January 2023 Three favorite Group Bookshelf books.

[Lynn, Old School Classics]

This is planned as a monthly quick opinion poll. Questions like this may be difficult to answer, but provide interesting information for other readers. It is not meant to be a debate forum, but just a look at what group members enjoy.

Monthly Question: What are your three favorite books you have read from the Group bookshelf?

[Lynn, Old School Classics]

My three favorite books from the Group bookshelf would be

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë


LOL I am sure I would answer differently in six months.

[Janelle]

So hard to choose 3!

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

[Milena]

Just three? So difficult. I will go with:

Anna Karenina
Jane Eyre
Rebecca

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

This is tuff, perhaps impossible. We have some great books on our list and if I am honest some real stinkers, at least for me. These three will always be held in high esteem for me, tomorrow I could pick three others that are just as good.

Les Misérables
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Razor's Edge

[Franky]

Wow, tough question as there are quite a few 5 stars in here for me. But, for right now I will chose these three:

The Moonstone
2001: A Space Odyssey
Crime and Punishment

[CindySR]

Lynn wrote: "My three favorite books from the Group bookshelf would be

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë..."

Same!

[Marilyn]

Right now I'm going with

Rebecca
The Grapes of Wrath
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

[Kathleen]

Some wonderful books have already been picked! I think I'll say

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

[J_BlueFlower]

Looking forward to this series of monthly questions. Yeah! An opportunity to talk about books ;-)

I have 18 5-stars reads from our group shelf.

Ender’s Game (Read 4 times)
The Name of the Rose (Read 2 times)
Flowers for Algernon (Read 2 times)
.....and I very rarely re-read.

[J_BlueFlower]

Bob wrote: "....if I am honest some real stinkers,.."

Does Lynn dare ask the opposite question, too? (What are your three least favourite....) We will see....?

[Piyangie]

This is a very difficult question to answer. But I would go for
Persuasion
The Brothers Karamazov and
The Count of Monte Cristo

[Terry]

War and Peace
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
A Christmas Carol

[Lori]

Just three?

My initial list has 8 and could have had 10.

Ok here goes:

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Stoner by John Williams
Watership Down by Richard Adams

[Squire]

Wow! I could pull off, like, 10-20 titles from the bookshelf.

But I've always held up the following books as my top 5 all-time favorites (numbers 3 (Mother London) and 4 (Atlas Shrugged) are not on the bookshelf--from my cursory look-though).

1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
2. Moby-Dick or, the Whale by Herman Melville
3.
4.
5. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

I'm still evaluating A Tale of Two Cities for a place in my top five.

[Laurie]

This is so hard. I could pick a dozen. For today:

Rebecca
All Quiet on the Western Front
Pride and Prejudice

[Kimberly]

Such a difficult question....
Today, I have to say

The Once and Future King
Gone with the Wind
The Age of Innocence

[Shaina]

How can we pick just three books?

Foundation
The Count of Monte Cristo
Pride and Prejudice

[Darren]

The Leopard
Beloved
The Trial

[Chris]

I am in on the team that finds it difficult to only come up with 3 books. I am new to the group so haven't read a lot on the bookshelf but going through it, I pulled 11 favorites. So, to whittle down to 3, wow! I decided to take 3 different styles/topics
Persuasion
Fahrenheit 451
Kindred

[Janice]

Like everyone else, I find it difficult to choose just three. :)

Jane Eyre
Rebecca
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

[Terry]

I agree that it is very hard to choose only three, but my all time favorites from the list would be:

1. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

I read all of these books when I was much younger, and before joining the group, although I re-read Pride and Prejudice here.

The above are predictable choices. One good thing about this group is that I have come across and read some unexpected favorites — books like Dracula, for example — books in genres that I wouldn’t naturally choose to read.

[Lynn, Old School Classics]

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Bob wrote: "....if I am honest some real stinkers,.."

Does Lynn dare ask the opposite question, too? (What are your three least favourite....) We will see....?"

LOL maybe but not in the next few months. I already had some other ideas.

[Julie]

These are my three favorites:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Flowers for Algernon
The Diary of a Young Girl

[EvenB]

Today, here are my top three.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Another day, another top three:
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Prince of TidesPat Conroy
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone

etc., etc., etc. ...

[Wobbley]

There are so many good ones, but here are my top 3:

Pride and Prejudice
Watership Down
Heart of Darkness

[Jen]

Pride and Prejudice
Call of the Wild
East of Eden

Great question!

[Lynn, Old School Classics]

One thing I would like to do to make this set of questions a little different is that I will make a list at the end of the month so that our group wisdom will be easier to access. Of course, there may be some months when a list is impracticable.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Moby-Dick or, the Whale by Herman Melville
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Stoner by John Williams
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
Watership Down by Richard Adams
2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke


Now the list is complete. That's 43 books. Wow, this would make a nice list for anyone just starting out. It would be a good year's worth of reading. Personally, I have only read 20 of these so far; not even half.

[J_BlueFlower]

Good idea.

Flowers for Algernon was mentioned at least 4 times. I think that should count for something.

[Wobbley]

For anyone who's interested, these are the books that were selected by more than 2 people:

Rebecca (6 people)
Pride and Prejudice (5 people)
The Count of Monte Cristo (4 people)
Jane Eyre (4 people)
Flowers for Algernon (4 people)
East of Eden (3 people)

[J_BlueFlower]

Thank you, Wobbley.

[Lynn, Old School Classics]

Interesting Wobbley, thanks.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

These are my 5-star reads of the books I have read from our Group Bookshelf; they are arranged roughly in order from favorite to least favorite, if there is such a thing as a "least favorite" 5-star read. So the top 3 entries are my answer to the question.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
East of Eden by John Steinbeck