Which THREE great books would you recommend?

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Dr. Joseph Murphy

Lorna Doone by Richard Doddridge Blackmore

Of A Mustard Seed by C. F. Jackson

Ms Cyprah

Two that I have recently read

The Time of Our Lives by Tom Brokaw

Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson

And one that I have had for a while and find myself going back to over and over

Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

If we're looking at classics of literature, I suppose I'd include War and Peace (Tolstoy, I believe -- my sister has my copy; the newest translation actually allows English speakers to follow the plot and keep track of the characters); Rebecca, by Daphne Dumaurier, mainly because it started a genre (the Gothic Novels of the 60s and 70s); and Travels With Charlie by John Steinbeck (because it's the only Steinbeck that I like! He is SO depressing!). For me, non-fiction, I'm a little short on; it's not my favorite, even the self-help ones. There's a book called Women Food and God (sorry, forgot the author) and it's not a book about eating disorders, as the title may suggest; it's hard to describe, but it's about women's relationships with, well, everything, and looking at why we eat what we eat. And Women Who Run With Wolves, if you're a wild woman and everyone says you're crazy, you are not -- you're just made to run with wolves! And Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who sort of had to overcome being a Muslim woman, and her look at the contrast between her live (which was awful) to the typical non-muslim American woman's life. And freedom. And voice. Poetry? Can't top "I know why the caged bird sings." (And yes, I do too.)

Crikey. Just three? That is almost an undeliverable task.

Right now, and this, no doubt, will alter within the next few minutes:

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Love in the Ruins" Walker Percy

"Joe" Larry Brown

Give me ten minutes though and this is obsolete....

If I had to pick three...and it is so hard to do that, I would recommend:

"A Vision of Light" by Judith Merkle Riley

"The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

"The Sunne in Splendor" by Sharon Kay Penman

simply because I can get really lost in them...it takes me a while to come back to reality when I'm reading them.

Down to A Sunless Sea by David Graham

Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien

Charlotte's Web E.B. White

Everything you need to know about life is in these books.
Kindness, friendship, loyalty, love, joy, grief and pain.

Well this is a real challenge. I am going to assume that the list is intended for adult readers -- not children or teens, since that is a separate altho flexible division.

Number One on my personal hit parade is The Three Musketeers by Victor Hugo. Alternate novel: The Count of Monte Cristo by the same author. I never read it till just recently and it is a shame that more students do not have it on their reading list at school. I think I missed it because it does not fit into the headings English Lit or American Lit, as there was no alternative lit course in high school. But anyway, the plots are marvelously intricate. Three M's subplot about the queen's ring would be enough plot for most modern novels, but there is much more. Monte Cristo is unbelievable yet the author makes you utterly believe that it is possible.

Number Two is my fave Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities. It is masterful writing. That's all anyone can say or has to say about it. And made a good movie too. Alternate title: The Old Curiosity Shop by same author.

Number Three is hard, I wish I could list ten or twenty books worth reading. Anyway, I think I will give the nod to The Lord of the Rings series. (see how I cleverly dodge the task of picking just three books total) Totally engrossing, gives you much to savor and ponder if you read it once a decade or so.

BTW I made a search at PaperbackSwap.com where people trade books for free, and found/ordered a copy of Managing Transitions. If you recommend it, I am sure it will be worthwhile. Thank you, Ms. C!

My faves are:

It by Steven King (scary and yet couldn't put the book down)

From Superman to Man by J.A Rogers (very powerful book about racism)

Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove....What the US would look like if the South won the Civil War..

Honorable Mentions....The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

well, i know i'm late to this thread but better late than never, i guess...my top three faves are:

Shogun by James Clavell

Hawaii by James A. Michener

and of course, almost any stephen king book...at the top of the king list, i guess it's a tossup between the stand and wizard and glass: book 4 of the dark tower series (the story within the story is absolutely phenomenal...which is why i would recommend it even tho it's a part of a series)...i've read them over and over again, i could quote you passages...all these books have helped define life's meanings to me, as absurd as that sounds...