Favorite Books

This is a list of my favorite books. Order is irrelevant here, because it is far too much work for me to dissect the merits of each labor of an author's love. And the order would keep changing as I change. Books will be tacked on as I read them; hopefully I will be discovering new favorites throughout my whole life! Favorite books lists are interesting and important because they give insight into the list-maker's own values and personality.

These books earned their spots because they profoundly affected me in some way. Their exquisite quality—writing style, storylines, themes, etc.—drew me in and opened up my mind to life. Obviously, not all are Christianity-based, but my life is better for having read them.

What do you think? Would any of these books belong on your list?

1. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 
2. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
3. Persuasion - Jane Austen  
4. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen 
5. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen 
6. Emma - Jane Austen
7. Christy - Catherine Marshall
8. Julie - Catherine Marshall
9. Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell 
10. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell 
11. Mary Barton - Elizabeth Gaskell 
12. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell
13. The Moorland Cottage - Elizabeth Gaskell
14. The Scent of Water - Elizabeth Goudge
15. The Dean's Watch - Elizabeth Goudge 
16. Green Dolphin Country - Elizabeth Goudge
17. The Eliots of Damerosehay (series) - Elizabeth Goudge
18. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
19. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
20. The Lord of the Rings (series) - J. R. R. Tolkien 
21. The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
22. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens 
23. The Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens 
24. The Zion Chronicles - Bodie Thoene 
25. First Light - Bodie Thoene 
26. Daniel Deronda - George Eliot 
27. Silas Marner - George Eliot
28. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
29. The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan
30. Cecilia - Fanny Burney 
31. The Wanderer - Fanny Burney
32. The Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
33. Anne of Green Gables (series) - L. M. Montgomery
34. Emily of New Moon (series) - L. M. Montgomery
35. The Blue Castle - L. M. Montgomery 
36. Pat of Silver Bush (series) - L. M. Montgomery
37. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
38. An Old-Fashioned Girl - Louisa May Alcott 
39. Rose in Bloom - Louisa May Alcott 
40. The Chosen - Chaim Potok
41. Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc - Mark Twain 
42. The Innocents Abroad - Mark Twain
43. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain 
44. Out of Africa - Isak Dinesen
45. Watership Down - Richard Adams
46. The Brethren - H. Rider Haggard
47. Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson 
48. Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
49. Lark Rise to Candleford - Flora Thompson
50. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy 
51. Least of All Saints - Grace Irwin
52. Andrew Connington - Grace Irwin
53. The Seventh Earl - Grace Irwin
54. Hind's Feet on High Places (series) - Hannah Hurnard
55. Jesus Freaks (series) - DC Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs
56. Monster - Frank Peretti
57. Little House on the Prairie (series) - Laura Ingalls Wilder
58. Young Pioneers - Rose Wilder Lane
59. The Incredible Journey - Sheila Burnford 
60. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
61. Mara, Daughter of the Nile - Eloise Jarvis McGraw
62. Nancy Drew (series) - Carolyn Keene
63. History Mysteries (series) - various authors
64. Royal Diaries (series) - various authors
65. American Girl (series) - various authors
66. Homeschool Detectives (series) - John Bibee
67. Ruby Slippers School (series) - Stacy Towle Morgan
68. The American Adventure (series) - various authors
69. Elsie Dinsmore (series) 
70. Princess - Carolyn Lane
71. Father Brown mysteries (series) - G. K. Chesterton
72. Alpha Centauri - Robert Siegel
73. Calico Captive - Elizabeth George Speare
74. A Girl of the Limberlost - Gene Stratton Porter
75. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
76. A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett
77. Charity's Diary (series) - Elisabeth Allen
78. Tongue of the Prophets - Robert St. John
79. Twenty Years at Hull-House - Jane Addams
80. The Hiding Place - Corrie ten Boom
81. Midnight in the Dollhouse - Marjorie Stover
82. Dogs to the Rescue (series) - Jeanette Sanderson
83. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
84. Dahveed: Yahweh's Chosen - Terri Fivash
85. Joseph - Terri Fivash
86. Five Gems (series) - E. Kaiser Writes
87. Thaw (series) - E. Kaiser Writes
88. Madeleine Takes Command - Ethel C. Brill
89. Our Village - Mary Mitford
90. The Inimitable Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse
91. Johnny Tremain - Esther Forbes 
92. The Baronet's Song - George MacDonald
93. The Shepherd's Castle - George MacDonald
94. Around the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne
95. Carry on, Mr. Bowditch - Jean Lee Latham
96. How Do I Love Thee? - Nancy Moser
97. Stepping Heavenward - Elizabeth Prentiss
98. Within the Palace Gates - Anna P. Siviter
99. Winnie-the-Pooh (series) - A. A. Milne
100. Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
101. God of the Fairy Tale - Jim Ware
102. Have His Carcase - Dorothy L. Sayers
103. Animal Ark (series) - Ben M. Baglio
104. Penross Manor - Joan Winmill Brown
105. The Perilous Gard - Elizabeth Marie Pope
106. The Valley Omnibus - Sarah Scheele
107. Remembering the Alamo - Alicia A. Willis
108. From the Dark to the Dawn - Alicia A. Willis
109. Caught up in a Story - Sarah Clarkson
110. Miniatures and Morals - Peter J. Leithart