I started this on my FB page, and thought I could bring it here for more of a variety...

My new goal is to conquer one of those "100 Top Books" lists. However, all the one's I've found are heavy on things like... Vonnegut and Lord of the Flies... you know, books that have the power to make me feel tortured merely by remembering them. So - you are now charged with helping me create my own. Give me your top 5 [at least] favorite books...

If people have mentioned a book before feel free to mention it again... as the number of times a book is mentioned goes directly towards how good it is...

I will post the final list to this thread when I've compiled it.

Thanks ladies!

White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Paint it Black by Janet Fitch

Running With Scissors, Sellevision, Dry or any of the books by Augusten Borroughs (sp).

Cotton (unsure of author)

Sorry if we were only supposed to suggest 1, I'm a reader!

Nope I want as many as you've got... I'd say at least 5 so that I get a variety

Funny. I just started a favorite books listmania list on amazon. So I'll give you some of my choices for that. The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence, The Shining by Stephen King, Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy, Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner.

For a sci-fi/fantasy touch I'll throw in:

ender's game & ender's shadow - orson scott card
the sevenwaters trilogy - juliet marrillier
the name of the wind - patrick rothfuss
through alien eyes & storyteller - amy thomson
the book of lost things - john connelly

The Name of the Wind was really surprisingly GREAT

A Prayer for Owen Meaney

The Last off the Crazy People - Timothy Findley

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Storm Front - Jim Butcher (whole series is excellent)

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

Wait. I can only choose 5?

Glass Castles by Jeannette Walls
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Second Glance by Jodi Picoult

Ahhh! My mind is blanking, can't think of a fifth. =(

White Man's Grave - Richard Dooling
Coop - Michael Perry
The Outlander Series or at least the first three books - Diana Gabaldon
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris (this is my favorite of his books)
Bitter Is the New Black - Jennifer Lancaster
all the Auntie Mame books - Patrick Dennis
Diary of Provincial Lady - EM Delafield
I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
An Irish Country Doctor and An Irish Country Village - Patrick Taylor

Do books with multiple votes stand a better chance of making the list? Because from the posters above me, I see a few more favorites:

Water for Elephants
Neverwhere and American Gods
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Sellevision



That's my list for now. Those are the books I hang onto and enjoy reading more than once.

All 5 books by Jen Lancaster, but if you want to limit to one, Such a Pretty Fat was the first I read. It got me hooked.

If you don't have horrible memories from it, 1984 by George Orwell is one of my favorites.

Second on Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - it changed my life quite literally.

Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.

I will second the Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

I used to really love the Ender books, but had to abandon them for political reasons. Which made me really sad. That said, they're really amazing books.

Anything by David Sedaris, and I second the Augusten Burroughs suggestions.

Keeping my favorite books along the lines of "great books" (yet accessible):

A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving (always gives me shivers at the end)

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith

The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck

Watership Down - Richard Adams

I third anything by agustin burroughs!

The time traveler's wife- audrey neffeneger
The Golden Compass Trilogy
I second The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon!
anything by Don Dellilo


Also, don't be afraid of classic literature, it's so much more enjoyable when you're not being forced to read it.

Oh, I loved Watership Down. It's on my "To Read Again" list.

Are you going just for fiction? If not, Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics were truly fascinating pieces of work.