Top 5 All Time - No Classics Allowed

[Emily Sorrells]

Catch-22 -- Joseph Heller
Geek Love -- Katherine Dunn
All the Pretty Horses or The Road or Blood Meridian -- Cormac McCarthy
The Namesake -- Jhumpa Lahiri
Handmaids Tale -- Margaret Atwood

UGH that's 5 already!?
I almost added A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius but alas it's not fiction.

[Laura]

Kellie wrote: "Laura,
I was actually going to do a little research on some of Zusak's other books. I loved The Book Thief so much I thought I'd try another one of his.
I will definitely see about The Messenger...."

You could consider it a tear-jerker in small parts - and of the heartwarming variety of tears, not the heartBREAKING variety like Book Thief. You would almost not know the 2 books were written by the same person, they are so different.

Zusak's style is unique though, and that is the same with both books.

Please let me know what you think, Messenger is one of my all-time favorites without question.

[Charity]

Emily wrote: "I almost added A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius but alas it's not fiction."

Actually, according to the inside copyright/publishers page, it is a work of fiction...even though it is autobiographical...because the author says he can't attest to the full truth of everything written in the book.

[Kellie]

Laura wrote: "Kellie wrote: "Laura,
I was actually going to do a little research on some of Zusak's other books. I loved The Book Thief so much I thought I'd try another one of his.
I will definitely see about..."

It is on my wishlist now...

[Coalbanks]

Watership Down
Catch 22
A Day in the Life of Issac Denisovitch
1948
Tin Drum

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

What's 1948?

[Charity]

And A Day in the Life of Issac Denisovitch?

I am assuming you mean 1984 and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich...


Maybe it's just me, but I would consider ALL of the books you've listed as modern classics.

[Coalbanks]

Susanna wrote: "What's 1948?"

Montana 1948: A Novel
by Larry Watson

Life in a claustrophobic small western prairie town, where the narrator learns some unpleasant facts about his family, racism, sexism, elitism... yeah, just another fine day on the prairie! yippie i yooo!

[Coalbanks]

Montana 1948: A Novel - Larry Watson not quite 1984 but an interesting view of another small world.

Please excuse my careless mis-naming of "ONE Day in the Life..."

There is the question : What is a "modern" classic? "Down & Out in Paris & London" ? " Slaughterhouse 5" ?
Watership Down, Tin Drum, Catch 22, One Day... are likely to be considered classics so let's drop them, ok?


Charity wrote: "And A Day in the Life of Issac Denisovitch?

I am assuming you mean 1984 and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich...


Maybe it's just me, but I would consider ALL of the books you've listed as m..."

Charity wrote: "And A Day in the Life of Issac Denisovitch?

I am assuming you mean 1984 and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich...


Maybe it's just me, but I would consider ALL of the books you've listed as m..."

Charity wrote: "And A Day in the Life of Issac Denisovitch?

I am assuming you mean 1984 and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich...


Maybe it's just me, but I would consider ALL of the books you've listed as m..."

Charity wrote: "And A Day in the Life of Issac Denisovitch?

I am assuming you mean 1984 and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich...


Maybe it's just me, but I would consider ALL of the books you've listed as m..."

[Coalbanks]

BAD BOY - Jim Thompson

"In this uproarious autobiographical tale, the author of After Dark, My Sweet and Pop. 1280 tells the story of his chaotic coming of age and reveals just where he acquired his encyclopedic knowledge of human misbehavior."

Monsignor Quixote
by Alec Guinness
A retelling of the old tale but an interesting tale on it's own.

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
by John le Carré
Patriotism, loyalty, love, betrayal, the individual serves the collective needs of society no matter the cost to the individual - it reminds me somewhat of "The Old Bolshevik"

[Wendy]

Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
All books by Anne McCaffrey
In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Hell's Kitchen by Jeffrey Deaver

[Mark]

Tough choices, but would go with

Money by Martin Amis
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
The White Hotel by DM Thomas
Blach Dhalia by James Ellroy
The Diceman by Luke Rhinehardt

[Mel]

Time Travelers Wife (Audrey Niffeneger)
Whale Music (Paul Quarrington)
Special Topics in Calamity Physics (can't remember)
The Great Santini (Pat Conroy)
Hey Nostradamus (Douglas Coupland)

These are the ones (quasi-contemporary no classics) I can think of at the moment that made me go "Wow!". Ask me again in 10 minutes and I would probably come up with a different list.

[Mandy]

1. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
2. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
3. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
4. Cold & Gray: When Days Seem Like Years, and Years Feel Like Days by Robert Brown Fulford, IV
5. True Colors by Kristin Hannah

I also love the Shopaholic Series and all books by Jane Green! That was difficult to pick 5!

[Angela]

I LOVE Firefly Lane! Def one of my favorites.

[Ronda]

1. Harry Potter series
2. The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker
3. Sex. God. by Rob Bell
4. The Knight and the Dove by Lori Wick
5. Twilight series

[Moor1206]

I would say....
1. Twilight Series
2. Gemma Doyle Triology
3. Harry Potter Series
4. Jane Eyre [[is that a classic?:]]
5. A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks

[Laura]

Yes, Jane Eyre is a classic, but we won't toss you out for that!

Thanks for your comments.

[Mosca]

I'm not really sure how to define "classics", so it's possible that some of these may fit that.

These are books that have really stuck to my bones.

1. Howards End by E.M. Forster
2. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
3. The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
4. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
5. The Dispossessed An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin

[Kathy McC]

Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
I Am Messenger by Markus Zuzak

[Lauren H.]

These are just the top 5 that come to mind, I'm sure with some thought I would revise the list.
1.To Kill A Mockingbord
2.Anne of Green Gables
3.The Giver
4.Fall On Your Knees or, The Way the Crow Flies (Ann Marie Macdonald)
5.The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

I'm also really enjoying The Hour I First Believed (Wally Lamb) which I am nearing the end of.

[Cait]

1. The Stand - Stephen King

2. The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

3. All Families Are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland

4. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

5. These are all currently vying for the 5th spot. I know, it's cheating but I can't narrow it down!

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Safran Foer
The Book Thief - Zusak
Never Let Me Go - Ishiguro

[Kari]

Books I love, not sure I could pick an all-time top 5.
I Capture the Castle
Same Kind of Different as Me A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together
The Hiding Place
Redeeming Love
The Shadow of the Wind

[Krista]

Here's my list from the top of my head. They aren't listed in order, and if you asked me this tomorrow, I bet you'd get a whole different list. It's pretty varied though!

1. The Beet Queen A Novel by Louise Erdich
2. When you are engulfed in flames by David Sedaris
3. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
4. Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish
5. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

[C.]

Top five?!

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
2. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green
4. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
5. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

[Marci]

Boy This is hard....
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint - Brian Udall
Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
The Instance on a Fingerpost - Ian Pears
The Kindness of Strangers - Katrina Kindle
The Glass Castle - Jeanette Wells

[Lori, Super Mod]

Mike, I am currently reading All the Pretty Horses right now. I plan on reading the entire Borders Trilogy. Have you read the others?

[SarahSaysRead]

Ooooo, how interesting! I love that there are no classics allowed on this list - it kind of prevents of the pretentious "book-snobs" from being unoriginal.

Okay,
1. "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon
2. "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Philippa Gregory
3. "Lamb" by Christopher Moore
4. "Bet Me" by Jennifer Crusie
5. "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Malcolm X and Alex Haley

I could read all of those books over and over again and never get sick of them :o)

[Mavis]

My faves in no particular order:

1. The Secret History - Donna Tartt - always #1 because I actually felt how cold the protagonist was in a section of the story

2. The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova - because it's a hugely ambitious story that's well researched and very well written

3. Alive! The Story of the Andes Survivors - Piers Paul Read - because it reads like fiction

4. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote - classic? not sure - because it changed the genre forever - also reads like fiction

5. Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett - because it sounds boring but the characters are so 3 dimensional you really feel like you're a part of it. I was literally sad and moped when it ended.

[Amy]

Top 5 books on a desert island: I can read them over and over and never get bored. #6 is tied with #4, but on a desert island, may be too depressing...

1) The Stand
2) The Time Travelers Wife
3) Horse Heaven, Jane Smiley
4) American Gods, Neil Gaiman
5) His Dark Materials, Phillip Pullman (kind of cheating since it's 3 books in 1, but I do have them as a single book)
6) The Road

[[deleted user]]

1. The Waste Lands by Stephen King
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore
3. The Stand by Stephen King
4. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
5. Supergods by Grant Morrison

Runners up: The Princess Bride by William Goldman, The Gunslinger by Stephen King and Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

[JudiAnne]

1) Cutting for Stone
2) The Gargoyle
3) Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
4 ) The Orchardist
5) Galway Bay

There are so many more than 5. These are novels I read in the last two years and I do love some of the classics.

[Jane]

[Lori]

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
The Dovekeepers - Alice Hoffman
The Orphans Tales - Catherynne Valente
When She Woke - Hillary Jordan

Would also add Wool by Hugh Howey

[Hamza]

The Stand-Stephen King
Pet Semetary-Stephen King
The Kite Runner-Khalid Hosseni
A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khalid Hosseni
A Prisoner Of Birth-Jeffery Archer

[Tamaryn]

Atonement - Ian McEwan
Of Bees and Mist - Erick Setiawan
The Blood of Flowers - Anita Amirrezvani
When God was a Rabbit - Sarah Winman
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult

[Shirley]

Just finished
Fantastic psychological thriller that brought on emotions that I have never experienced from words on a page before. It is disturbing, graphic yet heart wrenching and enthralling all at once. Probably made my top three favorite books of all time. I don't really know how to describe it other than it just really moved me. He has already won awards for this debut novel.

Like his Facebook and show him our love. <3
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Landon...

Also, only 99 cents on kindle, nook, and ibooks right now! Give it a read.

[Justin]

The Endlands by Vincent Hobbes
Vlad: The Last Confession by C.C Humphreys
Mask of the Macabre by David Haynes
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Pronto by Elmore Leonard

[Joanne]

The Poisonwood Bible
The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
Fair and Tender Ladies
All the Pretty Horses
Cutting for Stone

[Xian Xian]

I don't really know what is my favorite, but these books have been permanently stuck in my mind ever since I read them.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Beijing Coma by Ma Jian
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima (This is a classic in Japan but does it still count?)