.
I've read so many good new things lately I can't even think what my favorites are anymore. They keep changing. So there I go, making snarky remarks on your list and not offering up anything myself. Just like a big sister, right?
To Kill a Mockingbird is the only book I was ever assigned to read in school that I ever read again for fun. It's a great book.
Jenny, I'm intrigued that you like the same three Harry Potter books that I like. I also think that 3, 6, and 7 are really standouts from the rest of the series.
OK, after some thought, here's what I like:
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Posession by AS Byatt
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Those are three contemporary ones. I especially recommend Peace Like a River.
Jenny, how are you able to narrow your favorites down to ten? I was a bit surprised that Goose Girl didn't make your top ten.
I love reading, it's like breathing for me, so I can't really remember what my favorite breath is. I make no claims on having "intellectual" tastes in books because I read to escape and have fun. If I learn something in the process besides normal observations from personal interaction, even better! With that said, I do like some classics. I really love Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo, and of course most Georgette Heyer books. another of my fav. books is Jane Eyre, it's a book that touched me when i was young and I've loved it ever since. I enjoyed reading Twilight and Harry Potter. It's always a good book if I finish it in a day. (no matter how long the length:)
hey al and jenny... i'm glad i check my email once every 6 months so i could locate your blog. and i'm glad i landed on this post--because as you know, i dig this topic.
here's my top 25:
1. The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald
2. 1984, Orwell
3. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce
4. The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger
5. The Road, McCarthy
6. Atlas Shrugged, Rand
7. The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas
8. Great Expectations, Dickens
9. The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
10. Far from the Madding Crowd, Harding
11. To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee
12. Heart of Darkness, Conrad
13. Dandelion Wine, Bradbury
14. All the King’s Men, Warren
15. The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
16. Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut
17. Brave New World, Huxley
18. A Farewell to Arms, Hemmingway
19. Blood Meridian, McCarthy
20. Goodnight Mister Tom, Magorian
21. Crime and Punishment,Dostoevsky
22. Ana Karenina, Tolstoy
23. Watership Down, Adams
24. Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck
25. The Things We Carried, O’Brien
much love from the land of summer.
hey al and jenny... i'm glad i check my email once every 6 months so i could locate your blog. and i'm glad i landed on this post--because as you know, i dig this topic.
here's my top 25:
1. The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald
2. 1984, Orwell
3. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce
4. The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger
5. The Road, McCarthy
6. Atlas Shrugged, Rand
7. The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas
8. Great Expectations, Dickens
9. The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
10. Far from the Madding Crowd, Harding
11. To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee
12. Heart of Darkness, Conrad
13. Dandelion Wine, Bradbury
14. All the King’s Men, Warren
15. The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
16. Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut
17. Brave New World, Huxley
18. A Farewell to Arms, Hemmingway
19. Blood Meridian, McCarthy
20. Goodnight Mister Tom, Magorian
21. Crime and Punishment,Dostoevsky
22. Ana Karenina, Tolstoy
23. Watership Down, Adams
24. Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck
25. The Things We Carried, O’Brien
much love from the land of summer.
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