Following the journey of award winning author, Alex Azar, as he travels the publishing world and all things interesting. To reproduce or publish any material found within this blog, please contact me at azarrising@hotmail.com

Top 25 Books

The following is a list of my 25 favorite books, with an additional few 'honorable mentions'


'Honorable Mentions' (in no particular order)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Shining by Stephen King
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Criminal Macabre by Steve Niles


25) The Icewind Dale Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore
24) Lord of the Flies by William Golding
23) The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
22) The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
21) Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
20) Kingdom Come by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross
19) Smoker by Greg Rucka
18) Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton
17) Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut
16) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
15) The Hound of Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
14) The Princess Bride by William Goldman
13) The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
12) The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
11) Demon in a Bottle by David Michlinie and Bob Layton
10) Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
09) The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
08) Paradise Lost by John Milton
07) The Odyssey by Homer
06) Dracula by Bram Stoker
05) Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean
          Easily the greatest graphic novel I've ever read.  It truly redefined the Batman mythos by focusing on the villains more than Batman himself.  Grant Morrison crafted a wonderful story taking place primarily within the walls of the asylum Batman himself filled, with beautiful art by Dave McKean.  This is a strong a recommendation for anyone who's ever read a comic, or even if you haven't.  If you can get past the notion of this being a comic, you will be pleasantly surprised.
04) Macbeth by William Shakespeare
         Whether you want to believe Shakespeare was a single author or a group of authors writing under a shared pseudonym, he/they have crafted some of the greatest stories of all time.  Many of said stories could easily have made this, or anyones greatest, list.  However, for me, the choice was easy.  Hamlet, Othello, Romero and Juliet, the many sonnets, Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and the list goes on, but Macbeth has always been my favorite.  The intricacies of the prophecies and play between characters made for an incredible read.
03) The Occult Detective by C.J. Henderson
         Chances are few, if any, of you reading this has ever heard of C.J. Henderson, but he ranks so high up on this list because his work has been influential to my own writing.  He writes with great poise and a real world grit that makes the paranormal and supernatural that he writes feel so relatable in an odd yet comfortable way.  While he's not as widely known as he should be, other authors in his genre respect his talents to the point where he's been commissioned to continue the work of H.P. Lovecraft.  Another recommendation to anyone who hasn't had a chance to read him.
02) The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
         I don't think there's anything I can say about this that hasn't been said a million times over.  With that said, if you haven't read the Divine Comedy yet, you're truly doing yourself a disservice.  It's considered one of the greatest works of literature of all time for obvious reasons.  Read and follow one man's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven that touches on every part on the human condition.
01) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
             Movie and book alike rank the top of my lists, for simple reasons.  Anthony Burgess created his own slang for the novella which came out in 1962, so at times it may be a difficult read, however I can't give a stronger recommendation to read this book.  I won't say anymore to give away anything, but your interest has to piqued to treat yourself.


Putting this list together, a few things surprised me.  For one, I find it interesting that Stephen King didn't make the list, although he's easily one of my favorite authors.  Same goes for Poe, Lovecraft, Doyle, and Twain, all of whom are some of my favorite authors, but no one work stands out enough to rate higher on the list.

If there's a book you think should be on this list, or want to recommend for a read feel free to comment.

3 comments:

  1. There's plenty of room to make comments here, but I'll start with #2 - Dante's Inferno. I tried reading it, I really did. I got about half way through and felt like I hadn't absorbed anything. Maybe I'm a bit slow. I didn't get it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well all I can say is that if you couldn't get through The Inferno, no way you'd be able to read the entire Divine Comedy. Inferno is the most popular for a reason.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love The Inferno. I haven't read it since high school, but I remember thinking, even back then, "Wow, this is some crazy stuff!" Haha.

    ReplyDelete