Ten Favorite Novels

Here are my top 11 (too hard to pick 10) books (there's variety of types :D ) :

Little by Little- Jean Little (most people think it's a children's author or whatever but read it i cried, it's an autobiography of her life in a story format and it's really touching on what she went through)
To kill a mocking bird- Lee
A time to kill- Grisham
The Lady in the Tower- Jean Plaidy
A Painted House- Grisham
Anne of Green Gables- Montgomery
Rilla of Ingleside- Montgomery
Outsiders- S. E. Hinton
1985- Orwell
The Chrysalids - John Wyndham
Bridge to Terabithia- Paterson

*note that some of "children's" books but even as I grow older (I'm still in school ;) ) these books continue to touch my heart and well... they're amazing

Since all the standards have been mentioned i'll bring up more asian lit

Hagakure (Book Of The Samurai) - Tsunemoto
Go Rin No Sho (Book Of Five Rings) - Mushashi Miyamoto
Bushido - Inazo Nitobe
The Art Of War - Sun Tzu
The Art Of Peace - Morihei Ueshiba
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
The Analects - Confucius
The Dhammapada

Some very accessible and enjoyable classics and others, in no particular order and obviously in no way exclusive of the above suggestions. I am no professional but I know a good read:-

Stamboul Train - Graham Greene
20,000 Leauges Under The Sea - Jules Verne
Hard Times - Charles Dickens
Island - Aldous Huxley
The First Circle - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Arthur Daley 'Straight Up' - Paul Ableman
The Periodic Table - Primo Levi
My Place - Sally Morgan
A Clergymans Daughter - George Orwell
Hello America - J G Ballard
Nadja - Andre Breton
The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Persig

In my view it is facile and inappropriate to attempt a top ten of books - Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Idea, for example, cannot be compared. The former is mainly aesthetic while the latter is a venture in knowledge.

Things fall apart was one of the better books I had to read for class, but also I would recommend Fugitive Pieces by Anne Micheals, the chronicles of Narnia, of course... all short books but really good by C. S. Lewis and if your into short stories, The Pearl by John Steinback (spelling ????)

- Ulysses James Joyce: Because if you pay attention, it's a wonderful book. Portrait was good, Dubliners was fun, and Finnegan's Wake was cool, but Ulysses was amazing.
-The Stranger Albert Camus: Probably read this one in high school, but it's certainly worthy.
-Being and Nothingness or Nausea Jean-Paul Sartre: The literary and philosophical pinnacles of a really great French existentialist (Unless you count plays, where No Exit has to be the epitome of his writing).
-The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky: Some say Crime and Punishment was his best, while others demand The Brothers Karamozov was his superlative, but I personally found the character of Prince Myshkin to be far too fascinating.
-The Last and First Men Olaf Stapeldon: Yeah, yeah, it's not a classic, but this book was just so amazing in its scope and depth.
-Critique of Pure Reason Immanuel Kant: This isn't literature at all, but straight up philosophy. That being said, I think everyone should read it, because it's truly an amazing treatise on metaphysics.
-Stages on Life's Way or Repetition or Diary of the Seducer Søren Kierkegaard: Kierkegaard was a wonderful author, and since I'm Danish, I needn't bother with dodgy translations. ^_^
-The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick: Dick was an amazing author, but this was among his best works, and probably his best novel.
-Les Miserables Victor Hugo: If you don't know why you someone should read this, you obviously have not read it.
-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams: Not a classic, but it's so good. Worth multiple reads.

All the Kings Men
1984
Brave New World
Catcher in the Rye
One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest
A Clockwork Orange
Catch-22
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Great Gatsby
Frankenstein

Some of the books which have influenced me and
which possess the potential to influence you too,,

Jonathan Livingston Seagull ~ Richard Bach and other books by him
Toto-chan ~ Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
Narcissus and Goldmund ~ Herman Hesse and other books by him
A brief history of time ~ Stephen Hawkings
The Prophet ~ Kahlil Gibran
My family and other animals ~ Gerald Durrell and other books by him
Love in the time of Cholera ~ Gabriel Garcia Marquez and "
The Alchemist ~ Paul Coehlo
Elephant Song ~ Wilbur Smith
Self ~ Yann Martel

hmmm.. there are only few female authors in the list we've mentioned.. like mary shelly, margaret mitchell, testuko kurayonagi, jean little..

are there some great books by lady authors we have missed??

Indeed, rocksea; any of the Brontë and Jane Austen most definitely belong on the list, to name the first few who come to my mind.

i'd like to endorse a few already mentioned namely 1984, animal farm, and franz kafka's the trail. and i'd also like to add "the fixer" by bernard malamud as agreat read aswell, "homeage to catalonia" by orwell is also worth a read.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rocksea

Some of the books which have influenced me and
which possess the potential to influence you too,,


Toto-chan ~ Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

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I noticed that there are lots of appraisal given to this book and in my country it also become a best seller. Can you please write a little review about it ? :)..I mean i read some reviews but most of them (IMO) aim to sell..:)

Gulliver's Travels
David Copperfield
Crime and Punishment
Karamazovy's Brothers
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
The Magic Mountain
Absalom, Absalom
A Passage to India
Pastoral Symphony
1984

I don't like Tom Jones so much, though it is chosen in Maugham's Ten Best Novels of the World.

Ok, my list is (in no particular order):

- Jude the Obscure: Thomas Hardy
- Catch 22: Joseph Heller (O yeah :nod:)
- Sophie's World: Jostein Gardner
- Siddharta: Herman Hesse
- 1984: George Orwell
- Animal Farm: George Orwell
- Existentialism is Humanism: Jean Paul Sartre (well I consider this as a book ;) )
- Ecce Homo: Nietzsche
- Metamorphoses - Ovid
- Stories: Edgar Allan Poe

Note: List is subject to change with/without prior notice :D

brontes
Austen
George Orwell
Thomas Hardy
The Secret Garden
Gulliver's Travels
Canterbury Tales

Beat-
Bukowski
Vonnegut
William Burroughs

I mainly stick to english lit but i also like some american lit. i think i would like to try some french, german, or asian lit.

You should posted book titlles..not the authors...It is afterall a "top ten must read books" thread ;)

its more than ten but some of them tie
Bronte- Jane Eyre
Villette
Austen-Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Mansfield Park
Emma
Persuasion
George Orwell-1984
Animal Farm
Thomas Hardy-Return of the Native
The Secret Garden
Gulliver's Travels-Jonathan Swift
Canterbury Tales-Chaucer