Favorite books -- a masterlist

This list is an attempt to compile a list of all my favorite books onto one document. Obviously time dims memory but with the use of lists I created at various points in my past I will attempt to give credit here to my favorite books. This will be a living document which I hope to update once a year. Reminder to self -- it is okay to add books to this list which you once loved even if it has been several decades since that book was read. It is even possible that some of the books would no longer make the cut if held up to the standards of the day. Add them anyway. Started March 2023. 

Sorted by title. Last updated: October 18, 2024.

 

 

#

• 1776 by David McCullough
  

A

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  
• Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
  
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
  
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
• Anansi Boys by Neal Gaiman
  
• Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
  
• Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
  
• The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green
• Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori
  
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
  
• At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
   

B

• Babel by R. F. Kuang
• Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
• Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters at the End by Atul Gawande
  
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
  
• The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan
• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
  
• The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly
  
• The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
• The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
  
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
• Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
   

C

• Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
• The Chronicles of Narnia (all seven books ) by C.S. Lewis
• Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
  
• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
  
• Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns 
• Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
  
• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
  
• Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Berniers
• The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
• Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
  
• The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings For Times of Grief by Jan Richardson
  
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
   

D

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen
• Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
• Dog Songs: Poems by Mary Oliver
  
• Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World by Rob Sheffield
   

E

• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
  
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
• Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
  
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer
   

F

• Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah
• The Fault In Out Stars by John Green
• Feed by M.T. Andersen
  
• First You Have to Row a Little Boat by Richard Bode
   

G

• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
  
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
• God Went to Beauty School by Cynthia Rylant
  
• Going Bovine by Libba Bray
• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 
• The Good Earth  by Pearl S. Buck
• A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor 
• A Grace Disguised by Gerald Sittser
  
• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
   

H

• Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
• A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Harry Potter Books (all seven) by J.K. Rawling
• The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
  
• His Dark Materials (3 books) by Philip Pullman
  
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• Horse by Geraldine Brooks
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
  
• How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig
  
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
   

I

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
• Inheritance Cycle (4 books) by Christopher Paolini
• Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
  
• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
   

J

• Jamberry by Bruce Degan
  
• James by Percival Everett
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  
• Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
   

K

• Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
   

L

• The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
  
• Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough
• Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
• LaRose by Louise Erdrich
  
• Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
  
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery 
  
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
   

M

• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
  
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by Jon Berendt
• Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
• Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
• The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai 

N

• News of the World by Paulette Jiles
• Night by Ellie Wiesel
• North Woods by Daniel Mason
   

O

• The Odd Women by George Gissing
• The One-In-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
  
• Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
• The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
• The Overstory by Richard Powers
   

P

• The Passion of Artemesia by Susan Vreeland
• The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry
  
• Peace Like a River by Lief Enger
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
  
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster 
• Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
  
• The Plainsong by Kent Haruf
• The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
  
• Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  
• Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and high Adventure by William Goldman
  
• The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester.
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
   

Q

• Queer Ducks (And Other Animals) by Eliot Schrefer

R

• The Raven Cycle (4 books) by Maggie Stiefvater
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Round House Louise Erdrich
   

S

• Sabriel (and all books in the Abhorsen series) by Garth Nix
• Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems by Billy Collins 
  
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
  
• Seabiscuit: an American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
  
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
  
• The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Berry
  
• Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
• A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
  
• Somehow: Thoughts on Love by Anne Lamott
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli 
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
  
• Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
• Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
   

T

• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
• Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
  
• Teaching with Fire: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Teach by Sam Intrator and Megan Schribner, editors
• Ten Poems for Difficult Times ( and five others in Ten Poems series) by Roger Housden
  
• Tiffany Aching (5 books) by Terry Pratchett 
  
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• The Things They Carry by Tim O'Brien
  
• Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
• Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyles
• A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute
  
• Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
• Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
  
• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
   

U

• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
   

V

• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
  
• Virgil Wander by Lief Enger
   

W

• West With the Night by Beryl Markham
• When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
• The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
  
• Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
   

X

Y

• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
• The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
   

Z