The Greatest Reads In All of Books
One Man, One List. The greatest books around.
Does that title sound amazing? Are you certain it is an oversell of what lies behind it? Do you wonder why you even clicked, or otherwise ended up here? Welcome to my world.
The Best Reads in All My Books
Every trip to Barnes & Nobel ends with me, and usually my family, hauling out more books than we intended, along with the occasional game, which my youngest prizes more than books. You might think that we would avoid Barnes & Noble then, or at least refrain from purchasing more books than we read since last time, but you would be wrong. Very wrong.
Anyway, to assuage my guilt (hah! I have nothing of the sort) I started writing this here with the ambition to add continuously to the list of greatest books ever written. Actually, the reality would be the greatest books I ever read, because there is no way I’m bothering to read some of the books out there that others — mostly English majors — insist are great books.
I read for fun, for laughs, for adventure, not for the agony of the human condition. If your list of best books contains tomes of slavery, forced military conscription, and especially rape, this list will not match yours. If you are looking to add some fun, while still interesting, or novel (hah!) then perhaps you and I can be friends and exchange some online rapport over great books that are put down with a smile, not a greater understanding of the human condition.
All of the above drivel exists soley to make this article long enough to be an article. The list as it exists now is paltry even by the standards of the books I can think of just while sitting here, but I will expand it and in time it may be a great, widely referenced list. Until then, my quickly typed text will exist to anchor it in place.
— Hey! Want to help me earn money? I want you to help me earn money. Either way, the links below are Amazon affiliate links, so you click ’em and buy ’em, and I get a few pennies of that transaction.
The List
- Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy — Look. You knew it was going to be here. How can a guy who claims to read for fun not have this (and the accompanying series) ranked at #1? It might get better from here, but no promises. Funny, glorious, quotable, and original. If you haven’t read it, start it today.
- The Fifth Season — Wow. It’s been a long time since I was truly impressed and entertained like this. I almost quit reading it because it starts in 2nd person, and I hate that. I’m so glad I kept going. Not only does it not stay in 2nd person, but I know why it was. That’s what is amazing about this book. While you are along for the worldbuilding, the new type of magic, the adventure, and the peril, there is so much more happening right in front of your eyes. Book one of a completed trilogy, it’s worth every page and when you finish, you’ll want to read them again because it turns out you weren’t reading the right the first time. It’s a rare gift to get to read a book again for the first time. (Hmm. I’ll have to figure out how to add an image and keep the numbered list going at the same time.)
- 1Q84 — I can’t even tell you what it is about, or why you should read it, but you should read it. You will not regret it.
The Unranked
I know I’m going to want them on the list, I just don’t know where yet.
- The Last Unicorn — I’m reading it. I’m liking in… a lot. Pure fantasy about a unicorn, an interesting unicorn on an unnecessary journey. Patrick Rothfuss wrote the introduction if you don’t want to believe me. (If you don’t know who that is, good. Leave it alone. It’s been 10+ years and there is no book 3 in the trilogy, so you are better off reading something else. Try Sanderson. He writes something every 15 minutes.)
- Once Upon a River — Less “fun” than some of my other picks, it’s a wonderous novel that leaves you feeling fully satisfied. One of those books that reminds you that you don’t have to choose between sci-fi/fantasy, and terrible humanity and heartbreak. This book is neither and it will make any reader happy.
The End — Sort Of
What?! That’s it? I told you this was a place holder. I’m supposed to be working. I was writing an article about credit unions when I saw my copy of The Last Unicorn sitting off to the side and ended up reading a hundred pages instead of focusing. This is my way to allow the story a route from my head so I can use the brain that is in there for what I need it to be doing right now. You understand.
In fact, I bet you ended up here by accident, the end (middle?) of some sort of rabbit hole that you couldn’t stop clicking, and now it’s 2:00 am, or 4:30 pm, or 9:15 am, or whatever just-before-the-deadline time you are chewing into surfing the web. That’s right. We’re the same you and me, so don’t whine about the list. It will get better.
