1. The histories, Herodotus (ancient history) 2. Complete chronicles of Conan 3. Complete fiction of Lovecraft 4. Sherlock Holmes, Doyle 5. Dracula, Stoker 6. I am legend, Matheson (end of the world) 7. Princess of Mars, Burroughs (mars trilogy science fiction, pulp fiction) 8. Frankenstein 9. Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas 10. Mythology, Edith Hamilton (ancient history) 11. Lord of the rings 12. The big sleep, Chandler (novel) 13. City, Simak (science fiction novel) 14. Time Machine, Wells (science fiction) 15. Maltese Falcon, Hammett (detective) 16. 20'000 leagues under the sea (Jules Verne 17. Tarzan of the apes, Burroughs 18. Les miserables, victor hugo 19. Pet Sematary, Stephen king (horror) 20. Tender is the night, Fitzgerald (doomed relationship) 21. The great god Pan, Machen (fantasy horror) 22. Left hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (science fiction) 23. History of the peloponnesian War, Thycydides (historical war, author lived through it) 24. Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky 25. Gods of Mars, Burroughs (science fiction) 26. She, Haggard (lost world) 27. Bran mak morn, Howard (fantasy Conan, picts vs romans) 28. Dune 29. The big book of the continental OP, Hammet (continental OP saga about detectives) 30. The great gatsby 31. The iliad 32. The shrinking man, Matheson (horror science fiction) 33. Farewell, My lovely, Chandler (mystery) 34. War and Peace, Tolstoy 35. The three musketeers, Dumas 36. The dark eidolon and other fantasies, Smith (short fantasy novels) 37. The war of the worlds, Wells 38. The picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde 39. The martian chronicles, Bradbury (science fiction) 40. The Galton Case, Macdonald (noir) 41. Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky 42. Kull Exile of Atlantis, Howard (fantasy Conan) 43. Heart of Darkness 44. Appointment in Samarra 45. Return of Tarzan, Burroughs 46. The hobbit 47. The glass key, Hammett (detective) 48. Jane Eyre, Bronte 49. The odyssee 50. Treasure island, Stevenson (pirate) 51. The way some people die, Macdonald (detective) 52. Day of the Triffids, Wyndham (killer plants, end of the world) 53. Anabasis, Xenophon (persian expedition) 54. At the earth's core (lost world adventure) 55. Caves of Steel, Asimov (science fiction) 56. Island of doctor moreau, Wells 57. Ancient sorceries and other weird stories, Blackwood 58. Dark Gods, Klein (horror novels) 59. The Long goodbye, Chandler 60. For whom the bell tolls, Hemingway 61. Best of Richard matheson (short fiction) 62. The woman in white, Collins (novel) 63. King Solmon's mines (cowboy) 64. Ivanhoe, Scott (classic adventure novel middle ages) 65. The death of Grass, Christopher (famine and end of civilization) 66. Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck 67. History of Rome, Livy (ancient history) 68. Night shift, Stephen King (horror stories) 69. Why not you and I, Wagner (horror stories) 70. Solomon Kane, Howard (pulp) 71. Best served cold, Abercrombie (fantasy revenge) 72. Copperfield, Dickens 73. Hell House, Matheson (haunted house) 74. Egypt, Greece and Rome, Freeman (ancient history of the ancient mediterannean) 75. House on the borderland (horror) 76. Allan Quatermain, Haggard (cowboy) 77. The histories, Polybius (Rise of the Roman Empire) 78. East of Eden, Steinbeck 79. Earth abides, Stewart (end of the world science fiction) 80. Bloodstone, Wagner (fantasy) 81. Gardens of the moon, Erikson (fantasy novel) 82. A tale of two cities, dickens 83. Hellenika, Xenophon (ancient history) 84. The haunting of hill house, jackson 85. Legend, Gemell (fantasy) 86. the lost world, arthur conan doyle (dinos) 87. Time and the gods, lord dunsany (fantasy) 88. Salem's lot, Stephen King (vampires) 89. The blade itself, abercrombie (fantasy series) 90. Campaigns of alexander, arrian 91. Planet of the apes 92. elric, moorcock (fantasy) 93. The lottery and other stories, Jackson (short stories packing a punch) 94. Moving target, Macdonald (first book in series) 95. Robots of Dawn, Asimov 96. Complete tales and poems of edgar alan poe 97. Land that time forgot (fantasy novel) 98. Musashi, Yoshikawa (japanese historical novel) 99. Darkness weaves (dark fantasy) 100.Journal of the gun years (dark western)
Good list. Having read many of those, today I finished the Silmarillion also by JRR Tolkien. For Hobbit & LOTR fans, The Silmarillion is pure gold and will always be on my top ten GOAT books that brought me joy reading.
One of my all-time favorite videos by one of the greatest Booktubers around. Thank you for the work I know it took to make this awesome video. This entire list are books I have read or books I want to read. Excellence! Scott.
Thanks! I’m very sorry there were no alien romances on this list (does Princess of Mars count?)but my taste has always been questionable. I’m so glad you liked the video! This was one of my nuttier ideas! I was annoyed with myself while I was putting in all those pictures but I guess it turned out okay.
Nice to see which writers and genres press your reading pleasure buttons! I too have a soft spot for Edith Hamilton's _Mythology_ Got me interested in that subject at a young age. Great video and thanks for showing all those covers.
Truly an achievement. First, that you managed to get your thoughts together to put together a list of 100, and then you have presented it so well!! Really enjoyed the last. Happy to see a lot of my favourites on your list!
So glad to see Hemingway on your list...and of course Dracula is also a favorite of mine. Its really hard to find Tarzan books at the used bookstores here. I wonder why...I love your list. Good job!
Love an eclectic list without pretension. There’s not much intersection with what I might come up with if I was brave enough to make such a list, but Ihave to admit that I love all the spots where we would overlap. Surprised you don’t include anything g from the other McDonald brothers (John and Philip). You make me think that I should dive into some of the ancient histories. Also, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is Jackson’s best book.
Happy New Year!🎊🎉 Great list. I make these lists on scrap paper all the time. Melville, Conrad, Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky always make it along with most of the ancient Greek and Romans I've read. Despite forcing myself to read postmodernism and current literature, most of it doesn't resonate with me. Definitely need to read more classic pulp fiction; there's a lot of fun to be had!
I don’t think I could come up with a list of 100 in order. Very impressive. I just read I am legend in December 😍 I have read many of your top 10 but not all. Thanks for sharing!
Every year I compile a list of books and send them to my family and they each buy me one from the list for Christmas. I have added a couple from your video , Dune and Herodotus. Thank you for for such a varied list of books.
This list must have taken a long time to put together! Nice to see that someone else appreciates Clifford D. Simak! Read Bran Mak Morn this year and loved it. Will be adding other books on your list to my TBR of course. Wishing you health and happiness this year!
A wonderful list - I dont like much fantasy but those I do like I really love. A few on your list would qualify. I think a lot of the titles you mentioned would also be in my list, but I think I'd include a lot more classic crime.
Hi Michael, i loved the video! The list was quite diverse and interesting. I have one question /request though : can you, sometimes in the future, make a video on ancient history books, go through your favourite ancient writers and tell us which modern versions are the best. I think that would be very entertaining!
I strongly second this suggestion. Would love some directions on where to start with ancient writers, which editions to get. Also if you could throw some light on the extent of historical accuracy on part of the authors, that would be great! Great list, great video, Michael!
Wow, what a quirky list! Loads of books i would never have considered, but many I’d like to explore. I like pulp fiction, and hard-boiled detective stories, but will have to eliminate all the horror stories, just because my imagination has always been overheated. And i want to read some ancient history, because I adored I,Claudius, but never knew where to go next. Thanks, Michael.
This is an impressive list! I kept wondering where Herodotus was going to be when you mentioned several other ancient works. :). I love Edith Hamilton’s Mythologies too. It was a gateway for me as well.
Amazing list! Sensory overload, but in a good way. I love listening to a person who's passionate about books just dump a ton of 'em on me, lol. Lots of stuff I need to check out, but Count of Monte Cristo is definitely up there for me too. 😊
That's an impressive achievement, and a wonderful list to watch. So many great books in there! I can't even imagine trying to list the 100 favorites. Not only would the list constantly be changing around, but the minute I decided on 100, there would be hundreds of, "oh, yeah, there's that one, too" moments that would take me back to the beginning. I really enjoyed your video.
I have such a hard time finding obscure gems of literature. You are definitely my go to for discovery of books that i never even thought about! Thank you so much expanding my knowledge of books to read beyond The NY Times bestseller lists ( not that there is anything wrong with that)! I love books, and your a great resource to expand my knowledge of the very best out there!
Super video! So many great ideas here that I have to rewatch it with a pen&paper. I was excited to hear you mention Musashi . I have a copy I've been meaning to read. This must be the year! Happy New Year dude!
I read Appointment In Samarra last year. My god, what a phenomenally engrossing read from page 1 to the end! The whole idea of the "tragic flaw". One of my faves of all time!
Gosh...100 books. Wow. So many of my favorites are on this list too! The Lost World. King Solomon's Mines. For Whom the Bells Toll. Crime and Punishment. Les Miserables. Dracula So many greats! And a few of these I'll be adding to my TBR!
Hello Michael, even though I don’t read fantasy or much science fiction except for one that I’ll tell you later, I found some books of your favorites that are favorites of mine. First, I love Raymond Chandler and have read all of his books and loved all of his books. I also love mystery and thus Sherlock Holmes. I am about to read my first science fiction book called Fahrenheit 451. Aloha
I just received a used copy of the very first Book I read. On Christmas of 1945 my grandmother gifted me a copy of 'Bertram's Trip To The North Pole'. That began my life haunting libraries. Two years later I was able to finish Moby Dick and I still have books waiting to be read. Thank you for entertaining us.
That's a lovely list. Nothing too generic. A bit too much history and horror for my taste. Nice inclusion of short stories. Do you not enjoy Kurt Vonnegut? Seems he could fit in with the sci-fi.
I cannot image how long you spent working on this. And I am so glad you did because it was WELL WORTH IT! I loved hearing about this list and your favoirate books. Happy New Year!
None Bernard Cornwell? One of the best authors to describe medieval battles! He manages to bring you into the battlefield in a brutally visceral way! Well, it's your list anyway, cheers! Great list, great channel!
Loved this video. Really fun seeing your wide ranging tastes. I was thrilled to see Gardens of the Moon on your list. How far have you made it into Malazan thus far? Also, have you read The Book of the New Sun or any Gene Wolfe? If you have, I would love to know what criticisms disqualified it from your list. Thanks!
SO !!! - I watched the video with a notepad so I could note down what you said, and then comment properly on it. You've also inspired me to write my 100 books....which I have done but I'm going to do a video for them in May, which will be the 2nd anniversary of when I turned this channel into a "bookcentric", booktuber channel. ANYWAY - I expected to see lots of crossover - and there were loads of books that crossed over into my taste. Just quickly I see that you're a massive fan of Matheson (in my top 5 writers of all time), King, Moorcock's Elric books, Steinbeck, Boulle, Shirley Jackson, HG Wells, Wyndham, Homer, Tolkien, Bradbury, Le Guin and loved that I AM Legend was so high in the list. I have very little knowledge of Conan or Burroughs books, so I will definitely be delving into those this year. (there's a 2nd hand book shop down the road that's bound to have something I can start with....hopefully Tarzan of the Apes). Great, great list. Loved seeing the video. Love the crime books you mentioned too - I delved into Elmore Leonard last year and really enjoyed it - I will look into Chandler and Hammett. Oh, and you've inspired me to make a History book video too - I have tons of history books because I have a Bachelors Degree in History, so I had to buy loads and loads of History books. I will choose my 10 favourites. I was planning on doing a general non-fiction one, but I could do one that focuses on History, then does other non-fiction like Philosophy and social commentary after....? Anyway, thanks for getting my thinking and influencing what I'm doing. Happy New Year Michael.
Happy New Year to you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the video! I did the whole thing on my phone so it was a bit time consuming. I can’t wait to see yours, and the history video! I think you will like Hammett and Chandler a lot.
Love these lists. I've just started reading "the Left Hand of Darkness," on your recommendation (from another list) I found the first few chapters hard going, but I'm beginning to ease into it now! 😉📚
Ah, ok thanks! Btw I love all of your videos and this list is remarkable. I've ready some of these books and looking forward to reading many more of them! Thanks again!
What an incredible list! Got to read some of these Ross macdonald and Karl Edward Wagner books, among others. I've read the other Chandlers mentioned ut not Farewell my lovely. Really want to get into Joe Abercrombie as well.
The moment I saw ancient history books I was waiting for Herodotus, never imagined you would put him at number 1. I'm from the Netherlands and my twin brother finished gymnasium with ancient greek. Incidentally his exam subject was the histories by herodotus, so we got a good laugh out of that. Aside from that, thank you for the goldmine of new books I'd never even heard of before! Greetings from the Netherlands
Wow, this was an ambitious undertaking! Not sure I could have pulled this kind of thing off! 😅 Very interesting stuff, and you really covered the entire spectrum pretty much. It was cool to see The House on the Borderland on here; that book is so obscure now I was glad to see someone else who knows about it. And I was happy to see Frankenstein so near the top; that book is my favorite ever! 😀
Oh I watched a silly film noir the other week called, “The Treasure of Monte Cristo”. It basically involved a descendent of Edmond Dantes. It was great fun though.
Thanks a lot for this important list. In my past 61 years I read many of the titles you mentioned. I may add The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, and The Dictionary of the Kazars " Hazarski Rêćnik " by Milorad Pavić, as well as the Metamorphosis by Ovid. Thanks a lot
My favorite video ever, watched so many times! I've read most of them and a looot of them based on your recommendation. Have you read: One Hundred Years of Solitude Don Quijote Anna Karenina 1984 Midnight's Children Moby Dick ??
Liked this list immensely! Got to know the titles of quite a few new novels! And yes, number 42, Heart of Darkness! One of the best books ever written. I am currently teaching it to my students 😃
Awesome list, even though I haven't read most of these 😅 Really thought Dracula was going to be number one! It would take me forever to put together a top 100, lol. I will say though, there are about 7 or 8 books on your list that would make mine
Since it is not on your list, I just wondered if you have ever read anything by Clark Asthin Smith, since he was a good friend of Robert E. Howard and Lovecraft? Also have you read anything by Gene Wolfe? He is my favorite and from what I have heard, a lot of people believe he is the "best" Fantasy/Scifi author ever. Love your channel btw! :)
Wow, i have been recommending T.E.D Kleins works for 30 years! The Ceremonies is my favorite horror novel of all time. It pointed me to Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Lord Dunsany, etc. Dark Gods 4 stories are amazing. Too bad he only wrote those 2 books. Great list as always! Great way to start the year.
Nice top 100! i'm currently reading War and Peace, but slowly due to my busy month at work. Why do we need to work so much? Anyway, i've finished "Amityville" by Jan Anson, very scary indeed and maybe Roger could buy it to you. Very nice if you like Dracula. PS: I would send you a copy but I'm from another planet and my spaceship broke down and crashed in Brazil, so apparently my space money worth nothing over here :(
Another great novel, the first of all novels, is Don Quixote. I've read it four times, and once in the original Spanish (very difficult). The English translation by Edith Grossman is tops.
WOW - 100 of all time....I am going to watch this with a notepad and see what crossovers there are and hunt the ones I don't know or haven't read yet. Can't wait.
I watched a video of yours about Moby Dick, and once you got to the second place, I was sure MD would be the first one because I thought "no way he's left MD out of the list of 100 best books"
The Long Goodbye might be my favourite Chandler novel. It is surprisingly emotional. Farewell My Lovely is also great and was the first Chandler novel to be adapted to film. Dick Powell did an awesome job as Chandler in the 1944 version, which included a trippy drug scene and had Mike Mazurka as Moose Malloy.
Hi Michael, yes, I've read Herodotus too ! What a great book about all these different tribes. It is in that book that I learned of the Cimmerians and as a result about Conan.
I really want to read the Haunting of Hill House! A Tale of Two Cities, too, I want to listen to that one, though. I'm currently reading Night Shift with the Bookish Drummer's discord group. LOVE Woman in White!!
Michael, great job on a most difficult subject, only 100? What about best 1,000? Just kidding. You have a good mix and hit most of the high spots. Liked seeing those vintage Paperback Covers also. Outstanding job!
Little bit late to the party, but out of these historical books, which ones would you heavily recommend, as well as any others that didn’t make it to the list?
I would have quite a few of these on my 100 favourite lists including War of the Worlds, Sherlock, 20000 Leagues, The Shrinking Man, Death of Grass, Day of the Triffids, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Earth Abides. Other books would probably make my top 100 if I reread them but I am hesitant to put them on the list at the moment. Two books that would not be on my top 100 would be ‘Hell House’ and ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ both of which I listened to in 2020. For some reason I do not usually find ghost books to be interesting - they tend to be placed in with zombies which I am also rarely interested in.
Your #91, Pierre Boulle's PLANET OF THE APES, is also on the shelf behind you in a hardcover red-colored sleeve edition, and I've never seen that on Amazon, so I'm wondering where you might've gotten it? Is there any chance you could send me a link to the site where you got it, or its ISBN... please? Pleeeaaase???
1. The histories, Herodotus (ancient history)
2. Complete chronicles of Conan
3. Complete fiction of Lovecraft
4. Sherlock Holmes, Doyle
5. Dracula, Stoker
6. I am legend, Matheson (end of the world)
7. Princess of Mars, Burroughs (mars trilogy science fiction, pulp fiction)
8. Frankenstein
9. Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas
10. Mythology, Edith Hamilton (ancient history)
11. Lord of the rings
12. The big sleep, Chandler (novel)
13. City, Simak (science fiction novel)
14. Time Machine, Wells (science fiction)
15. Maltese Falcon, Hammett (detective)
16. 20'000 leagues under the sea (Jules Verne
17. Tarzan of the apes, Burroughs
18. Les miserables, victor hugo
19. Pet Sematary, Stephen king (horror)
20. Tender is the night, Fitzgerald (doomed relationship)
21. The great god Pan, Machen (fantasy horror)
22. Left hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (science fiction)
23. History of the peloponnesian War, Thycydides (historical war, author lived through it)
24. Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky
25. Gods of Mars, Burroughs (science fiction)
26. She, Haggard (lost world)
27. Bran mak morn, Howard (fantasy Conan, picts vs romans)
28. Dune
29. The big book of the continental OP, Hammet (continental OP saga about detectives)
30. The great gatsby
31. The iliad
32. The shrinking man, Matheson (horror science fiction)
33. Farewell, My lovely, Chandler (mystery)
34. War and Peace, Tolstoy
35. The three musketeers, Dumas
36. The dark eidolon and other fantasies, Smith (short fantasy novels)
37. The war of the worlds, Wells
38. The picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde
39. The martian chronicles, Bradbury (science fiction)
40. The Galton Case, Macdonald (noir)
41. Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky
42. Kull Exile of Atlantis, Howard (fantasy Conan)
43. Heart of Darkness
44. Appointment in Samarra
45. Return of Tarzan, Burroughs
46. The hobbit
47. The glass key, Hammett (detective)
48. Jane Eyre, Bronte
49. The odyssee
50. Treasure island, Stevenson (pirate)
51. The way some people die, Macdonald (detective)
52. Day of the Triffids, Wyndham (killer plants, end of the world)
53. Anabasis, Xenophon (persian expedition)
54. At the earth's core (lost world adventure)
55. Caves of Steel, Asimov (science fiction)
56. Island of doctor moreau, Wells
57. Ancient sorceries and other weird stories, Blackwood
58. Dark Gods, Klein (horror novels)
59. The Long goodbye, Chandler
60. For whom the bell tolls, Hemingway
61. Best of Richard matheson (short fiction)
62. The woman in white, Collins (novel)
63. King Solmon's mines (cowboy)
64. Ivanhoe, Scott (classic adventure novel middle ages)
65. The death of Grass, Christopher (famine and end of civilization)
66. Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
67. History of Rome, Livy (ancient history)
68. Night shift, Stephen King (horror stories)
69. Why not you and I, Wagner (horror stories)
70. Solomon Kane, Howard (pulp)
71. Best served cold, Abercrombie (fantasy revenge)
72. Copperfield, Dickens
73. Hell House, Matheson (haunted house)
74. Egypt, Greece and Rome, Freeman (ancient history of the ancient mediterannean)
75. House on the borderland (horror)
76. Allan Quatermain, Haggard (cowboy)
77. The histories, Polybius (Rise of the Roman Empire)
78. East of Eden, Steinbeck
79. Earth abides, Stewart (end of the world science fiction)
80. Bloodstone, Wagner (fantasy)
81. Gardens of the moon, Erikson (fantasy novel)
82. A tale of two cities, dickens
83. Hellenika, Xenophon (ancient history)
84. The haunting of hill house, jackson
85. Legend, Gemell (fantasy)
86. the lost world, arthur conan doyle (dinos)
87. Time and the gods, lord dunsany (fantasy)
88. Salem's lot, Stephen King (vampires)
89. The blade itself, abercrombie (fantasy series)
90. Campaigns of alexander, arrian
91. Planet of the apes
92. elric, moorcock (fantasy)
93. The lottery and other stories, Jackson (short stories packing a punch)
94. Moving target, Macdonald (first book in series)
95. Robots of Dawn, Asimov
96. Complete tales and poems of edgar alan poe
97. Land that time forgot (fantasy novel)
98. Musashi, Yoshikawa (japanese historical novel)
99. Darkness weaves (dark fantasy)
100.Journal of the gun years (dark western)
Holy Smoke! Thanks!
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Tends to happen when a channel grows.. ;)
Good list. Having read many of those, today I finished the Silmarillion also by JRR Tolkien. For Hobbit & LOTR fans, The Silmarillion is pure gold and will always be on my top ten GOAT books that brought me joy reading.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 You should read lonesome dove. If it not appears on a 100 list it indicates that it wasn´t read.
Lonesome dove I have to read it one day, the tv seriers arr also great
One of my all-time favorite videos by one of the greatest Booktubers around. Thank you for the work I know it took to make this awesome video. This entire list are books I have read or books I want to read.
Excellence!
Scott.
Thanks! I’m very sorry there were no alien romances on this list (does Princess of Mars count?)but my taste has always been questionable. I’m so glad you liked the video! This was one of my nuttier ideas! I was annoyed with myself while I was putting in all those pictures but I guess it turned out okay.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Becky says Princess of Mars counts! It has aliens and romance!
Nice to see which writers and genres press your reading pleasure buttons! I too have a soft spot for Edith Hamilton's _Mythology_
Got me interested in that subject at a young age. Great video and thanks for showing all those covers.
Superb list. I love that you read older books.
An amazing, impressive romp through your reading life. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Great stuff.
Thanks! I’m glad you liked it! My iPhone got a workout making this one. So many pictures!
Truly an achievement. First, that you managed to get your thoughts together to put together a list of 100, and then you have presented it so well!! Really enjoyed the last. Happy to see a lot of my favourites on your list!
So glad to see Hemingway on your list...and of course Dracula is also a favorite of mine. Its really hard to find Tarzan books at the used bookstores here. I wonder why...I love your list. Good job!
Great list! Love the mix of classics and pulp!
Thanks! Classics and pulp is kind of my thing.
Love an eclectic list without pretension. There’s not much intersection with what I might come up with if I was brave enough to make such a list, but Ihave to admit that I love all the spots where we would overlap. Surprised you don’t include anything g from the other McDonald brothers (John and Philip). You make me think that I should dive into some of the ancient histories. Also, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is Jackson’s best book.
You know, I have to give We Have Always Lived in the Castle another look. I remember it being really good.
Number 69: Why not you and I… I see what you did there 😂
Nothing gets by you!
Wtf 🤯
Howard's Conan was great, was surprised and delighted to see it on your list.
Happy New Year!🎊🎉
Great list. I make these lists on scrap paper all the time. Melville, Conrad, Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky always make it along with most of the ancient Greek and Romans I've read. Despite forcing myself to read postmodernism and current literature, most of it doesn't resonate with me.
Definitely need to read more classic pulp fiction; there's a lot of fun to be had!
I do love the pulp! I also like making lists on scraps of paper.
This was great fun, thank you and Happy New Year!
But no Flaubert!? And now I am going to order the landmark Herodotus!
All the best!
How did I miss Flaubert!? Thanks so much for watching!
I don’t think I could come up with a list of 100 in order. Very impressive. I just read I am legend in December 😍 I have read many of your top 10 but not all. Thanks for sharing!
You are so welcome! I appreciate you watching this self indulgent video!
Every year I compile a list of books and send them to my family and they each buy me one from the list for Christmas. I have added a couple from your video , Dune and Herodotus. Thank you for for such a varied list of books.
Thank you for watching!
Great list, subscribed.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who love the Mars series. It was my gateway drug into SF and reading as well. Yeah, its pulpy, but it's so much fun.
This list must have taken a long time to put together! Nice to see that someone else appreciates Clifford D. Simak! Read Bran Mak Morn this year and loved it. Will be adding other books on your list to my TBR of course. Wishing you health and happiness this year!
Ha! Yes, this took a lot longer than usual. That was a lot of photos to put in!
A wonderful list - I dont like much fantasy but those I do like I really love. A few on your list would qualify. I think a lot of the titles you mentioned would also be in my list, but I think I'd include a lot more classic crime.
This is quite the list. More Steinbeck than I would’ve imagined. I completely agree with your Gatsby ranking. Your number one surprised me a bit.
Hi Michael, i loved the video! The list was quite diverse and interesting. I have one question /request though : can you, sometimes in the future, make a video on ancient history books, go through your favourite ancient writers and tell us which modern versions are the best. I think that would be very entertaining!
You got it! More ancient history on the way.
I strongly second this suggestion. Would love some directions on where to start with ancient writers, which editions to get. Also if you could throw some light on the extent of historical accuracy on part of the authors, that would be great!
Great list, great video, Michael!
Wow, what a quirky list! Loads of books i would never have considered, but many I’d like to explore. I like pulp fiction, and hard-boiled detective stories, but will have to eliminate all the horror stories, just because my imagination has always been overheated. And i want to read some ancient history, because I adored I,Claudius, but never knew where to go next. Thanks, Michael.
This is an impressive list! I kept wondering where Herodotus was going to be when you mentioned several other ancient works. :). I love Edith Hamilton’s Mythologies too. It was a gateway for me as well.
Herodotus has to be number 1!
Amazing list! Sensory overload, but in a good way. I love listening to a person who's passionate about books just dump a ton of 'em on me, lol. Lots of stuff I need to check out, but Count of Monte Cristo is definitely up there for me too. 😊
I love the Count! “How did I escape? With difficulty. How did I plan this moment? With pleasure.”
Excellent list. I actually got excited over some of the titles as they popped up. Well done.
Thanks!
That's an impressive achievement, and a wonderful list to watch. So many great books in there! I can't even imagine trying to list the 100 favorites. Not only would the list constantly be changing around, but the minute I decided on 100, there would be hundreds of, "oh, yeah, there's that one, too" moments that would take me back to the beginning. I really enjoyed your video.
Thanks! I’m so glad you liked it!
You had me at Musashi. Great list, this just blew up my book budget.
Sorry to destroy your budget!
I have such a hard time finding obscure gems of literature. You are definitely my go to for discovery of books that i never even thought about! Thank you so much expanding my knowledge of books to read beyond The NY Times bestseller lists ( not that there is anything wrong with that)! I love books, and your a great resource to expand my knowledge of the very best out there!
Loved it-I’ve read some of these but not too many. 😬 I’m reading Dracula for the first time now and enjoying it.
Interesting eclectic list. Have you read Thomas Hardy? Mayor of Casterbridge is one of my favorite novels.
Yes to so many of these books and yes to some new explorations. Thank you.
I have 36 of those, haven't read all of them yet though as many I've picked up from watching your vids!
Super video! So many great ideas here that I have to rewatch it with a pen&paper. I was excited to hear you mention Musashi . I have a copy I've been meaning to read. This must be the year! Happy New Year dude!
And happy New Year to you! Thanks for watching!
I read Appointment In Samarra last year. My god, what a phenomenally engrossing read from page 1 to the end! The whole idea of the "tragic flaw". One of my faves of all time!
Gosh...100 books. Wow. So many of my favorites are on this list too! The Lost World. King Solomon's Mines. For Whom the Bells Toll. Crime and Punishment. Les Miserables. Dracula So many greats! And a few of these I'll be adding to my TBR!
Glad you liked it! This was one of my less sane ideas.
I love the hobbit and those map history ancient text books seem interesting. Thanks for the recommendations
What an amazing undertaking.... The fact you can put this together at all is amazing to me! Very cool!
Thanks! I don’t usually drink but when I do I come up with insane ideas like this.
I love the list. I enjoy knowing I have some of these great works of art on my book shelf. Surprised To not see the divine comedy on your list!
i watch this video one every few months, it's so satisfying for a book lover 😌
'The Haunting of Hill House, it's not rubbish!' 😄 I forgot to go back and watch this list, David Gemmell would be somewhere on my list as well
Wow!! What a list! So many great recommendations. I can’t wait to start my 2022 reading.
Thanks! I’m glad you liked it!
Thanks Michael!! A lot of great finds for me here. Books I would have never thought of reading without your list!!
I’m glad this list was good for something! Thanks for watching!
Hello Michael, even though I don’t read fantasy or much science fiction except for one that I’ll tell you later, I found some books of your favorites that are favorites of mine. First, I love Raymond Chandler and have read all of his books and loved all of his books. I also love mystery and thus Sherlock Holmes. I am about to read my first science fiction book called Fahrenheit 451. Aloha
Amazing list. True commitment getting all those covers up. Fortunately my software does have that feature so I can’t do a top 100.
I did it all with Videoshop on my iPhone. It took a while!
WHAT A LIST !!! And so many that I shamefully haven’t read yet. This was great!
No shame! You would like most of these though!
I just received a used copy of the very first Book I read. On Christmas of 1945 my grandmother gifted me a copy of 'Bertram's Trip To The North Pole'. That began my life haunting libraries. Two years later I was able to finish Moby Dick and I still have books waiting to be read.
Thank you for entertaining us.
Thanks for watching!
I can’t even remember 100 books I’ve read! You’re killing this booktube thing.
Ha! I nearly killed myself with this list!
Wonderful list! I think you forgot to include House of Leaves, and maybe Three Musketeers could be higher on the list, but I love it!
I haven’t read House of Leaves yet!
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Ah, perhaps on the next update then. :)
That's a lovely list. Nothing too generic. A bit too much history and horror for my taste. Nice inclusion of short stories. Do you not enjoy Kurt Vonnegut? Seems he could fit in with the sci-fi.
Serge Aksakov's memoirs, "Years of Childhood" and "A Russian School Boy", are amazingly good.
I cannot image how long you spent working on this. And I am so glad you did because it was WELL WORTH IT! I loved hearing about this list and your favoirate books. Happy New Year!
This one did take a minute. All those pictures! Thanks so much for your kind words. It means a lot coming from someone who makes such great videos.
None Bernard Cornwell? One of the best authors to describe medieval battles! He manages to bring you into the battlefield in a brutally visceral way! Well, it's your list anyway, cheers! Great list, great channel!
Loved this video. Really fun seeing your wide ranging tastes. I was thrilled to see Gardens of the Moon on your list. How far have you made it into Malazan thus far? Also, have you read The Book of the New Sun or any Gene Wolfe? If you have, I would love to know what criticisms disqualified it from your list. Thanks!
I’m just imagining the pain of downloading all the cover pictures and adding them to the video 😂
Great video
It took forever!
Got some good suggestions from this list, and a few books I’ve never heard of before. Thanks!
You are very welcome. Thanks for watching!
SO !!! - I watched the video with a notepad so I could note down what you said, and then comment properly on it. You've also inspired me to write my 100 books....which I have done but I'm going to do a video for them in May, which will be the 2nd anniversary of when I turned this channel into a "bookcentric", booktuber channel.
ANYWAY - I expected to see lots of crossover - and there were loads of books that crossed over into my taste. Just quickly I see that you're a massive fan of Matheson (in my top 5 writers of all time), King, Moorcock's Elric books, Steinbeck, Boulle, Shirley Jackson, HG Wells, Wyndham, Homer, Tolkien, Bradbury, Le Guin and loved that I AM Legend was so high in the list. I have very little knowledge of Conan or Burroughs books, so I will definitely be delving into those this year. (there's a 2nd hand book shop down the road that's bound to have something I can start with....hopefully Tarzan of the Apes). Great, great list. Loved seeing the video. Love the crime books you mentioned too - I delved into Elmore Leonard last year and really enjoyed it - I will look into Chandler and Hammett. Oh, and you've inspired me to make a History book video too - I have tons of history books because I have a Bachelors Degree in History, so I had to buy loads and loads of History books. I will choose my 10 favourites. I was planning on doing a general non-fiction one, but I could do one that focuses on History, then does other non-fiction like Philosophy and social commentary after....? Anyway, thanks for getting my thinking and influencing what I'm doing. Happy New Year Michael.
Happy New Year to you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the video! I did the whole thing on my phone so it was a bit time consuming. I can’t wait to see yours, and the history video! I think you will like Hammett and Chandler a lot.
Love these lists. I've just started reading "the Left Hand of Darkness," on your recommendation (from another list) I found the first few chapters hard going, but I'm beginning to ease into it now! 😉📚
Thank you so much for this presentation. 🙏
wow what an epic video! Love that you just went for it and so many wonderful reads in here!. Happy 2022!
Thanks! Happy New Year to you!
Ah, ok thanks! Btw I love all of your videos and this list is remarkable. I've ready some of these books and looking forward to reading many more of them! Thanks again!
Loved seeing "Musashi" make your list. Possibly my #1, top 5 anyways. Perhaps the best first sentence of any book I've read
What an incredible list! Got to read some of these Ross macdonald and Karl Edward Wagner books, among others. I've read the other Chandlers mentioned ut not Farewell my lovely. Really want to get into Joe Abercrombie as well.
Abercrombie is really good and keeps getting better. Thanks for the kind words!
The moment I saw ancient history books I was waiting for Herodotus, never imagined you would put him at number 1. I'm from the Netherlands and my twin brother finished gymnasium with ancient greek. Incidentally his exam subject was the histories by herodotus, so we got a good laugh out of that. Aside from that, thank you for the goldmine of new books I'd never even heard of before!
Greetings from the Netherlands
Greetings! I hope all is well in the Netherlands!
You are admirably widely read. Jane Eyre and Tarzan and a lot in between!
Some list! Just ordered Hammet's Continental OP... So relieved to see it in there. Thanks MKV
I love those Op stories! Great stuff!
Loved it. Took lots of notes!
Wow, this was an ambitious undertaking! Not sure I could have pulled this kind of thing off! 😅 Very interesting stuff, and you really covered the entire spectrum pretty much. It was cool to see The House on the Borderland on here; that book is so obscure now I was glad to see someone else who knows about it. And I was happy to see Frankenstein so near the top; that book is my favorite ever! 😀
Of course I have the five volume hardcover edition of William Hope Hodgson. Thanks for watching!
Thank you. I read 53 and a few more of them are here queued up to be read.
Oh I watched a silly film noir the other week called,
“The Treasure of Monte Cristo”. It basically involved a descendent of Edmond Dantes. It was great fun though.
Thanks a lot for this important list. In my past 61 years I read many of the titles you mentioned. I may add The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, and The Dictionary of the Kazars " Hazarski Rêćnik " by Milorad Pavić, as well as the Metamorphosis by Ovid. Thanks a lot
My favorite video ever, watched so many times! I've read most of them and a looot of them based on your recommendation. Have you read:
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Don Quijote
Anna Karenina
1984
Midnight's Children
Moby Dick
??
I have not read Midnights Children
Liked this list immensely! Got to know the titles of quite a few new novels!
And yes, number 42, Heart of Darkness! One of the best books ever written. I am currently teaching it to my students 😃
Awesome list, even though I haven't read most of these 😅
Really thought Dracula was going to be number one!
It would take me forever to put together a top 100, lol. I will say though, there are about 7 or 8 books on your list that would make mine
I did this in a day! It was a tough video actually. So many pictures!
Happy New Year! Very impressive video. I’m sure it was a labor of love.
Well… it was a labor!
Since it is not on your list, I just wondered if you have ever read anything by Clark Asthin Smith, since he was a good friend of Robert E. Howard and Lovecraft?
Also have you read anything by Gene Wolfe? He is my favorite and from what I have heard, a lot of people believe he is the "best" Fantasy/Scifi author ever.
Love your channel btw! :)
I love Clark Ashton Smith.
Loved this! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you!
Wow, i have been recommending T.E.D Kleins works for 30 years! The Ceremonies is my favorite horror novel of all time. It pointed me to Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Lord Dunsany, etc. Dark Gods 4 stories are amazing. Too bad he only wrote those 2 books. Great list as always! Great way to start the year.
Thanks! Yeah, T. E. D Klein didn’t write much but what he did write was fantastic.
Nice top 100! i'm currently reading War and Peace, but slowly due to my busy month at work. Why do we need to work so much?
Anyway, i've finished "Amityville" by Jan Anson, very scary indeed and maybe Roger could buy it to you. Very nice if you like Dracula.
PS: I would send you a copy but I'm from another planet and my spaceship broke down and crashed in Brazil, so apparently my space money worth nothing over here :(
Another great novel, the first of all novels, is Don Quixote. I've read it four times, and once in the original Spanish (very difficult). The English translation by Edith Grossman is tops.
Excellent list. Bravo.
Thanks!
WOW - 100 of all time....I am going to watch this with a notepad and see what crossovers there are and hunt the ones I don't know or haven't read yet. Can't wait.
Ha! Thanks! There should be some crossover considering your great taste in books!
I love the fact that you read across genres. I will check out the ones I haven't read.
Great! Thanks for watching!
What a wonderful list!
Thanks!
I wonder what you'd say about Charles Williams seven "supernatural" thrillers. He was one of the Inklings. Thanks.
Thanks for the list. I see we like much the same. I'll look up the ones I don't know; if you love them, there's a good chance I'll too.
I watched a video of yours about Moby Dick, and once you got to the second place, I was sure MD would be the first one because I thought "no way he's left MD out of the list of 100 best books"
Happy New Year, Mike! Great video! I can't imagine being able to rank 100 videos.
It wasn’t easy!
I was amazed to find out that I have read 37 books out of your 100!
The Long Goodbye might be my favourite Chandler novel. It is surprisingly emotional. Farewell My Lovely is also great and was the first Chandler novel to be adapted to film. Dick Powell did an awesome job as Chandler in the 1944 version, which included a trippy drug scene and had Mike Mazurka as Moose Malloy.
I saw that Dick Powell movie! It was great! I had it on VHS!
You didn't add a song of ice and fire? Or did I miss it?
Hi Michael, yes, I've read Herodotus too ! What a great book about all these different tribes. It is in that book that I learned of the Cimmerians and as a result about Conan.
Completely different to my list but well done on creating a top 100 👏
Thanks!
I really want to read the Haunting of Hill House! A Tale of Two Cities, too, I want to listen to that one, though. I'm currently reading Night Shift with the Bookish Drummer's discord group. LOVE Woman in White!!
The Woman in White was so good!
Michael, great job on a most difficult subject, only 100? What about best 1,000? Just kidding. You have a good mix and hit most of the high spots. Liked seeing those vintage Paperback Covers also. Outstanding job!
Thanks Gary! It took a while to do this one because of all those pictures.
Compelling list, interested me the whole way through, and I concur with probably 99.732%. Wow.
Thanks! I did this video one year ago today, I think. All those pictures!
Little bit late to the party, but out of these historical books, which ones would you heavily recommend, as well as any others that didn’t make it to the list?
You ever read Dr. Jekle/Hyde? And Dantes Inferno?
I would have quite a few of these on my 100 favourite lists including War of the Worlds, Sherlock, 20000 Leagues, The Shrinking Man, Death of Grass, Day of the Triffids, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Earth Abides. Other books would probably make my top 100 if I reread them but I am hesitant to put them on the list at the moment.
Two books that would not be on my top 100 would be ‘Hell House’ and ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ both of which I listened to in 2020. For some reason I do not usually find ghost books to be interesting - they tend to be placed in with zombies which I am also rarely interested in.
Your #91, Pierre Boulle's PLANET OF THE APES, is also on the shelf behind you in a hardcover red-colored sleeve edition, and I've never seen that on Amazon, so I'm wondering where you might've gotten it? Is there any chance you could send me a link to the site where you got it, or its ISBN... please? Pleeeaaase???
That is the Folio Society edition. It is available on their website.
@@michaelk.vaughan8617 Thanks a million! I never saw it offered over on Amazon. It's a spendy item, but I'm gonna have to get it anyway Thanks again!
I have picked up quite a few of these on your recommendations. Itching to read them but stuck on an absolute slog of a book.
Very nice list!