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.

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

Agree about Chandler and Hammett, and I would add Ellroy''s L.A.Quartet.

This video was great! I love the energy you brought to this, very charismatic and fun. Looking forward to more!!

I love the way your videos are structured and how you talk about books this channel is so fun

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).

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.

Subscribed, love Sherlock Holmes and will have to read some of the books you've mentioned that I haven't read.

Your videos are always enjoyable, and there's almost always a dozen new books to add to my list

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.

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!

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. .

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

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.

Lord have mercy, you sure have an eclectic list of favorites! Thanks for sharing with us.

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 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.

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.

Great video Michael! The cover on Frankenstein is beauty 🤠adding a couple of these to my TBR.

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.

Thanks Michael, enjoyed it. Dracula was also the first “adult” novel I read as a 10 year old.

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

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.

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.

Great list, thank you! Liked and subscribed.

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

I love it. Another great thing is that a lot of these are in the public domain so it won't cost you an arm and a leg to read in digital format.

Great list. There's a lot of these that I need to read. I hadn't heard of City by Clifford D. Simak and added to my TBR.

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!

Hi, I'm enjoying hearing about your lists of books, and was wondering if your choices are from a predetermined lexis of some kind ? Yes, many wonderful books from the past (I haven't read all of them either), but do you read or consider more recent contemporary writers ? Or perhaps you think it's become a lost art, the actual novels of today and that they are not worth reading ?

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.

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.

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

Nice list. Did you ever hear of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant? That is also fantastic and I would like what you think of these 10 Fantasy books.

Wow. Did not expect City by Simak. Just loved that book. One of my favorites

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! :)

Another fine list! Of course I still need to read many of these. I am about to start reading LotR with my seven yo; we just finished The Hobbit.

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.

Awesome, I added some books to my read list!

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.

The Sherlock Holmes book is just gorgeous!

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!

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!

At last, the video we’ve all been waiting for!

Man, i like your videos, truly !

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!

Great video as usual Michael a very interesting list. Mark :)

I have that same Dracula paperback, also got it as a kid. Still my favorite Dracula cover.

You crack me up! Love your channel. Just wondering, your major in school?

‘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.

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.

Hey, I really like your videos, just subscribed! The algorithm seems to like your channel right now :)

Interesting list. And great to see Robert E Howard up there.

Isn't it great that people still enjoy reading books,great choices.

Great list. Have you read John Wyndham? Superlative and believable science fiction.

Read "Unwind"by Neal Shusterman. It is amazing and unsung. You present a varied and interesting assortment. Love your posts

Have you read Neal Gaiman’s A Study in Emerald. For you, I think it would be a must read. It’s a hoot.

Haha.. I'm going to have to look and see if you've done a video for 20 favourite Greek historians. I like that stuff too.

Being a fan of Fitzgerald, I hit the thumbs up at the very beginning. Great choices.

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.

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 🤙🏽

Thank you for this.

Thanks for your list,agree with most of it,but I would include the short stories of Ray Bradbury in my list.unique.

LOL I kept asking what about SH? What about SH? You didn’t disappoint. Great list.

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.

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!

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...)

Cheers! Keep up your good work. Do you read in French?

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've never heard of Conan before. Or A Princess of Mars. I'll have to check them out.

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.

Hi, I'm new to your channel. I just found it this morning. Interesting list. I wonder have you ever read Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis ? I think it's the greatest tour de force I've ever read in any genre. I'd like to hear how you rate it . Also Holmes' Dracula file by Fred Saberhagen . A very interesting blend of Sherlock Holmes and Dracula which I think works very well. I think they belong on any favorite's list.

That list is awesome

Very cool Michael!

Surprised to see Best Served Cold on this list, I'll be reading it when I'm finished with the First Law trilogy

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! 😉📚

Treasure Island...for sure!

You should read the new trilogy by Joe Abercrombie "Age of Madness". I liked Red country from him as his take on a western as well.

Hi Michael! My husband really enjoyed Pet Sematary as well. I think it was his favorite King novel. And yes, The Lord of the Rings is incredible!

I would have included "Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert.

I love the way you cheat at your own game. Great list! I need to read Best Served Cold.

I was looks for your “20 greatest novels” video. Can’t find it! Has it been blinked out of existence?

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!

So many books and more being written everyday! How do I keep up?

Very good list! Deb

Thanks for the video. You have a great list but “I Am Legend” was not that good for me. It had a very disappointing end. It was like Mathesen ran out of time and threw together a quick ending.

This video is... fantastic.

4 minutes in I had to pause and go get a pen and paper to add most of these to my To Buy List! Thx?

If you're a slow reader like me these books should be great for the next decade

I see that Best Served Cold is in the First Law universe. Do you need to read the trilogy first?

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.

I've read all the Philip Marlowe stories, my favorite is _Lady in the Lake._

Wouldn’t have lovecraft so high up but it’s ur list

I'm wondering if you've read THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI by Helene Wecker.

Kudos….. for Monte Cristo,and Sherlock ♥️🇨🇦

Malazan book of the Fallen. Especially Deadhouse Gates, House of Chains and Memories of Ice!!!

Sherlock number one- as it should be!

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.