What is the best book from the past 125 years?
 

The New York Times is attempting to determine the best book from the past 125 years. What is your vote?

The 25 finalists selected by the Times are

THE TOP 25 BOOKS, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:
1984 By GEORGE ORWELL
All the Light We Cannot See By ANTHONY DOERR
Beloved By TONI MORRISON
Catch-22 By JOSEPH HELLER
The Catcher in the Rye By J.D. SALINGER
Charlotte’s Web By E.B. WHITE
A Confederacy of Dunces By JOHN KENNEDY TOOLE
The Fellowship of the Ring By J.R.R. TOLKIEN
A Fine Balance By ROHINTON MISTRY
A Gentleman in Moscow By AMOR TOWLES
Gone With the Wind By MARGARET MITCHELL
The Grapes of Wrath By JOHN STEINBECK
The Great Gatsby By F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
The Handmaid’s Tale By MARGARET ATWOOD
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone By J.K. ROWLING
Infinite Jest By DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
To Kill a Mockingbird By HARPER LEE
A Little Life By HANYA YANAGIHARA
Lolita By VLADIMIR NABOKOV
Lonesome Dove By LARRY MCMURTRY
One Hundred Years of Solitude By GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ
The Overstory By RICHARD POWERS
A Prayer for Owen Meany By JOHN IRVING
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn By BETTY SMITH
Ulysses By JAMES JOYCE

There are so many on the list that I love. If I can only select one - 1984

An impossible task. How do you define a good book? Most people don't read any books, and those that do, probably wouldn't read any of those books.

I read 1/2 of those books!

Well, it is not a work of fiction but the book that changed my life in 1965 is "How I turned $1,000 into a Million in Real Estate in my Spare Time" by William Nickerson. He wrote updates as it went to $3M, then $5M.

"Probably the most famous book ever written on making money in real estate. William Nickerson and his book HOW I TURNED $1,000 INTO ONE MILLION IN REAL ESTATE IN MY SPARE TIME has probably created more millionaires than any other book in investing history. It simply is a masterpiece of common sense advice."

From: Amazon.com

I have read at least half of the books listed. They are all well written (obviously) and captivating reads.

1984, it seems like it's come true...

Hard to argue against any of those. My personal favorite though has to be The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck not only paints a full-color picture of that era, he puts you in it.

"See Dick Run":1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

My Choice is : The Age of Innocence: Edith Wharton 1921. If limited to the NYT list, I'll choose; To Kill a Mockingbird.

My favorite money book is "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. It should be read by every young person when they start working for a living.

It is not an impossible task but it is a subjective task. However, we do it all the time - in sports (MVP, Cy Young winner, Rookie of the Year); entertainment (Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, etc. etc. etc.), Person of the Year. That is part of the fun of it. We don't debate who led the league in Home Runs or which film was the highest grossing film of the year.

I was fortunate enough to know Betty Smith from "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" fame....while I loved her (and the book) gotta go with 1984....just tooooooooooo spot on. :(

Catch 22, was fortunate to hear Joseph Heller speak while in College.

Not on the list, but I like the Rabbit series by John Updike.

love to know what the NY Times' criteria was for whittling the thousands upon thousands of books that have been written in the last 125 years down to these 25