Personal Book List

I've not put these in order of importance or literary value. I've just jotted down books that came to mind. Some are no doubt out of print. Some are from my childhood library of favorites.
I've read and loved the classics, but this jumble of books is simply for entertainment and the escape they provide.

Like DebR, I like books that are character driven and when I find a series with characters I enjoy, I read as many as possible. For the next several weeks, books that should be on my personal list of favorites (for whatever reason and at whatever stage of my life) will probably keep popping into my mind, but for now here are some of my favorite books/authors.

All Creatures Great and Small

All Things Bright and Beautiful and

All Things Wise and Wonderful - James Herriot

John Lescroart - kind of a Law and Order in novel form; there are 13 books in this series
and I've enjoyed the 6 or so that I've read

The Devil in Music and all of Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel mysteries

Elizabeth George

Robert Ludlum

Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings

Robin Hobbs - Fantasy - The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy (all 9 books are related, but each trilogy stands on its own)

John Dunning - Cliff Janeway mystery series; ex-cop turns "bookman" and rare book dealer

Bone Mountain - Eliot Pattison (this is the first in the series of mysteries set in the
mountains of Tibet; I've liked all of them)

The Art of the Essay - Phillip Lopate

Live Bait - P.J. Tracy

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt

To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee

Mila 18 - Leon Uris

Cheaper by the Dozen - Frank Gilbreth, Jr.

Anne of Green Gables and

Anne of Windy Poplars - L.M. Montgomery

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Eloise - Kay Thompson

Jubilee Trail - Gwen Bristow

Animal Dreams and

Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver

Bel Canto - Ann Patchett

The Samurai's Garden - Gail Tsukiyama

Steppenwolf - Hermann Hesse

Isabel's Daughter - and

Bread Alone Judith Ryan Hendricks

Peace Like a River - Leif Enger

Brief Gaudy Hour - Margaret Campbell Barnes

Campbell's Kingdom - Hammond Innes

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Tshiguro

The Moonstone and

Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

Cold Mountain - Charles Frasier