5 ONLY books that MUST be read.

I do of course exempt Just William from the re-reading

I'm not a big re-reader of books. This sounds ridiculous written down, but I always worry that if I re-read something I thought was amazing I might not enjoy it so much and be disappointed. This particularly applies to The Magus which I especially think of as a young persons story. I loved the Magus, it blew me away. I read it when I was much younger than I am now when I was in my 20's. I have heard people say re-reading the Magus from a different point in your life (ie older) spoiled it

The Caliban Shore is v good.

'In the Heart of the Sea' is amazing too. As is 'This Thing of Darkness'.

ThenSheSaid - Oooh thank you! I'll put it on my wish list. I'm currently reading 'The Worst Journey in the World', which is really good, but because he quotes at length from others' journals it's slightly disjointed, whereas 'South' is just incredible, both as a narrative and a tale of human endeavour. I am in awe of those men. Actually, I'm in awe of all that generation of polar explorers - the suffering they endured is unimaginable to me.

The Magus is wonderful. I haven't read it for ages, so it will have to go on my re-reading list. Can I just spend the whole winter in bed reading, please?

Oh YY The Magus!!

I have no idea what my five would be but I'm so glad that Mockingbird is on so many of your lists. It is my all time favourite and could quote most of it. I have reread it countless times

Have now scrolled back and the rules.

"what does it bring to humankind's lonely dark trudge and solitary wrestling with this thing we call life en route to the yawning grave?"

Pleasure, that's what my choices bring. While we're on the lonely dark trudge, we might as well do our best to derive a little amusement along the way.

shallishanti - Apparently there are two of us

"read" not "fund".

My desert island choices. I don't think they MUST be read, simply that they are the books I would cheerfully face shipwreck with.

Something by Barbara Pym. Today I'll go for Less than Angels, but I'd take pretty much any of hers. Funny and plangent.

The Debt to Pleasure, by John Lanchester for sheer good fun.

Non-fiction:

The Young Romantics, Daisy Hay. Haven't stopped thinking about this since I read it last year, particularly Claire Clairmont and how Byron took her little girl away.

The Lost Ark of the Covenant, by Tudor Parfitt. Invariably compared to Indiana Jones. Rattling good fund, a real-life quest through fascinating locations, not entirely without academic merit.

In Ruins, Christopher Woodward. If I say it's a kind of meditation on art history it makes it sound incredibly precious, but it's really accessible and eye-opening.

I would say:

Sherlock Holmes - I read this instead of revising for my finals and consider it time well spent.

Iris murdoch's 'the bell' - the first novel of hers that I read; I fell in love with her funny and compassionate perspective on the human condition.

The Magus - it's so wonderfully peculiar and plays with your mind.

King Lear - because it is the best play ever written IMO.

Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks - as it was so thought provoking and paradigm shifting .... Though can't decide on this or Jane Eyre, which was the first proper novel I read and always has me weeping every time I reread it.

The Great Gatsby (and I've never seen any of the films so have not only just discovered it)
Testament of Youth- Vera Brittain
The Blood of Others- Simone de Beauvoir
Requiem por un campesino Espanol-JR Sender
The L Shaped Room trilogy

Love Medicine, Louise Erdrich
The Hundred Secret Senses, Amy Tan
Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld
A Patchwork Planet, Anne Tyler
Diary of a Provincial Lady, E M Delafield

Excuse my earlier mistake that was supposed to read Lord of the Flies
To answer my own question I have just read the blurb on goodreads. I judged a book by its title for some reason and thought it was a fantasy type book .........oooh dear!

...and if you like the arctic/Antarctic expeditions try Skeletons of the Zahara which is a true story about a shipwreck that occurred in 1815. The survivors had to trek across the Sahara and survive getting captured by local slave traders. It's a fantastic read.

I could go on in this vein,
The Calaban Shore ,
In The Heart of The Sea ,
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano ,
Fatal Passage

...I could go on.

and on,

and on.

Garp for me too

Couldn't we do 5 authors instead of books?

I love The Hotel New Hampshire!

I'm never sure how anyone can like Little Women-yawnsville

Vanity Fair - Dickens.

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
We need to talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver

I keep meaning to read Lord of the Rings. Is it like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings?

Final choice- numerous John Irving novels mentioned already..... so I'll go with Far From the Madding Crowd - a true classic.

Pointyfangs - I loved The Hotel New Hampshire too, more than The Cider House Rules. But Garp was my first Irving and it remains my favourite. But I don't understand the widespread love for Owen Meany. I hated it and it's one of the reasons I stopped reading him - do I need to re-read it?

Ohh, I have read The Worst Journey in the World Its un-put-downable.