I honestly think it's kind of charming to keep the copies you've read a lot instead of replacing it with a prettier copy - there's a sense of nostalgia to thumb through the pages that you've read a few times
Same here. I've even replaced older copies with the same edition/version. I think books "hit" differently as we age and holding a book in your hand like you did 20 years ago can add to the experience.
So I was never a reader ever, I only read when I was forced to in school. And even then, I would just skim the pages, not pay attention, and do just enough to pass the book quizzes. I once tried reading the first lord of the rings book and 9 months later had only read 100 pages so I stopped. I just could not focus on it. Therefore, I would say I had never fully read a book in my life. Fast forward, and I graduated from college 5 years ago and I am 28 years old. I still had not read a single book. Then one day my friends are talking about their favorite books and I get an inclination to read a freaking book for once. I bought Dracula by Bram Stoker in its original text because I have always liked horror and thought that would be a good classic. I got so hooked I read all 360 pages in two and a half weeks, which I did not even think I was capable of. It has been 10 months since then and I have read 11 more novels and absolutely love my new hobby and cannot believe what I was missing out on. I now know what people mean when they say "the book is better than the movie". Now I have videos like this in my recommended and I have subscribed to your channel. Sorry for the long story haha, keep up the good work.
20. Arthur Machen - Collected Fiction 19. Abercrombie "Best Served Cold" 18. Fitzgerald "Tender Is The Night" 17. King "Pet Sematary" 16. Verne 20,000 leagues under the sea - on my list, but not yet read... 15. Rice Burroughs "Tarzan of the Apes" 14. Wells "the Time Machine" 13. Hugo "Les Miserables" 12. Simak "CITY" 11. Hammett "The Maltese Falcon" a novel with a macguffin.. what ever.... 10. Chandler "The Big Sleep" 9. Tolkien TLOTR & the Hobbit 8. Dumas "The Count Of Monte Christo" 7. Howard "Conan" 6. Shelly "Frankenstein" 5. Rice Burroughs "Princess of Mars" 4. Matheson "I am Legend" 3. Stoker "Dracula" 2. Lovecraft "The Complete Fiction" 1. Doyle "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" I want the edition on the shelf behind you... But I have an older version of the one in your hand (from 1927...)
Hey, you have a great energy about you and i really love these kinds of lists. I would just enjoy if you could give a bit more insight into the books and what they're about (without spoilers of course). Just some examples of what makes the book special, what it's doing better than other books you've read (that are similar) and why everyone should read it. Greetings from Germany!
Greetings! You are right, and I’m hoping I’ve gotten a bit better at this sort of thing. This video was still kind of an early one. Thanks for watching!
A Superior listing! My list would have Les Miserables and The Count of Monte Cristo closer to the top. I was pleased to see Tarzan and The Princess of Mars on your list of favorites. Too few people appreciate what an intelligent and gifted writer Edgar Rice Burroughs was. An Excellent listing! Thank You for reminding me to pick up and read some old favorites.
I’m happy to see some of my favorites on your favorites list. The Time Machine is my second favorite book, after The Great Gatsby. I have also read and enjoyed I Am Legend. And I have read The Complete Sherlock Holmes - all Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories and novels of the great detective. As far as fantasy goes, I have not read much fantasy or sword and sorcery tales, as science fiction is the large part of my collection.
First time watching, so not knowing where you might be going with this. Interesting. I bet you're a fan of Phillip Jose Farmer, too. That Conan and John Carter stuff was all I read when I was 13, with the Frazetta covers. Good times. The last time I read the Holmes stories was when I was home sick from work, stretched out on the sofa -- it's a good way to read them. I'm about to donate my Modern Library unabridged hardcover of Les Miserables -- I'm too old to re-read it and it's taking up a lot of shelf space. It's true that you should have a good, solid hardcover copy of anything you plan to re-read, especially if the cheap, mass-market paperbacks have beautiful cover art that you want to preserve (Raymond Chandler).
My top 5 1. Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy 2. Moby Dick, Melville 3. The Iliad, Richmond Lattimore translation 4. Dog Soldiers, Robert Stone 5. Naked Lunch, William Burroughs I can pick up any of these books, open at random and just start reading. Love your channel and recommendations. Ever see the Seinfeld episode when he riffs on people re-reading favorite books? Maybe Ahab will catch the whale this time. LOL
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 bought a copy off kindle and I can’t wait to read it. Surprisingly I don’t know much about Frankenstein. As most media only show his monster.
I wish you gave a bare bones description of the plot with these. It would be nice to know what it is you loved about them. Otherwise, I loved the video!
A lot of really great books on this list. That is a cooler edition of Lovecraft than the one I have, and I was surprised to see Sherlock Holms as number one. Not that I disagree that they are great stories, but I must have missed the video you did on it, because I don't recall you talking much of his work haha I will have to check it out!
HP. Lovecraft better be on here. LoL. I just put that Joe Abercrombies Best Served Cold on my TBR list. You are the only person that touts Robert E. Howard's Conan , and I Love this.👍 I Am Legend, I believe will never have a movie made as good as that book. I'm also a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. I believe that's the video you made ,that had me follow your Book tube. Great list, great video.
New subscriber, Just started reading Lovecraft. Now I am sure everyone tells you books to read, but I'm a everyone. The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell and Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell. My two bits for what ever they are worth.
I just subscribed. You are a man after my own heart. A fantastic top twenty list. I too read right across the board. My father nurtured me on Doyle, Burroughs, Wells, Lovecraft and Matheson. I read The Time Machine every year. It's perfect. Doyle's and Wells' short stories are constant rereads. I'm now looking forward to looking at your backlog.
If you like Conan Doyle and H. G. Wells you would definitely enjoy Rider Haggard and Rudyard Kipling. I would also recommend Stanley G. Weinbaum, the 1930s science-fiction writer.
Wow this one had a surprise ending! I just love your sense of humor, I chuckle my way through every one of your videos. The only book on this list that I have read is Lord of the Rings and some Sherlock Holmes.
I absolutely LOVE Sherlock Holmes. I've read every single story and novel. I only like the originals by Sir Doyle though. None of these spinoffs or modern retellings. Some of my all time favorite books are on your list, but one is missing: To Kill a Mockingbird. I've read that so many times! My all time favorite book, The Hobbit, is on your list though! Kudos! The Count of Monte Cristo is my all time favorite classic. Took me 2 months to read, but it was well worth it!
Hello Michael , I' m pleased to see science fiction books on your list, I don't know why but it seems to be underrated....you' ve missed Philip K. Dick, great author....Best short stories ever , the ones written by Jorge Luis Borges, as well as his poetry, totally agree on The Count of Montecristo and Jules Verne. The Russian writers ( Lev and Fiódor) are big ones too
‘Shocked’ to see Lovecraft so high on the list 😂. If The Time Machine if one of your favorites, have you read the sort-of-sequel The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter? One of my favs.
Michael, I love your videos. I gain a lot of insight into literature because of you. My question is this: How would you say John Huston's version of Maltese Falcon stacks up against the novel. I think you should do some videos about the relationship between the original novels and the movie versions of those books. Dean White
That film is about as close to the book as it could possibly be. It is certainly the closest I’ve ever seen a movie be to a book. Most of the dialogue is right out of the novel.
Just discovered you and am fascinated by your lists. Jules Verne was one of my favorite authors as a kid. I read him in Spanish . English being my 2nd language. I have a big library have separated into fiction non fiction and biografies. Lucky that I am able to read in three languages. One of my favorite books is The Three Musketeers.. Would love to see your thoughts on Anne Rice.... The Witching Hour I absolutely loved more than her Vampire series. Stephen King is one of my favorite reads. .
I've already read The Count of Monte Cristo three times, twice in my native language of Portuguese and once in English, which I finished yesterday. Now I need to find a short one.
Fantastic list. Would share about 5 to 7 in my top favorites. I'm with you though, mine would be full of History books about the Bronze Age, Rome, The Phoenicians, etc.
Liked this video also. Have a daughter named lorien and my son is Atticus (other list). Glad to know you included complete works because I have ocd when it comes to authors. Just subscribed and looking fwd to watching more videos.
The Toronto Reference Library has a Conan-Doyle room set up to look like 221b. It contains all his writing, including his works on the occult. If you are a fan, it is worth the visit.
When I arrived in France in 1978 the first book in French that I read was 'Le Grand Meaulnes' by Alain Fournier ( no idea what it is in English ) I have about 25 copies of it that seem to find me. It was incredible. The first book I read in French with no hesitation over language was 'L' Amant du Chine du Nord' by Marguerite Duras. I am lucky in that I can read in two languages, I wish it was more as there are some fabulous texts out there. I would love to read Marquez in the text in Spanish. I have just read almost all Carlos Ruiz Zafon but hesitate with the last in the series as I know that when it is finished it is finished and a door will close somewhere. I can recommend if you haven't read him. He paints such an incredible universe of fantasty based in reality.
My choices for a top 20 (and I will have to spend some time on this) aligns an many ways with yours, especially since we are allowed to select short story writers. Sherlock Holmes, Lovecraft, Howard - I would add William Hope Hodgson and Clark Ashton Smith. Machen is a great choice. Monte Cristo. Dune. But then I have some weird ones. Thank you.
I remember being surprised as a kid by how different LOTR is from the Hobbit. It really has a much more adult feel and is so much more complex and detailed. I really want to read it again!
I must say that was a pretty eclectic list! Never read Abercrombe, Simak, or the Chronicles of Conan. I will have to look into that 3 volume Collected Fiction you showed at the beginning, that looks interesting.
Yeah, weird how suddenly the algorithm noticed me. I’m not sure how the mysterious algorithm works and it certainly was unexpected. I’m glad you found my channel though!
Your tastes are all over the place! I’m a sci fi reader predominately but also dig into classics like Anna karenina or brothers k. And I didn’t know anyone else knew Simak’s City! I just finished it and loved it.
My very idiosyncratic list of 20 Favorite books - not necessarily the "Best" (although some are) but definitely my favorites: The Divine Comedy - Dante Four Quartets - T.S. Elliot Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien Arthurian Poetry - Charles Williams That Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis The Sun Also Rises - Hemmingway The First Circle - Solzhenitsyn The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoevsky Leaves of Grass - Walt Whitman Moby Dick - Melville The Magic Mountain - Thomas Mann City - Clifford D. Simak The Winds of War/War and Remembrance - Herman Wouk The Odyssey - Homer A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter Miller Kim - Kipling A Suitable Boy - Vikran Seth The Worm Ouroboros - E.R. Eddison A Soldier of the Great War - Mark Helprin Night Soldiers - Alan Furst
cant wait to watch. some of my favorites i only read once, and set aside forever as a perfect experience. many youth oriented books on my list. animal family by randall jarrell. the old man and the sea. earthsea trilogy. catcher in the rye (bet i wont like it as much now). stuart little. childhoods end. stranger in a strange land. brave new world. hyperion cantos. shadow of the torturer first 4. valis. the man in the high castle. sleeping in flame by jonathan carroll (i was physically in love with this book sweating when i saw it on the counter at the bookstore i worked at, as my "pick".) the lotus caves by john christopher. the magicians nephew by c s lewis. the hobbit. james and the giant peach. the phantom tollbooth by norton juster. the tripods trilogy by john christopher. anywhere but here by mona simpson. i think house of leaves will be my favorite, but it frankly scares me a bit. havent finished. not a lot of mainstream works of fiction on my list. earth abides.
Really digging these vids. But when you mention the book... Can you also mention the page count as well. I think it adds insight to the commitment of the reader and appreciation to the work you've put in to reading these. Mahalo and definitely sub'd 🤙🏽
Can't find the post about Superman's Fortress of Solitude so I'll put it here: If my home had loads of statues of my friends in it and an interplanetary zoo and if it was the place where all the Phantom Zone criminals congregated, and if it was regularly visited by Batman, Lois Lane, Perry White and Jimmy Olsen and if it contained a city of 20 billion people (Kandor) I probably would not call it my Fortress of Solitude.
My favorite Clifford Simak novel is "Cosmic Engineers". This is one that nobody seems to have heard of nowadays. I think it was his 1st novel, & it has many of the faults one will find in a work by an inexperienced writer, but it was a great space adventure novel. Many of the ideas used in this novel would appear again in later, more sophisticated works of SF by Simak. Cosmic Engineers was a classic, slam-bang, shoot-'em-up, space opera, rivalling works by E.E. Doc Smith & Jack Williamson.
Thank you for your recommendations I like Many gotten stuck in watching too much dumb TV that just puts me to sleep! I do listen you listen to murder mysteries on books on CD, but I've been meaning to get around around to the classic great and favorite books I thank you so much for your lists, I immensely enjoyed the old man and the sea by Hemingway and A Connecticut Yankee and King Arthur's court by Mark Twain but I have so many more to read!
You sneaked Jonathan Lethem in with the Annotated Big Sleep, just glimpsed as "with an introduction by ..." but hey, have you read his work? Guns, With Occasional Music? Or Motherless Brooklyn? So many superb, entertaining, brilliant works to choose from when you discover Jonathan Lethem.
I read the first novel in the Sherlock Holmes series. I was shocked to find that half the book was dedicated to Mormonism. Is this early growing pains of the series? It kind of threw me off.
Well, I was shocked that H.P. Lovecraft was not in the 1st place :D But hell yeah for Dracula, it is also one of my favorite books. I guess I should check out Best Served Cold. I`ve only read the very 1st book of the First Law trilogy by the author. Also turns out I`m a fake fantasy fan, lol. Thanks for the video, awesome as always, Michael! :)
Ach, and i did so wekk on your other list. This one I've only read Dracula, Frankenstein, The Time Machine and Legend, plus a few stories of Lovecraft, "Conan" and "Sherlock Holmes". Can't remember if i read The Big Sleep or not, so even if I did, it doesn't really count. I've got a copy though, so I should give it a read. What a poor showing. I've never had a great fondness for adventure stories, for some reason, even as a kid, but i occasionally dip my toes in, just in case. I quite enjoy the Flashman novels, and the first Anno Dracula was fun (got the second waiting on my shelves). My wife's been picking up Jules Verne novels recently so I've been thinking of trying one. 20k Leagues it is, then! Your enthusiasm always makes me want to read these books that i never really thought I'd want to read, so that's fun! I may have to ask the library to procure me a copy of that creepy kitten book of King's. Whenever i read one of his really bad ones, i need a few years to get over it and get interested in his work again. And boy was Elevation a bad one!
Have not read Elevation. Now I’m glad I missed it! I think you will enjoy 20 Thousand Leagues. Captain Nemo is one of those classic immortal characters! Conan did come first! Also, Tolkien rather liked Conan.
My favourite novel of all time is: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, the most amazing retelling of The Arthurian Legend, *ever* iMO. Like a lot of novels, I often come to them having watched fiilm/tv adaptations. That was certainly the case with The Time Machine (earlier version, not the Guy Pearce "remake") and The Lord of The Rings, the Ralph Bakshi (unfinished cartoon) not the Peter Jackson efforts. I often find it helps to have a mental images of the characters before reading, although, that's not always the case! 😉📚
Well, Good Morning, Sir! After spending my life in a fictional state wasting almost all of my conscious moments reading I was happy to have floundered into this channel. ( D'ye say " flounder" or " founder?") Love your unbridled enthusiasm, it would be fun to argue with you! Couldn't help noitcing a photo on the wall of a child, wonder what that's about . Also, let the dawggie be in the room with you , how'about. Yeah, I'm bossy but I am the arrogant Aries woman. I also love that you adore rereading things ; I cannot understand why or how people don't do that. Isn't it just so enthralling to revisit breathtaking characters who bumble into such situations? Looking very forward to hunting down the titles you exhorted ! Thanks ! Trixie 🕰🐾💚🌏🎉💫🌙💛❤️💜💛🦎🌟🍀💜
When I was about 7 my mother had bid at auction on a small silver dish from an estate sale and next day a crate of books arrived that had come with it unbeknownst to my mum and amongst them was Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne. I read it over and over, pure escapism. There was also a copy of 'Tangelwood Tales' which I still have along with Coral Island, saved over the years. There was also a volume of 'The Golden Bough' by Sir James George Frazer but when I was found reading it, it was taken and burnt! I was lucky that my mother taught me to read and write before starting school, teachers not happy but it led me to read and read and my house is crammed full. My father bought me the complete Encyclopedia Britannica when I was 2 and every time I asked a question during my childhood I was sent to my room to look it up. My father was a bad person but that was a good thing. My best friend is a well known book seller in London which does help in finding books except with Brexit postage is quasi impossible! You would seem like the ideal person to be stuck in an elevator with or an island! Meant in the nicest way.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Mysterious Island are two of my favourite classics. Will finally read Les Miserables as part of a readalong late this year. Sherlock Holmes as #1 was a proper fistpump moment for me.
Oh no! I haven't read Conan, so I'm not a real fantasy fan! I might have heard Steven Erikson say that a foundational book when writing Malazan. In any case, I should probably read it. Such an incredible list, and to have read some of these books multiple times is impressive!
I know you said you cant imagine any of the Joe Abercrombie novels being better than Best Served Cold but the Age of Madness Trilogy is as close to being perfect as possible.
A very good list. I have read and loved all but one of them. BUT in my opinion you have left out one book that should be included. You should trade it for the one on your list I have not read (and put this book much higher on your list.) And that book is Alfred Bester´s The Stars My Destination. It is THE Space Opera and not to be missed!
Nice video! Greetings from Brazil. I've read some of those, and now whatching you I'm wondering how I will in the future introduce my 7 year old daughter to all this books! =D
I have listened to The Gunslinger multiple times. But I find that for sheer love of characters, it is Black House. His books are sometimes a depth that is not common.
