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Twenty-Five Books For a Desert Island

AN INVITATION...

One of our clever readers called my bluff. After reading that some books I recommended on the "Adults Read" page would be among the 25 I'd take to a desert island, she asked me for that list!

Well, hokay! as Hyman Kaplan would say. Here's that list. Would you like to send us YOUR list of 25 books?? Wouldn't that be fun--seeing lists from lots of people? If you send a list, we'll post it right here. Books you recommend should be appropriate for the fine taste and sensibilities of our audience. After all, teenagers may want to read them, too.


Contents
From J in Canada   From Jo    From Five Acre Estate   From B in New Mexico   

From MF    From C    From Tamil in Austin    From RC      From GOC     From VF   

From EG    From Laurie    From S in CT    From Pollyanna    From AB   

From Sarah M   From Dawn    From P in Texas    From MW    From J    

From S in Idaho    SMT in Pennsylvania   Short Lists #1    From EC    From MM    

From L in Virginia    From RC     Joan's List  

Prior Lists

[The Bible appeared on SO many lists. Please imagine it on all the lists that follow. Thanks.]

From Kim in PA., with some editing to eliminate books listed earlier.
 "Some of my earliest, fondest memories of childhood are those of my Mom reading to me while sitting on her lap in the rocking chair.  For some reason, the read-alouds stopped once I could read longer books on my own.  I am now the mom of two DS, 9 and 5, and my DH and I read aloud to them, separately, every night - it makes for some real special one-on-one time with each of them.  Through these read-athons, I've read some older classics I never read when I was younger, and I've become completely absorbed in some of today's juvenile fiction.  As an adult I enjoy them as much as the kids.  I wish I had kept a journal of all the books we've read aloud over the last 9 1/2 years.  I think it would make for a thick tome, vying for space on the shelves with some of the lengthier books we've read recently!  I hope my kids never tire of our reading aloud time :)"

1. The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman (and other Pullman books)
2. 20th Century Children's Book Treasury--Read-aloud stories by various authors
3. Around The World In 80 Days, by Jules Verne
4. The Night Before Christmas, pop-up book by Robert Sabuda, story by Clement Clarke Moore
5.  Tailchaser's Song, by Tad Williams
6.  Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander
7.  The Book of Dragons, by E. Nesbit
8.  Giggler Treatment, by Roddy Doyle
9.  Forever, by Judy Blume
10. Christmas In Camelot, by Mary Pope Osborne
 

From GJ--edited to omit repeaters.

 

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
2. One Thousand White Women
3. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
4. Bel Canto
5. The Chosen
6. Samari's Garden
 

From AK, edited to omit repeaters.

 

1. Anna Karenina--Tolstoy
2. East of Eden--Steinbeck
3. Madame Bovary--Flaubert
4. The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
5. Under the Banner of Heaven
6. Runaway Jury
7. The Corrections
8. Blind Faith
9. Miss Marple mysteries--any and all--Agatha Christie
10.Natural Health and Healing Solutions
11.The Power of a Positive Mom
12.How Should We Then Live?
13. Mere Christianity
14. The Great Divorce
15. The French Lieutenant's Woman
16. Something along the lines of How to Build a Boat with Practically Anything
 

From TS, lots of our favorite repeaters, plus this interesting short list: 

1. Kane and Abel, Jeffrey Archer
2. The Enchanted Wood, Enid Blyton
3. The Faraway series (3 books), Enid Blyton
4. The Time Traveller's Wife, Audry Niffenegger
5. Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand
 


 From VK, with editing to omit repeats.  "This was fun!" she says.

 

1. My Antonia and O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
2. Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
3. Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
4. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
5. And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer
6. Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons
7. Assassini by Thomas Gifford
8. The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley
9. Outlander by Diana Galbaldon
10. One for the Money by Janet Evanvitch
11. Tall Pine Polka by Lorna Landvik
12. Islands in the Stream by Hemingway
13. Dakota, a Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris
14. Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
15. The Top 500 Poems edited by William Harmon
16. A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
17. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
 

From C in Ohio, some great ideas--edited to avoid repeats.

 

1.  My Side of the Mountain by Jean George (good survival story)
2.  Norton Anthology of Poetry
3.  Strong's Bible Concordance and Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic dictionary
4. & 5.  The two volume set of the Oxford English Dictionary (the one that comes with a magnifying glass)
6.  Anthology of philosophical writings through the ages (the kind of thing you read in a college philosophy class)
7.  Edible wild plants (might be useful on an island)
8.  Ancient Greek text book
9.  Ancient Hebrew text book
10.  Chaucer--I never got around to reading this as I should
 (I assume you mean The Canterbury Tales.)
11.  Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
12.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
13.  The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
14.  Complete poems of Robert Frost
15. World history (text book type survey)
16.  White Mountains/City of Gold and Lead/Pool of Fire by John  Christopher
"I'm looking forward to the other lists."
 

From W and A in Salt Lake City--

I'd add three to the list Joan put together--classics I read as a child and enjoy reading over and over again as an adult.
1.  The Little Prince by Antoine St. Exupery
2.  From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L.  Konigsburg
3.  Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
 

From SC:

1. Atlas Shrugged; The Fountainhead, both by Ayn Rand
2.  Moon Spinners (Mary Stewart)
3. Nine Coaches Waiting (Mary Stewart)
4. Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck)
5.  Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
6. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson)
7. Where the Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls)
8. Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy (Crystal Cave, etc.)
9. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
10. Charm School (Nelson DeMille)
11. Evening Class (Maeve Binchy)
 

Flybaby from Ohio:

1. The Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins "Left Behind" series novels are fabulous - you have to have the next one ready as you finish one...
2. I spent one summer savoring Elizabeth Berg novels - don't read them too fast as they are so delightfully rich. I hated to have them end.
 

From JC in Michigan, a good suggestion:

      Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series are great reads and lots of laughs.
 

From Amy in GA:  (edited to avoid repeats, such as all the Harry P books  :>)
 
  1.  Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis
  2.  The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet; Perelandra; and That Hideous Strength) by C. S. Lewis
  3. The Chronicles of Narnia [again, much beloved] by C. S. Lewis
  4. The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis
  5. Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
  6.  Diligently Seeking God by Gary Henry
  7. Nathaniel Hawthorne: Collected Novels
  8. Selected Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne by Alfred Kazin 
        ("Young Goodman Brown" is one of the passages I asked my husband to read and discuss with me before we got married.)
9.  Norton Anthology Volume One
10. Norton Anthology Volume Two
11. The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett
12. SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate,  on Land or at Sea by John 'Lofty' Wiseman
13. The Mom Factor by John Townsend and Henry Cloud

14.  Boundaries by John Townsend and Henry Cloud
 Thanks for all your great suggestions and for encouraging us and our children to read.
 

From a Flybaby in PA: [edited to avoid repeats]
 
1. The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough
2. A Woman of Substance - Barbara Taylor Bradford
3. Earth's Children (Series of 5) - Jean M. Auel
4. Mitford Years (Series of 7) - Jan Karon
5. His Dark Materials (Series of 3) - Philip Pullman
6. The Elvis Cole Mysteries (Series of 10) - Robert Crais

From TA, an interesting, "mysterious" list. [Edited to remove duplicates.] 

 1. The Bride; Saving Grace; and For the Roses, all by Julie Garwood
 2. Harper Hall of Pern - Anne McCaffery
 3. Anything by James Patterson
 4. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
 5. Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens
 6. Anything by Agatha Christie, esp. Ten Little Indians and Murder on the Orient Express
 7. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne
 8. Edgar Allan Poe's short stories and poetry, including Murders in The Rue Morgue & The Raven
 9. The Seedling Stars - James Blish
 10. Daughter of Fire; Merlin's Legacy - Quinn Taylor Evans
 11. Daughter of the Mist (Merlin's Legacy)
 12. Daughter of Light (Merlin's Legacy) - Quinn Taylor Evans
 13. Shadows of Camelot, (Merlin's Legacy) - Quinn Taylor Evans
 14. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
 15. The Dune series by Frank Herbert Herbert

From KC in MN. [Fascinating list! JC] 
1. BetsyTacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
2. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
3. Angry Housewives Eating BonBons by Lorna Ladnvik
4. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
5. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
6. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
7. Caravan by Dorothy Gilman
8. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
9. The Maul & the Pear Tree by P D James
10. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
11. Past Forgetting by Kay Summersby Morgan
12. I Still Miss My Man, But My Aim Is Getting Better by Sarah Shankman
13. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
14. The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love by Jill Conner Browne
15. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
16. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
17. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
18. Dumbth by Steve Allen
19. Mrs. Sharp's Traditions by Sarah Ban Breathnach
20. The Betty Crocker Cookbook by Betty Crocker
    [Think about this.  Where are the ingredients going to come from?]
21. The Artist's Way by Julia Camerson
22. Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
23. The Age of Fable, by Bulfinch
24. Our Hearts Were Young and Gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner
25. Suzu and the Bride Doll by Patricia Martin
    P.S.  I can't wait to read some of these that I didn't know about! 
         Joan
 

From KTN:

Oh, fun! Books are my biggest downfall. Here's my list, with occasional comments:
 [Edited to remove repeaters.  JC] 

1. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
2. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
3. The Maggie B. by Irene Haas (one of my favorite picture books)
4. Ma'am Jones of the Pecos by Eve Ball (my family knew the family in

     this book; personal interest)
5. The Fairy Doll by Rumer Godden
6. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
7. The Iliad by Homer
8. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (help & humor for writers)
9. Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie
10. An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
11. All Hallows' Eve by Charles Williams (It was hard for me to choose which of his books to list.)
12. Telling the Truth by Frederick Buechner

13. Staggerford by Jon Hassler
14. The Norton Anthology of Poetry
15. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
16. Harper Hall of Pern Trilogy: Dragonsong, Dragonsinger,and Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey (some of my favorite frothy fun)
17. The Smith of Wooton Major by J.R.R. Tolkien
18. The Tempest by William Shakespeare
19. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

From DBB   --edited to avoid repeats: 

1. The World According To Garp by John Irving
2. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
3. Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg
4. I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn (set on a desert island!)
5. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelman
6. The Little Prince by Antoine de St.Exupery
7. The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz
8. Mary Poppins by P L Travers
9. The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende
10. A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux
11. The Secrets Of Pistoulet by Jana Kolpen
12. Dancing With The Moon (sequel) by Jana Kolpen
13. The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
14. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
15. Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne
16. The Poetry of E. E Cummings
17. A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
18. The Worst Case Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven
19. Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegutt
20. Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
21. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
22. Revolution From Within:A Book on Self-Esteem by Gloria Steinem
23. Heartburn by Nora Ephron

From Flybaby Robin:
1. Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
2. Mountains of Spices by Hannah Hurnard (or any of her books, she is my favorite!)
3. Any book by Ann McCaffrey (especially the dragon ones)
4. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
5. Daughter of Destiny by Jamie Buckingham
6. Joan of Arc ( French to English translation)
7. Six by Seuss ( A collection of six of Dr Seuss's popular stories.)
8. Living Lean the North Way by Larry North
9. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
10. God Chasers by Tommy Tenney ( and the journal that goes with it)
11. Dream Journal
12. Readers Digest book of Fun and Laughter
13. All I know about Animal Behavior I Learned in Lohmans' Dressing Room, or any book by Erma Bombeck ( she makes me laugh)
14. This Present Darkness; Piercing the Darkness; The Final Battle, all  by Hal Lindsey
15. Mother Theresa, a Simple Path by Lucinda Vardey
 

From Diane in Colorado:  (list edited to omit repeats)
 "If I could slip in a couple more, I'd include a survival book and a cookbook!"

The Amelia Peabody Series, by Elizabeth Peters

 --Crocodile on the Sandbank
--The Curse of the Pharoahs
--The Mummy Case
-- Lion in the Valley
--The Deeds of the Disturber
--The Last Camel Died at Noon
--The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog
--The Hippopotamus Pool
--Seeing a Large Cat
--The Ape Who Guards the Balance
--The Falcon at the Portal
--He Shall Thunder in the Sky
---Lord of the Silent
--The Golden One
--Children of the Storm
-- Amelia Peabody's Egypt
---Guardian of the Horizon

[These books are tremendous fun, packed with information about Egypt past and present.  They're so tongue-in-cheek that you wonder why the author's tongue hasn't poked through her cheek. Read them with some other books interspersed or you may overdose.  JC]

 

From GW in NY--{A wonderfully interesting list!  JC]

 

 For children, I recommend Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T. S. Eliot.  I read part of this to my daughter when she was seven -- she still remembers it..

 

2.  The Liar's Club, by Mary Carr
3.  Good Times, Lucille Clifton
4.  Drinking, A Love Story, Caroline Knapp
5.  By Her Own Hand, Signe Hammer
6.  Strategies, Dennis Scott
7.  Caucasia, Danzy Senna
8.  Black Boy, Richard Wright
9.  Cold Sassy Tree, Olive Ann Burns
10. This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff
11. Stop Time, Frank Conroy
12. Warrior Woman, Maxine Hong Kingston
13. Given Ground, Ann Pancake
14. The Measure of Our Success, Marian Wright Edelman
15. Traveling Mercies, Anne Lamott
16. Dave Barry's Guide to Guys, Dave Barry
17. Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
18. I Stand Here Ironing,Tillie Olson
19. Girl, Jamaica Kincaid
20. Only the Dance, Judith Kitchen
 

 From Sheila, in Canada: Oh this was fun - I did it as my reward for having my shoes on my feet!
 [Edited to avoid repeats.  JC] 
1. The Power Of One    - Bryce Courtney
2. The Oxford Annotated Bible
3. The Koran
4. A Brief History Of Time    - Stephen Hawking
5. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold    - John LeCarre
6. Goodbye Darkness    - William Manchester
7. Kim    - Rudyard Kipling
8. Roots    - Alex Haley
9. The Yellow Jersey    - Ralph Hurne
10. The Game    - Ken Dryden
11. The Rituals Of Dinner    - Margaret Visser
12. The Essential Calvin And Hobbes    - Bill Waterson
13. A History Of The English Speaking Peoples Volumes 1, 2, 3 & 4 by     Winston S Churchill
14. The Dictionary Of Newfoundland English
15. London    - Edward Rutherfurd
16. The Boat    - Lothar Gunther Bucheim
17. One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovitch    - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
18. Original Sin    - PD James
19. The Pullet Surprise    - Michael Kluckner
 

From DN, edited to avoid repeats.


 1. The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Gregory Maguire 

2. No-No Boy, John Okada
3. Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood
4. Bridget Jones (both books), Helen Fielding
5. Girl of the Limberlost, Gene Stratton-Porter
6. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
7. Daughter of Fortune, Isabel Allende
8. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
9. The Nanny Diaries, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
10. Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn
11. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
12. Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
13. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon
14. A Lantern in Her Hand, Bess Streeter Aldrich
15. Woman Hollering Creek: And Other Stories, Sandra Cisneros
16. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
17. Ramona Series, Beverly Cleary

18.  The Odyssey, Homer
 

From an anonymous flybaby, "Here are some of my favorites:"

1. Circles Of Stone by Joan Dahr Lambert
2. Years by Lavyrle Spencer
3. A Light To My Path by Lynn Austin
4. Comes The Blind Fury by John Saul
5. Heaven by V.C.Andrews (Part one of five books)
6. All Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books
7. A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer (Part one of three books)

 

From Flybaby S, in PA. (Edited to omit duplicates.) 

1. A Soprano on Her Head, Eloise Ristad
2. Born To Trot, Marguerite Henry
3. King of the Wind, Marguerite Henry
4. Penny's Worth, Nancy Caffrey
5. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg
6. Door Into Summer, Robert A. Heinlein
7. Katherine, Anya Seton
8. A Good Horse is Never a Bad Color, Mark Rashid
9. Considering the Horse, Mark Rashid
10. Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
11. Smokey The Cow Horse

From AW: This was such a hard list to put together, and I know I left off some of my favorites.
 [Note: Edited to remove duplicates. JC] 

1. Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats
2. The Divine Comedy by Dante
3. The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft
4. The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny
5. The Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
6. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
7. Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
8. Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton
9. Three Plums in One by Janet Evanovich
10. Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
11. Rhapsody:  Child of Blood by Elizabeth Hayden
12. Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
13. The Illiad and the Odyssey by Homer Translator ­ Samuel Butler
14.  Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs by John Lindow
15. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
16. Dracula by Bram Stoker
17. Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
18. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
19. The Stand by Steven King

From Ann.  "Oh boy.  Just off the top of my head..."

1. Crossing To Safety, by Wallace Stegner (How could this not be in the top 25 of

Joan's list??)

2.  East of Eden, by John Steinbeck

3.  Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

4.  John Adams, by David McCullough

5.  Truman, by David McCullough

6.  The Brothers K., by James David Duncan

From Elle S--Here's my list!
 (Edited to avoid repeats, JC.)

1. Traveling Mercies, by Anne Lamott
2. The Cloister Walk, by Kathleen Norris
3. Room With a View, by E.M. Forster
4. 100 Love Sonnets (Cien Sonetos de Amor), by Pablo Neruda
5. Waking the Dead,(or Sacred Romance, or Journey of Desire) by John

    Eldredge
6. My Antonia, by Willa Cather
7. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
8. The Genuine, Ingenious, Thrift Shop Genie, Clarissa Mae Bean & Me,

    by Beverly Keller
9. Skinnybones, by Barbara Park
10.  At Home in Mitford (the whole Mitford series!) by Jan Karon
11. Letters to a Young Poet, by Ranier Maria Rilke
12. The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

From SS, a highschool American lit teacher:

1.  The Good Old Boys, by Elmer Kelton

2.  Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella

3.  Sloppy Firsts, by Megan McCafferty

4.  Master of the Game, by Sidney Sheldon

5.  The Ralph Mouse collection, by Beverly Cleary

6.  The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson

7.  The Bar Sinister, by Linda Berdoll

8.  Out of Control, by Mark Lowry

9.  The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook, by Joshua Borgenicht and Davis Piven

There are a few books that have to do with war in this list (fiction and nonfiction).  I believe that if we educate ourselves about the mistakes of the past, then we, as a global community,  are not doomed to repeat them. 
     [Boy, would I like to believe this!

      Joan
          P.S. Great list here! ] 

1.  Illusions, by Richard Bach
2.  Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Tumbo
3.  Moonheart, by Charles de Lint
4.  The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein
5.  The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
6.  Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie
7.  Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
8.  A Mid-Summer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare
9.  Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
10. Hiroshima, by John Hersey
11. Red Badge of Courage, by Steven Crane
12. All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque
13. Hope For The Flowers, by Trina Paulus
14. This World, This Place, and Me, by Kathy Sass (poetry)
15. Mega Tokyo (menga),by Fred Gallagher (just for fun)
16. Winnie The Pooh, by A.A. Milne
17. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
18. The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
19. The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz
20. As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen
21. Sula, by Toni Morrison
22. Old Possum's book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Elliot
23. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
24.  Harry Potter and (pick one) J.K. Rowling
25. 1001 Ways to be Romantic, by Gregory Godek
 

From C in North Dakota (list edited to avoid repeats) 

1.   Pleasures Evermore, by Sam Storms
2.   Come to Papa, by Gary Wiens
3.   Heidi, by Johanna Spyri
4.   Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy
5.  Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, by Dr. Seuss
6.  The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein
7.  The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom
8. The Great Gilly Hopkins
9. Anna and the King of Siam, by Margaret Landon
10. Deep Unto Deep, by Dana Candler
11. The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
12. The Divine Romance, by Gene Edwards
13. One Thing, by Sam Storms
14. The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Wyss
15. Gulliver's Travels, by Johnathan Swift

I found this to be an exercise in self-control.  I could have listed a hundred, easily!From a  34-year-old avidly-reading FLYbaby in Wisconsin. 
1.  The Giving Tree  by Shel Silverstein
2.  This Side of Paradise  by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn  by Betty Smith
4.  The Foundation Trilogy  by Isaac Asimov
5.  Travels with Charley  by John Steinbeck
6.  Dandelion Wine and any other stories by Ray Bradbury
7.  The Steppe (or any other story by Anton Chekhov)
8 & 9.  Angela's Ashes and 'Tis by Frank McCourt
10.  Common Sense by Thomas Paine (essays from Revolutionary days)
11.  The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
12.  Catcher in the Rye  by J.D. Salinger
13.  Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
14.  Of Mice and Men  by John Steinbeck
15.  The Idiot, (plus any other story  by Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
16 & 17.  The Pit and the Pendulum or The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe  (VERY scary!)
18.  Journey to the Centre of the Earth  by Jules Verne
19.  The Honk and Holler Opening Soon  by Billie Letts
20.  Murder on the Nile or ANYTHING by Agatha Christie

(VERY fun summer reads!)
21.  Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
22.  The Doors of Perception or Heaven and Hell  by Aldous Huxley(non-fiction)
23.  The Purpose Driven Life  by Rick Warren (This choice might bother some, but I found it to be life changing.)

From DC in CA: 
1.  East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
2.  Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne
3.  To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
4.  All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot
5.  The Samurai's Garden, by Gail Tsukiyama
6.  Snow Falling on Cedars, by Guderson
7.  anything by Jan Karon
8.  A Place of Execution, by Val McDermid
9.  Discord In Harmony, by Alicia Copeland
10.  The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
11.  Raising Demons, by Shirley Jackson
12.  Watership Down, by Richard Adams
13.  Alice's Adventures Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll
14.  Peter Pan, by James Barrie
15.  The Wizard of Oz, by Frank Baum
16.  Wooden, by John Wooden (bio)
17.  The Ship Who Sang, by Anne McCaffery
18.  Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
19.  Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales
20.  Bold Spirit, by Linda Lawrence Hunt  (non-fiction)
21.  Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom
22.  Below the Salt, by Thomas Costain
23.  Compulsion, by Meyer Levin
24.  Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
25.  Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

From the New Me: 

What a FUN challenge!  This would be my DREAM!  BUT it reminds me of

the Twilight Zone episode where squirrely man just wants to be alone to

read.  He gets his wish when an earthquake hits and he's utterly alone.

 He spends the next several days stacking and cataloging the books that

he wants to read, at the demolished library. He's in his glory!  Then,

he looks down, his very thick glasses slip from his nose and shatter on

the stone steps.  THAT would be my luck!! lol 

1.  All the Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
     (yes, this is cheating!  It's 11 books!)
2.  Gone With the Wind (This was on nearly everyone's list.)
3.  Make Way for Ducklings
4.  Beverly Lewis's Daughters of Abraham Series (3 books)
5.  Ramona the Pest; and The Mouse and the Motorcycle, both by Beverly  Cleary   
6.  In The Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
7.  The Poky Little Puppy
8.  Harold and His Purple Crayon
9.  Endurance: The Edward Shackleton Story
10. Hungry Ocean, a Swordboat Captain's Journey by Linda Greenlaw
11. The Merck Manual of Medical Information : Home Edition
12. When God Doesn't Make Sense, James Dobson   
13. Anything by Frank Perretti
14. Little House on the Prairie (entire series) by Laura Ingalls Wilder
15. Anne of Green Gables (series) by L.M. Montgomery
16. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
17.  My Wedding and my children's baby albums

From MSW in MD:

1-6.  Canadian West Series (6 books), by Janette Oke
7-18. Love Comes Softly (12 books), by Janette Oke
19.  The Virginian, by Owen Wister
20.  The Light and the Glory (nonfiction), by Peter Marshall and David  Manuel

From K in AL:

    You have hit upon my passion!  I love books and the places they take me!  I dont have 25 because I only wanted to include timeless classics that I felt would be appropriate for any age reader to enjoy. 
1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
2. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. Love Comes Softly (entire series) by Janette Oke
5. Anne of Green Gables (entire series) by L.M. Montgomery
6. Little Women; Good Wives; and Little Men, all by Louisa May Alcott
7. Christy by Catherine Marshall
8. John Adams by David McCullough
9. Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis 
    I also never grow too old for the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I hope all girls have read her books at some point.

From H in Michigan, more intriguing titles! 

1. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
2. My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George
3. The Blue Sword; and The Hero and The Crown, both by Robin McKinley
4. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
5. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
6. The NeverEnding Story by Michael Ende
7. Gray's Manual of Botany
8. Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling (couldn't decide which one)
9. The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint
10. Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce
11. Exile's Honor by Mercedes Lackey
12. Treasure at the Heart of Tanglewood by Meredith Pierce
13. Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip
14. Unicorns by Robert Vavra
15. The Far Side of Forever by Sharon Green
16. Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
17. House of Echoes by Barbara Erskine
18. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
19. The House at Pellham Falls by Brenda Weathers
20. The Possibility of Being by Ranier Maria Rilke
21. The Right to Write by Julia Cameron
22. Roget's Thesarus
23. The Dancing Floor by Barbara Michaels
24. Tom Brown's the Tracker

From J.O.:
1. Thorn In My Flesh; Fair Is The Rose; and Whence Came a Prince, all by  by Liz Curtis Higgs.  (These are a 3 book series and are amazing! Found at Christian book stores and possibly at other book stores.) 
2. Mark of The Lion series (3 books) by Francine Rivers 
3. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers 
4. Plus any of Karen Kingsbury's books (there are many)

From A: (A list with good variety and some new titles!  Joan)

1. Anna Karenina-Leo Tolstoy
2. East of Eden-John Steinbeck
3. Love Medicine-Louise Erdrich
4. Giants in the Earth-O.E. Rolvaag
5. Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson-Emily Dickinson
6. My Antonia-Willa Cather
7,8,9. The Kristin Lavransdatter Trilogy-Sigrid Undset
10. The Dollmaker-Harriette Arnow
12.  Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant-Anne Tyler
13.  I know why the Caged Bird Sings-Maya Angelou
14. The Secret Garden-Frances Hodgson Burnett
15. Charlotte's Web-E.B. White
16. The Eye of the Amaryllis-Natalie Babbitt
17. The Joy Luck Club-Amy Tan
18. The Language of Thread-Gail Tsukiyama
19. Women of the Silk-Gail Tsukiyama
20. The Samurai's Garden-Gail Tsukiyama
21. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn-Betty Smith
22. Jane Eyre-Charlotte Bronte
23. The Cat's Eye-Margaret Atwood
         P.S. Edited to remove repeats.  Joan

From J in northern Michigan:  This really made me think!!  Looking back over my list, I think most of them came from Ophrah's Book Club selections!  Sorry, I don't know all the authors! 

1. East of Eden; and Of Mice and Men, both by John Steinbeck
2. The Pilot's Wife, by Anita Shreve
3. The Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis
4. Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
5. The Green Mile, by Stephen King
6. The Essential Catechism of the Catholic Church
7. Tara Road, Maeve Binchy
8. She's come Undone, and I know This Much is True, both by Wally Lamb

9. The Velveteen Rabbit
10. The Corrections
11. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
12. The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss
13. Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
             P.S. List edited to avoid repeats with prior lists. Joan

From RS:  I have very diverse tastes, but good literature is good literature regardless of the genre!  Here is my list of favorites that would keep me sane if stranded on an island!
 
1,2,3 & 4.  The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers & Return of the King) by J.R.R.Tolkien 
5,6,7,8,9,10.   All of Jane Austen's novels: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield  Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion. 
11.  The Magna Carta by the English barons of Britain in 1215 
12, 13, 14.  The Dune trilogy (just the first 3 books) by Frank Herbert 
15 & 16.  A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (really, all Dickens' novels would be good!) 
17- 24.   The entire Systematic Theology collection by Louis Sperry Chafer 
25.  A collection of Shakespeare's plays

From AS:  Here's my list of 25 books to take to an island.

1. Beginning of Was, by Ania Szado
2. Dog Years, by Gunter Grass
3. Saint-Exupery, by Stacy Schiff (non-fiction)
4. Shorter Oxford Dictionary (non-fiction)
5. Lives of the Saints, by Nino Ricci
6. East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
7. The Stone Diaries, by Carol Shields
8. The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx
9. Breakfast at Tiffany's, by Truman Capote
10. Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott (non-fiction)
11. The Audubon Field Guide to North American Birds (non-fiction)
12. In the Skin of a Lion, by Michael Ondaatje
13. Sister Wendy's 1000 Masterpieces, by Sister Wendy Beckett (non-fiction)
14. The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard (non-fiction)
15. No Need for Speed, by John Bingham (non-fiction)
16. Mr. Popper's Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater
17. The Courage to Write, by Ralph Keyes (non-fiction)
18. The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
19. To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf
20. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
21. The World According to Garp, by John Irving
22. Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
23. any Kinsey Millhone mystery by Sue Grafton
24. any "Amsterdam police" thriller by Jan Willem van de Wetering
25. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver

P.S.  Another dynamite list! JC

From Upstate in SC:

First, how about a few obvious ones..

1. The Mayo Clinic Family Healthbook
2. Walking Softly in the Wilderness - the Sierra Club Guide to Backpacking
And then...

3. An Incomplete Education (Judy Jones and William Wilson)
4. Sophie's World (Jostein Gaardner)
5. Three by Flannery O'Connor
6. Short stories by  Roald Dahl
7. The Gulag Archipelago, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
8. The Cider House Rules by John Irving
9. The Age of Reason by Sartre
10. A  Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
11. Eyes of the Dragon by Steven King
12. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
13. Letters from Earth by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
14. Robinson Crusoe, Defoe
15. The Star, short story by A. Clarke
16. Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
17. Short Stories by Ephraim Kishon
18. King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz
-------------------------------------------------------

I couldn't respond to this one quick enough.  Thank you so much for all that you(Flylady) do for us SHEs.  Enjoy my list.
 ---Trying to Fly in Upstate SC
  --[Edited to avoid repeats.]
 


1. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
2. The Westing Game by  Ellen Raskin
3. The Lion's Lady by Julie Garwood  (may be too racy for some but what a story)
4. The Red Tent by Anita Diamont
5. The Duke and I, by Julia Quinn ( a little racy as well)
6. The Sneetches and other stories by Dr. Seuss
7. Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume
8. The Ballad of the Harp Weaver by Edna St. Vincent Millay
9. The King's Equal by Katherine Patterson
 

From D in JC, MO:

1. Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch (and others by NDW)

2. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan

3. All Creatures Great and Small (etc) by James Herriot

4. Love Comes Softly (series) by Janette Oke

5. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield 

6. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle 

 

1. The Witch of Blackbird Pond

2. Island of the Blue Dolphins

3. All Trixie Belden mysteries

4. The Mists of Avalon

5. Anything by PG Wodehouse

6. Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh 

7. The Thomas Black mysteries by Earl Emerson

8. The Thursday Next mysteries by Jasper Fforde

9. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

10. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

11. A Room with a View, and  Howard's End by EM Forster

12.  The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

 

From a Flybaby in Modesto:

  1. Short Stories by O. Henry

  2. The Indian in the Cupboard--Lynn Reid Banks

  3. And Ladies of the Club--Helen Hooven Santmyer

  4. Northern Borders--- Howard Frank Mosher

  5. The 60-Second Novelist-- Dan Hurley

  6. October Sky / Rocket Boys-- Homer Hickham

        (Edited to avoid repeats.)  

From a Flybaby in Australia, her top twelve:

1. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
2.  Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
3. My Place by Sally Morgan
4. The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham
5. Come in Spinner by Dymphna Cusack and Florence James
6. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult
7. Dirt Music by Tim Winton
8. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
9. Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
10. True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
11. Lovers' Knots by Marion Halligan
12. Now we are Six by A.A.Milne

While I didn't list 25 (started to spend too much time stewing on my "perfect" list, then told myself to quit the perfectionism), here are some of my favorites for a vacation:
 
1. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
2. A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold
3. The Singing Wilderness, Listening Point, and Open Horizons, by Sigurd Olson
4. Hiawatha, by Longfellow
5. And Ladies of the Club, by Helen Hooven Santmyer 
5. The Spell of the Yukon, by Robert Service 
6.  Refuge, by Terry Tempest Williams
7. A volume of letters by Thomas Jefferson

      Edited for repeats-- JC
 

From KM -- my desert island picks:

1. The Salterton Trilogy by Robertson Davies
3. The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
4. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
5. The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
6. Alice, Let's Eat by Calvin Trilling
7. Dust Tracks on a Dirt Road by Zora Neale Hurston
8. Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham (+ other Campion mysteries)
9. Cold Red Sunrise by Stuart Kaminsky (+ anything in that series with Porfiry Rostnikov)
10. The God Hustlers by Mary H. Webb
       [Edited for repeats--fascinating list!  JC]


 

From J in Ontario, Canada
 
1. Farewell To Arms - Ernest Hemingway
2. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Tiger Eyes - Judy Blume
4. Happiness - Will Ferguson
5. Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon - Marjorie Kellogg
6. I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
7. Different Seasons - Stephen King
8. Belinda - Anne Rampling (Anne Rice)
9. 98.6 Degrees: The Art Of Keeping Your A%% Alive - Cody Lundin  (a survival manual)
10. The Boy Scouts Of America  Handbook
11. Skeletons In God's Closet
12. Savages
13. Lord Of The Flies - William Golding
14. That Was Then, This Is Now - S.E. Hinton
15. The Basic Kafka
16. A Child's Garden Of Verses - Robert Louis Stevenson
17. Uncle Tom's Cabin --Harriet Beecher Stowe
18. The Chocolate Wars - Robert Cormier
19. Oh, The Places You'll Go - Dr. Seuss
20. Being Peace - Thich Nhat Than (I think that is how it is spelled)

21. The Stand - Stephen King
22. Last Of The April Dancers
23. A Brief History Of Time - Stephen Hawking
24. The Prince - Machiavelli
25. How To Win Friends And Influence People - Dale Carnegie

From Jo:

1. Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck
2. Complete Works of Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
3. Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery
4. The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
5. The complete poems  of Rudyard Kipling
6. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam by Fitzgerald
7. Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell
8. The Book of The Dun Cow, by Walter Wangerin
9. Possessing the Secret of Joy, by Alice Walker
10. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
11. Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
12. The King's Pleasure  by Sterling Frasier
13. The Education of Hyman Kaplan, by Leo Rosten
14. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
15. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
16. Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
17. The Once and Future King, by T. H. White
18. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
19. The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
20. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
21. Yul, The Man Who Would Be King by Rock Brynner
22. Elements of Style, by  Strunk and White (non-fiction)
23. Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Lincoln et al.
24. The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
25. Illuminatus by Robert Anton Wilson
--if I could smuggle a few more aboard, I'd take:--anything by James Thurber --anything by  Aleister Crowley
Magicians of the Golden Dawn by  Ellic Howe
    Uh oh…maybe I cannot do this after all!

From Five Acre Estate:

Boatbuilding for Beginners (And Beyond) by Jim Michalak

1. A History of Reading, Alberto Manguel
2. Island, Alistair MacLeod
3. The Life of Pi, Yann Martel
4. The Art of Eating, MFK Fisher
5. Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony, Lewis Thomas
6. Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon, Pablo Neruda
7. Becoming Human, Jean Vanier
8. Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman
9. La Corona and The Tin Frog, Russell Hoban
10. Home Cooking, Laurie Colvin
11. Collected Poems, Emily Dickinson
12. Floating In My Mother's Palm, Ursula Hegi
13. Our Lady of the Lost and Found, Diane Shoemperlin
14. The Cunning Man, Robertson Davies
15. The Hockey Sweater, Roch Carrier
16. Baseball Bats for Christmas, Michael Kusugak
17. Brick Lane, Monica Ali
18. Atonement, Ian McKewan
19. So long, and Thanks for all the Fish, Douglas Adams
20. I Have Landed, Stephen Jay Gould
21. Emma, Jane Austen
22. Knitting Without Tears, Elizabeth Zimmerman
23. Lives of Girls and Women, Alice Munro
24. The Stone Carvers, Jane Urquhart
25. The Book of Common Prayer

From B in New Mexico.  Enjoy!

 
1. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe--Fannie Flag
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy--JRR Tolkien
3. The Harry Potter Series--J.K. Rowling
4. Treasure Island--R. L. Stevenson
5. Contract with an Angel--Andrew Greeley
6. The Wonder Worker--Susan Howatch
7. The Catcher in the Rye--J.D. Salinger
8. Stormy Weather--Carl Hiaasen
9. Scarlet Feather--Maeve Binchy
10. Tortuga--Rudolfo Anaya
11. Baseball--Ken Burns
12. Huckleberry Finn--Mark Twain
13. The Key to Rebecca--Ken Follett
14. Cold Sassy Tree--Olive Ann Burns
15. The Sound and The Fury--William Faulkner
16. 100 Years of Solitude--Gabriel Garcia Marquez
17. The House at Pooh Corner--A.A. Milne
18. The Hotel New Hampshire--John Irving
19. A Painted House--John Grisham]
20. Dona Flor and her Two Husbands--Jorge Amato
21. The Shepherd of the Hills--Harold Bell Wright
22. The Outsiders--S.E. Hinton
23. Red Storm Rising--Tom Clancy
24. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickenson
25. Little Women--Louisa May Alcott

 

From C: 

1. Little House on th Prairie  by Laura Ingalls Wilder

2. Falling Up by Shel Silverstein

3. Tennis Shoes & the Nephites by Chris Heimerdinger 

4.  Joseph and Emma, A Love Story by Marsha Newman & Buddy Youngreen

5.  Charlotte's Web by EB White

6.  The Secret Garden, by Frances H. Burnett

7.  Double Fudge by Judy Blume

8. Rebekkah;  Sarah; and Rachel and Leah, all by Orson Scott Card

9. First Mothers by Cokie Roberts

 

From JMS:

Fantasy books! Of course, the Harry Potter series, along with Alice in Wonderland, and the wonderful works of Roald Dahl, including Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and James & the Giant Peach.

From MF:

 

1. The Bible  (If I could take only one, it'd be the Bible, without a doubt.)

2. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

3. All of AA Milne

4. All of James Herriot

5. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

6. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

7. The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis

8.  Pride and Predudice by Jane Austen

9. The Rainbow Goblins by Ul de Rico

10. The Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery

11. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

12. The Pearl by John Steinbeck

From Tamil in Austin

Hi all, from Austin.  Following is the list of books I would take with me to enjoy....

1. Love Story by Erich Segal
2. Jonathan Livinston Seagull by Richard Bach
3. The Bridge Across Forever: A Lovestory by Richard Bach
4. There's No Such Place as Far Away by Richard Bach
5. Notes to Myself by Hugh Prather
6. Lord of the Rings by TRR Tolkien (trilogy)
7. PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
8. The Firm by John Grisham
9. Outlander by Diana gabaldon
10.The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
 
Some of the books in my mother tongue, Tamil.
11.  Vairamuthu Poems
12.  Manase, Relax Please by sugabodhanandha
13   Manasukkul Varalaamaa by sugabodhananda
14.  Manam oru mandhirachaavi by Sugisivam
15.  Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki
16.  Sivagamiyin sabatham by Kalki Bharathiyar kavithaigal
 
17. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to
      Punctuation by Lynne Truss
18. THE BEGGAR KING AND THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS by Joel ben Izzy
 

1. Books on How To Build a Raft
2. Books on Desert Island Cuisine
3. Books on How to tame a Wild Boar
4. Books on Fishing
5. Boy Scout Handbook (my DS and DH use theirs frequently)
6. Sink Reflections  [Think about this.  There will be no sink and probably no shoes  to tie. ) JC]
7. Saving Dinner for One
8. Robinson Crusoe
9. 1001 ways to Play Solitare
10.Book of George Washington
11.Book on how to survive on a desert island
12.Book on SOS and Indian Smoke Signals
13. Book on how to stay concealed on a desert island (Just in case I really like being alone.)
14. My FlyLady Journal
15. Book on Ocean Life
16. Gardening Around The World and All Seasons
17. A Word-Find Game Book
18. Blank book to start a book of my own.
19. Book of Poems
20. Book of Virtues and Moral Compass (Bought but only read bits & pieces)
21. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
 [What people?  JC]
22. Book of Medicine

 

1. Contract with an Angel, by Andrew Greeley
2. Endless Universe, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
3. Pegasus in Flight, by Anne McCaffrey
4. Paradise Lost, by John Milton
5. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle
6. 101 Dalmations, by Dodie Smith
7. The Two Faces of Tomorrow, by James P. Hogan
8. Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
9. The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Wyss
10. Dune, by Frank Herbert
11. Tim, by Colleen McCullough
12. Another Fine Myth, by Robert Asprin
13. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
14. Job, by Robert Heinlein
15. Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank
16. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, by Robert C. O'Brien
17. Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian
18. Tea With the Black Dragon, by R. A. MacAvoy
19. The Ladies of Missalonghi, by Colleen McCullough
20. Flight of the Old Dog, by Dale Brown
 

25 FAVORITE BOOKS from RC:

  1. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Emund Morris
  2. Zoli's Legacy by Dawn Watkins
  3. The Next Fine Day by Elizabeth Yates
  4. The Journeyman by Elizabeth Yates
  5. Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt
  6. Elijah the Tishbite by F. W. Krummacher
  7. Holiness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
  8. Cinderella by Charles Perrault
  9. If Everybody Did by Jo Ann Stover
  10. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
  11. A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
  12. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  13. George Muller of Bristol by A. T. Pierson
  14. The Little House by Virginia Burton
  15. Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan
  16. Not by Chance by Layton Talbert
  17. Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
  18. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  19. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  20. The Christian in Complete Armor by William Gurnall
  21. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  22. George Whitefield by Arnold Dallimore
  23. Jenny Wren by Dawn Watkins
  24. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
  25. The Complete Adventures of Curious George H.A. Rey and no. 26---my Bible.

From GOC in Sheffield, England:

  1. Charlotte Bronte: Villette
  2. Ian McEwan: Enduring Love
  3. Dr. Christopher Green: Toddler Taming: A Survival Guide for Parents (if I was taking my DS)
  4. Shakespeare: Hamlet
  5. TS Eliot: Complete Poems and Plays
  6. Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird
  7. Stephen King: The Dead Zone
  8. Barbara Sleigh: Carbonel and Kingdom of Carbonel
  9. Enid Blyton: The Enchanted Wood
  10. William Blake: Songs of Innocence and of Experience
  11. Vivien Alcock: The Monster Garden
  12. Frank Baum: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  13. James Herriot: If Only They Could Talk
  14. Kathleen Jamie: Complete Poems
  15. John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men
  16. Robert Burns: The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns, 1759-1796
  17. Judy Blume: Tiger Eyes
  18. Barbara Smucker: Underground to Canada
  19. Delia Smith: How to Cook
  20. Amy Dacyczyn: The Tightwad Gazette
  21. Marla Cilley: Sink Reflections- still useful even with no sink!
  22. Eric Carle: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  23. Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden
  24. J G Ballard: War Fever and other stories

  25. Ian Banks: The Wasp Factory

I presume our spiritual read of choice is a given!
P.S. Love this list! Joan

From EG: What a great idea it is to share our favorite book titles!
Following is my short list - the books that I still curl up with, no matter what my age, when I want to laugh, be inspired, or to just get cozy with on a rainy day -

  1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (almost anything by Jane Austen)
  2. HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY by Richard Llewellyn
  3. An Old-Fashioned Girl  by Louisa May Alcott
  4. The Best of Clarence Day, Including God and My Father, Life With Father, Life With Mother, This Simian World - by Clarence Day
  5. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
  6. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
  7. Our Hearts Were Young And Gay by Emily Kimbrough
  8. Seventeen by Booth Tarkington
  9. Leaves Of Grass by Walt Whitman
  10. ANYTHING by Mark Twain!
  11. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
  12. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
  13. Nancy Drew (Complete Set) series- by Carolyn Keene


From VF:
I like Joan's list, but would HAVE to add:
  1. Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
  2. The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand
  3. The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck

    These are all books that I have read several times and continue to look forward to:)

    Of course, my nine-year-old daughter would add all of the Harry Potter books which she has read several times through ...

 From Laurie in CA:

Note: David Sedaris, John Irving and John Updike have adult content, but otherwise these are teen-friendly books. This was fun -- thanks for the opportunity!

  1. Lord of the Rings (trilogy) by J.R.R. Tolkien
  2. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
  3. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
  4. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
  5. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
  6. The 158-Pound Marriage by John Irving
  7. Setting Free the Bears by John Irving
  8. Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels: Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest by John Updike
  9. Toward the End of Time by John Updike
  10. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  11. Of Mice and Men (Classics on Cassette) by John Steinbeck
  12. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  13. The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
  14. Olivia by Ian Falconer (picture book for all ages)
  15. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  16. Anderson's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson
  17. The Water-Method Man by John Irving
  18. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
  19. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
  20. The Border Trilogy : All the Pretty Horses, the Crossing, Cities of the Plain  by Cormac McCarthy
  21. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild
  22. The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes (4th Edition) by Theodora Lau
  23. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
  24. Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up by Dave Barry
  25. The Norton Anthology of Poetry by Margaret Ferguson
    [Joan's Note: I find Sedaris funny only rarely. Yes, he's a good writer, but I don't understand his popularity. Can anyone enlighten me?]

From S in CT, a varied, wonderful list!


I was very excited to have this opportunity to share recommended reading! My family and I are completely hooked on books and my husband and I are very proud of the strict limitations we have on all screens/electronics in the house. The result is two DSs ages 7 1/2 and 10 1/2 who are far above their ages in reading comprehension, ideas, vocabulary, and just plain fun! I hope you enjoy my list and I look forward to the recommendations of others.
Joan's website was terrific! Thanks for all your great ideas and inspiration!

  1. The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien
  2. Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
  3. A Walk in the Woods (non-fiction), by Bill Bryson
  4. Isaac's Storm (non-fiction), by Erik Larson
  5. The Perfect Storm (non-fiction), by Sebastian Junger
  6. The Hungry Ocean (non-fiction), by Linda Greenlaw
  7. Angela's Ashes (a memoir), by Frank McCourt
  8. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
  9. Blizzard! The Storm That Changed America (non-fiction), by Jim Murphy [Joan's Note: All of Jim Murphy's books are terrific, and suit ages 9 or 10 and up.]
  10. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
  11. Fever 1793 (historical fiction), by Laurie Halse Anderson [Another note: Laurie's award-winning YA novel, Speak, was on my first recommended list for young teens. Another dynamite writer.]
  12. Roots, by Alex Haley
  13. What You Owe Me, by Bebe Moore Campbell
  14. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton (sci-fi/fantasy)
  15. Sein Language (non-fiction), by Jerry Seinfeld
  16. Eragon, by Christopher Paolini (fantasy)
  17. Say Yes, by Audrey Couloumbis
  18. Leadership (non-fiction) by Rudolph Giuliani
  19. Write It Down Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It, (non-fiction) by Henriette Anne Klauser
  20. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
  21. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, by Avi
  22. Skipping Christmas, by John Grisham
  23. Bloodstream, by Tess Gerritson
  24. Sticks & Scones, by Diane Mott Davidson
  25. The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain

From Anonymous. "Just off the top of my head--there are more! Enjoy"

  1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
  2. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
  3. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
  4. Bel Canto: A Novel by Ann Patchett
  5. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson (movie, as usual did not do it any justice)
  6. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
  7. A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
  8. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
  9. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
  10. With Burning Hearts by Henri Nouwen (and everything else by him!-- spiritual non-fiction)
  11. By Way of the Heart: Toward a Holistic Christian Spirituality by Wilkie Au. S.J. (this book saw me through depression and mid-life angst)
  12. The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck, M.D. (another spiritual helper)
  13. Shelter of Each Other by Mary Pipher (solid family advice)
  14. Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher (our daughters)
  15. Staying Connected to Your Teenager by Michael Riera, PH.D. (I wish I read this years ago while dealing with my first teenager!)
  16. The Catholic Youth Bible--very readable and a lot of great prayers and notes for growing in faith as a young person- or NOT

From Pollyanna:
The Bible and a Dictionary should be ‘givens’ and not count against my 25. And technically, while this is more than 25 actual books, I would take them in paperback with teeny tiny print and carry them myself without complaining so I should get to take them all. (I know I know, it’s a metaphorical list and I don’t get to go to an island with you, but I’m making my case just in case!)
[Note: Edited out the favorites again. This is a great and varied list! JC]

  1. The Immigrants (and sequels) by Howard Fast
  2. The complete works of Louisa May Alcott - The Works of Louisa May Alcott: Little Women, Good Wives, Little Men, Jo's Boys
  3. The complete works of by A.A. Milne - The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh
  4. An anthology of poetry that includes lots of Robert Frost (The Poetry of Robert Frost : The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged), Marianne Moore (Complete Poems (Twentieth-Century Classics)), William Carlos Williams (William Carlos Williams: Selected Poems ), and E.E. Cummings (100 Selected Poems by E. E. Cummings) -
  5. Simple Abundance by Sarah ban Breathnach
  6. The complete works of Alexandra Stoddard - (Living a Beautiful Life : 500 Ways to Add Elegance, Order, Beauty and Joy to Every Day of Your Life; Time Alive : Celebrate Your Life Every Day; Alexandra Stoddard's Book of Days)
  7. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  8. Drifters by James Michener
  9. Those Miller Girls (and sequels) by Alberta Wilson Constant
  10. Heal Your Body by Louise Hay
  11. Pollyanna and Pollyanna Grows Up by Eleanor Porter
  12. The Bourne Trilogy (The Robert Ludlum Value Collection : The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) by Robert Ludlum
  13. The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter 
  14. The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock
  15. How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman
  16. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
  17. An all-inclusive, how-to-do-everything survival guide  - The Complete Book of Outdoor Survival; Complete Idiot's Guide to Surviving Anything (The Complete Idiot's Guide); The Complete Wilderness Training Book
  18. The complete works of Mitsumasa Anno (Anno's Counting Book;Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar;Anno's Magic Seeds (Picture Books), etc.)
  19. Some kind of large book of quotations - Lift-Your-Spirits Quote Book; The Change-Your-Life Quote Book; The Book of Positive Quotations; Good Advice : More Than 2,000 Quotations to help You Live Your Life
  20. According to Hoyle : Official Rules of More Than 200 Popular Games of Skill and Chance With ExpertAdvice on Winning Play.

From AB: Wow! This was much harder than I thought. I like so many good books. Couldn't stand not listing all of my authors. Surprised myself by who I valued, and who I did not.
(List edited to avoid repeaters.)

  1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  2. Our Town by Thornton Wilder
  3. The Best of Becky Freeman
  4. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
  5. Desiring God by John Piper
  6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  7. The Crucible by Arthur Miller
  8. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
  9. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; and Superfudge, both by Judy Blume
  10. Piercing the Darkness and This Present Darkness, both by Frank Peretti
  11. The Left Behind series by LaHaye/Jenkins
  12. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  13. Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
  14. The Selected Prose of T.S. Eliot
  15. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
  16. The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
  17. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  18. A Time to Kill by John Grisham
  19. Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
  20. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
  21. Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

One of my favorite things to talk about! Books That Have Brought Me Joy:
[Edited to avoid repeats.]

  1. A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Aldrich
  2. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
  3. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
  4. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
  5. Honey for a Woman's Heart by Gladys Hunt (It's a book about good books)
  6. A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins
  7. A Mom Just Like You by Vickie Farris
  8. Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven by J. Smith
  9. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala
  10. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
  11. The Slopes of War by Norah Perez
  12. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
  13. Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
  14. Tuesday by David Weisner
  15. Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley (to keep my coconuts decluttered)
  16. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger
  17. The Child from the Sea. by Elizabeth Goudge

From Sarah M: (edited to repetitive titles)

  1. The Complete Works of Roald Dahl
  2. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
  3. Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
  4. The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, both by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  5. Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs
  6. Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel, ill. By Blair Lent
  7. Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes
  8. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
  9. Reader's Digest Complete Do It Yourself Manual
  10. Plato's Republic (complete)
  11. Leaves of Grass (Bantam Classics) by Walt Whitman
  12. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
  13. A Carl Hiaasen Collection
  14. The complete writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson
  15. The complete works of Robert Frost - The Poetry of Robert Frost : The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged
  16. The Sound and the Fury (Vintage International) by William Faulkner
  17. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
  18. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  19. Ulysses (Vintage International) by James Joyce
  20. Hamlet (Folger Shakespeare Library) and King Lear (New Folger Library Shakespeare), both by William Shakespeare
  21. Dante's Inferno by Marcus Sanders
  22. Hitchhiker's Trilogy by Douglas Adams

From Dawn, who "would much rather read than watch telly."

  1. Watership Down by Richard Adams
  2. Raney by Clyde Edgerton
  3. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (anything by Kipling, really)
  4. The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini (any of that series)
  5. Silas Marner by George Eliot
  6. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
  7. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  8. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
  9. Tactics of Mistake by Gordon R. Dickson
  10. Pride and Prejudice; Mansfield Park, both by Jane Austen
  11. The Complete Plays of William Shakespeare
  12. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  13. Dragon and the George, by Gordon R. Dickson
  14. At the Back of the North Wind; The Day Boy and the Night Girl, both by George MacDonald
  15. Five Little Peppers by Margaret Sidney
  16. Dragonsong; Dragonsinger; and Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey
  17. Bleak House (Penguin Classics) by Charles Dickens
  18. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins [Fascinating! I preferred The Moonstone (Oxford World's Classics), also by Collins. It's considered the most perfect mystery ever written. Joan]
  19. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  20. The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson
  21. Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
  22. Christy by Catherine Marshall

From P in Texas, some beloved repeats and great, different suggestions:

  1. Anne of Green Gables by E. Montgomery (P wants to take the other 7 titles here, too.)
  2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  3. Pride and Prejudice; and Persuasion both by Jane Austen
  4. Lord of the Rings (trilogy) by J.R.R. Tolkien
  5. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis
  6. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
  7. The Eyre Affair by Jaspre Fforde
  8. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  9. The Complete Plays of William Shakespeare
  10. The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart (one of my all-time favorite fluffy books)
  11. O JERUSALEM by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre (non-fiction and so good)
  12. The Elements of Style by Wm. Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White (non-fiction)
  13. Now We Are Six (Pooh Original Edition) by A.A. Milne
  14. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
  15. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
  16. Exodus by Leon Uris
  17. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
  18. The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
  19. The Way to Cook by Julia Child (non-fiction)
  20. Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, The
  21. Oxford English Dictionary
  22. Howards End by E.M. Forster
  23. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
  24. The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (non-fiction)

From MW: (Ooh, great list for lovers of fantasy. Joan)

  1. My scriptures
  2. Beauty by Robin McKinley
  3. Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy by Patricia McKillip
  4. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
  5. The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
  6. These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
  7. Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
  8. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
  9. Over the Hills to Fabylon by Nicholas Stuart Gray
  10. This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
  11. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
  12. The Harry Potter Series by J. K Rowling
  13. Dark Is Rising Series by Susan Cooper
  14. Turn Not Pale, Beloved Snail by Jacqueline Jackson (non-fiction)
  15. The Roald Dahl Treasury by Roald Dahl
  16. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
  17. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey (non-fiction)
  18. The nine brides and Granny Hite by Neill C. Wilson
  19. The Dragonsinger Trilogy by Anne McCaffrey
  20. Dealing with Dragons Series by Patricia Wrede
  21. The Complete Far Side 1980-1994 (2 vol set) by Gary Larson
  22. Artist's Way by Julia Cameron (non-fiction)
  23. The Capricorn Stone by Madeline Brent
  24. Cliffs of Night by Beatrice Brandon
  25. Castle in the Air> by Diana Wynne Jones

And, of course, a journal and pen, and a sketchbook and paints or pencils!

From J in Newfoundland. "Hey, this is fun."

1-7. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

8. I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton De Trevino

9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

10-11. The Poisonwood Bible, and Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

12. The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings

13-17. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (series), by A. McCall Smith

18-19. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, and Home Is the Sailor, both by Jorge Amado

20. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

21. The Stars : A New Way to See Them, by H. A Rey (author of the The Complete Adventures of Curious George

22. The I Ching or Book of Changes 23. Artist's Way<, by Julia Cameron (Someday I hope to complete this book. Joan adds, "Me, too.")

24-25. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson....

From S in Idaho

Here's my list of the books I'd take on an island with me...in no particular order:

  1. Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility; Emma; Mansfield Park ; Persuasion; and Northanger Abbey , all by Jane Austen
  2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  3. Dracula by Bram Stoker
  4. The Complete Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
  5. The Once and Future King by TH White
  6. Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Mallory
  7. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  8. Kitchen God's Wife;The Joy Luck Club, both by Amy Tan
  9. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
  10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and all rest of series
  11. The First Elizabeth by Carolly Erickson (non-fiction)
  12. Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir (non-fiction)
  13. Dracula, Prince of Many Faces by Florescu and McNally (non-fiction)

I thought about just having the complete works of Jane Austen, but I am way too hard on those books, and one just would not last!

From SMT in Pennsylvania:

  1. Toby Tyler: Or Ten Weeks With a Circus by James Otis.
  2. Emily of New Moon; Emily Climbs; and Emily's Quest, all by L. M. Montgomery
  3. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
  4. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
  5. Complete Works Of O. Henry (2 Volume Set) by O. Henry
  6. O Pioneers! and My Antonia, both by Willa Cather
  7. The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren
  8. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  9. The Bible
  10. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol
  11. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
  12. A Far Country by Winston Churchill
  13. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
  14. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  15. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works
  16. The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin
  17. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  18. The Dictionary of Imaginary Places by Alberto Manguel & Gianni Guadalupi
  19. Le Ton Beau De Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language by Douglas Hofstadter
  20. The Hills Is Lonely by Lillian Beckwith
  21. The Sea for Breakfast by Lillian Beckwith
  22. The Loud Halo by Lillian Beckwit

From S:

From N:
From MM:
From Debbie:
From LT:
    Johnny Tremain), by Esther Forbes (Read when she was 10, and always remembered.)

From VM:
From JC in Michigan:

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From EC, a collection of classics:

  1. All of William Shakespeare's plays
  2. All of William Shakespeare`s Sonnets
  3. Pride and Prejudice; Emma, both by Jane Austen
  4. The Bible
  5. For Whom the Bell Tolls; Farewell To Arms, both by Ernest Hemingway
  6. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
  7. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
  8. Walden Pond , Henry David Thoreau
  9. Sartor Resartus, Thomas Carlyle
  10. Howards End, E. M. Forester
  11. Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman
  12. A collection of Carl Sandburg Poems
  13. Ulysses, James Joyce
  14. Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon
  15. Light in August, William Faulkner
  16. Middlemarch, George Eliot
  17. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
  18. A collection of Lord Byron Poems
  19. A collection of poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
  20. A collection of poetry by Robert Browning
  21. A collection of poetry by William Wordsworth
  22. A collection of poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  23. How Proust Can Change Your Life: Not a Novel by Alain de Botton

From MM:

  1. by E.L. Konigsburg
  2. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
  3. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
  4. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
  5. The Artemis Fowl Files (Artemis Fowl) by Eoin Colfer
  6. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
  7. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
  8. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
  9. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
  10. Maine Squeeze by Catherine Clark
  11. All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
  12. Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
  13. Loser by Jerry Spinelli
  14. Eragon by Paolini
  15. The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
  16. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
  17. The Outsiders by Hinton
  18. Under the Same Sky by Cynthia DeFelice
  19. Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
  20. Under the Watsons' Porch by Susan Shreve
  21. TThe Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
  22. Harry Potter Hardcover Boxed Set (Books 1-4) series
  23. Lemony Snicket series
  24. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
  25. The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
(Can you tell I am a middle school teacher??)

From L in Virginia:

  1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  2. I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson
  3. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
  4. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
  5. The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
  6. The 39 Steps by John Buchan
  7. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
  8. The Da Vinci Code by Robert Brown
  9. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
  10. The Heir of Redclyffe by Charlotte M. Younge
  11. Inner Peace For Busy People by Joan Borysenko
  12. Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart
  13. Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare
  14. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
  15. Persuasion by Jane Austen
  16. Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings
  17. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
  18. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  19. The Spy Wore Red by Aline, Countess of Romanones
  20. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
  21. Poor Richards Almanac by Ben Franklin
  22. The Power House by John Buchan
  23. The Agony Column by Earl Biggers
  24. Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard
  25. Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart

From RC: (This is not a universal book list. It is specifically a list for someone stranded, potentially for a very long time, on a deserted island.)

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From a Bethesda flybaby:

Ah, I do love book lists! And Joan's list is absolutely marvelous as it is. Some of my favorite books of all time are on that list. Since hers is so great and I'm the mom of a young toddler (so I haven't had a chance to read my own books lately), here's what I would take to keep a very young toddler occupied on a desert island.

  1. You Are My I Love You, by Maryann K. Cusimano
  2. Goodnight Moon , by Margaret Wise Brown
  3. Snow Comes to the Farm, by Nathaniel Tripp
  4. Imagination Song, by Joe Raposo
  5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear - What do you see?, by Eric Carle
  6. Green Eggs and Ham , by Dr. Suess
  7. The Velveteen Rabbit (board book edition, though the full-length version is also one of my favorites), by Margery Williams
  8. On the Day You Were Born, by Debra Frasier
  9. Oswald and the Big City Diner, by Dan Yaccarino
  10. Where Is Maisy's Panda? , by Lucy Cousins
  11. I Spy Little Animals (I Spy), by Jean Marzollo
  12. Hide-And-Seek Elmer (Elmer Books), by David McKee

Not 25, but that's all right; down with perfection! I'm sending this along in hopes that it will help a struggling mom or two. They're good for airplanes and car rides as well as desert islands!

From CGK in Florida, a highly diverse list:

How many years would I be on that island? !

  1. A big fat journal and a pencil
  2. Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen
  3. Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo
  4. Old Testament
  5. New Testament
  6. An anthology of children's literature
  7. An anthology of Shakespeare
  8. The Adams Chronicless by Jack Shepherd
  9. Abraham Lincoln, by Carl Sandburg
  10. John Denver Songbook
  11. Thomas Jefferson, by Koch & Peden
  12. Anthology of American Stories
  13. The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll
  14. Nicholas Nickleby, by Charles Dickens
  15. A wildlife book
  16. A survival book
  17. A basketmaking book
  18. A telephone book
  19. Merriam Webster's dictionary
  20. The Adventures of Marco and Polo by Dieter Wiesmuller
  21. War and Peace , by Tolstoy
  22. Anything by Ann Tyler
  23. The Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson)
  24. A book of haiku

    I really like this list. Am assuming you're taking a cell phone, but what will you do when the battery dies? JC

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    From MSG in Ohio:

    1. The Great Snow,, by Henry Robinson
    2. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt
    3. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood : A Novel, by Rebecca Wells
    4. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
    5. The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
    6. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
    7. The Complete Sherlock Holmes Treasury, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
    8. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
    9. The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
    10. Cover Her Face The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan Novels), by John Clancy
    11. The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
    12. Body Farm, by Patricia Cornwell
    13. The Bone Collector, by Jeffry Deaver
    14. The Shogun Series, by James Clavell
    15. The Dune Serieses, by Frank Herbert
    16. Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
    17. Hawaii, by James Michener
    18. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamante
    19. The Rule of Four, by Ian Caldwell
    20. The Left Behind Series Black Tulipip, by Milt Bearden
    21. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    22. The Howards Go Sledding, by Jan Wahl (picture book)
    23. The Stupids Step Out , by Harry Allard (picture book)

    From Victoria, B.C.

    I would also take:

    1. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
    2. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
    3. The Kin by Peter Dickinson
    4. A Call to Joy by Matthew Kelley

    From LJC:

    I'd like to add:

    The Bible
    The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren

    From EW, two sterling additions to my list:

    1. Sand County Almanac , by Aldo Leopold (the father of the modern conservation movement)
    2. The Illustrated Man , by Ray Bradbury (as good as it gets in sci-fi)

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    From SP in Missouri:

    If I were stranded ANYwhere, I wouldn't take books to read for pleasure -- I'd take books that would help me survive.

    Books on wilderness survival skills, primitive weaponry and hunting, wild foods manual, anything that would teach me how to make and use things I needed for food, shelter and clothing. And I'd make sure I had my flint and steel firestarter kit with me!

    "Creativity is life."  SP

      Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.
      - P. J. O'Rourke

    A short list from JD:

    1. To Kill a Mockingbird (my all time favorite), by Harper Lee
    2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    3. Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton
    4. French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure
    5. Confessions of a Shopaholic
    6. Stones From The River by Ursula Hegi
    7. The Flamingo Rising (I bought this at a book fair for $1, one of THE BEST books I have ever read)
    8. Any Jamie Lee Curtis children's book-my daughter and I love them
    9. Harry Potter, any one in the series
    10. Lucy

    Here is the first list that we received.

    S in Dallas

    1. A Prayer for Owen MeanyA by John Irving
    2. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
    3. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
    4. The Harry Potter Series of books
    5. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (and all of his other books)
    6. Rowing to Latitude by Jill Fredston
    7. A Woman Alone: Travel Tales from Around the Globe by Faith Conlon
    8. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
    9. All of Howard Garrett's books
    10. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
    11. Truth Machine by James Halperin
    12. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
    13. All of Robert Frost's poetry

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    Joan's List of 25 Books for her desert island library:

    1. The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf. III. by Robert Lawson
    2. Winnie-the-Pooh, by AA Milne
    3. Anne of Green Gables, by LM. Montgomery
    4. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katharine Paterson
    5. The Jungle Book and Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling
    6. Charlotte's Web, and Letters of E.B.White, by E.B. White
    7. Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen
    8. The Book of the Dun Cow, by Walter Wangerin
    9. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
    10. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
    11. Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo
    12. Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset
    13. The Education of Hyman Kaplan, by Leo Rosten
    14. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
    15. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
    16. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
    17. The Once and Future King, by T. H. White
    18. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Lives and Times of archy and mehitabel, by Don Marquis
    19. The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, by Will Cuppy
    20. Cold Mountainn, by Charles Frazier
    21. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser (non-fiction)
    22. All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot
    23. The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
    24. , by William Kotzwinkle

    --if I could smuggle a few more aboard, I'd take:
    Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
    Crossing to Safety , by Wallace Stegner
    --anything by James Thurber or Robert Benchley
    --anything by Bill Bryson or Barbara Kingsolver
    --all of P. D. James's mysteries

            Uh oh... maybe I cannot do this after all!

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    Links for Further Information
    Children's Book Guild     Joan Carris Direct     Children's Literature Comprehensive Database