,

Favorite authors of all time as voted on by men at least 35 years old.

Guidelines:
  • What? Rules? These will hopefully preserve a useful, quality list of good reads.
  • Do not vote here if you are not male, or not at least 35 years old.
  • Please do not select/add any authors unless you have read at least a few authors on the list.
  • Please do not select/add any author unless you have read and liked at least two of their books.
  • This is not a list of favorite books.
  • Please do not add an author who is already on the list.
  • Please do not add an author who is already on the list with a different book/edition.
  • If adding an author, please select their most popular/well-known book (not a series).
  • We are aiming for an author's most-recognized book, not their best/highest-rated best book.
  • When you click on an authors link, the book at the top of their list is generally the most popular.
  • The top book on the authors list is sometimes, arguably, not their most popular/well-known.
  • If you're first to add the author, and sure that another of the top 3 is more popular, it's you're call.
  • Please do not select an esoteric/unrecognizable edition of an author's book.
  • The edition at the top of the list of all editions is usually a decent pick.
  • The first edition hardcopy, or paperback, are usually decent picks.
  • Sometimes, artwork is usefully better in a paperback, anniversary, or movie release edition.
  • We're aiming for an edition that is recognizable, has clear font, and the authors name is legible.

Over 35 lists:
Over 35: Favorite Authors of All Time
Over 35: Best Books of All Time
Over 35: Best Books of the 21st Century
Over 35: Best Books of the 2010s

Men Over 35 lists:
Men Over 35: Favorite Authors of All Time
Men Over 35: Best Books of All Time
Men Over 35: Best Books of the 21st Century
Men Over 35: Best Books of the 2000s
Men Over 35: Best Books of the 2010s
Men Over 35: Best Books of the 2020s

General lists (for comparison):
Best Authors Ever
Best Books Ever
Best Books of the 21st Century
1

by
4.42 avg rating — 1,297,956 ratings
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2

by
4.19 avg rating — 870,648 ratings
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3

by
4.30 avg rating — 4,477,058 ratings
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4

by
4.30 avg rating — 171,677 ratings
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5

by
4.28 avg rating — 1,717,360 ratings
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6

by
4.35 avg rating — 9,969,148 ratings
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7

by
4.19 avg rating — 405,977 ratings
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8

by
4.45 avg rating — 2,746,197 ratings
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9

by
4.12 avg rating — 375,245 ratings
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10

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,197,307 ratings
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10

by
3.78 avg rating — 314,435 ratings
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10

by
3.80 avg rating — 123,722 ratings
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13

by
4.13 avg rating — 1,066,709 ratings
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13

by
4.02 avg rating — 265,324 ratings
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15

by
4.12 avg rating — 389,306 ratings
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15

by
3.70 avg rating — 6,366 ratings
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15

by
4.23 avg rating — 225,886 ratings
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18

by
3.94 avg rating — 2,533,253 ratings
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19

by
4.08 avg rating — 32,258 ratings
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20

by
4.18 avg rating — 3,460,401 ratings
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20

by
4.15 avg rating — 362,938 ratings
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22

by
3.93 avg rating — 20,574 ratings
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22

by
3.92 avg rating — 327,013 ratings
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24

by
4.11 avg rating — 796,155 ratings
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24

by
4.18 avg rating — 43,066 ratings
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26

by
4.44 avg rating — 139,596 ratings
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26

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 16,338 ratings
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28

by
4.01 avg rating — 722,021 ratings
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28

by
4.10 avg rating — 992,910 ratings
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30

by
3.98 avg rating — 143,686 ratings
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31

by
4.21 avg rating — 302,587 ratings
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31

by
4.08 avg rating — 144,097 ratings
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33

by
4.26 avg rating — 21,866 ratings
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34

by
4.52 avg rating — 1,088,165 ratings
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34

by
4.43 avg rating — 3,050 ratings
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36

by
4.29 avg rating — 40,587 ratings
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37

by
4.49 avg rating — 989,108 ratings
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37

by
4.24 avg rating — 27,111 ratings
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39

by
4.27 avg rating — 802,472 ratings
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39

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,509,828 ratings
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41

by
3.95 avg rating — 9,862 ratings
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42

by
4.13 avg rating — 6,441 ratings
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42

by
4.25 avg rating — 274,752 ratings
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44

by
3.86 avg rating — 73,102 ratings
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44

by
3.66 avg rating — 16,964 ratings
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46

by
4.23 avg rating — 278,436 ratings
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46

by
3.95 avg rating — 4,208 ratings
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48

by
4.13 avg rating — 734,644 ratings
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48

by
3.89 avg rating — 27,406 ratings
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50

by
4.65 avg rating — 2,151,631 ratings
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50

by
3.92 avg rating — 53,277 ratings
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52

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,655 ratings
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53

by
3.77 avg rating — 3,617 ratings
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54

by
4.07 avg rating — 144,868 ratings
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55

by
3.82 avg rating — 3,030 ratings
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56

by
4.15 avg rating — 7,399 ratings
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57

by
3.84 avg rating — 709,343 ratings
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58

by
3.99 avg rating — 56,348 ratings
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59

by
3.82 avg rating — 15,580 ratings
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60

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 132,172 ratings
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61

by
4.17 avg rating — 186,765 ratings
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62

by
3.90 avg rating — 16,470 ratings
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63

by
3.86 avg rating — 273,785 ratings
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64

by
4.03 avg rating — 11,099 ratings
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65

by
4.27 avg rating — 137,041 ratings
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66

by
4.40 avg rating — 159,592 ratings
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67

by
3.75 avg rating — 78,338 ratings
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68

by
4.14 avg rating — 219,016 ratings
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69

by
3.88 avg rating — 11,309 ratings
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70

by
3.75 avg rating — 77,121 ratings
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71

by
4.07 avg rating — 62,163 ratings
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72

by
3.93 avg rating — 16,165 ratings
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73

by
4.08 avg rating — 5,866 ratings
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74

by
3.95 avg rating — 22,558 ratings
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75

by
4.23 avg rating — 310,524 ratings
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76

by
4.13 avg rating — 213,251 ratings
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77

by
3.91 avg rating — 428 ratings
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78

by
3.58 avg rating — 18,252 ratings
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78 books · 4 voters · list created March 22nd, 2024 by Steve Shelby (votes) .
1 like · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


People Who Voted On This List (4)

Steve 987 books
6 friends
Jed 145 books
8 friends
Mitchell 11592 books
172 friends



Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Mitchell (last edited Nov 01, 2025 09:04AM) (new)

Mitchell Friedman Its interesting to consider my favorite authors right now as compared to 20+ years ago. At one point I would have been answering Isaac Asimov or Alistair MacLean or Robert Ludlum. And after that Michael Moorcock or Roger Zelazny. And then later Tom Clancy or John Grisham.

I took this list to especially mean authors that I'm excited when a new book comes out and am likely to read it immediately.

For authors that are no longer writing, this is harder to judge - but authors that I own and re-read with some regularity.


message 2: by Steve (last edited Nov 02, 2025 04:17PM) (new)

Steve Shelby I’d like a list that reliably steers people to the best reading out there. It can be hard to find good reads, and some of the lists people just treat like a challenge list and check off the books they read, whether they like them or not. I don’t care if someone has read a singular book. Their opinion is worthless to me until they have read a few and can tell me which one is better than the other. I want relevant relative rankings. I love that you have read so many books. Your opinion holds more weight. I don’t care if 10 teenagers have only read Twilight or Harry Potter (or didn’t and just saw the movies). I care about the adult who has read most of the top 20 books and can rank order them usefully. Not everyone agrees and that’s fine, but I do want informed opinions. If you could grow a clone of yourself, and they’re physically the same but don’t know any books, and tell your cloned self which books to read in which order, what would they be? On this list, I want authors who’ve written multiple books you like that are reliably putting out good stuff. Not one hit wonders. That’s for a book list, not an author list.


message 3: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman I wish that the ratings was floating point and that you had to not reuse a rating value. So you always slotted a book between other books.


message 4: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman So a warning on following other peoples ratings. I generally find people's 4 stars more reliable than 5 stars. For people who use all 5 stars, that 5th star tends to be idiosyncratic.


message 5: by Steve (last edited Nov 04, 2025 06:36PM) (new)

Steve Shelby Agreed. My 5 stars are rare though. 12%, not 20%


message 6: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman 447 of 6404 for me. so about 7%


message 7: by Steve (new)

Steve Shelby Nice for both the 7% and the 6000+ books.


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