Name the top 10 books you've read

[srboone]

I told the Navy "Yes" when I was invited to paticipate in a charity car wash the recruiting station was holding. There was a young lady there (whose name I can't remember, nor will I probably ever) who looked quite...provocative in her white-T and shorts who everybody was was kinda tip-toeing around, trying not to do anything harrassing. After an hour of this, I hit her with a blast of cold water in the chest. After everybody got done gasping, I simply shrugged my shoulders and said: "Some one had to do it." DCC Smith shook his head and said I'd fit right in. I signed the papers right then.

[RJK1981]

And I would say that book is the primary reason I told the Naval Academy "no thank you" when they tried to recruit me. Looking back, I probably shouldn't have been quite that much of a pacifist.

The reason I said no to the Navy was when the female recruiter mentioned she had not been on a boat in over two years. Shortly after that I signed up for the Army and am very thankful that I did. Some people who are supposedly pacifists do sign up for the military and then try to avoid combat by being a conscientious objector, though that typically doesn't work, lol. I think the funniest was someone who told me we wouldn't go to war during his contract time. I then promised him we would be going to war. That was in July of 2000, so even if his contract was the pointless 2-year contract one I would have been able to say "I told you so", especially since the contract you sign is actually for 8 years, whether you're active or inactive.

[CyberGhostface]

This is hard. Off the top of my head, no specific order (although It and The Shining are probably the top two)

It by Stephen King
The Shining by Stephen King
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Insomnia by Stephen King
Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

[TerryE]

Terry, Believe it or not I had to read Johnny Got His Gun, A Seperate peace, Flowers for Algernon and Alas Babylon, For English class in high school. Who knew they would stand the test of time for me. I read alas babylon last year and it was as good as when I read it in the 70's.

I can believe all four were for English (we had Peace and Flowers also), even though Johnny Got His Gun probably had some controversy to it. I saw the movie on PBS when I was in high school and promptly read the book. And I would say that book is the primary reason I told the Naval Academy "no thank you" when they tried to recruit me. Looking back, I probably shouldn't have been quite that much of a pacifist.

[TJCams]

Subterranean - James Rollins is one I would add to my list of top 10 now

[Mike88]

Terry, Believe it or not I had to read Johnny Got His Gun, A Seperate peace, Flowers for Algernon and Alas Babylon, For English class in high school. Who knew they would stand the test of time for me. I read alas babylon last year and it was as good as when I read it in the 70's.

[TerryE]

Yes I know once again late to the game But here goes in no particuler order: Wow this is tough.
Johnny Got His Gun: Dalton Trumbo
Flower For Algernon: Daniel Keyes
Dracula: Bram Stoker
The Stand: Stephen King
Books Of BloodL Clive Barker
The Hunt For Red October: Tom Clancy
Strangers: Dean Koontz
The 6 Messiah's: Mark Frost
Ceremonies: E.E.D. Klein
Moon: James Herbert

Mike, you listed some of my favorite books from high school. Love the inclusion of "Johnny Got His Gun".

[Mike88]

Yes I know once again late to the game But here goes in no particuler order: Wow this is tough.
Johnny Got His Gun: Dalton Trumbo
Flower For Algernon: Daniel Keyes
Dracula: Bram Stoker
The Stand: Stephen King
Books Of BloodL Clive Barker
The Hunt For Red October: Tom Clancy
Strangers: Dean Koontz
The 6 Messiah's: Mark Frost
Ceremonies: E.E.D. Klein
Moon: James Herbert

[coderedx]

This is a tough one! I've pulled a lot of great book recommendations from above, by the way, so thanks everybody!

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
2. The Green Mile by Stephen King
3. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
4. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (And sometimes I reverse the order of this and Ender's Game!)
5. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
6. The Shining by Stephen King
7. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
8. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
9. Animal Farm by George Orwell
10. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

[T-Dogz_AK47]

I have just found this thread, so I thought I should participate and add my top 10 books:

1. Needful Things - Stephen King
2. IT - Stephen King
3. Different Seasons - Stephen King
4. Dracula - Bram Stoker
5. The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri
6. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
8. The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty
9. The Iliad - Homer
10. The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger

What a surprise, my top three books are all Stephen King!!!

[keysersoze]

1. Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons
2. The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty
3. The Beast House Trilogy (3 Books) - Richard Laymon
4. The Green Mile - Stephen King
5. Boy's Life - Robert McCammon
6. Dweller - Jeff Strand
7. The Shining - Stephen King
8. Seed - Ania Ahlborn
9. The Rising - Brian Keene
10. Live Girls - Ray Garton

[RJK1981]

Ok, I will add to this list, though my list could change depending on the day probably, lol.

One thing I will do for now is limit it to one title per author. Even then I will not be able to pick just 10, so I will have an honorable mention list as well for some of the horror books and all but one of the non-horror books.

Lisey's Story - Stephen King
The Girl on the Glider - Brian Keene
Invisible Fences - Norman Prentiss
The Painted Darkness - Brian James Freeman
The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Turtle Boy - Kealan Patrick Burke (would say Kin, but Turtle Boy was my first read of his and what made me a big fan)
The Memory Tree - John R. Little
Undertaker's Moon - Ronald Kelly
Children of Chaos - Greg F. Gifune

Honorable Mentions:

Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Killing Pablo - Mark Bowden
Eternity's End - Jeffery A. Carver (Couldn't pick which book was my favorite from his Chaos Chronicles series, so went with this)
Rainbow Six - Tom Clancy
The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
"I" The Creation of a Serial Killer - Jack Olson
Dweller - Jeff Strand

This list is definitely not in any order, and is subject to change. The book I am reading right now, The Hangman's Apprentice: Sprout of Disruption will most likely end up in that top 10 when I finish it

[bookworm 1]

I can't believe I have not added my favorite books so Hear are a few.
Martian chronicles by Bradbury.
Swan Song by McCammon
The Girl Next Door by Ketchum
Savage by Laymon
Different Seasons by King. My first King book. Bought in the 8th grade. No looking back after that.

There are many more but that is a start.

[Sock Monkey]

New favorite thread! I have an affinity for Top 10 lists (one of the best things about High Fidelity)!

10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-Ken Kesey
9. Stir of Echoes-Richard Matheson
8. Ghost Story-Peter Straub
7. American Gods-Neil Gaiman
6. The Ruins-Scott Smith (I know this polarized readers, but I thought it was brutally relentless. A Simple Plan was also great
5. Alone with the Horrors-Ramsey Campbell
4. The Two Sams-Glen Hirshberg
3. The Worthing Saga-Orson Scott Card
2. Swan Song-Robert McCammon
1. Animal Farm-George Orwell

With Honorable Mentions
Kin-Kealan Patrick Burke
Usher's Passing-Robert McCammon
Summer of Night-Dan Simmons

Crap, that was hard! I'll probably change my mind in an hour, but it'll do for now.

[Theli]

He's quite possibly my second favourite author, next to Robert E. Howard, but my rankings change over time too.