The Top Top Ten List 2013 1. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, by J. R. R. Tolkien 3. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen 4. Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage 5. Man s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl 6. The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom 7. Paradise Lost, by John Milton 8. The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien 9. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, by Herman Melville 10. The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky 7
Favorite Authors These are the top ten authors (ranked) according to the total number of people who mentioned them. 1. J. R. R. Tolkien 2. Jane Austen 3. Harper Lee 4. Charles Dickens 5. C. S. Lewis 6. Viktor Frankl 7. John Steinbeck 8. James E. Talmage 9. Corrie ten Boom 10. Mark Twain Most Works Cited These are the authors who had the most works cited. We have included the number of books after each author s name. In the case of ties, we have listed the authors alphabetically. J. R. R. Tolkien (5) Charles Dickens (4) C. S. Lewis (4) William Shakespeare (4) Jane Austen (3) Cormac McCarthy (3) Richard Peck (3) John Steinbeck (3) Wallace Earle Stegner (3) James Alexander Thom (3) 8
One Hit Wonders These are books that were mentioned by only one person in the 2013 survey and in the top-ranked slot! We have put them in alphabetical order. Beyond Culture, by Edward Twitchell Hall Catch-22, by Joseph Heller Endurance: Shackleton s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing I and Thou, by Martin Buber Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler Life of Heber C. Kimball, by Orson F. Whitney On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, by Charles Darwin Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, by Thich Nhat Hanh Persuasion, by Jane Austen The Chosen, by Chaim Potok The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr 9
Women s Top Ten Once again, we decided to look at the participants separated by sex, which yielded almost completely unique lists this time! (FYI: 16 women and 18 men participated in the 2013 survey.) 1. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 2. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen 3. Man s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage 4. Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo 5. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck 6. Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage 7. Beloved, by Toni Morrison 8. Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien 9. Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett Leadership and Self-deception: Getting Out of the Box, by The Arbinger Institute 10. The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom Men s Top Ten 1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, by J. R. R. Tolkien 2. Paradise Lost, by John Milton 3. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, by Herman Melville 4. Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig 5. The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom 6. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life s Greatest Lesson, by Mitch Albom 7. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky 8. The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo, by Irving Stone 9. Ender s Game, by Orson Scott Card One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez 10. Tess of the d Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy 10
Top Fifty (well, Fifty-one!) These books are listed according to how many people placed them in their top ten lists. That is to say, we ignored how high the rankings were and just went by the sheer number of times they were mentioned. There were many ties, but we gave each title a number just so we could see when we reached 50. 1. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee 2. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen 3. Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage 4. Man s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl 5. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, by J. R. R. Tolkien 6. The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom 7. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain 8. Leadership and Self-deception: Getting Out of the Box, by The Arbinger Institute 9. Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis 10. Paradise Lost, by John Milton 11. The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky 12. The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien 13. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne 14. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig 15. Tess of the d Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy 16. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life s Greatest Lesson, by Mitch Albom 17. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas 18. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck 19. Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, by Herman Melville 20. Ender s Game, by Orson Scott Card 21. Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo 22. Angle of Repose, by Wallace Earle Stegner 23. Beloved, by Toni Morrison 24. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley 25. Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett 26. The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo, by Irving Stone 27. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, by Robin McKinley 28. My Ántonia, by Willa Cather 29. Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window, by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi 30. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows 31. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens 32. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard 33. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand 34. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens 35. A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean 36. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell 37. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez 38. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy 39. Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery 40. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon 41. The Peacegiver: How Christ Offers to Heal Hearts and Homes, by James L. Ferrell 42. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, by Paul Reps 11
43. Dandelion Wine, by Ray Bradbury 44. Exodus, by Leon Uris 45. Follow the River, by James Alexander Thom 46. Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh 47. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J. K. Rowling 48. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy 49. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte 50. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen R. Covey 51. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel, by Barbara Kingsolver 12