,

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 — 1,330,655 ratings
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2

by
4.19 avg rating — 878,431 ratings
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3

by
4.30 avg rating — 4,535,914 ratings
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4

by
4.30 avg rating — 172,966 ratings
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5

by
4.28 avg rating — 1,736,824 ratings
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6

by
4.35 avg rating — 10,086,864 ratings
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7

by
4.19 avg rating — 418,834 ratings
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8

by
4.45 avg rating — 2,773,111 ratings
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9

by
4.11 avg rating — 388,455 ratings
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10

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,207,424 ratings
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10

by
3.78 avg rating — 322,345 ratings
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10

by
3.80 avg rating — 124,791 ratings
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13

by
4.14 avg rating — 1,078,287 ratings
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13

by
4.02 avg rating — 268,792 ratings
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15

by
4.12 avg rating — 390,787 ratings
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15

by
3.70 avg rating — 6,375 ratings
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15

by
4.23 avg rating — 229,299 ratings
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18

by
3.94 avg rating — 2,554,476 ratings
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19

by
4.08 avg rating — 32,489 ratings
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20

by
4.18 avg rating — 3,486,546 ratings
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20

by
4.15 avg rating — 366,144 ratings
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22

by
3.94 avg rating — 20,786 ratings
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22

by
3.92 avg rating — 328,513 ratings
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24

by
4.11 avg rating — 802,179 ratings
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24

by
4.18 avg rating — 43,617 ratings
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26

by
4.44 avg rating — 140,866 ratings
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26

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 16,486 ratings
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28

by
4.01 avg rating — 724,995 ratings
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28

by
4.10 avg rating — 997,371 ratings
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30

by
3.98 avg rating — 144,080 ratings
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31

by
4.21 avg rating — 303,863 ratings
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31

by
4.08 avg rating — 144,824 ratings
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33

by
4.26 avg rating — 22,133 ratings
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34

by
4.52 avg rating — 1,100,606 ratings
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34

by
4.43 avg rating — 3,057 ratings
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36

by
4.29 avg rating — 40,881 ratings
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37

by
4.49 avg rating — 1,026,428 ratings
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37

by
4.24 avg rating — 27,175 ratings
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39

by
4.27 avg rating — 869,602 ratings
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39

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,607,017 ratings
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41

by
3.95 avg rating — 9,870 ratings
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42

by
4.13 avg rating — 6,477 ratings
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42

by
4.25 avg rating — 277,125 ratings
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44

by
3.86 avg rating — 73,488 ratings
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44

by
3.66 avg rating — 17,070 ratings
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46

by
4.23 avg rating — 283,591 ratings
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46

by
3.95 avg rating — 4,232 ratings
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48

by
4.13 avg rating — 764,253 ratings
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48

by
3.89 avg rating — 27,645 ratings
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50

by
4.65 avg rating — 2,243,927 ratings
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50

by
3.92 avg rating — 53,495 ratings
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52

by
3.91 avg rating — 1,657 ratings
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53

by
3.77 avg rating — 3,622 ratings
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54

by
4.07 avg rating — 150,268 ratings
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55

by
3.82 avg rating — 3,033 ratings
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56

by
4.15 avg rating — 7,532 ratings
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57

by
3.84 avg rating — 712,090 ratings
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58

by
3.99 avg rating — 57,341 ratings
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59

by
3.82 avg rating — 15,594 ratings
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60

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 133,255 ratings
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61

by
4.16 avg rating — 191,000 ratings
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62

by
3.90 avg rating — 16,602 ratings
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63

by
3.86 avg rating — 276,071 ratings
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64

by
4.03 avg rating — 11,189 ratings
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65

by
4.27 avg rating — 137,665 ratings
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66

by
4.40 avg rating — 161,232 ratings
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67

by
3.75 avg rating — 78,714 ratings
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68

by
4.14 avg rating — 220,312 ratings
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69

by
3.88 avg rating — 11,458 ratings
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70

by
3.75 avg rating — 78,046 ratings
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71

by
4.07 avg rating — 63,016 ratings
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72

by
3.93 avg rating — 16,307 ratings
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73

by
4.08 avg rating — 5,880 ratings
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74

by
3.95 avg rating — 22,619 ratings
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75

by
4.23 avg rating — 314,004 ratings
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76

by
4.13 avg rating — 214,020 ratings
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77

by
3.92 avg rating — 430 ratings
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78

by
3.58 avg rating — 18,443 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 1021 books
5 friends
Jed 152 books
8 friends
Mitchell 11126 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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