In a previous post, I mentioned how large a role good books have played in my life. And being a bit of a packrat, I've accumulated many tomes over the decades. Even after donating roughly half of my books when we moved to Sligo Park Hills, I still had bookshelves groaning under the weight of double-stacked rows. That's why one of my requirements for building a house was a real library. It's a dream come true.

I've often been asked about my favorite books, a question that defies a succint answer. But I certainly have many best-loved books, so I thought I'd share them here. I'll post them in three lists: favorite books for children, favorite fantasy & science fiction books, and other fiction and nonfiction favorites.

Like the Movies database on this site, these lists don't try to be current. Rather, I'm focusing on books that I grew up with—ones that might even be overlooked by today's readers. I also do not mean these are books you should read—I enjoyed very few of the books I was forced to read in various English and literature classes. These are simply books I loved reading (and re-reading). I think you'll enjoy them too.

Favorites of Children's Literature

Alexander, Lloyd

• The Chronicles of Prydain

Blume, Judy

• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Burroughs, Edgar Rice

• The Tarzan series (first 4 books)

Carroll, Lewis

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
• Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There

Christopher, John

• The Tripods trilogy

Cooper, Susan

• The Dark Is Rising sequence

Dahl, Roald

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Danny the Champion of the World
• James and the Giant Peach
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More

Eager, Edward

• Half Magic

Edwards, Julie (AKA Julie Andrews)

• The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles

Farley, Walter

• The Black Stallion

Fitzgerald, John D.

• The Great Brain series

Futrelle, Jacques

• The Thinking Machine

George, Jean

• My Side of the Mountain

Gilbreth, Frank B.

• Cheaper by the Dozen

Goscinny & Uderzo

• The Adventures of Asterix series

Henry, Marguerite

• King of the Wind

Hergé

• The Adventures of Tintin series

Juster, Norton

• The Phantom Tollbooth

Kipling, Rudyard

• The Jungle Book
• Just So Stories

Konigsburg, E.L.

• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
• Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth

Note: Konigsburg won the Newbery Medal and a Newbery honor in the same year for these remarkable books.

Lawson, Robert

• Rabbit Hill

Le Guin, Ursula K.

• The Earthsea trilogy

L'Engle, Madeleine

• A Wrinkle in Time

Lewis, C.S.

• The Chronicles of Narnia

Lofting, Hugh

• The Story of Doctor Dolittle

Macaulay, David

• Cathedral
• Castle

Merrill, Jean

• The Pushcart War

Milne, A.A.

• Winnie-the-Pooh
• The House at Pooh Corner

Nesbit, Edith

• Five Children and It
• The Phoenix and the Carpet
• The Story of the Amulet

O'Brien, Robert C.

• Mrs. Frisby and Rats of NIMH
• The Silver Crown

O'Dell, Scott

• Island of the Blue Dolphins

Paterson, Katherine

• Bridge to Terabithia

Pène du Bois, William

• The 21 Balloons

Raskin, Ellen

• The Westing Game
• The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)
• The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues

Rockwell, Thomas

• How to Eat Fried Worms

Rodgers, Mary

• Freaky Friday
• A Billion for Boris

Selden, George

• The Cricket in Times Square
• The Genie of Sutton Place

Silverstein, Shel

• Where the Sidewalk Ends
• A Light in the Attic

Sobol, Donald

• The Encyclopedia Brown series

Steig, William

• Abel's Island

Stevenson, Robert Louis

• Treasure Island

Titus, Eve

• Basil of Baker Street

Tolkien, J.R.R.

• The Hobbit

Travers, P.L.

• Mary Poppins

White, E.B.

• Charlotte's Web
• The Trumpet of the Swan
• Stuart Little

Wilder, Laura Ingalls

• Little House on the Prairie
• Farmer Boy