4.25 avg rating — 719,101 ratings

"Such amazing skill by Du Maurier to develop the narrator into a fully complex woman able to help her husband overcome his fears as they stand together against the most well written antagonist in literature; I also think Mrs Danvers is the most complex and haunting antagonist in all of horror literature, in that she is first herself, as well as the alter ego of Rebecca, and the living embodiment of Manderley. To bring the trio together in a fiery death at the end is a stunning climax. No one has ever topped these characters. "

4.17 avg rating — 2,456,814 ratings

"Even though it was something that spoke to my teenage self, it has continued to speak to me in all stages of my life. It's not just a coming of age novel, it's a novel for all ages."

4.16 avg rating — 2,320,139 ratings

"Like the Bible, it seems I can pick this up, open it, and a random reading always seems to apply. Bronte's skill in evoking the era, the landscape, the regional dialects, continue to ring true even in the 21st century. "

4.26 avg rating — 6,874,921 ratings

"Between Atticus' homespun wisdom, Scout's insistent questions and the voice in the back of my mind trying to see the personalities of Nelle Harper and Truman Capote coming through, I have difficulty focussing on the morality play. But the issues demand attention even today, whether it's a trial of a black man, an illegal immigrant, or just an outsider or if the neighborhood boogeyman is mentally ill, criminally sought, or merely a homeless squatter. The same tale could be told again with these updated characters and the same bias/prejudices would be revealed."

4.02 avg rating — 1,474,109 ratings

"I love Stoker's writing, the Gothic beauty of the language. I love the understated themes that run beneath the tale, and the pure horror of it. This book started it's own genre and IMHO I think every vampire writer ought to be required to donate .5% of their earnings to a Stoker Foundation, to set up writing competitions to encourage more research and new writers in the vein. Pun intended."

3.91 avg rating — 1,882,943 ratings

"First, because this was written in a challenge to show the boys that their pampered pet could best them at writing a horror story. Second, because besides just being a scare-the-boys-silly attempt, it's a glorious morality tale that can be discussed, taught as philosophy, as great literature, and has been the inspiration for film, stage plays, even a musical. Puttin On Da Ritzzzz!"

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,628 ratings

"This book changed genealogy research forever. It gave birth to the new field of genetealogy. It brought science and creationists together, finally, to a point where there's nothing to argue over. To be able to say with certainty that there is no biologic imperative to the concept of race makes racial prejudice a completely moronic, unfounded emotion. Thank you, Mr. Sykes."

4.35 avg rating — 829,583 ratings

"On my bucket list is the chance to spend a day with Ken Follet and talk with him about his time machine and these books that come out of his journeys. I learned so much more than just history here, e.g. how flying buttresses work, the politics of clerical vs lay clergy, concepts of women as more than just drudging breeders in this time. "

4.15 avg rating — 2,417,322 ratings

"I'm really not sure what genre this falls into, fantasy or scifi or hf. But I do know that Germaine Greer aside, I really did not understand feminism or women's rights until I read this. Oh, right, yeah, it's just fiction. Keep telling yourself that; but I'll bet Margaret Atwood is related somehow to George Orwell."

3.91 avg rating — 98,739 ratings

"Again, it's the way Collins uses language to evoke the drama and mystery of British controlled India and the power of myth over people that intrigues me. This is one that I often listen to on audiobook; it could never be as hauntingly beautiful on film as it is in my mind."

3.89 avg rating — 276,283 ratings

"Captain Nemo comes close to being one of my all time favorite villains. And I love to see how so much of what Verne imagined has come true in our time. What would happen if Mrs. Danvers and Captain Nemo married and had a child ...??"

4.16 avg rating — 1,722 ratings

"Grace, Hope, Forgiveness, Miracles are often the things I need and are rarely within easy reach. I find Williamson's writings help me to ponder my way through some of the black holes."

4.17 avg rating — 3,701 ratings

"These prayers are a God send. Her words may not be mine when I start, but they lead me to the words I need to help me reach out to God."

3.89 avg rating — 38,602 ratings

"This book, along with a few others on this list, brought me to a love of HF, to mysteries, to crime fiction. But unlike Christie or Eliot Ness books, a re-read every few years does not seem trite or mundane. There is meat here, there is a puzzle and there is clever wordsmithing."

4.09 avg rating — 6,003 ratings

"I suppose my faith is much like that of Thomas, as I am always searching to match up the spiritual with the historical, with forensics, with factual analysis. Borg's book has been a help in bringing back a foundation of faith and in acknowledging that each time I reach out for Jesus, it's imperative that I expect the vivacity of that first time when He was revealed to me. Anything less than that, and it's only ritual not faith."

4.65 avg rating — 24,058 ratings

"This is intensely annotated for translations, history, cultural impact, Judaic origins, etc. It's also very heavy, so it's for home study."

4.72 avg rating — 18 ratings

"I like being able to see, side by side, how each translation changes the impact of the scripture so that I can consider how it applies to me.Again, a very heavy tome that is used at home. "

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating

"This is a broad survey of all sorts of non-Western healing practices, mind and body. I'm finding it more and more helpful as I age and become vulnerable to chronic illness, providing a less chaotic perspective."

4.21 avg rating — 631,578 ratings

"On the other side of the healing timeline, this is an HF novel about midwifery and healing for nomadic Jews prior to Christ. Definitely a female empowerment book, lyrical and lovely, makes me yearn for that time machine."

3.85 avg rating — 329 ratings

"When my BIL's youngest son met me for the first time, he was less than ten and overheard me tell the hostess of the family reunion that I had brought my family's dish, German Potato Salad. He left the kitchen telling his brother, I'm not eating that Nazi food. This was 2005. This book is a collection of interviews with people who are either elderly German emigrants from WWII or their American born progeny, perhaps as much as 3rd generation. There is a silence, and still some trauma, on being German in America. But there is also joy and success and pride. These stories of diaspora are part and parcel of what it means to be an American and perhaps it should be noted that each stripe, each star, on are flag, began in some other country."

4.35 avg rating — 834,147 ratings

"I think this is King's best work. It combines genres - it is a saga, sociological scifi, fantasy, horror, and coming of age. "

4.13 avg rating — 212,806 ratings

"Like many HF fans, I began reading the Arturian legends which led into fantasy tales, but all the women ever did was faint, have babies, go to a nunnery, or die. Bradley struck a blow for female character with this and created some of the best female roles in this book. "

4.30 avg rating — 318,979 ratings

"Take some Southern Gothic family saga, throw in some Magical Thinking, political chaos and latin hot blood, and before you begin reading, put on some Spanish flamenco music. Then read all night. Isabel Allende writes like no one else on this list and once you begin to read her work, you'll be hooked and will go looking for more. This one is just the tempting first bite."

4.14 avg rating — 225,145 ratings

"I was totally unaware of LeHane before this book, and had no clue to the twists and turns the mystery would take. If you've seen the film I'm so sorry for you because the book is so much more thrilling. But the real hook for me, the epiphany I found, was the footnotes at the end. The research he put into this was incredible; I wound up tracking down several of the books and learning about the history of mental health care in the US since the early 1700s to now. It was shocking to find out that most of the book was NOT fictional."

4.01 avg rating — 10,741 ratings

"One of my favorites from High School drama club and English lit, but I haven't seen or heard much of it for many years. It is poetry and spoken song, meant to be performed as "reader's theater"...I wonder if anybody knows what that is any more??? In any case, if you're studying performing arts, get a copy of this and read it aloud, maybe use it for a workshop or an assignment. You'll be surprised how well accepted it will be."

4.04 avg rating — 515 ratings

"Again, another fav from High School drama club. Probably the simplest production any group can do and yet one of the most touching and most beautiful."

3.78 avg rating — 9,635 ratings

"An incredibly long, forceful play with great solo parts on the use/misuse of power,individualism vs nationalism, church vs state, how to remain true to oneself. I studied for the main role in 1968; I still remember most of the lines. "

4.21 avg rating — 35,769 ratings

"This is one of the first HF I ever read, and the epiphany was I could learn my history for a boring teacher and still enjoy it! "

4.20 avg rating — 44,138 ratings

"Yes, another HF -- but instead of a strong female to celebrate, it's a strong city. This book will make anyone love New York. "

4.32 avg rating — 346,930 ratings

"Mostly, Just because it's Ken Follett again. If I cite him often enough, maybe he'll call and I'll get that day to spend with him!"

4.14 avg rating — 395,150 ratings

"Multiple genres really intrigue me; this is crime fiction, HF, and mystery. I read it before I saw the movie and the scenes in the tower were so well written, I could see the Escher-like staircase where they had to use a rope to keep in touch. I'm trying to read other works by Eco, and I'm finding this is clearly the best."

3.80 avg rating — 276,481 ratings

"A modern female writer who seems to be channeling medieval spirits and yet can still step back into today while telling the tale. I think I might have to meet Ms. Kostova as well."

4.41 avg rating — 212,190 ratings

"This was the first HF that took my focus off Europe and Western thinking. There is not only martial arts here, there is also the grandeur of the Rising Sun empire. Glorious!"

4.15 avg rating — 152,372 ratings

"I had the good fortune to be working at Cornell when Sagan was teaching there and had some exposure to him. Listening to him talk about exterrestrial contact possibilities in a calm, scientific manner much as you or I would discuss whether or not it could snow tomorrow was as odd as trying to breathe water (which he thought we could learn how to do someday). He had an incredible mind and this book is it's testament. "

3.92 avg rating — 39,452 ratings

"Although not the actual start of the Arturian legends, it's probably the best first read for an English speaker. And really folks, don't rely on Disney."

4.10 avg rating — 11,988 ratings

"Mary Stewart added her own set of books to the Arturian legend and I still like her personalities the best. "

3.88 avg rating — 10,122 ratings

"This would be my pick for the second read for someone just getting started in Arturian legends. Then the foundation is set and strong and you can play around with variants."

3.51 avg rating — 684,026 ratings

"This was my first exposure to the trend of revisionist classics. I love Maguire's imagination and would really prefer to put all his works here, but this is the one every flying monkey seems to know. Start here, and then read the rest."

3.42 avg rating — 102,397 ratings

"Obreht is able to write in two timelines at the same time; it's easy to tell a story within a story, but when the stories go in two different timeline directions, it usually leaves the reader confused. This is clear, artful, and yet at the same time ornate and sensual. "

4.06 avg rating — 181,357 ratings

"A lovely Victorian tale that will educate you about the history of psychology, criminal forensics, detective science and all WITHOUT Sherlock Holmes!"

3.97 avg rating — 709,299 ratings

"Family sagas are meant to show us that we all go through the same dramas. Here, though, are sets of mothers and daughters dealing with cultural integration, loss of identity, the diaspora of generations, connectedness or the lack thereof. No matter what your cultural heritage, you can both empathize and learn anew from these women."

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 758,013 ratings

"My guilty addiction: serial killers. The kernel of this book is purportedly America's first known serial killer; around him is the growth of the doorway to America's Midwest, Chicago and the first World's Fair in America. This is the history of American icons -- Frederick Olmstead, Corn Flakes, Ferris Wheels, Single Women Leaving Home to Enter the Work World (Oh MY!) all written by NY Times Reporter Erik Larson. "

4.26 avg rating — 567,447 ratings

"I have never been interested in mountain climbing. I hate winter. But something on the back cover intrigued me and I wound up reading what is, IMHO, the story of the most frightening true disaster tale and personal courage I have ever heard of. Krakauer is not writing of his deeds, this is no self serving pat on the back. He reports what happens as dispassionately as possible and the heros are, I think, the sherpas. I will read this over and over, to rediscover each time how men find the ability to deal with events they could not foresee or control."

4.17 avg rating — 1,294,605 ratings

"I suppose most girls read this growing up, and it was the book that taught me to trust my heart and reach out to people. I've given this book to lots of young girls in elementary school; pass it on."

3.88 avg rating — 1,011,774 ratings

"This is the book that taught me to look beyond someone's outward appearance, and beyond my own first impression. That's why I like to re-read it, to regain that lesson. It's every bit as majestic as Les Mis."

3.80 avg rating — 873,170 ratings

"Spooky, haunting, quirky and all about the changes in the lives of two young people. The lesson here was, things won't always be this way and you don't know what they will be like, so never give up. "

4.01 avg rating — 102,909 ratings

"Politics, revolution, passionate and unrequited love, a landscape that becomes in itself a character. Again, just as majestic as Les Mis."

4.25 avg rating — 364,592 ratings

"This was the book that made that odd shape on the bottom of the globe into a real place for me. This is a family saga that really grabs the reader."

4.37 avg rating — 94,351 ratings

"Once you've read this as a child, how could you not love Ferdinand for the rest of your life? "

4.25 avg rating — 90,902 ratings

"This is on my list for sentimental reasons, it was a favorite of my daughter's and led her to Boston for college."

4.27 avg rating — 218,765 ratings

"Madeline was my first strong female character. She couldn't be controlled, she spoke her mind and I wished I had her name!"

4.24 avg rating — 29,724 ratings

"The young lady just kept getting stronger with every book and she never even thought that something or someone could stand in her way. What a gal."

4.51 avg rating — 216,783 ratings

"As much as I love to reread all the individual case histories, and even all the other authors like Laurie King, it's the annotations that I love the most. Maybe one day I'll get to work on an annotated Ken Follett!"

3.95 avg rating — 282,147 ratings

"First he imagined underwater travel, then rapid air travel around the globe. And the buddy pair are as good as Don Quixote and Pancho! "

4.09 avg rating — 66,585 ratings

"This book proves the proverb that all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. I wonder if my guilty pleasure with serial killers is related to my appreciation of a complex and powerful antagonist?"

4.30 avg rating — 45,520 ratings

"I think The Source is my favorite Michener. It combines my attempt to place history & fact with faith. This book planted the seed that has me still wanting to spend time in the Middle East. "

4.38 avg rating — 59,450 ratings

"This was really the first HF I ever read about WWII. It makes a very complex time period easier to understand, so that one can begin to ask questions."

4.09 avg rating — 96,715 ratings

"Before I read this, Art History was just another disconnected subject. This made sculpture, the time period, the patronage system, alive and understandable to me. "

4.34 avg rating — 101,331 ratings

"First I saw the film, then I read the book. Then I went into a complete Leon Uris obsession. His characters leap out of the book and sit next to you, grabbing your elbow and telling you the story with urgency. Don't waste your time buying them one by one, get them all at once and go home and lock the door."

4.33 avg rating — 1,360,559 ratings

"Walls has an urgency about her books just like Uris, but it's more civilized. It's in the fact that she doesn't feel deserving of your attention, that you can't stop listening. By the end you'll be saying how could they have lived like that, how did she survive, what a miracle. "

3.99 avg rating — 1,979 ratings

"The French source book for TS Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, the play is essentially a discourse about church vs state. Layered over that is the conflict between Henry II who has appointed his BFF, Thomas Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry expects he now has an ally as the head of the church but Thomas feels the obligation to be the church's defender. "

3.89 avg rating — 14,907 ratings

"This play was my first exposure to Henry VIII and his power play to kick the Catholic Church out of England. It is fundamentally the argument between Thomas More and the King as to his authority to divorce Margaret and marry Anne Boleyn. "

4.22 avg rating — 10,138 ratings

"The arguments between Eleanor and Henry, Eleanor and Henry's concubine, and the squabbling of the 3 sons, are some of the best lines written for the theater. If you've never seen the film with Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, be sure to rent it. It is mind blowing."

4.19 avg rating — 35,249 ratings

"The transformation of a deaf, dumb and blind girl from a grunting demanding troll into a woman who changed the education of the disabled and the rights of the handicapped truly was a miracle. The woman who worked the miracle was Annie Sullivan, who broke all the rules in how to handle Helen Keller. "

4.20 avg rating — 4,186,367 ratings

"If the story of how Anne maintained her optimism despite the looming Nazi threat doesn't bring you to tears, take a trip to Amsterdam and walk through the Anne Frank house. If you can't do that, watch the episode of Family Jewels where Gene Simmons does that; then you will understand."