My 20 Favorite Books of All Time (As of Now, Anyway)
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- Опубликовано: 8 ноя 2023
- A completely subjective and idiosyncratic list of my 20 favorite books. I mention @anotherbibliophilereads in this video, too.
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My email: randyray at gmail.com
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My Instagram: @literatetexan
My website: www.literatetexan.com/
Awesome list! I really need to read some Western fiction next year. Silence of the Lambs is a great entry. The World According To Garp is a great novel, really enjoyed it in my teens. 11/22/63 is one of my favorite books of the year, 5 stars for sure. Beautiful novel! I taught The Great Gatsby, 5 stars, some people will never understand how important and special this novel is. Great list Sir!
Thank you so much! I love it that so many of the commenters for this video like the same books I do.
Excellent list. The Great Gatsby is my no.1 favorite. I also love Lonesome Dove and the Dave Robicheaux series. Shane is on my tbr for 2024.
The Great Gatsby gets better every time I've read it. I'm really looking forward to digging into the Dave Robicheaux books in earnest. I can't wait to hear what you think of Shane.
I have read about half the books on this list. Not Everything Matters, but I’ll put that one on the piles of possibilities.
I didn't read Tolkien until I was 30 and I felt like I'd wasted my teen years by missing out on such great adventure. I just found your channel so about to binge as I am also a literate Texan 😁
Oh, how wonderful. Tolkien is such a delight at any age, too.
Awesome picks -- we overlap on a bunch! Also, re your Russo project: The Risk Pool is awesome!
I remember really enjoying The Risk Pool, and I'm looking forward to re-reading it.
Excellent video and channel! You definitely have a unique list of favorites. I admire your ability to speak clearly about these books. Looks like you do no editing, I wish I could do that! I have to edit all of my videos haha
No editing and no script. I just hit record and go! In 2024, I might learn how to edit some. The trick will be adding that to my repertoire without changing the extemporaneous feel of the channel.
I'm grateful for your kind words about my little contribution here on Booktube! Thank you.
Loved seeing this list. Surprised to see Palahniuk on your list! Invisible Monsters by him is one of my all time faves. Spin has been lingering on my shelf for a while now. I need to just finally read it.
Spin is so great. I'd love to read that one again.
Great list! Lonesome Dove is a favorite of mine as well as all of Steinbeck. I will add Travels with Charley on to my Nonfic November list.
I think you'll love it!
Excellent list! Subscribed!
Thank you so much!
Great list! Recently discovered Travels with Charley and enjoyed it immensely.
Interesting choices, Randy! King's 11/22/63 is a particular favourite of mine. Read that sucker in two days!
It's hard to put down. For me, it was really effective, emotionally, too. I might give that one another read soon.
I just read East of Eden and really loved it. We had to read Grapes of Wrath in High School and for awhile it was near the top of my list. I will have to go deeper I think into his other Ouvre.
East of Eden is SO great! I liked it a lot more than Grapes of Wrath, and that's high praise because I loved Grapes of Wrath.
I love Graham Greene and haven’t read that one yet! The End of The Affair is my fave so far. the World According to Gary is an old fave of mine!
I loved both of those so much.
Great list, Randy. I always actually prefer Red Dragon to Silence Of The Lambs, but that's just my preference. Some of these are really hard to argue with. A really good and varied selection.
Red Dragon is a really great book, too, for sure
Woo hoo! Another Great Gatsby lover! I loved that book but I know so many people who hate it. I don't understand it! I also love Travels with Charley. The audiobook is narrated by Gary Sinise and is fantastic. Sometimes, I'll just put that one to listen to as I fall alseep.
Oh, now have to check out the audiobook. I love Gary Sinise!
Nice list! Cat's Cradle, Great Gatsby, Travels with Charley, Quiet American, LOTR, and Sherlock Holmes are terrific. I'll have to check out Spin and Everything Matters. My only disappointment with Shane is the bit where the kid is poking around Shane's stuff and finds the gun with the sights filed down. I kept waiting for a hand to slam down on the kid's shoulder, whereupon he is spun around to have his forehead impaled by "Shane's" vile alien proboscis, all while the cat gazes admiringly from the shadows. Oh well, can't win 'em all. 😁
This literally made me laugh out loud!
Shane is such a fave of mine. My first western - ever! Excellent picks! You should list all your books in the description box, just sayin’ 😂) - MJ
Good point!
Lonesome Dove is definitely gonna be my next June on The Range read
I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it
I like your list, thanks. I love James Lee Burke as well. My favorite author. His descriptions and people always delight me. I'll really have to think about my favorites, the problem I have is that I am way to fickle and it changes hour by hour.
I have the same problem! Burke is such a terrific writer.
11/23/63 is also my favorite Stephen King novel. I cried my eyes out. I also thought the TV show was a terrible adaption- I stopped watching after the second episode. LOL I hope you get the opportunity to tell Stephen King you're his biggest fan. 😉😊😆
Someday, I hope!
I just put Cat's Cradle on my TBR. I'm thinking of getting to it, soon. I've never read anything by him, before.
He's not for everyone, but Cat's Cradle is pretty entertaining and easy to finish in an evening.
@@LiterateTexan That's exactly what I was told. The book was suggested to me as a starting place for Vonnegut to see if I like him.
My heart jumped when I saw Tolkien on your list!
He's so great.
What a great list! You mentioned some titles I'd never heard of that sound great, like Spin, Barney's Version, and Everything Matters. I think it's time for a reread of The World According to Garp. I've already chosen Lonesome Dove as my classic for next year's Big Book Summer (a challenge I host every year). My dad LOVED Kurt Vonnegut, and I've only read Slaughterhouse Five so far, so I will read Cat's Cradle next. I reread The Grapes of Wrath this summer and loved it. I've never read Travels with Charley, so I'll put that one on my list. Oh, and I totally agree on 11/22/63 - my favorite Stephen King! Have you ever read Connie Willis' time travel books, the Oxford Time Travel series? They're all good, but Blackout and All-Clear (which go together) are outstanding! Wow, thanks for all the great recommendations! And nice to "meet" you :)
I have those Connie Willis books but haven't read them yet.
It's so great to meet you, too! I think we have similar tastes in books!
@@LiterateTexan Oh, they are SO good!!! My husband and I both loved them - outstanding. Her Doomsday Book is also excellent. Hope you get tot hem in 2024!
@@LiterateTexan Definitely!
Been meaning to sit down and do a list of favorites. I know I've added one this year with A Master of Djinn.
That's a great title. I'll have to check that out.
@@LiterateTexan It's tremendous fun. A little steampunk, a little magic, set in an alternate world Cairo in the early jazz age. Try the prequel short story "A Dead Djinn in Cairo" first. The novel references it, and it's a very quick read. (The audio book is excellent.)
I haven’t read anything on the list except all the Steinbeck books. I have Great Gatsby waiting in Limbo. After the read what you own book challenge I’ll be be ordering Everything Matters.
Oh, goody! I can't wait to hear what you think of Everything Matters. I got my copy of the Henry Winkler memoir that you recommended recently, and I'm looking forward to that.
@@LiterateTexan Awesome, I hope you enjoy.
Not to be a pedant but Tom Sawyer wasn’t a “prequel” as it was written and published before Huck Finn.
Great books
Thanks!
Spin! I really enjoyed that one last December and still haven't gotten around to continuing the series in spite of that. Great list...I'll have to track down your #1 sometime to give it a read.
My previous vid on my own Top 20: ruclips.net/video/WUM5c0kKyHA/видео.htmlsi=OWBR-a_NtAGCCljL
That's awesome! You're the only other Spin fan I've met. I started the second book a couple different times but just couldn't get into it. Maybe it's time to take on the whole trilogy again.
Lord of the rings is #1
It's really great.