I realize the “right” time to do this was in December, when everyone else was doing decade retrospectives, but it takes a while to pore through ~2000 titles! These are in rough chronological order.
- Horatio Hornblower series, C.S. Forester. Napoleonic naval action, made all the better by a fantastic series on A&E based on some of the ‘young Hornblower’ stories.
- Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe, Saxon Stories, and Arthur books. I praise Cornwell enough here that any readers should know his strengths!
- The Sea Wolf, Jack London. A fascinating tale of a soft professor who is rescued by a Nietzschean wild man; this one is rich with philosophy, and is possibly my favorite piece by London.
- 11/22/63, Stephen King. A superb mix of historical fiction and character drama, with some King creepiness .
- Star Trek: Destiny, David Mack. Destiny is a legend in Treklit reading circles, that’s all I can say.
- Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry . My favorite novel – period.
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Robert Heinlein . The story of independence…on the moon!
- The Chosen, Chaim Potok. Two Jewish boys’ coming of age, amid the challenges of modernity — including the Holocaust.
- Sphere, Michael Crichton
- Bertie and Wooster tales, P.G. Wodehouse. Wodehouse is my sunshine on a cloudy day; a never-failing pick-me-up.
- The Circle, Dave Eggers
- Ancestral Shadows, Russell Kirk. Ghostly stories with themes of revenge and redemption.
- Redshirts, John Scalzi . A Star Trek parody with tear-worthy codas.
- Ready Player One, Ernest Cline. Oh, man, where to begin — a global community holodeck, fully loaded with eighties nostalgia and geek culture references.
- Little Brother, Cory Doctorow An exciting YA novel in which San Francisco becomes a police state, resisted by teenage crypto-activists.
- The Martian, Andy Weir.
- Star Trek Disavowed/Control, David Mack. The grand finale to the mystery and threat of Section 31.
- Daemon/Freedom, Daniel Suarez. Probably my favorite techno-thrillers, one which a computer program begins building its own state.
- Becoming Mrs Lewis, Patti Callahan. A novel about one of my favorite literary people, C.S. Lewis, and the unexpected love of his life.
- War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy.
Next up: favorite nonfiction. That’s going to be…..a lot harder.
Reading Freely 
I read The Chosen many years ago, and while I have forgotten so much about it, I remember liking it very much. I hope to read it again. And of course, I do agree w/ W&P. One day I’d like to read Becoming Mrs. Lewis. Looking forward to your list of favorite fiction.
I would reccommend Potok’s sequel, “The Promise”, as well. 🙂 The nonfiction will be ready shortly.
….ah…I meant NONFIC! And I have been keeping my eyes open for more Potok. Thanks!
I assumed as much ! I’m the same way about Potok – he has a great many other novels which I haven’t gotten to yet.
i’ve read six of those and the others sound appealing… tx for listing them…
You’re welcome! Nonfiction coming up soon. 🙂
Haven’t read any Forester but I have at least one coming up ‘soon’. Read LOTS of Cornwell but still have a few Sharpe to go. Still haven’t read any of his Saxon series though!! Been meaning to read Sea Wolf for ages. Guess I need to buy a copy first! Read Harsh Mistress in my teens. Will be reviewing RPO next week. Picked up some Doctorow so he’s on my read ‘soon’ list… LOVED The Martian – book & film. Will try Tolstoy post-retirement.