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Original poster

Top 10 must read books

43 replies

Username666 · 02/01/2021 10:21

New years resolution to start reading more. I'm starting with To Kill a Mocking Bird. What are your top 10 must read books? Thanks

OP posts:
Pinkpercy · 02/01/2021 10:27

What a time to be alone - one you can read over and over. So empowering. Not a novel though

Ameanstreakamilewide · 02/01/2021 10:28

Pride and Prejudice is a book i read every few years.

In the words of Sheldon Cooper 'it's a flawless masterpiece'.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 02/01/2021 10:29

Here's 3 for starters:
A Clockwork Orange
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
All Quiet on the Western Front

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Books
Sarahandduck18 · 02/01/2021 11:08

Not to kill a mockingbird- it perpetuates rape myths!

KeyboardWorriers · 02/01/2021 11:11

The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck)

1984 (Orwell)

Blackberrycream · 02/01/2021 11:17

@Sarahandduck18

Not to kill a mockingbird- it perpetuates rape myths!
No it doesn’t. It deals with race. Even recently we have seen an example of a white woman threatening a black man with threats of the police ( the Central Park video). Life is more complex than and so is literature.

I recommend The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. It was recommended to me years ago and is a book I have passed to others. It’s an often overlooked classic and quite original.

Blackberrycream · 02/01/2021 11:21

To Kill a Mockingbird is also based on several real examples of trials of black men. Men who were hung based on proven false accusations.

Soutiner · 02/01/2021 11:23

Catch 22

DoctorYang · 02/01/2021 11:24

Hamnet
Year of Wonders
The Color Purple
The Handmaid's Tale (& sequel The Testaments)
The Song of Achilles
Circe
The Heart's Invisible Furies
Pillars of the Earth (and the rest of the series)
Saving Noah

Soutiner · 02/01/2021 11:24

1984

Soutiner · 02/01/2021 11:26

Fahrenheit 451

Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese · 02/01/2021 11:32

The Hobbit
Sense and Sensibility (the Joanne Trollope modernisation is good too)
Green Mile (best Stephen King book by far)
Of Mice and Men (really enjoyed reading this when I studied it at GCSE, go back to it every couple of years)
Caraval, Legendary, and Finale (really enjoyed this series)

snowy0wl · 02/01/2021 11:34

Sticking wit the dystopian theme .... The Handmaiden’s Tale.

snowy0wl · 02/01/2021 11:35

Apologies - I didn’t realise this had already been suggested.

snowy0wl · 02/01/2021 11:41

I really enjoyed “The Time Traveller’s Wife”, although it seems to have received mixed reviews on the internet.

Philip K Dick has written some amazing short stories if you like science fiction.

cantdothisnow1 · 02/01/2021 11:55

I know it is controversial but my favourite is Gone with the Wind

Also love anything by Donna Tart - The Secret History or The Goldfinch particularly

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier .

Recently read 11.22.63 and The Stand by Stephen King which i loved.

cantdothisnow1 · 02/01/2021 11:55

oooh and the Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary Mantell are fantastically well written.

Graphista · 02/01/2021 11:58

Pride and prejudice - Jane Austen

1984 and/or animal farm - George Orwell

The body in the library and/or the mysterious affair at styles - Agatha Christie

How the world works - Noam Chomsky

A is for alibi - sue grafton

Rachel's holiday - Marian Keyes

Affluenza - John De graaf

I know why the caged bird sings - maya angelou

A modest proposal - Jonathan swift (a mere short story/essay though this one)

Feel the fear and do it anyway - Susan Jeffers

I think that's a good mix of fact and fiction, pleasure and knowledge?

PainterInPeril · 04/01/2021 21:33

Some authors I enjoy reading are Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L Sayers, P.G Wodehouse, Miss Read, Margery Allingham, Mary Stewart. Also thoroughly recommend trying some classic kids books too. Arthur Ransome and Richmal Crompton for starters.

JimmyTheBrave · 04/01/2021 21:37

Agree with The Grapes of Wrath, loved it.

I had a 'list' of books too; it mostly consisted of American literature as that's generally what I enjoy most. My advice would be don't persevere with a book that just feels like a battle, even if 100 people tell you you HAVE to read it - life is too short!

I gave up on The Great Gatsby, it just wasn't for me.

JimmyTheBrave · 04/01/2021 21:39

Also 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison, another important book regarding race relations in the US, brilliant.

Needhelp101 · 04/01/2021 21:46

The Collector, John Fowles.

Watership Down, Richard Adams.

Definitely Pride and Prejudice and The Handmaid's Tale.

Anything by Bill Bryson if you want a good laugh!

SlatternIsMyMiddleName · 04/01/2021 21:56

I second ‘Rachel’s holiday’ by Marian Keyes. Brilliant.

SlatternIsMyMiddleName · 04/01/2021 21:58

The Jilly Cooper trilogy - Riders, Rivals, Polo. Wonderful

JWrecks · 04/01/2021 22:03

These are my top 5, in no particular order, which sit on a special shelf in my library. I think they are all special and important in their own way.

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
Cry the Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban
An Ordinary Man - Paul Rusesabagina
Sidonia the Sorceress - Wilhelm Meinhold (though it's fairly difficult to find)