So if you had to compile a list of books that you think are so awesome everyone should read them, what would they be?

You needn't stick to the classics that EVERYONE lists and that high schoolers are forced to read... even just a book you found GREAT.

I'm new to the world of reading... and am slowly making my way through a bunch of books... so I'm kinda asking just as a fluffy post, also to get ideas!

Definately the Stefanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. They have a bit of everything and they are really a great read.

I love them.

I'm also a fan of Harry Potter.

I like some of Danielle Steels stuff too (Heartbeat, Daddy, Mixed Blessings and alot of the others too).

Oh I will follow this thread, how fun!

I have really diverse taste and different genres have appealed to me at different times.

Some intriguing books for me have been:
- Helter Skelter - Vincent Bugliosi
- And the sea will tell - Vincent Bugliosi
*Vincent Bugliosi is a lawyer. He was the prosecuting attorney in the Charles Manson murders and defense attorney in the 2nd book. The books provide incredible insight into the mind of a very detailed, intelligent mind and how he was able to piece together the crimes (PS I read these way before the current CSI type shows).
- Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
- Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy (way better than the movie)

Also enjoyed:
-the Harry Potter series
- Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien
- The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe series - C.S Lewis

Will try and think of more...

Okay, these are a little diverse on genre but these are people who really know how to tell a story. Enjoy

How the Light Gets In - MJ Hyland
The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry
Butterfly - Sonya Hartnett
Enduring Love - Ian McEwan (and then the rest of his!)
Shatter - Michael Robotham

Depends on the type of person, but if they're fairly serious readers I would recommend:

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

Another vote for Harry Potter
Twilight series
Anything by Jodi Picoult
Anything by Alexander Macall Smith
Another vote for Stephanie Plum
Marian Keyes
Lesley Pearse
Charlaine Harris

That will do for now!

Whenever someone asks me for a book recommendation, I always mention Roald Dahls's short stories because they hold appeal to almost anyone and are so very easy to read. My favourites are;

- Kiss KIss
- Swith b**ch
- The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar
- My Uncle Oswald
You can buy the complete works of Roald Dahl which has most of them in it.

I am also re-reading The Shining by Stephen King at the moment which is another all time fave. One of the only books that truly scares me - perfect winter reading.

I also love The Catcher in The Rye by JD Salinger and A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

As a kid my favourite was Playing Beattie Bow by Ruth Park.

I loved:

'the time travellers wife' by Audrey Nifferneger
'the pillars of the earth' by Ken Follett.
'the bride stripped bare' by Anonymous (not sure if it is still published anonymously though since they discovered who the author was)

will keep thinking.... There are heaps more.

Jodi Picoult - I have loved all her books, they really make you think about the issue she has raised.
The 5 people you meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom - a really good read, also made me think about my thoughts on the meaning of life.
Lee Child - I've got all his books - I love them - new take on crime solving with a nice hero.
Blackberry Wine & Chocolat - Joanne Harris - enjoyable fluff
John Grisham books are good for entertainment - they are lawyer stories (think A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief)
I like Kathy Reichs for crime novels, Andy McNab for SAS type stories of war deployment, Olivia Goldsmith - chicklit light fluff

A Treasure in the Snow - Patricia St John - is a fabulous teenage/late childhood book.
A Fortunate life - A B Facey - a great autobiography of an Aussie battler.
Sugglepot and Cuddlepie - May Gibbs - a great Aussie kids book

Good luck with reading - I love it - you can get lost in whole different worlds and step out of real life for a while.

i used to work in a bookshop, and my fave books and ones that i was always recommending were:

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Fiction with a twist of crime (this is my fave book EVER)
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - Biography
Jodi Picoult is a big hit with most people, even though im not a huge fan anymore.
Maggie Alderson easy reading womens fiction
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - fiction, but a bit twisted and wierd
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

and as much as i hate saying it, check out Oprahs book club, cos she usually has popular books that are liked by a wide range of people.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer was good.

I'm going to go against the grain here and give an ANTI-recommendation for anything by Jodi Picoult. I find her novels to be poorly written and the plots quite contrived. Also, some of the 'ethical issues' she deals with relate to disability and I find her to be quite ableist in her representation. I'm sure many will disagree but that is just my opinion on the matter.

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card. It's the first Sci Fi I ever enjoyed (I had always hated Sci fi books) and I just loved it. I have read it so many times now, it made me really rethink the genre. It spawned an entire series, and they are all wonderful, but I think Ender's Game stands alone - it's such a wonderful book.

Little Women - I know it's a classic, but it's a classic for a reason. It's a beautiful, must read, no matter how old you are, up there with Anne of Green Gables.

For fun - I LOVE anything by Matthew Reilly.




I couldn't agree more. I'd stay far away from anything by Jodi Picoult. For the life of me I can't see why she is so popular.

'Three Men in a Boat' - Jerome K. Jerome.

My favourite book. I have read and re-read this book many times in the last 35 years. Never fails to make me laugh.

Thanks for all replies - definitely gives me some ideas! Keep them coming!

As I said in the OP, I'm a new reader. I started at the beginning of 09 I think... or the very end of 08.

So far I've read all of the Tudor court novels from Philippa Gregory as well as her newest book (The White Queen) from the newest series... (so that's 7 books)

Memoirs of a Geisha - I just finished that.

And am now onto Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale - but I've only read the first few chapters so far.

Anything by Diana Gabaldon, in particular her Cross Stitch series (AKA The Outlander series).

These books are amazing and I can't recommend them highly enough.
It's an historical, romantic, time travelling, action mystery. Above all though, it's a love story and I challenge you not to fall in love with Jamie Fraser

I'll give you my list of those I've read more than three times:

1984 and Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Harry Potter Series
Narnia Chronicles - CS Lewis
Charlotte's Web
Little Women Series
Jane Eyre

Any of the books by Ben Elton. Clever. clever man and great writer

I would highly recommend The Bronze Horseman series by Paullina Simons. BRILLIANT books! (Set during WWII, from the point of view of a Russian girl...) I couldn't put these books down and a by far the best books I've ever read

1st book is The Bronze Horseman
2nd - The Bridge to Holy Cross
3rd The Summer Garden

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This is a sad book but is very good.
My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

I also loved the popular titles like the Twilight series and Harry Potter.

The Horse Whisperer is a great book also.

Reading is awesome. Once you start you wont stop.

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I adored this book. I've read much of late but I spent ages going back rereading parts of this.

I need to get back into reading so I'll be watching this thread.

Absolutley agree!! I loved this series!! Brilliant!

Stephanie Plum Series- Janet Evanovich
Magician Series- Raymond E Feist
Discworld Series- Terry Pratchett
Obernewtyn Chronicles and Darkfall Series- Isobelle Carmody
Dragonlance Chronicles- Margaret Weiss and Tracey Hickman
Harry Potter- J.K Rowling
Myth Series- Robert Asprin
Narnia Series- C.S Lewis
Rowan of Rin Series and Finder's Keepers- Emily Rodda
Peter Pan
101 Dalmatians
Alice in Wonderland
Charlotte's Web
The Rescuers
Animal Farm
Memoirs Of A Geisha
Anything by Judy Blume
Anything by Roald Dahl
The Boy Who Had Wings
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants Series
Anything by Enid Blyton
Wilbur Smith's 'Egyptian' novels


I also love Chick Lit personally and have many favourite authors
My favourite manga is Fruits Basket, Skip Beat and Shugo Chara

I'll second Xena's rec of the Magician Series. Seriously awesome books.

The Good Soldier - Ford Madox Ford
Illusions - The adventures of a reluctant Messiah - Richard Bach
Fate is the Hunter - Ernest K Gann
The Antagonists - Ernest K Gann
...and Ladies of the Club - Helen Hooven Santmyer
The Forsyte Saga - John Galsworthy

Me as well. Her books bore me senseless.

I'm going to contribute authors rather than books because these ones are reliably excellent


Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Any Shakespeare
Any Oscar Wilde
Robert Dessaix's books, both fiction and non
Henry James
Helen Garner
Clive James
Virginia Wolfe
Raimond Gaita

Hey Blondie bear, I’ve just started Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Yeah it depends on the person. I like a meaty book myself. Books I have read recently that have kept me in awe are:
Remainder By Tom Mcarthy was absolutely amazing
Anything by J.M Coetzee including Disgrace, Life and Times of Michael K
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
The Vivesector by Patrick White

A good general guide is that if the book has been made into a movie, it was probably a reasonably good read (ie, The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas as had previously been mentioned or Mao's Last Dancer) and/ or at least popular (ie, anything by Dan Brown. In his case, the movies are better because all of his clumsy writing is stripped away)

Clearly this is certainly not a hard and fast rule as many a vomitous novel has been made into a movie (cough Twilight and Harry Potter) but a reasonable starting point for a new reader.

Here are my faves


Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
The time travellers wife - Audrey Nifferneger
The 5 people you meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne
I know this much is true - Wally Lamb (possibly my favourite book ever)
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami






I'm going to have to agree with the above. I've read nearly all of her books (trying to figure out why she is so popular) and I wasn't impressed. I can actually hardly remember the story lines, so they really didn't stay with me.

Another vote for the Harry Potter series (we should start a HP buddy group )

Also, I would recommend biographies. Some of the best books I have read are biographies. I recommend Rudolf Nureyevs (you don't have to be a ballet nut to enjoy it).

The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton - awesome story going back and forwards in time/generations. I love this book. A small child is found on a ship in QLD from England back in the day and a man takes her home to his family and it goes back generations to where she came from. I'm getting shivers writing this and I want to read it again!
My Best Friend's Girl (not to be confused with a recently released romcom) - Dorothy Koomson. A girl has to make the decision to take her best friend's 5 year old daughter because she is dying, They haven't spoken for years however because the child was conceived during a brief affair with her boyfriend and bestfriend. Really good read.
Water for Elephants - don't have a copy so can't tell you who wrote it but I know they're making a movie of it with Rob Pattinson.
Pompei - hard to get into but so worth it in the end.
The Historian - serious vampire story (not twee vamporn). Elizabeth Kostova.
Then there are all The Lovely Bones, Time Travellers Wife etc.

My fave books are Michael Crichton's Timeline and Roald Dahl The BFG.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch
Anything by Amy Tan (Joy Luck Club, Bonesetter's Daughter, Kitchen God's Wife, etc)
Anything by Jane Austen (Persuasion is probably my fave)
The Hannibal Lecter books by Thomas Harris (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal)
Harry Potter (laugh if you like but I really enjoyed them!)
Kundun (story of the 14th Dalai Lama)
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Anything by William Faulkner (especially collected short stories like 'A Rose for Emily')

Lots more. Geez I miss reading. I need to make more time for that.

There are some great suggestions already. I'd like to add:

'Ellie' by Livia E. Bitton Jackson (if you didn't read it in High School) It's a pretty short book but EVERYone should read it.

'Life is so Good' by George Dawson & Richard Glaubman (it'll inspire you)

'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey (but don't bother if you've already seen the movie as it'll probably have ruined the book for you )

'Love in the Time of Cholera' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (it's a beautiful read)

Have fun!

All time favs:

Alias Grace Margaret Atwood
The Shipping News E Anni Proulx
The Stone Diaries Carol Shields
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

Middlesex - Geoffrey Eugenides (possibly the best book I've ever read)
The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver
The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Nifenegger
The Lovely Bones

I tend to like literary novels, although I do read more 'lowbrow' stuff, these novels are the ones that really stuck with me.

THese books are beyond fabulous!!!!
I didnt enjoy her other books as much but they are still a great read.

Can anyone recommend a book they have enjoyed as much as the Bronze Horseman series?

Thanks,

I love anything my Margaret Atwood especially the Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake.

I adore Jane Austen so all of her novels.

Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Perfume by Patrick Suskind.

White Teeth and On Beauty by Zadie Smith.

All big favourites and real change your life reads.

Kay1 - you have the good taste in books!

I love Bryce Courtenay's books. The Potato Factory series was great. I was sad when it ended! Sometimes his books can be a bit hard going and require concentration. Not the kind of fluff you read while going to sleep! He is great though and his book 'April Fool's Day' which is about his deceased son made me cry so much.

I also like anything by Penny Vincenzi for a bit of romance/drama/sex!

The 'Tomorrow when the war began' series by John Marsden is quite good as well. I had to read the first one in high school and kept going through the whole series. There were fights in my house because everyone wanted to read the books (even my Mum) but some people read slower than others so it would hold up the line!

In addition to a lot of ones preivously mentioned...

The Hour I First Believed - Wally Lamb
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
The Milennium Trilogy - Stieg Larsson
The Talisman - Stephen King

Anything by Ben Elton.
Enjoy most by Paullina Simons

OP If you enjoyed the Philippa Gregory books, there is another series by Posie Graeme Evans along the same lines.

Hazeltree you pipped me to the post with Confederacy - love that book!

ETA Padme Amidala Ellie is the most amazing, tragic story isn't it?

Oh what a great thread idea!! I absolutely adore reading across a wide range of genres so i will pick the few that stand out to me... and definately get some ideas for future reading

The 5 People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett

Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less - Jeffrey Archer

Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series for a bit of fluff and a laugh

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

mmm, ill keep thinking...

I agree with the recommendations for Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and Anne of Green Gables and all of Jane Austen. and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander.

Other general novels I've found emotionally satisfying over the years:
Beloved - Toni Morrison
Wild Swans - Jung Chang
Possession - AS Byatt
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Tom Cole - Hell West and Crooked (a autobiography by an Aussie stockman)

I also have to recommend some Historical romance, although I know some will dismiss it without reading it.
I'll just recommend my 3 favourite authors as they're pretty consistent:
Mary Balogh, especially Simply Love (a romance that starts with the heroine running away in shock having glimpsed the disfigured war veteran hero), and Slightly Married.
Connie Brockway , especially the Rose Hunters trilogy
Jo Beverley, my fav being The Shattered Rose (where the hero returns from the Crusades to find his son dead, his wife holding her new baby to another man, and his castle controlled by his wife's lover!)

And I'll 'third' it. Fantastic reading.

Also Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams (the only non-fiction book he wrote) and Mark Carwardine. So sad, hilarious, moving and eye-opening all in one.

Excellent book.

Kay1 and Hazeltree we have very similar tastes so I will have to read the couple on your lists I haven't read yet!

I'm a huge fantasy fan, I always seem to go to this genre first, although I have read other genres too.
My favourite authors are:
Jean M Auel~ Earths children series
Robin Hobb
David Eddings
Trudi Canavan

I enjoyed the cross-stitch series as rec by a pp...well what our library had of it that is. I also loved Maos lasst dancer, an autobiography that, to me, read like a novel.
I think I will keep an eye on this thread for other books to read.

The Tomorrow series by John Marsden. My favourite books of all time.
The Five people You Meet In Heaven
The Book Thief
Sundowners by Lesley Lokko
Tully
The Hunger Games. Its young adult fiction and a very easy read but i just loved it. Loved it . And i tell everyone to read it, and the sequel. The last one must be coming out soon too!
Different Seasons by Stephen King. I especially love The Body. Its such a beautiful story.
The Lovely Bones
And of course Harry Potter.

An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan (non fiction and a gruelling tale but absolutely beautifully written)
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (just beautiful)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (this was so different to how it is generally portrayed)
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (hard to believe this was written in the 1950s(?) - I think it must have been very influential in the crime writing genre even today as it just seems so contemporary)
A Fortunate Life by A B Facey (every Australian should read this)
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin (another Australian classic)

Also second The Shipping News and Different Seasons recommendations. My favourite Margaret Attwood would probably be Cats Eye.

Very true. It was published in the mid-60's and it was groundbreaking in the sense that it was amongst the first non-fiction novels and was the first 'true-crime' novel. This is still a popular genre and that's probably why it is so enduring.

...
sorry double-post

Brilliant thread OP.

Another who doesn't like Jody Piccoult.

I just wanted to ask some of the PPs who've responded what they enjoyed about their recommendations. The reason I ask is that with some books I love the style of writing, even though the plot may not be great and sometimes love the plot, but the writing is weak.

For example, I think Tim Winton is an extraordinary writer but some of his books have been too predictable for me or the final chapters have let me down. I also started to read Twilight but was bored senseless, she just sounded like such an amateur. Same with The Magician.

I guess the books that I really enjoy these days are clever, well-written, uplifting and have an intriguing storyline. Meaty is probably a good description. I do enjoy a good auto-biography and currently reading Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. In the past, I enjoyed Stephen King, but just couldn't go there now (get too freaked out by horror). Also not a huge fan of sci-fi.

So, if you can be bothered, can you add a bit of detail? There are many in the lists but not sure they would all be my cup of tea.

I'm also going to add:
Cloudstreet - Tim Winton. Incredibly detailed writing style and very real characters.

The Time Traveller's Wife - Loved this because it's such an original idea and not in chronological order. One of those books you have to read again to catch the nuances.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards. A recent read, sad. Ironically the family that society would deem the most down-trodden had the most joy and the family that was most "successful" found no happiness. How a single decision altered so many lives.

Memoirs of a Geisha - Describes pre-war Japan and the very disciplined and intricate secret lives of real Geishas. Steps the reader back to another time and place.

Edited below quote to add detail:

I will agree with pp and have to go with Jodi Picoult.

also Nora Roberts

both good writers.

My sister is a book worm so I just read whatever she has finished with. she has a small library in her room..

The Shack by William P. Young - (uplifting and has an intriguing storyline)

(haven't read many books lately. On EB forums too much )

also liked these from PP:
"-the Harry Potter series
- Hobbit/ Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien
- The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe series - C.S Lewis"

These are great - the first 2 (Clan of the Cave Bear and Valley of the Horses) especially.

Catcher in the Rye - I'm trying hard to read this. I'm about 3/4 of the way through and it's been hard work. I find that style very hard to read.

Tracy Chevalier - Girl with a Pearl Earring, Virgin Blue, The Lady and the Unicorn (I especiallly love the last one)
Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones books and Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination - so easy to read and so funny. Olivia Joules is one of the best books I've read.

Check out markets - so many people sell books for pittance. Olivia Joules cost me $2!
Great thread, I've put so many on my wish list.

The World That Was Ours - Hilda Berstein It's about the Rivonia Trial when Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for fighting apartheid. The author's husband was also on trial but got off. I love it because it always reminds me that it's not enough to just sit back, you have to fight.

Gaudy Night - Dorothy Sayers Because it is so beautifully evocative of a particular place in a particular time - in this instance a women's college in Oxford in the 1930s.

Come In Spinner - Dymphna Cusack & Florence James Fantastic book about a group of women working in a beauty salon in a posh hotel in Sydney over the course of a week in 1944.

Any of Dorothy Whipple's books They have a very fine canvas a bit like Jane Austen and are beautifully written about womens lives.

Pastures of the Blue Crane by HF Brinsmead Australian children's book set around Murwillumbah in the early 1960s and deals with love and belonging. It also captures beautifully a time that no longer exists.

The Forsyte Saga - John Galsworthy - Because it's an epic which is evocative and captures your attention and won't let go.

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver It is so very beautifully written.

Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome Because they're a fantastic read for any age and I've loved them since I was 10.