What are top 5-10 favorite books and why?
By miamilady
@miamilady (4910)
United States
October 20, 2007 10:51am CST
List your favorite 5-10 favorite books and a (brief or not-so brief) explanation of why.
I'll do a few of mine as an example...
1- Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.
It was funny and it helped me gain insight into the differences between men and women. I could completely relate to much of what the author explained. I saw myself in many of the descriptions of woman. I also saw my spouse in some of the discriptions of men.
Although it didn't fix my marriage completely, it helped me to make it more bearable. If any of you read the book, when I say, that I pesonally stopped following the Dragon into his cave, you'll know what I mean.
2- Biography of Susan Sommers ( I don't remember the actual name of the title or the correct spelling of her name - sorry)
She has issues with an alchoholic father.
When I was a child my father had "drinking problems". I hesitate to call him an alchoholic because of the definitions that some people use, but my father drank heavily at times during my younger years.
Thankfully he quit drinking when I was about 12 years old.
I can relate to some of the experiences she wrote about and also some of the explanations as to how the children of alcholics react to the situation.
3 - Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series...I don't remember all the titles, but it's a great series. They make me laugh out loud and there is bit of mystery in them as well. They are a fun read.
4 - Nora Roberts "Key Trilogy"
Good amount of mystery, fantasy and intrigue.
5- Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and It's All Small Stuff
Back to the non-fiction. I think the title says it all.
6 - Everything I need to know, I learned in Kindergarden.
I read this a long time ago. I think I need to read it again.
I just know I enjoyed it when I read it.
I look forward to reading what you have to share.
-miamilady
4 people like this
16 responses
@Stiletto (4579)
•
21 Oct 07
1. Mark Twain - "The Innocents Abroad"
Twain's tour of Europe and the Holy Land. A laugh on almost every page and truly hilarious in parts. I love Mark Twain and in this book he's not constrained by a storyline or characters. I've read it so many times and never tire of it.
2. Thomas Hardy - "The Mayor of Casterbridge"
Fabulous story - a Victorian soap opera with the usual philosophical undertones. As with all Hardy's literature it's beautifully written and all his books are great but the "hero" Michael Henchard is his most memorable character in my opinion.
3. Franz Kafka - "Metamorphosis"
A tale about loneliness and rejection, the strange and sad story of a man who turns into a beetle. I love it.
4. Bill Bryson - "A Short History Of Nearly Everything"
Starts with the creation of the universe and ends with the ascent of man. Funny, informative, accessible and touches on almost every aspect of science. If you're like me and interested in science but can't begin to understand most scientific theories or texts then you will love this book.
5. Susan Jeffers - "Feel the Fear and do it Anyway"
I'm British and therefore not keen on self-improvement lol! However, this is a great book. It's not full of psycho-babble the way a lot of books of this type are and, basically, it changed my life.
2 people like this
@smurfettewv (359)
• United States
20 Oct 07
1. The girl with a 100 dresses
this girl in grade school wore the same dress everyday to school and others made fun of her and she told them all I have a 100 dresses at home but I like this one best. The little girl suddenly dont come to school one day and the bullys go to her home to find out she is very sick and ask the mother does she have a 100 dresses and she shows them all 100 dresses that she hasdrawn and colored each differnt ,,,
2. The Viking
a historical time travel book that I read that a sword that was cursed held a secret and could not be owned by a woman because the viking that was trapped that in that sword had to do what ever the master as long as it was a woman wanted.
3. The Others
a book written by a british author about the soul that can be cursed and a whole new way of looking at heaven and hell
4. Highlander Bride
a highlander family has a drk secret they only go out at night and never seen in the day they never seem to age and there has been no children for many of years, now a mysterious girl is oblifgated to marry the barron because her family has many of babes and successful births will she be the answer to their curse or is she hiding one her self?
5.Purpose Driven Life
Why are we here what is Gods plan for us why are we here this came with a great work book to show us why we are here and what God has planned for us.
1 person likes this
@Savvynlady (3684)
• United States
21 Oct 07
Oh I like that book about The Girl with A Hundred Dresses. I went through similar stuff in school, and stuff like that really makes me smile.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
25 Oct 07
Mine are the Bible. Because I am a Christian, it is the word of God, and I get much comfort, knowledge, and inspiration from reading it.
The 2nd is Sense and Sensibility: Because romances are timeless.
The 3rd is Pride and Prejudice: Because it shows how you have to fight for who you love.
The 4th is Stephen King's Book "ON Writing" because it shows the steps of becoming a writer and it is not a rewriting of other "How to Write" books.
The 5th is Oliver Twist -- I really like a good story of how good overcomes evil
The 6th is The Hound of the Baskervilles -- very scarey although a bit outdated.
That is all I can think of, and I only included one non-fiction, the other ones I have well I cannot tell how much I like them, whether they should be number seven or eight.
1 person likes this
@Myrilia (209)
• United States
22 Oct 07
The Time Traveller's Wife....great love story with a twist. And I want to know, exactly how did Henry die?
The Bourne Indentity...so much better than the movie, and the movie was good.
Glass Castles....very interesting biography...not the kind of childhood I'd want to live.
The Griffin and Sabine books by Nick Bantock....amazing art, amazing books.
Almost anything by Bill Bryson, wonderfully funny travel writer.
1 person likes this
@awonderfullife (2893)
• United States
21 Oct 07
Great discussion, miamilady! This is a hard one for me, because I have 3 bookcases full of my favorite books! So I will give you a sampling of my favorites, in no particular order:
1.Cowboy's Are My Weakness by Pam Houston- I love short story collections and this is one of my favorites. Especially "How to Talk to a Hunter'.
2. Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott- This is the true story of Ms. Lamott's son's first year of life (and the author's first year as a single mother) and it also chronicles her best friend's battle with cancer. Sounds depressing but it is so well written!
3. Mandy by Julie Edwards- I've had this book since I was 10 years old. Story of a little girl in an orphange who finds happiness in an unexpected place.
4.Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver- all of Carver's best works in one volume.
5. Inventing the Abbott's by Sue Miller- I love Sue Miller!These stories always inspire me for my own writing.
6. Hula by Lisa Shea- I like Lisa Shea's writing style. This is an unusual book.
7. One Mississippi by Mark Childress- serious subject matter but plenty of humorous parts. Very well written account of a teen in the 70's.
8. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen- this book caused so much drama with Oprah's book club (the author took a lot of flack for putting down Oprah's readers). But it's still a great book, a modern day classic about a dysfunctional family.
9. Selected Stories by Andre Dubus- if you only read one story in this collection, make it "A Father's Story". I get chills down my spine whenever I read it.
10. Heartburn by Nora Ephron- this book is a little dated, I've had it since the early 80's. But I chuckle out loud every time I read it.
11. The Tomcat's Wife by Carol Bly- at least read the title story.
I also make sure to read the "Best American Short Stories" collection every year. It has the best short fiction of the year and I have disciovered many new authors this way!
1 person likes this
@Savvynlady (3684)
• United States
21 Oct 07
1. Look In, Look Up, Look Out by Joyce Vedral. I like the message she has to look within for what you need in life, then look up for whence comest your help, then Look out, because your going to do some great things. I really enjoy this book at the time because I was going through a real bad time then.
2. A Perfect Stranger by Danielle Steel. I love the knack that Danielle has to just pull you in the places she writes about and you feel you just belong there. Anyhow, in this book, a lawyer falls in love with a woman who has some heavy obligations, what to do?
3.The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I remember reading this as a young child, and to this day the things that he went through and what he became with the education he go just lets me know that if you are willing, you can become anybody.
4. Love Potion-Leslie Esdaile. A romance book about a group of women who had some hum drum existences who decide to have a party complete with psychic(one of the ladies had the gift), love potion(guaranteed to make one find love) and though they have success, their lives change drastically, but in the end love wins. I really like it because although it was a romance, I really love the empowerment and sisterhood the women had to get out of the lives they had. inspiring.
5. any of J.California Cooper's books. Her short stories are great. They are about ordinary people who go through problems and sometimes they have a good outcome, sometimes it don't. but a lesson is to be learned here as well. Mine are Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime and The Future is Present.
1 person likes this
@estherlou (5015)
• United States
13 Nov 07
Favorite books are to me, books I read over and over again. I have several favorites. Joel Osteen's 1st book "Your Best Life Now" is excellent and you will learn something from each read. Joyce Meyer has tons, but my favorite right now is the book called " The Power of Simple Prayer: How to Talk with God about Everything". Lots of really great insights and truths. "They Speak With Other Tongues" is an older book I have read many times. It is about speaking in tongues, or prayer language written by someone who was a sceptic and interviewed many people to write the book. Very interesting. "This Present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness" by Frank Peretti are the two best books of fiction I've read that concern spiritual warfare in our lives and the spirit world of demons. He is truly gifted in painting great mind pictures in his books. Gene Edwards collection I have read many many times. They are short books written about creation and Jesus from the perspective of the angels in heaven. Very good books. "The Beginning", "The Birth", "The Escape" (from Egypt), "The Triumph" and "The Return".
@steerforth (1797)
• Italy
21 Oct 07
At the first place for me there is the "David Copperfield" written by Charles Dickens. It's a great novel, the best novel I have ever read. At the second place there is the Divine Comedy, because I love Dante Alighieri and the italian poetry of the Middle Age. At the third there is the Vita Nuova, written by Dante Alighieri like the Divine Comedy, it's a great book and the poems are very very beautiful. At the fourth place there is the Italian novellist Pirandello with his book "Il fu Mattia Pascal", one of the novel written at the beginning of 900. At the fifth place there is "La coscienza di Svevo" written by Italo Svevo, that speaks about a man and his nevrotic life.
@derek_a (10874)
•
21 Oct 07
Most of mine are related to Zen. In descending order..
No 5. Zen Therapy
No 4. Hara
No 3. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
No 2. Zen, Dawn in the West
No 1. Three Pillars of Zen
There are many others, that each offer something in the Zen way of personal development.. :-)
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
21 Oct 07
Okay here's my shot at it:
1). The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron....Her book was instrumental in my getting my life back on track again to get serious about my creative endeavors that had been put on hold...followed by
2). Wishcraft by Barbara Sher...she has a great goal setting plan on how to go after the life you want...
I read both books years ago, but re-read them from time to time
3) The Secret...Rhonda Byrnes---while the Law of Attraction principles are not new, and I actually grew up with them, she reminded me of the principles and to go after my dreams and goals big time
4) The Eldest...reading it now and is the sequel to Eragon...and SO much better than the movie
5). Lord of The Rings..JRR Tolkien...I think just about everyone is familiar with this...I plan to re-read it soon--one of those books to re-read over and over again
6). The Attractor Factor..Joe Vitale...one of the people that was in the DVD of The Secret...he too relates about the Law Of Attraction...he was once homeless and in serious debt for 15 years...now he's laughing all the way to the bank by using LOA.
7). The Harry Potter series--JK Rowling...for the kid in all of us
1 person likes this
@terri0824 (4991)
• United States
20 Oct 07
I have read Your Best Life Now by Joel Olsteen
Several of Joyce Meyers books
I have also read Don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff, I think I neet to read that one again. I also read Women are from venus men from mars, but that has been years ago that I read that one. I don't read as much as I once did. Spend too much time on the internet now. lol
1 person likes this
@wiccania (3360)
• United States
13 Nov 07
Let's see, some of my favorites are:
It, Stephen King - I just think that it's a really great story. It scared the bejesus out of me when I was younger.
Dragonlance Chronicles (Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, Dragons of Spring Dawning) - It's a great trilogy. Lots of adventure and excitement... dragons... magic... warriors...
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe - A really great story about the enduring power of friendship.
Walk This Way, Aerosmith Biography - It was really interesting and educational, not to mention fun to read.
Harry Potter - I thought that the Harry Potter series was really good, written in a way that draws the reader into Harry's world and it's a great story.
Wicked - i just thought htis was a great take on the Wizard of Oz. It made me love and admire the wicked witch of the west.
Brotherhood of the Rose - I love novels that have assassins, espionage and secret underground government organizations. This is one of my favorites.
@bargaingirl (844)
• United States
21 Oct 07
Gosh I'm really not sure. One of my favorites that I've read recently is "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson. I'm in a Young Adult Literature class (I'm an education major) and so I've been reading a lot of YA lit. I liked Gilly because it was a fast read and had a lot of emotion in it... I even cried at one part. But it wasn't really tragic or sad for the most part, there was a lot of comic relief.
1 person likes this
@surajpkn (582)
• India
20 Oct 07
1.my first favourite book is Kane and Abel(jeffrey archer). its a superb story with a perfect blend of all the aspects such as language, descriptions, emotions, etc.
2. Tell me your dreams(Sidney sheldon). A brilliant book with a very different story explained in an amazingly lovely way
3. Angels and Demons(Dan brown). A classic book it is. Beautiful story with a lot of twists and turns described with great language and perfect way.
4. The Godfather(mario puzo). Oh my god.What a great book this is. The all time favourite.
5. Five point someone. its an indian author book and it is really fantastic. The book is about teens in IIT and it is very nicely written.
@SayHeLLos (20)
• United States
21 Oct 07
Mine are all Seven Harry Potter books. i know that that is kind of nerdy but they really are great books. My favorite one is the last one. i really think that Rowling should write another one of the characters grown up days. (not telling what happens ;P