BOTNSers' all-time favorites

[EShay]

I'm going to say....

To Kill a Mockingbird
Crime and Punishment
The Count of Monte Cristo

[Leijette]

The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver
Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver
Animal Dreams - Barbara Kingsolver
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Tiny Beautiful Things - Cheryl Strayed
Small Wonder - Barbara Kingsolver
A Room with a View - E.M. Forster
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
This Rough Magic - Mary Stewart

(I have a favorite author, if you couldn't tell, but each of these is just SO good)

[April]

The Road--McCarthy
Cutting For Stone--Verghese
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena--Mara

[Nadine in California]

My favorites not mentioned yet....

Motherless Brooklyn - Lethem
Madd Adam trilogy - Atwood
Any David Mitchell except Black Swan Green

[Melissa]

My all-time faves include:
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

[Steven]

Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino (best book Ive ever read)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (Need a classic in there)

[Ryan]

Hard to get it down to 3, I'd probably list about 10 before I'd feel satisfied I hadn't left anything out, but in my current mood I came up with:

1- To Kill a Mockingbird
2- The Kite Runner
3- The Road

[Keia]

My favorites are:
- The Handmaids Tale
- I'll Give You the Sun- YA novel
- The Fault in Our Stars

[Lorraine charles]

The book thief
The song of Achilles
Where did you go bernadette

[Libby]

Kate Atkinson Jackson Brodie series
Robert Goddard Past Caring
Philip Kerr Berlin Noir

[Jen]

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Liar's Club by Mary Karr
The Descendants by Hemmings
Let's Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell

[Laura]

A few of my favorites not yet mentioned (I notice many of us are hedging this a bit, as if we don't want to hurt the feelings of the books we don't choose.) :)

Childhood: A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

Possession by A.S. Byatt
Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Harry Potter series (total cheat, I know)

[Nina]

Wuthering Heights
The Kitchen House
Cutting For Stone

[Cheryl]

Dreams Of Trespass: Tales Of A Harem Girlhood - Fatima Mernissi
Way Of The Peaceful Warrior - Dan Millman
Fresh Off The Boat - Eddie Huang
Outlander (Already listed many a time. Adore!)
Kids' book: Dr Dog - Babette Cole

[Sutherland]

Just three?! I suppose when I think of my favorites the first that come to mind are Watership Down, The Illiad and Star Wars The Last Command

[Eve]

Fugitive Pieces Anne Michaels
Light in August William Faulkner
The English Patient Michael Ondaatje
Regeneration Pat Barker
Dune Frank Herbert

[Denise]

Impossible choice, but tops?
Beach Music
And Ladies of the Club
The Winds of War/ War and Remembrance


Maybe… ;)

[Jillian]

Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

[Andrew]

This is really really difficult as I have read thousands of books over the years and if I trawl through my GR list I will probably find many that would be up there. I am therefore choosing 3 on the basis that they mean something personally to me and they are:

[SarahK]

Sorry can't get it down to 3...
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Regeneration - Pat Barker
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

[Jolynne]

The Round House

Three Day Road

Paula

[Elaine]

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
My Brilliant Friend
The Hotel New Hampshire

[Savvy]

Cutting For Stone...Verghese
The Nightingale ....Hannah
A Man Called Ove...Backman

[Stacey]

Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean

[Raluca]

The Reader Bernhard Schlink
Lolita Nabokov
The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver.
OMG, it's so hard to pick only three!!!

[Sara]

Favorite books of 2015:
Fiction: "Lila" by Marilynne Robinson
Non-fiction: "Dead Wake" by Erik Larson

All-time favorites:
"A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte

[Veronica]

To Kill A Mockingbird
Wuthering Heights
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

[M.A.]

Middlesex (Jeffrey Eugenides)
Affinity (Sarah Waters)
Harry Potter

Have read all multiple times, which is how I narrowed to only 3 ( counting HP series as 1!)

[Kim]

1. Lonesome Dove
2. Pillars of the Earth
3. East of Eden

Favorite Book I Read This Year:
The Martian

[Matt]

1) the end of eternity - Issac Asimov
2) the handmaid's tale - Margaret Atwood
3) sea of poppies - amitav ghosh

[Readnponder]

A Bed by the Window (it's a novel!)-- M. Scott Peck
Matterhorn -- Karl Marlantes
Jane Eyre -- Charlotte Bronte

[Fab]

Love this idea! :) Here's my list:

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

[Esther]

3 is impossible - I have been reading for 40+ years!!
Pride and Prejudice
The Eyre Affair
The Time Traveler's Wife
1984
The Gadfly
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The whole series but this is my favourite
The Hunger Games
Again the whole series
Old Man's War
The new addition to my faves

[Valerie]

Shogun - James Clavell

The Girls That Went Away - Ann Fessler

Somebody's Daughter - Julian Sher

[Mindy]

VOTING IS CLOSED NOW. Thanks everybody.

Hi guys -- Michael closed the BOTNS poll and I wasn't prepared for that. I thought I could enter these next week. I'm still going to gather everything and ask Michael to add the entries from this thread to the official poll. If he can't, I'll still create a spreadsheet for us. Since the website poll is closed, I'm going to close off entries in this thread. Please don't enter anymore as they won't get counted. Valerie's post, number 85, will be the last one that I include. Thanks SO much to all who shared favorites, this has been fun. I'll post a link to the spreadsheet when I finish it. Again...

VOTING IS CLOSED NOW. Thanks everybody.

[Valerie]

Thank you for doing this!

[Mindy]

Whew, the results have been compiled. Feel free to let me know if you spot any errors (highly likely!)

After I started putting this together, I realized there was no way it could be part of Michael's list. His list is very structured, requiring your very favorite only. This thread was kind of a free-for-all, with no rules enforced. People categorized by childhood favorites, by genre, or not at all...they chose not to list their favorites if they'd already been listed, instead choosing other favorites, repeated favorites as they felt led, or combined the two options. LOL I personally loved it.

As I was checking/confirming spelling and authors, I found myself clicking on the Want to Read button more than once. :-)

There are three sheets in the Google doc linked below: one sorted by title, one by author, and one by votes received. Below, I've copied the list by popularity. Thanks again all -- what fun!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Title Author Votes
Prayer for Owen Meany Irving 7
To Kill a Mockingbird Lee 7
Cutting for Stone Verghese 5
Jane Eyre Bronte 4
Tree Grows in Brooklyn Smith 4
Harry Potter series Rowling 3
Lonesome Dove McMurtry 3
Outlander Gabaldon 3
Pride and Prejudice Austen 3
Time Traveler's Wife Niffenegger 3
Ahab's Wife Naslund 2
And Ladies of the Club Santmyer 2
Cloud Atlas Mitchell 2
Constellation of Vital Phenomena Marra 2
Crime and Punishment Dostoyevsky 2
East of Eden Steinbeck 2
Eyre Affair Fforde 2
Great Gatsby Fitzgerald 2
Kite Runner Hosseini 2
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff Moore 2
Man called Ove Backman 2
Night Train to Lisbon Mercier 2
Pillars of the Earth Follett 2
Poisonwood Bible Kingsolver 2
Rebecca DuMaurier 2
Regenaration Barker 2
Road McCarthy 2
Shadow of the Wind Zafon 2
Thirteenth Tale Setterfield 2
Thorn Birds McCullough 2
Walk in the Woods Bryson 2
1984 Orwell 1
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Verne 1
84 Charing Cross Road Hanff 1
Affinity Waters 1
Anne of Green Gables Montgomery 1
Ark Sakura Abe 1
Black Beauty Sewell 1
Black Stallion Farley 1
Crimson Petal and the White Faber 1
Fine Balance Mistry 1
Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck 1
Handmaid's Tale Atwood 1
Housekeeping Robinson 1
Into Thin Air Krakauer 1
Life of Michael K Coetzee 1
Lords of Discipline Conroy 1
Me Before You Moyes 1
Most Beautiful Book in the World Emmanuel-Schmitt 1
Native Son Wright 1
Night Circus Morgenstern 1
Pnin Nabokov 1
Reluctant Fundamentalist Hamid 1
Ruins Smith 1
Shelter Me Fay 1
We Need to Talk About Kevin Shriver 1
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain 1
All the Light We Cannot See Doerr 1
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Chabon 1
American Gods Gaiman 1
Angle of Repose Stegner 1
Animal Dreams Kingsolver 1
Art of Racing in the Rain Stein 1
Autumn of the Patriarch Marquez 1
Await Your Reply Chaon 1
Ballet Shoes Streatfield 1
Beach Music Conroy 1
Bears's Embrace Tighem 1
Bed by the Window Peck 1
Bel Canto Patchett 1
Berlin Noir Kerr 1
Birdsong Faulks 1
Blind Assassin Atwood 1
Blindness Saramago 1
Bone People Hulme 1
Book Thief Zusak 1
Boy's Life McCammon 1
Brethren Grisham 1
Brighton Rock Greene 1
Catch-22 Heller 1
Coming Home Pilcher 1
Confederacy of Dunces Toole 1
Conversation in the Cathedral Llosa 1
Count of Monte Cristo Dumas 1
Dandelion Wine Bradbury 1
Dead Wake Larson 1
Descendants Hemmings 1
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Tyler 1
Dr. Dog Cole 1
Dreams of Trespass Mernissi 1
Dune Herbert 1
Einstein's Dreams Lightman 1
Eleni Gage 1
End of Eternity Asimov 1
English Patient Ondaatje 1
Everything that Rises Must Converge O'Connor 1
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Foer 1
Fall of Giants Follett 1
Fates and Furies Groff 1
Fault in our Stars Green 1
Fraction of the Whole Toltz 1
Fresh off the Boat Huana 1
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankwiler Konigsburg 1
Fugitive Pieces Michaels 1
Gadfly Voynich 1
Ghirlandaio's Daughter Hill 1
Ghost Ne1t Door St John 1
Girl at War Novic 1
Girls that Went Away Fessler 1
Giver Lowry 1
God of Small Things Roy 1
Gone with the Wind Mitchell 1
Great Expectations Dickens 1
Grotesque Kirino 1
Handmaid's Tale Atwood 1
Handmaid's Tale Atwood 1
Handmaid's Tale Atwood 1
Handmaid's Tale Atwood 1
Harriet the Spy Fitzhugh 1
Here Be Dragons Penman 1
Hotel New Hampshire Irving 1
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Ford 1
House of the Spirits Allende 1
Hunger Games Collins 1
I'll Give You the Sun Nelson 1
Iliad Homer 1
In Cold Blood Capote 1
Island MacLeod 1
Jackson Brodie series Atkinson 1
Josephine Bonaparte series Gulland 1
Jungle Sinclair 1
Kings of the Earth Clinch 1
Kitchen House Grissom 1
Lacuna Kingsolver 1
Last Gunfight Guinn 1
Last Night at the Lobster O'Nan 1
Legacy Kay 1
Let's Take the Long Way Home Caldwell 1
Liar's Club Karr 1
Life after Life Atkinson 1
Light in August Faulkner 1
Lila Robinson 1
Lolita Nabokov 1
Lonesome Dove McMurtry 1
Lord of the Rings Tolkien 1
Lullabies for Little Criminals O'Neill 1
Madd Adam trilogy Atwood 1
Magical Thinking Burroughs 1
Martian Weir 1
Matterhorn Marlantes 1
McElligott's Pool Seuss 1
Memoirs of a Geisha Golden 1
Middlesex Eugenides 1
Month in the Country Carr 1
Motherless Brooklyn Lethem 1
My Brilliant Friend Ferrante 1
My Own Country Verghese 1
Nancy Drew series Keene 1
New Seeds of Contemplation Merton 1
Nightingale Hannah 1
Old Man's War Scalzi 1
Past Caring Goddard 1
Paula Allende 1
Peace Like a River Enger 1
Pedro Paramo Rulfo 1
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog Thomas 1
Possession Byatt 1
Power of One Courtenay 1
Prodigal Summer Kingsolver 1
Ragtime Doctorow 1
Reader Schlink 1
Red Tent Diamant 1
Room with a View Forster 1
Round House Erdrich 1
Safe From the Sea Geye 1
Sarah's Key de Rosnay 1
Screwtape Letters Lewis 1
Sea of Poppies Ghosh 1
Secret History Tartt 1
Sense of Freedom Boyle 1
Shadow Divers Kurson 1
Shipping News Proul1 1
Shogun Clavell 1
Silk Baricco 1
Sister Mother Husband Dog Ephron 1
Small Wonder Kingsolver 1
Somebody's Daughter Sher 1
Song of Achilles Miller 1
Sound of a Wild Snail Eating Bailey 1
South of Broad Conroy 1
Sparrow Russell 1
Stand King 1
Star Wars the Last Command Baron 1
Sunne in Splendour Penman 1
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Bradley 1
Swiftly Tilting Planet L'Engle 1
Tale for the Time Being Ozeki 1
Talk Before Sleep Berg 1
These is My Words Turner 1
Things They Carried O'Brien 1
This Rough Music Stewart 1
Three Day Road Boyden 1
Time and Again Finney 1
Tiny Beautiful Things Strayed 1
True HIstory of the Kelly Gang Carey 1
Unbroken Hillenbrand 1
Unit Holmqvist 1
War and Remembrance Wouk 1
Watchmen Moore 1
Watership Down Adams 1
Way of the Peaceful Warrior Millman 1
What We See When We Read Mendelsund 1
Where'd You Go Bernadette Semple 1
Winds of War Wouk 1
Witching Hour Rice 1
Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman Steinbach 1
World According to Garp Irving 1
Writer's Desk Krementz 1
Wuthering Heights Bronte 1
Wuthering Heights Bronte 1
Young Men and Fire Maclean 1

[Tina]

Mindy wrote: "Whew, the results have been compiled. Feel free to let me know if you spot any errors (highly likely!)

After I started putting this together, I realized there was no way it could be part of Michae..."

What an undertaking. Thanks for generating the list.
Happy New Year to you!

[Laura]

Thanks for your labor of love, Mindy! :-)

[Janet]

Thanks Mindy. Based on the results looks like I need to give Cutting for Stone another chance.

[Carol]

Tina wrote: "Mindy wrote: "Whew, the results have been compiled. Feel free to let me know if you spot any errors (highly likely!)

After I started putting this together, I realized there was no way it could be ..."
Thanks Mindy...a nice list to have available.

[Linda]

Hmmm, I know that I posted Thanks, Mindy for the hours that I know you had to put in to formulate this list.

I know because I also wrote to Janet to let her know that Cutting for Stone is one of my favorite books of all time.

[Julie]

Thanks, here are mine (very hard to pick 3 faves!)

* The Kite Runner

* The Invention of Wings

* Angle of Repose

okay, 2 of these have already been listed so I'll add:

* The Poisonwood Bible and
* Villette

[Denise]

A Fine Balance
A Suitable Boy
A Little Life

[Clara]

Janet wrote: "Thanks Mindy. Based on the results looks like I need to give Cutting for Stone another chance."

Janet, I feel the same. Ive tried this book twice and failed.....maybe third time is the charm!

[Esther]

Clara wrote: "Janet wrote: "Thanks Mindy. Based on the results looks like I need to give Cutting for Stone another chance."

Janet, I feel the same. Ive tried this book twice and failed.....maybe third time is t..."

I trudged on to the end and really wished I hadn't. Those are hours of my life I will never get back.

[Karen]

Mindy, can't thank you enough for putting this list together. Now I just need to decide which title to select each month in 2016!