Top Ten

[Beans]

10. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. - J.J.R. Tolkien
      I've always grouped the 4 books together as 1. Tolkien gets the credit of igniting my desire to read.
9. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
   To feel that the criminal is the victim. I didn't expect that to happen.
8. In Harms Way – Doug Stanton
   I can't imagine going through that.
7. In the Heart of the Sea – Nathaniel Philbrick
   See above comment (#8)
6. The Andromeda Strain
    How fragile we all are. I read The Hot zone right after I read The Andromeda Strain – I was freaked out for weeks.
5. White Fang – Jack London
   Typical male 13 year old reading – Jack kept my interest in reading.
4. The Call of the Wild – Jack London
   See above comment (#5).
3. Die Verwandlung & Der Prozess – Franz Kafka
    I tried to learn German with the sole purpose to read Kafka in the language it was written.
2. Short stories of Edgar Allan Poe
   High School required reading. I actually read Poe without being told to.
1. Anything written by Dr. Seuss
    He started it all for me. It was great to read Dr. Seuss to my kids. I'm looking forward to reading Dr. Seuss to my grandkids.

It was tough to put this list together. I know as soon as I post this I'll want to edit the list but, I'll let it stand.

Next...

[mom]

Oh, why not ...
This is not really in any order

10: Dante's Inferno (I actually read it out of curiosity - found it on the shelf at home, and loved it.)
9: The Little House Books (I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder)
8: The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit (I am currently re-reading it again after several years.)
7: Harpo Speaks! - Harpo Marx
6: Gracie - A Love Story - George Burns
5: Everything Erma Bombeck wrote! (Especially now that I am living some of it.)
4: The "Avalon" books by Marion Zimmer Bradley (Get the series and read it in chronological order - not the order in which they were written - skip Ancestors of Avalon - it was finished after her death by someone else and isn't as good.)
3: America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines - Gail Colins (The strength behind every man is usually a woman)
2: The Fire That Would Not Die, The Triangle, Tinderbox, Fire in the Grove (All about tragic fires, but the interesting part of each story is what led up to it and what happened afterward.)
1: Dr. Seuss Rocks! (We recently spent an entire month on his books at the preschool where I work. See suessville.com)

[Guy_on_Clinton]

Jack Kerouac? 

[joe]

10. einstens dreams
9. pale blue dot
8. a long strange trip
7. the tipping point
6. who moved my cheese?
5. the electric kool aid acid test
4. the regulators
3. richdad poor dad - first book i read that blew my mind
2. the holographic universe
1. 7 habbits of highly effective people

[catspaws]

10. Everything Sue Henry has written

9. Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey

8. Shardik by Richard Adams

7.The Last Chance by Rona Jaffe

6. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

5. The Olive Tree and the Lexus By (a famous journalist)

4. Shogun and following books in the series by James Clavell

3. The Man Who understood Cats by Michael Dymmoch

2. Outlander series by Diane Gabaldon

1. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

[markberwyn]

Mostly stuff of recent vintage. I wind up recommending these books a lot.

Fiction:

A.S. Byatt, "Possession"

Raymond Carver, "Where I'm Calling From"

David Goodis, "Shoot the Piano Player"

David Mitchell, "Cloud Atlas"

Haruki Murakami, "Norwegian Wood"

George Pelecanos, "King Suckerman"

Richard Powers, "Gain"

Marilynne Robinson, "Gilead"

Philip Roth, "American Pastoral"

Zadie Smith, "White Teeth"

Nonfiction:

Paul Auster, "Hand to Mouth"

Joan Didion, "The Year of Magical Thinking"

Stefan Fatsis, "Word Freak"

Pete Hamill, "A Drinking Life"

Pauline Kael: "For Keeps: 30 Years at the Movies"

Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, "Random Family"

Susan Orlean, "The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup"

Lillian Ross, "Picture"

Studs Terkel, "Working"

Nick Tosches: "Country: The Twisted Roots of Rock 'n' Roll"