One summer, many years ago, I was wanting for fiction to read. I decided to solicit All Time Top 10 Fiction lists from friends and family. Some insisted on including non-fiction. I shut them right down. I still come back to this list every couple of years.
Total lists compiled: 58
RACHEL B
1. daphne du maurier – rebecca
2. ernest hemingway – a farewell to arms
3. laura ingalls wilder – little house on the praire
4. herman hesse – siddhartha
5. eugene o’neill – long day’s journey into night
6. leo tolstoy – anna karenina
7. george orwell – 1984
8. joseph heller – catch 22
9. john steinbeck – grapes of wrath
10. tom robbins – fierce invalids home from hot climates
ELLIOT BW
1. thomas pynchon – gravity’s rainbow
2. william faulkner – absalom, absalom!
3. fyodor dostoevsky – crime and punishment
4. donald barthelme – 40 stories
5. john barth – the end of the road
6. vladimir nabakov – pale fire
7. john updike – rabbit, run
8. herman melville – moby dick
9. philip k. dick – a scanner darkly
10. clive cussler – sahara!
MATTHAI C
1. alice walker – the color purple
2. vikram seth – a suitable boy
3. jhumpa lahiri – the namesake
4. gabriel garcia marquez – one hundred years of solitude
5. toni morrison – song of solomon
6. salman rushdie – haroun and the sea of stories
7. maria doria russell – the sparrow
8. rohinton mistry – a fine balance
9. michelle cliff – abeng
10. louise erdrich – the master butchers singing club
MAYA C
1. mary doria russell – the sparrow
2. nathaniel hawthorne – the scarlet letter
3. michael dorris – yellow raft in blue water
4. geraldine brooks – a year of wonder
5. elizabeth inness-brown – burning marguerite
6. james clavell – shogun
7. charmaine craig – the good men
8. toni morrison – beloved
9. joanne harris – five quarters of the orange
10. ann patchett – bel canto
SABRINA C
1. jonathan franzen – the corrections
2. arundhati roy – the god of small things
3. jay mcInerney – bright lights big city
4. anne tyler – the accidental tourist
5. j.k. rowling – the harry potter series
6. kurt vonnegut – slaughterhouse five
7. edith wharton – the age of innocence
8. ian mcewan – atonement
9. isabel allende – the house of the spirits
10. ian falconer – olivia
MONIKA D
1. vladimir nabokov – lolita
2. jose saramago – blindness
3. toni morrison – the bluest eye
4. emma donoghue – hood
5. michael cunningham – the hours
6. audre lourde – zami: a new spelling of my name
7. harper lee – to kill a mockingbird
8. jeffery eugenides – middlesex
9. dave eggers – a heartbreaking work of staggering genuis
10. ivan coyote – one man’s trash
STEVE D
1. j.r.r. tolkien – the lord of the rings
2. haruki murakami – norwegian wood
3. f. scott fitzgerald – the great gatsby
4. alexander dumas – the count of monte cristo
5. william golding – lord of the flies
6. robert louis stevenson – treasure island
7. ursual k. leguin – the left hand of darkness
8. albert camus – the fall
9. neal stephenson – cryptonomicon
10. dalton trumbo – johnny got his gun
ERICA D
1. toni morrison – jazz
2. hanif kureishi – buddha of suburbia
3. gabriel garcia marquez – one hundred years of solitude
4. arundhati roy – god of small things
5. sijie dai – balzac and the little chinese seamstress
6. alex haley – roots
7. isabel allende – eva luna
8. milan kundera – immortality
9. dave eggers – heartbreaking work of staggering genius
10. jonathan franzen – the corrections
AMANDA E
1. jack kerouac – the dharma bums
2. jonathan lethem – motherless brooklyn
3. tom robbins – still life with woodpecker
4. amy tan – the joy luck club
5. kent haruf – plainsong
6. roald dahl – the collected short stories
7. orson scott card – ender’s game
8. alexander mccall smith – the number one lady’s detective agency
9. zadie smith – white teeth
10. julia glass – three junes
DAN E
1. roger zelazny – the books of amber
2. frank herbert – dune series
3. raymond feist – midkemia books
4. neil gaiman – american gods
5. robin hobb – the farseer trilogy
6. neil gaiman – neverwhere
7. ursula k. leguin – the earthsea trilogy
8. chaim potok – the promise
9. david james duncan – the river why
10. lian hearn – tales of the otori
BRENT E
1. william gibson – pattern recognition
2. richard brautigan – in watermelon sugar
3. tom robbins – jitterbug perfume
4. jeanette winterson – oranges are not the only fruit
5. jonathan safran foer – everything is illuminated
6. a.l. kennedy – everything you need
7. jeanette winterson – written on the body
8. j.g. ballard – vermillion sands
9. anthony burgess – a clockwork orange
10. isaac asmiov – the foundation trilogy
COLIN F
1. lewis carroll – alice’s adventures in wonderland
2. douglas coupland – microserfs
3. alexandre dumas – the count of monte cristo
4. william gibson – neuromancer
5. jack kerouac – on the road
6. george orwell – 1984
7. chuck palahniuk – choke
8. j.d. salinger – the catcher in the rye
9. john steinbeck – east of eden
10. neal stephenson – cryptonomicon
ERIC F
1. j.r.r. tolkien – the return of the king
2. orson scott card – ender’s game
3. j.r.r. tolkien – the fellowship of the ring
4. micheal crichton – jurassic park
5. j.r.r. tolkien – the hobbit
6. j.r.r. tolkien – the two towers
7. j.k. rowling – harry potter and the socerer’s stone
8. timothy zahn – heir to the empire
9. harry harrison – a stainless steel rat is born
10. isaac asimov – prelude to foundation
CLAIRE F
1. jane eyre – charlotte bronte
2. tom drury – end of vandalism
3. salman rushdie – midnight’s children
4. ralph ellison – invisible man
5. j.d. salinger – catcher in the rye
6. wilkie colins – the moonstone
7. jonathan lethem – motherless brooklyn
8. robert sullivan – rats
9. jhumpa lahiri – interpreter of maladies
10. francesca lia block – dangerous angels
MICHAEL and ALI GW
1. khaled hosseini – the kite runner
2. jonathan safran foer – everything is illuminated
3. paul auster – the new york trilogy
4. jhumpa lahiri – interpreter of maladies
5. dave eggers – a heartbreaking work of staggering genius
6. zora neale hurston – their eyes were watching god
7. michael chabon – the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay
8. j.d. salinger – catcher in the rye
9. jorge luis borges – labyrinths
10. julia alvarez – yo!
SHELBY H
1. barbara kingsolver – prodigal summer
2. dan brown – the da vinci code
3. david guterson – snow falling on cedars
4. haruki murakami – the wind-up bird chronicle
5. isabel allende – the house of spirits
6. john irving – a prayer for owen meany
7. keri hulme – the bone people
8. madeleine l’engle – a severed wasp
9. toni morrison – song of solomon
10. wallace stegner – angle of repose
ERIN J
1. yann martel – the life of pi
2. margaret atwood – the robber bride
3. harper lee – to kill a mockingbird
4. john irving – a prayer for owen meany
5. alexandre dumas – the count of monte cristo
6. tolkien – the lord of the rings
7. dave eggars – heartbreaking work of staggering genius
8. albert camus – the stranger
9. richard dry – leaving
10. christina garcia – the aguero sisters
JOHN J
1. james mcmanus – positively fifth street
2. yann martel – the life of pi
3. john steinbeck – grapes of wrath
4. george orwell – 1984
5. j.r.r. tolkien – the lord of the rings
6. richard dry – leaving
7. ben mezrich – bringing down the house
8. arthur c. clarke – 2001: a space odyssey
9. arthur c. clarke – 2010: odyssey two
10. walter miller – a canticle for leibowitz
DAVID K
1. terry brooks – sword of shannara
2. wilson rawls – where the red fern grows
3. orson scott card – ender’s game
4. john steinbeck – of mice and men
5. scott o’dell – island of the blue dolphin
6. frank herbert – dune
7. harper lee – to kill a mockingbird
8. george orwell – animal farm
9. mildred taylor – rolling thunder hear my cry
10. daniel keyes – flowers for algernon
SUSAN HK
1. joseph heller – catch 22
2. gabriel garcia marquez – one hundred years of solitude
3. a.s. byatt – angels and insects
4. wallace stegner – angle of repose
5. joseph conrad – heart of darkness
6. anne proulx – the shipping news
7. mark twain – huckleberry finn
8. edith wharton – ethan frome
9. kate chopin – the awakening
10. jonathan franzen – the corrections
SETH K
1. dorothy allison- bastard out of carolina
2. margaret atwood- alias grace; cat eye
3. ursula leguin- earthsea trilogy
4. chris ware- jimmy corrigan, smartest kid on earth
5. katherine paterson- bridge to terebithia
6. mary shelley- frankenstein
7. daniel clowes- like a velvet glove cast in iron
8. philip k. dick- do androids dream of electric sheep
9. stephen king- the stand
10. wallace stegner- angle of repose
JASON K
1. michael tournier – the ogre
2. james baldwin – giovanni’s room
3. john lecarre – the night manager
4. eiji yoshikawa – musashi
5. eiji yoshikawa – taiko
6. michael ondaatje – in the skin of a lion
7. ursala k. leguin – the wizard of earth sea
8. alan furst – the world at night
9. joseph heller – catch-22
10. james elroy – white jazz
IAN L
1. vikram seth – suitable boy
2. saul bellow – humboldt’s gift
3. john le carre – tinker, tailor, soldier, spy
4. larry mcmurtry – moving on
5. f. scott fitzgerald – tender is the night
6. peter taylor – summons to memphis
7. susan sontag – volcano lover
8. sara vogan – shelley’s leg
9. w.t. tyler – shadow cabinet
10. mordecai richler – joshua then and now
JENNIFER L
1. rohinton mistry – a fine balance
2. virginia woolf – to the lighthouse
3. frank mccourt – angela’s ashes
4. jhumpa lahiri – interpreter of maladies
5. wallace stegner – all the little live things
6. zora neale hurston – their eyes were watching god
7. john steinbeck – east of eden
8. jonathan safran foer – everything is illuminated
9. barbara kingsolver – poisonwood bible
10. julia alvarez – in the time of the butterflies
JULIE L
1. vikram seth – a suitable boy
2. zora neale hurston – their eyes were watching god
3. barbara kingsolver – animal dreams
4. nicole mones – lost in translation
5. michael cunningham – the hours
6. ruth ozeki – my year of meats
7. wallace stegner – all the little live things
8. joseph heller – catch 22
9. w. somerset maugham – the razor’s edge
10. alice walker – the color purple
SHERI L
1. jane austin – sense and sensibility
2. william styron – sophie’s choice
3. jane austin – pride and prejudice
4. william styron – the confessions of nat turner
5. harper lee – to kill a mockingbird
6. william faulkner – the sound and the fury
7. maud h. lovelace – heavens to betsy
8. a.s. byatt – possession
9. john le carre – tinker, tailor, soldier, spy
10. mikhail bulgakov – the master and margarita
JESSICA MM
1. jane austen – pride and prejudice
2. e.m. forster – howard’s end
3. william faulkner – absalom, absalom!
4. john steinbeck – the grapes of wrath
5. toni morrison – song of solomon
6. alice walker – the color purple
7. ursula k. le guin = always coming home
8. arundhati roy – the god of small things
9. barbara kingsolver – the poisonwood bible
10. marilynne robinson – gilead
LAURA M
1. john irving – a prayer for owen meany
2. j.m. barrie – peter pan
3. john kennedy toole – a confederacy of dunces
4. toni morrison – the bluest eye
5. john irving – the world according to garp
6. laura ingalls wilder – little house in the big woods
7. dave eggers – you shall know our velocity
8. dave eggers – a heartbreaking work of staggering genius
9. laura esquivel – like water for chocolate
10. daniel quinn – ishmael
KATIE M
1. barry unsworth – sacred hunger
2. keri hulme – the bone people
3. peter hoeg – smilla’s sense of snow
4. arundhati roy – the god of small things
5. barbara gowdy – the white bone
6. ruth ozeki – my year of meats
7. andre brink – imaginings of sand
8. dorothy allison – bastard out of carolina
9. phillip pullman – the golden compass
10. margaret atwood – the handmaid’s tale
SARAH M
1. toni morrison – song of solomon
2. jerry spinelli – stargirl
3. j.m. coetzee – disgrace
4. flannery o’connor – collected short stories
5. tobias wolfe – the night in question
6. wallace stegner – angel of repose
7. paul auster – leviathan
8. ian mcewan – enduring love
9. haruki murakami – norweigan wood
10. danzy senna – caucasia
JONAH M
1. michael chabon – mysteries of pittsburgh
2. j.r.r. tolkien – lord of the rings
3. bick hornby – high fidelity
4. beil gaiman – american gods
5. j.K. rowling – harry potter and the goblet of fire
6. c.s. lewis – the magician’s nephew
7. piers anthony – a spell for chameleon
8. arthur golden – memoirs of a geisha
9. j.d. salinger – the catcher in the rye
10. timothy zahn – heir to the empire
ANA M
1. virginia woolf – mrs. dalloway
2. a.s. cyatt – possession
3. ian mcewan – atonement
4. john fowles – the french lieutenant’s woman
5. milan kundera – the unbearable lightness of being
6. jane austen – persuasion
7. michael cunningham – the hours
8. d.m. thomas – the white totel
9. toni morrison – sula
10. william faulkner – absalom, absalom!
JANKO M
1. leslie marmon silko – ceremony
2. tim o’brien – the things they carried
3. bobbie ann mason – in country
4. peter guthrie and mary page – little worlds
5. john irving – a prayer for owen meany
6. michael shaara – the killer angels
7. louise erdich – love medicine
8. ernest hemingway – in our time
9. ken kesey – one flew over the cuckoo’s nest
10. john knowles – a seperate peace
JOAN M
1. william styron – lie down in darkness
2. william faulkner – sound and the fury
3. virginia woolf – to the lighthouse
4. virginia woolf – mrs. dalloway
5. thomas hardy – tess of the d’urbervilles
6. gabriel garcia marquez – love in the time of cholera
7. george Elliot – mill on the floss
8. ian mcewan – atonement
9. jim crace – quarantine
10. daniel mason – piano tuner
JULIA M
1. charlotte bronte – jane eyre
2. jane austen – persuasion
3. thomas hardy – tess of the d’urbervilles
4. virgina woolf – to the lighthouse
5. j.r.r. tolkien – the hobbit
6. zora neale hurston – their eyes were watching god
7. j.d. salinger – franny & zooey
8. gabriel garcia marquez – one years of solutiude
9. madeline l’engle – a wrinkle in time
10. salman rushdie – midnight’s children
SLOBODAN M
1. isak Dinesen – seven gothic tales
2. alain fournier – le grand meaulnes (the wanderer)
3. marguerite yourcenar – memoirs of hadrian
4. knut hamsun – pan
5. t.h. white – once and future king
6. john fowles – french lieutenant’s woman
7. jan potocki – manuscript found in saragossa
8. g.k. chesterton – the man who was thursday
9. mihail bulgakov – master and margarita
10. soren kirkegaard – diary of a seducer
ALLISON O
1. khaled hosseini – the kite runner
2. julia alvraez – in the name of salome
3. margaret atwood – a handmaid’s tale
4. juhmpa lahiri – the namesake
5. ursula hegi – stones from the river
6. wally lamb – i know this much is true
7. nathaniel hawthorne – the scarlet letter
8. ray bradbury – farenheit 451
9. harper lee – to kill a mockingbird
10. alice walker – the temple of my familiar
JEFF O
1. vladimir nabakov – lolita
2. jeanette winterson – gut symmetries
3. wallace stegner – angle of repose
4. fydor dostoyevsky – notes from the underground
5. raymond queneau – the flight of icarus
6. franz wedekind – lulu
7. alfred jarry – the exploits and opinions of dr. faustroll, pataphysician
8. alexander waugh – the loved one
9. nathaniel west – miss lonely hearts and the day of the locust
10. russell edson – song of percival peacock
NANCY P
1. marion zimmer bradley – mists of avalon
2. alexandre dumas – the count of monte cristo
3. adolus huxley – brave new world
4. barbara kingsolver – the poisonwood bible
5. wally lamb – she’s come undone
6. katherine dunn – geek love
7. wilkie collins – the woman in white
8. o.t. nelson – the girl who owned a city
9. paula danziger – divorce express
10. roald dahl – charlie and the chocolate factory
EMILY P
1. james baldwin – another county
2. anne carson – autobiography of red
3. jonathan safran foer – extremely loud and incredibly close
4. jonathan franzen – the corrections
5. lorrie moore – anagrams
6. haruki murakami – kafka on the shore
7. vladimir nabokov – lolita
8. marilynne robinson – housekeeping
9. jose saramago – blindness
10. virginia woolf – mrs. dalloway
ERIS R
1. james gunn – the toy collector
2. jeanette winterson – written on the body
3. antoine de saint-exupery – le petit prince
4. michael ondaatje – the english patient
5. vladimir nabokov – lolita
6. kurt vonnegut, jr. – cat’s cradle
7. alain de botton – on love
8. j.k. rowling – harry potter and the goblet of fire
9. fred chappell – brighten the corner where you are
10. melissa bank – the girl’s guide to hunting and fishing
NIKKI R
1. vladimir nabokov – lolita
2. susan eloise Hinton- the outsiders
3. william golding- lord of the flies
4. suzanne collins- the hunger games
5. emily bronte- wuthering heights
6. chuck klosterman- downtown owl
7. lewis carroll – alice in wonderland
8. cs lewis- the lion the witch and the wardrobe
9. chuck palahniuk – choke
10. fyodor dostoyevsky – crime and punishment
ANDREW R
1. j.r.r. tolkien – lord of the rings
2. the arabian nights
3. vladimir nabokov – lolita
4. j.k. rowling – harry potter
5. orson ccott card – ender’s game
6. umberto eco – the name of the rose
7. donald kingsbury – courtship rite
8. h.p. lovecraft – at the mountains of madness
9. fyodor dostoevsky – crime and punishment
10. j.d. salinger – the catcher in the rye
KADEN R
1. milan kundera – the unbearable lightness of being
2. f. scott fitzgerald – the great gatsby
3. william faulkner – the sound and the fury
4. john steinbeck – grapes of wrath
5. michael dorris – yellow raft in blue water
6. wallace stegner – angle of repose
7. jeanette winterson – written on the body
8. harper Lee – to kill a mockingbird
9. willa cather – my antonia
10. emily bronte – wuthering heights
ELIZABETH S
1. ayn rand – the fountainhead
2. naguib mahfouz – the cairo trilogy
3. henry miller – tropic of cancer
4. denis johnson – the incognito lounge
5. louise erdrich – four souls
6. charles bukowski – notes of a dirty old man
7. leslie marmon silko – ceremony
8. james purdy – in a shallow grave
9. leo tolstoy – war and peace
10. philip roth – the human stain
MILA S
1. charles dickens – david copperfield
2. gregory mcguire – wicked
3. yann martel – life of pi
4. orson scott card – speaker for the dead
5. barbara kingsolver – poisonwood bible
6. richard russo – empire falls
7. louisa may alcott – little women
8. anita diamant – the red tent
9. anne rice – the witching hour
10. kurt vonnegut, jr. – cat’s cradle
MICHAEL S and RUPA B
1. pat conroy – my losing season
2. jhumpa lahiri – the namesake
3. anthony bourdain – kitchen confidential
4. arthur golden – memoirs of a geisha
5. anita diamant – the red tent
6. frank mccourt – angela’s ashes
7. frank mccourt – ’tis
8. jonathan franzen – the corrections
9. j.r.r. tolkien – lord of the rings
10. barbara kingsolver – the bean trees
KIM S
1. zora neale hurston – their eyes were watching god
2. j.d. salinger – franny and zooey
3. katherine paterson – bridge to terabithia
4. john irving – a prayer for owen meany
5. jane austen – northanger abbey
6. willa cather – death comes for the archbishop
7. jeffrey eugenides – middlesex
8. isabel allende – the house of the spirits
9. gabriel garcia marquez – love in the time of cholera
10. jon mcgregor – if nobody speaks of remarkable things
JONATHAN S
1. david foster wallace – infinite jest
2. mark z. danielewski – house of leaves
3. mikhail bulgakov – the master and margarita
4. neal stephenson – cryptonomicon
5. vladimir nabokov – invitation to a beheading
6. vikram seth – a suitable boy
7. paul auster – the new york trilogy
8. kurt vonnegut, jr. – breakfast of champions
9. william gibson – neuromancer
10. john kennedy toole – a confederacy of dunces
MARC S
1. james joyce – ulysses
2. fyodor dostoevsky – brothers karamazov
3. fyodor dostoevsky – crime and punishment
4. gustave flaubert – madame bovary
5. albert camus – l’etranger
6. f. scott fitzgerald – the great gatsby
7. herman melville – billy budd
8. j.d. salinger – catcher in the rye
9. franz kafka – the trial
10. herman melville – moby dick
SARAH S
1. markus zusak – the book thief
2. sara gruen – water for elephants
3. audrey niffenegger – the time traveler’s wife
4. philip pullman – the golden compass
5. scott westerfeld – uglies
6. jeffrey eugenides – middlesex
7. charlotte bronte – jane eyre
8. nancy farmer – the house of the scorpion
9. kurt vonnegut – slaughterhouse five
10. michael chabon – the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay
SUZANNE S
1. keri hulme – the bone people
2. charles dickens – tale of two cities
3. james joyce – portrait of the artist as a young man
4. j.d. salinger – catcher in the rye
5. john steinbeck – grapes of wrath
6. earnest gaines – a lesson before dying
7. gabriel garcia marquez – one hundred years of solitude
8. ann patchet – bel canto
9. herman hesse – steppenwolf
10. john irving – the ballad of owen meany
LAUREL S
1. kurt vonnegut, jr. – mother night
2. kurt vonnegut, jr. – bluebeard
3. margaret atwood – alias grace
4. jerome k. jerome – three men in a boat
5. jane austen – persuasion
6. judith merkle riley – vision of light
7. katherine neville – the eight
8. amy tan – the kitchen god’s wife
9. joseph heller – catch-22
10. vladimir nabakov – lolita
ANGELA W
1. haruki murakami – hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world
2. jonathan lethem – fortress of solitude
3. michel foucault – the history of sexuality (vol 1)
4. vladimir nabokov – lolita
5. steve erickson – rubicon beach
6. gabriel garcia marquez – one hundred years of solitude
7. anothony loyd – my war gone by i miss it so
8. franz kafka – the metamorphosis
9. philip pullman – spyglass
10. virgina woolf – a room of one’s own
LARUEN W
1. haruki murakami – hard boiled wonderland and the end of the world
2. haruki Murakami – the wind-up bird chronicles
3. gail tsukiyama – the samurai’s garden
4. herman hesse – demian
5. changrae-lee – a gesture life
6. julie shigekuni – a bridge between us
7. chris bohjalian – midwives
8. kurt vonnegut, jr. – hocus pocus
9. dave eggers – a heartbreaking work of staggering genius
10. james gleick – faster
ERIN W
1. louise fitzhugh – harriet the spy
2. jane austen – pride and prejudice
3. paul auster – moon palace
4. marilyn robinson – housekeeping
5. virigina woolf – mrs. dalloway
6. dorothy l. sayers – murder must advertise
7. david mitchell – cloud atlas
8. carol maso – ava
9. william faulkner – a light in august
10. eileen myles – chelsea girls
STEPHANIE Y
1. david mitchell – cloud atlas
2. vladimir nabokov – pale fire
3. don delillo – white noise
4. leo tolstoy – anna karenina
5. william faulker – light in august
6. j.d. salinger – catcher in the rye
7. george orwell – 1984
8. richard wright – native son
9. don delillo – end zone
10. doris lessing – the golden notebook
BETTY Y
1. lewis carroll – alice in wonderland
2. milan kundera – unbearable lightness of being
3. hermann hesse – siddhartha
4. henry roth – call it sleep
5. banana yoshimoto – kitchen
6. john steinbeck – east of eden
7. zadie smith – white teeth
8. john irving – a prayer for owen meany
9. john kennedy toole – a confederacy of dunces
10. antoine de saint-exupery – the little prince