I have seen a few other bloggers creating their own Best Lists of books – and I decided I would do the same. The list below are books I have read which I think are MUST READS. Many of these have been reviewed on Caribousmom – you can find all books reviewed (alphabetically by author) here. I decided to pare the list down to 50 books of fiction (in no particular order). Have you read any of these? What would make your top 50 must read novels?
- War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
- The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
- The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
- Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
- The Stand, by Stephen King
- The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
- The Hotel New Hampshire, by John Irving
- A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
- Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
- Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner
- The Borrowers, by Mary Norton
- Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
- The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway
- The Country of Pointed Firs, by Sarah Orne Jewett
- Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
- Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton
- The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
- The Lone Pilgrim, by Laurie Colwin
- The Road Home, by Rose Tremain
- Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson
- The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood
- The Secret River, by Kate Grenville
- Snowflower and The Secret Fan, by Lisa See
- So Big, by Edna Ferber
- The Talisman, by Stephen King and Peter Straub
- Talk Before Sleep, by Elizabeth Berg
- Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
- A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Housseini
- Back When We Were Grownups, by Anne Tyler
- The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
- The Colour, by Rose Tremain
- Crime and Punishment, by F.M. Doestevsky
- Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters
- Guernica, by Dave Boling
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
- The Outlander, by Gil Adamson
- The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
- The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx
- The World According to Garp, by John Irving
- Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky
- …And Ladies of the Club, by Helen Hooven Santmyer
- The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
- How Green Was My Valley, by Richard Llewellyn
- Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
- Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
- To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
= Excellent
= Good/Very Good
= Okay read
= Not recommended
= Ugh! Don't waste your time.
Great list! I’ve read quite a few of them, and have others on the ol’ TBR.
How is pup doing?
Lezlie
I really must read ‘Lonesome Dove” I don’t like westerns – but many people have mentioned this as a favourite.
I am awarding you with a “My blog is Fabulous Award”
http://tinyurl.com/cf97px
Enjoy
So I think I’ll create a similar post on my blog. It will be quite simple: a link to this post with the tag line, “What she said.”
* cracking myself up *
I think 50% of my list would be the same as yours – the other 50% I haven’t read yet!
I’ve read 11 of them.
I’ve only read five of the books on your list, but I have eleven of them on my bookshelves!
#2-TBR list
#3-loved it
#4,#5 TBR list
#6. The Stand-back when King was great! I devoured his early stuff!
#7-Yes!!
#14-TBR list
#17- Great story
#18,20,30-TBR list
#22-FANTASTIC book-yes I’m screaming
#25- a fave of mine
#28- I love Berg.
#32- enjoyed it
#37-loved beyond words
#40-TBR list
#41-Adore her writing
#45-Excellent story teller and an first-rate fantasy book!!
#48-will be reading in Feb.
#49- Jamie is MINE…do you hear? All mine!!
#50-Can it get any better than this one?
Can you tell that I loved your list?
I think I’d have a hard time choosing 50, because there are so many worthy ones i haven’t read yet!
Great list, I’ve read 23 of them. Hmm, two by Rose Tremain. I’ll have to try some thing by her. Any recommendations on which to read first?
There are some great books on this list! The Book Thief is one of my all-time favorite reads as well along with To Kill A Mockingbird.
I have given you an award, Wendy. Come by to pick it up!
That’s a great list
I’ve read quite a few of them. The Poisionwood Bible was one of my favorites. Nice page!
If I’ve counted correctly, I’ve read eight of these. Still a ways to go, I see. But several of them are on my immediate TBR list, so that’s good.
I’ve read 12, and have several more on my to-be-read stacks or lists.
I want to do this, too, but I have trouble with novels that contain explicit material – like Outlander. I love that book – but can’t recommend it to some of my friends because of that, so how can I say it’s a “must read?”
Then I also have the other end of the spectrum – Christian fiction that is excellent, but what if a blog reader or friend is an atheist and would be put-off by the content?
I guess I have to just not worry about that and make the list personal to me. I’m sure there are other readers out there whose tastes vary as widely as my own.
I’ve read a number, and many more are in my LOOOONG TBR list. It’s neat to see what others consider “must reads”.
The Book Thief, The Handmaid’s Tale, Rebecca, Cloud Atlas The Road and Fingersmith would be in my top 50 as well.
Lezlie: Hope you’ll enjoy the ones on your TBR
Sally: I am not a big Western fan – but Lonesome Dove is wonderful. Thank you for the award!
Laura: *smiling* I guess they would be quite similar
Jackie: I’m not surprised – we seem to have similar tastes in books.
Kathy: So when are you going to read the other 39? *smiling*
Vasilly: Hope you’ll like the ones waiting on your shelves!
Staci: Your comment made me smile! Glad you agree with this list!
Ali: I had a hard time narrowing down the list…and I am sure if I wrote this again in 2 years, there would be even more I’d want to add.
JoAnn: Tremain’s latest book is definitely wonderful (The Road Home)…but either of the two I listed are fabulous. I can also recommend Music and Silence by her.
Samantha: I loved both those books as well.
Rebecca: THANK YOU!
ChicGeek: Thanks! The Poisonwood Bible is one of those books that really sticks with you, doesn’t it?
Lexi: Hope you’ll read most of these eventually – they are such great books.
Carrie: *nods* I know there are books I’ve listed that certain readers won’t like…but I viewed this as my personal recommendation list. There is no way you can satisfy everyone’s preferences.
Monica: I like reading other people’s lists as well.
Lenore: All of those are so awesome. Glad we agree!
Okay, I have only read 4 books on your list! The Poisonwood Bible, Things Fall Apart, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and To Kill a Mockingbird. But I do own a few more, and then even a few more are on my 2009 TBR pile. Does this make it better? lol
Rebecca: Well the four you’ve read are amazing books!
You’re right about War and Peace being no.1 …but I don’t think I can trust a list with Handmaid’s Tale on it: that was the second worst book I ever had the misfortune to read.
Anton: Well, I wouldn’t expect everyone to agree with every book on my list *smiles* But I am a huge Atwood fan and love just about everything she writes…sorry that book didn’t work for you
Interesting list, though I’m surprised that “Brave New World” is not up there.
Ximena: well, I could only pick 50…so I’m sure I missed some peoples’ favorites!