Tag: Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books Page 2 of 3

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Chris Monceaux

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
Chris has been rambling about books for 2.5 years on his blog, Biblio Nerd Reflections. He loves to read fantasy, science fiction, romance, historical fiction, queer stories, or any combination of those genres. He also collects comics and is obsessed with LEGO. He lives in Shreveport, LA with his wife and their pets.

Only 2.5 years? He’s only been at this 2.5 years and is as good as he is? Wow. Also, this whole time I thought it was “Biblionerd”, it’s odd how much his spacing is messing with me. The thing his bio doesn’t state is that he has probably the best rating system around—I sometimes question how he applies it (and am sure he would think the same about mine), but it’s something that book bloggers should try to emulate. I’m talking too much about him and not letting him get on with his list, full of good books and it features one of the best strategies in this series.


While I hope to never be stranded on a deserted island because it sounds awful, having my favorite books might make the experience at least marginally better. Maybe? Probably not. Regardless, I do have some favorite books that I’d love to have along with me. At the very least, I’d be able to re-visit some of my favorite characters before dying of hunger or thirst, which I guess is a win. If I’m lucky enough to get rescued before death takes me, these stories would help ease the never-ending boredom, too. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 books (in no particular order) I’d want with me if I was stranded on a deserted island:

1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (50th Anniversary One-Volume Edition) – How could I not put THE LORD OF THE RINGS on this list? It would give me hours upon hours of enjoyment, and this edition includes all three books, which is probably cheating a bit, but oh well. I love this story and these characters so much, and I’d definitely want it on an island with me because I could read it over and over again.

2. The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez – This book is one of my more recent favorites. It is so unique and completely enthralling. I can totally see myself getting lost in the words and forgetting about being isolated on an island, at least for a while.

3. The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer – This is one of my favorite YA books I’ve ever read. The twist absolutely shattered me, and I’ve always wanted to go back and read it again knowing how it all ends. It is also quite existential in nature and focused on the importance of human connection, which would likely fit my mood while stranded on an island.

4. A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon – I loved THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by this author, but I haven’t had a chance to read this standalone prequel yet. I figured I needed at least one book I haven’t read, and this is one I’m really looking forward to reading. Who says I can’t go on a new adventure while stuck on an island? I know this book will definitely take me on one!

5. The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F. T. Lukens – This book is just so ridiculous and fun, which is kind of lacking in my other picks. I’d definitely be reading this one anytime I needed a laugh or to pull myself out of a bad mood.

Those are the five books I’d want on a deserted island with me. I tried to focus mostly on standalones because not having the whole series would annoy me. Many of the books are also chonkers and could be used as weapons, if needed. 🙂

Be sure to check out Chris’ great blog Biblio Nerd Reflections!


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Ricardo Victoria

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
Ricardo Victoria’s bio on his website is great to read, but I don’t want to rip the whole thing off for this–but do go read it.

Here’s the portion of it that seems the most applicable:
He’s “in Toluca, [Mexico] living with his wife and his three dogs where he works as an academic at the local university. He has short stories featured in anthologies by Inklings Press and Rivenstone Press. In fact, he was nominated to a Sidewise Award  2016 for the short story “Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon”, co-written with his arch-nemesis, Brent A. Harris . He has also won a local contest for a fantasy short story during college. But hey! That one doesn’t count, does it?

“You can find his rants and other work– both fiction and opinion pieces here and from time to time on the Altered Instinct blog, www.alteredinstinct.com.

Tempest Blades, his first novel, was published in August 20th, 2029; by Shadow Dragon Press.”

He can be found on:

His Website: https://ricardovictoriau.com

Twitter @Winged_Leo

Facebook: Ricardo Victoria – Author

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wingedlion.bsky.social


Things got away from Ricardo (as things are wont to do), so he asked me to reprint this list from his friend’s blog, Altered Instinct, where it appeared as: BOOK FEVER: Ten books that have stayed with me over the years – the awesome, funny Ricardo Victoria edition. (I did some minor editing)
Book Fever
Well, Stephen published a list of the top ten books that touched his heart (or whatever passes as such because I doubt he is mortal or even human, but I digress). So here is my list. Some would say it is a very eclectic list and certainly is not complete (there are a few novels that should be here but is a top ten list not a top fifteen and of course at least three to four non-fiction, historical books). This might explain why my mind is such a mess and why I write what I write. So in no particular order, here is my list.

The Dunwich Horror, by H. P. Lovecraft.

The Dunwich Horror
It’s a well-known fact amongst friends and some strangers that I’m a big fan of Lovecraft (the writer if not the person) and that I have in my personal collection almost all the stories he wrote, including some really obscure ones. I have to admit I don’t have many of the Dream cycle though, as I didn’t find them that engaging. I even have his book on how to write horror stories (Bone Peyote is a child of that book). So choosing from that selection one book is a rough task. There is a compilation published in Spanish about his precursors, his more important works and his successors, but I got that book because I was familiar with Lovecraft. Thus the honor goes to this little story that not incidentally was the first book (very thin book) I bought as a kid with money from a scholarship, basically money I earned when I was eight. Yeah, an eight-year-old kid reading Lovecraft, think about that and despair (my parents were just happy I was reading books and not watching cartoons). It was as well the first non-fiction book I read, as until then the only thing I read was books about Greco-Roman history. I still have that book. I never tire of reading that story as it was the one that made me want to be a writer and to this day captivates my mind.

I am of Irelaunde: A novel of Patrick and Osian (A Celtic Legend in Spanish) by Julienne Osborne McKnight

I am of Irelaunde
This book I think, is not well known, which is a shame, it deserves more love as is a beautiful retelling of the live of Saint Patrick at the start of his mission, having as companions other famous Irish patron saints and more important to the story, Osian, the son of legendary Irish hero Fionn McCumhaill (or for Americans, Finn McCool). While Patrick goes around learning how to reach the heart of the Irish, Osian narrates the story of his father and draws parallels that help Paidraigh to understand the people he has to preach. It’s epic. I found it in a discount pile at a local supermarket and finished it in two days. Why I bought it? Because I suspect that in one of my past lives I was Irish and by that point in my life, during my undergrad studies I was trying to get into celtic lore. I found it also at the time when I was undergoing a crisis of faith and started playing D&D, which it turns, inspired the creation of my first Player Character, a ranger/monk/fighter by the name of Fionn who was the seed to grow into the main character of my novel in progress Tempest Blades: The Withered King. Fun fact, when I moved out to UK for my PhD, this was the only book from home I took with me. So this particular copy has some serious air miles.

Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards!
It wasn’t the first Discworld book I bought (that one was Mort), nor the second (that one was The Colour of Magic), but certainly was the one that has stroke a chord since my high school days. In that time in Mexico, it was pretty hard to get any science fiction or fantasy books, hell even obtaining a copy of Lord of the Rings was difficult. It was just luck that I found the Discworld series being translated (in a messy order by the way) into Spanish. Guards is the book where I think Pratchett found his groove and style, where the footnotes (which Brent hates but I adore) are as interesting as the main story and that gives you a better picture of the setting. It was also the first book I read until then that took established tropes like the rightful heir to the crown and turned it upside down and that mixed genres, as it is at its heart a noir detective story which just happens in a fantasy setting. Personally I think it is also the best book of the Nightswatch cycle on the strength of the cast ensemble (specially Vetinari), whereas the main character of the setting is and will always be Death. This book also taught me about writing for fun and writing fun stuff even if the odds are stacked against the character. In other words, this book was to me what Hitchhikers was to many others.

Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover

Revenge of the Sit
Ok I know that most people deride the Prequels as they are not that good movies (Attack of the Clones is the worst), but I always maintained that it was not due to the ideas portrayed in them but because Lucas, for all its creativity, is a lousy director. This book is proof of it.

Usually, no one pays attention to movie novelizations, but you should seriously read this one. In the masterful hands of Stover, the story of Anakin’s fall takes new dimensions as it is better fleshed out and you can see the logic behind his acts. Here, he is not a bratty kid, but a weary warrior afraid of losing his dear ones and desperate to find a way to protect them. You can also as well get a better, deeper insight into Obi-Wan’s journey and how that allowed him to be more than a match to Anakin. Skywalker might have been the chosen one but Obi was the true Jedi and hero here.

The fights are expertly narrated and the insight you get into the minds of several characters gives you a new dimension the film doesn’t. I know some people find upsetting or old fashioned the omnipresent third person narrator, that switches from one character’s point of view to another as the plot demands (it is after all an adaptation of a movie), but actually I love it and I admit it was influenced my writing style more than it should. You seriously need to give it a try now that Star Wars is back. This book as well holds a dear place in my heart: see, when I just move out to UK for my PhD, I had just 50 pounds in my pocket for the whole month until my scholarship started to arrive, it was my birthday and the nice folks at the GameSoc of Loughborough University had invited me to London to take a walk (and search for a new AC/DC adaptor for my laptop that almost burned a few days before). This book was on offer at Forbidden Planet and I decided to use part of that money to buy it to myself as birthday present. To this day, I have never regretted not eating anything for the rest of the trip and that book has been read at least three times (right now it is on the fourth round). My copy is tattered, but I treasure it as a memento of those times as well as the book that helps me to get writing when I’m stuck with writer’s block.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Jurassic Park
This was my first science fiction book, even if I know that Crichton was at best a luddite for lack of a better word. I loved it so much that I read it in one afternoon and then reread it several times that week (to detriment of my grades). It’s the only book I have that has exploded and had to be repaired. The idea of science reviving dinosaurs mixed with the amusement park and chaos theory was an eye opener on how to write consequences to the character’s acts.

I still have vivid dreams about parks like that to this day. It helped I guess that even if I was in high school I had a good grasp on genetics (thanks to my mom). The only thing I have never liked was the abruptness of the end and only until I learned about Crichton views on science that it dawned on me why he decided to the end the book that way (he doesn’t care about what happens to the characters, he just wanted to make a point on science ethics).

The sequel is bad, to be honest, albeit better than the second movie and Ian Malcom is a great character both in book and in film. If I could, I would have written a series of novels about Ian Malcom snarking his way out of science-related nightmares; always with the voice of Jeff Goldblum in my head (Jurassic World needed more Goldblum). Man, this book made maths and mathematicians cool to a teenager that despised maths. That’s how badass this book it is.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Silmarillion
Full disclosure: when I was a teenager I loved Lord of the Rings and read it the first time during Christmas in three days (one per book), as it gave me something to chat with someone who would become one of my best friends and started me into serious fantasy literature (it also made me willing to spend my allowance in Realms of Fantasy, a great magazine back in the 90’s that helped me to learn English in six months and that now is sadly gone). Nowadays I can barely pass the first chapter as LOTR really bores me. Yeah I know, blasphemy, but hey, it’s my list.

Now the Silmarillion; that I can read and read again. For years, as a Tolkien novice in a country that barely reads at all, this book was an urban legend, known only through whispers: the legendary bible to the LOTR ‘modern’ world history. What secrets hold in its pages? What mysteries would clarify? Well, once I got my hands on it at a book fair all became clear: a modern equivalent to the epics of ancient cultures such as Gilgamesh. It is beautifully written and one of the uppermost examples of worldbuilding done right. I know in my heart there is no way someone will make a movie about this because there is so much lore here that can compete with our history books. The level of complexity and detail that reaches can only speak of a man that knows his setting as well or even more as his characters and loves to talk about it like a gardener tends his garden with pure a unadultered love.

This book has it all, foundation myths, intrigue, revenge, love, hope, redemption. It is like Game of Thrones before Game of Thrones (Feanor is a seriously damaged dude, whose rash decisions have an impact on the world even aeons later). It might be old school in terms of Manichean views on good and evil, but still a superb book. While LOTR and to a lesser extent the Hobbit are the flagships of Tolkien, I think the Silmarillion is the true proof of his genius as writer and founding father of the modern fantasy literature. If someday I write an epic origin myth story, it will be thanks to the inspiration the Silmarillion has provided me.

The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

The Queen of the Damned
Unlike my wife, I’m not a big fan of Mrs. Rice (albeit my wife doesn’t like her most recent output, not since Rice went all religious on us). That said, I find her earlier books fascinating, particularly Lestat, Menoch the Demon and The Queen of the Damned. I choose the latter as the entry for the list despite the fact that in my head canon, these three are almost a single book that starts from a simple premise, a new vampire becoming a force to be reckoned on his society to an epic tale sprawling the biblical times.

It provided at the time with a novel origin for the vampires (which I think latter informed the original Vampire the Masquerade games) intermixed with an end of the world scenario. It was like peering at the rabbit hole and trying to find how deep it would go. I admit that the tale of the twins and the Canaanite mythology related on the books informed the first approaches to what is now the cosmogony of my novel’s setting; as they are full of that essence I call the life of a myth, the creation of gods by men. I don’t care much for Lestat, but I care for the curious creatures that dwell in what he calls the savage garden. Sad fact: this is the only book of this list that has been lost from my collection. Luckily my wife has pretty much all the books of the old Vampire Chronicles so I can read them again.

Alexander by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

Alexander
In my original list this series of books (it’s a trilogy or a single book split on three, kinda like LOTR) this wasn’t an entry, that place was going to Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, but then I re-examined as this list is not only of books that stroke a chord on me, but as well has influenced me as writer. And this is why Alexandros is here.

As a child, I was an avid reader of Greco-Roman history, as mentioned before, so this book as was a perfect fit for those budding interests. It weaves a thrilling narrative on the life of the only young adult that puts on shame any achievement by any modern young adult. Yeah you can invent Facebook, but can you conquer half of the world with an army loyal to the death? No, it can’t be done if you are not Alexander the Great. When I read the books I didn’t care about the whole plot about Alexander musing if he was son of a deity. I cared about Alexander and his tight pack of friends taking on the world, knowing that they were destined to betray each other as ambitions reached their peaks once the great man was gone. I cared about the legend made man and to a certain point his master trying to uncover the mystery of his father’s assassination. Do you want to write a larger than life hero that is too human for its own good? Then you go and read about this book, which incidentally also does a superb job explaining the politics and the military tactics of the time and Alexander’s in particular.

I, Robot by Issac Assimov

I, Robot
This was my second science fiction book and my first about hard science fiction. I have heard of Asimov from three sources: his book on Greek history that I devoured, his book on dinosaurs that explained clearly the evolution into birds and mammals (which would help me to create one of the races of my novel) and one of my best friends, Pedro, who also participated on the Tales from the Universe anthology.

I have heard a lot about the Foundation Trilogy. This book was a perfect fit at the time. I liked how small short stories were interlinked to provide the reader, through the eyes of three characters that got butchered by Will Smith years later, a view on how technology was changing humankind, from new mining operations to FTL space ships. I know somehow it got later linked to the other novels by Asimov to create a single universe, but I liked the simplicity of the narrative device and the questions posed. I think to that it is because of this book that at times I tend to write a lot about technobabble through my characters to explain some feature of my setting, be it magic or science.

Fun fact: I argued with my literature teacher at the time to let me write my final essay for his class on this book instead of the awful book of the Perfume suggested by one my female classmates the guy fancied and that had decried Dracula as trash. After a grueling process of negotiation, I was granted my request and promptly forgot about the essay until an hour before deadline. It was the time I have wrote more words per minute (I actually damaged some of the keys of the keyboard) but I finished the essay with one minute to spare, print, run and deliver.

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
This is the last book of my list and a weird one. I know that now there are more retellings of the Arthurian cycle than any other; from the classics of Mallory and Troyes to modern fiction. But if someday I have kids that want to read about King Arthur, this would be the version I would read them (sans the sex scenes of course). For starters is by one of modern literature giants, so it is a master class on style and prose. Second, it is neither pandering nor crude; it has the perfect balance between myth and plausible reality. Third, it is not flowery but neither barren.

The characters are flawed, but relatable, while keeping their mythic aura. It is a tragedy that nonetheless leaves you with hope for the future as even the lesser knights are fleshed out and you get to know more of the less known members of the Round Table. This is not a book about Arthur, it is a book about Camelot and what Arthur meant (you can see it in the section about Ywain, his nephew and the knight of the white lion). If I have to describe it with one word that would be: perfection. If you are a fan of Prince Valiant, then you have to read this book. It is also a perfect gateway book to introduce someone into fantasy literature. Some of the knightly ideas I used for my characters on my novel stem from this book.

Honourable mentions: there a few books I left out of this list as I mentioned before, so I will do so here in some brief coda:

World War Z by Max Brooks. I hate zombies. I hate zombie stories and yet I love this book that I can’t stop recommending. It has it all you want from a serious zombie story, not just the thrills and the scares. I have read it three times and still scare me. And if you are into audiobooks you have to get the one where Mark Hamill voices some of the characters.

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Because not all in life is fiction, I like to read biographies and non-fiction from time to time. This is an enthralling, fun book (except for one chapter) that explains much of our modern fascination with the chef star that pops on tv and movies. I think that Bourdain is a much better writer than chef and he is a pretty great chef.

-Soul Music by Terry Pratchett. Choosing a book by Pratchett is hard, choosing one of the Death centered ones is even tougher (Hogfather is a riot, Reaper Man is epic), but I think Soul Music is a better entry not because is a better book, Reaper Man is better; but because this one is touching. I mean it makes an admittedly funny yet abstract entity like Death a touching, fleshed (pun non intended) character through the eyes of his granddaughter and a wannabe rock band. This book made Death my favorite character of Discworld. He plays a mean guitar riff.

So there we go, ten books that have not only lingered on my head, but have become major influences on my writing, from style to concepts and structure.  I would like to hear about your opinions, comments and lists. Comment below and let me know, we might share common tastes. 

Be sure to check out Ricardo Victoria’s books! I haven’t had the chance to read any yet, but I’ve only heard good things about them, you should join the chorus!


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Donna Morfett

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
Here’s what I know about Donna: “Avid reader, support authors through interviews, forensic science graduate.” She posts to her Facebook group, Donna’s Reviews and Interviews, and seems fairly active on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads.

Oh, and she’s super-generous with her time, volunteering for this right away and even taking time out of a festival that I’d ignore my blog while attending to finish this post. Some people and their priorities 🙂


1. Abattoir of Dreams by Mark Tilbury

I read this book at the very very start of lockdown. I’d seen it mentioned a lot in a book group ok Facebook, and that’s sure to grab my attention and eventually I give in and say fine I’ll read it! 

It blew me away. It has one of the most despicable characters in all of fiction, it has an element of supernatural, and its by no means an easy read. 

I count this book as one that started a journey that’s changed my life. 

I raved about it on social media, which led to me receiving my first ever signed copy of a book. I now count the author as a friend and have the central image of the original cover in the middle of a book quote tattoo.

2. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This book is very special, set in Barcelona, in 1945, the setting is magical and mystical. The premise is a cemetery of forgotten books. If this not enough to gain your intrigue I don’t know what is. 

3. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

The Harry Potter books are all amazing and I’d recommend them all if I could. I was an adult when they were released but they get darker as the series progresses and are more adult in content. Although the early ones are great for escapism. If I must choose one the Goblet of fire is one that has so much going on and is where things start to change. 

4. Lessons on Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus 

I don’t normally read the books that are book club picks etc as I know how all that works. However this book is special. A woman going out and trying to find a way, however she can, of proving women can and should be allowed to do anything. Set in the 1950s, the main character, Zott, is a scientist, but hits brick walls because she’s female. She uses her accidental fame as a TV star to try and bring about change. 

5. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

I read this for the first time this year, and essentially completely hooked. Its one of the first books I’ve got to the end of and wanted to start again straight away. I’m not really sure I can explain why. 

A bunch if posh uni boys, one from a less well off background, sex, drink, drugs and murder. 

I suppose when you think of it like that, it makes perfect sense! 

My reviews of these books and the many others I read are on 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/donnasinterviewsandreviews/?ref=share_group_link
Be sure to check out the above reviews (and others) Donna’s Reviews and Interviews!


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Matthew Samuels

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
Mathew Samuels is a science fiction and fantasy writer based in London, UK. He’s the author of the Sci-Fi Hopepunk adventure books Parasites and Dusk, the first two books in the Navigator Series, which you can buy on Amazon or read more about on Goodreads (Parasites, Dusk), and urban fantasy titles, Small Places, which you can buy here and read about here, and Wild Court, which you can read about here and buy here


Against a Dark Background – Iain M Banks

Before we hung on Sanderson’s every word, there was Banks, and this is my all-time favourite of his works. It’s not part of the famous ‘Culture’ series, but rather a standalone novel about Sharrow, a woman living in a futuristic solar system. A former member of a combat-attuned group of fighters, she’s being targeted by a cult who believe her death will herald the birth of their messiah … unless a long-long gun of near-magical powers is returned to them.

Sharrow – a dismissive, cynical, pain in the ass aristocrat with style – goes on a journey to get the band back together, find the gun and avoid certain death. Along the way, she’s dragged into heists, blackmailed, meets a singularly weird group of solipsists and remembers past adventures (and wounds).

For me, it’s probably the quintessential ‘tired hero’ book. Sharrow’s not perfect but her adventures are. I love each of her companions, her journey, and ultimately, the ending. I was lucky enough to meet Banks and get my copy signed before he passed, and it’s one of my most treasured possessions.

Kushiel’s Dart – Jacqueline Carey

A courtesan, trained as a spy, in a country where ‘love as thou wilt’ is the law of the land, uncovering a vast conspiracy that threatens everyone. This is the start of Carey’s vast and wonderful Terre D’Ange series, and they’re all worth a read. The lush, sprawling universe, stylised language and politicking would be enough for most people, but Carey spares no details when it comes to the heroine’s life as a courtesan. Her enjoyment of pain might be a bit strong for some people, but it also raises a philosophical question – how do you handle threat in a book when the protagonist gets off on the thing that most people fear? That aspect is handled ably, and with an abrupt change halfway through the first book, I’m still stunned by how good this book is.

The Crystal Singer – Anne McCaffrey

This is such a comfort read for me; it’s an oldie, but a goodie. Killashandra is a failed singer with a colossal ego, determined to be the best at all costs. After failing university, she meets a ‘crystal singer’, one of the elite few able to mine rare communications crystals on the world of Ballybran. Killashandra’s journey to become a crystal singer – and beyond – is not easy, but I just love the world that McCaffrey builds.

The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

The first time I read this book, it was a borrowed copy. As soon as I’d finished it, I went out, bought my own copy and re-read it. I’m haunted by its beauty. It’s tragic, inevitable, but the absolute embodiment of the sentiment that things aren’t beautiful because they last forever. Henry’s journey as a time-hopping scoundrel, meeting his future wife throughout time, and all of their problems, successes and time together – it’s just gorgeous.

Weaveworld – Clive Barker

Most people know Barker for his horror. Weaveworld is a brilliant fantasy book (with a few slight horror elements) which slowly reveals a magical land, the denizens of which are fleeing horrors both ancient and modern. The very normal protagonist, Cal, teams up with Susanna, the granddaughter of one of the realm’s guardians, and together they seek out and explore the magical world, despite the enemies that face them.

To me, this is a grown-up Alice in Wonderland. I love Barker’s language, the magic and the horror he shows, the progression of the characters (or lack thereof!) and the worlds he paints. His other books in this genre – The Great and Secret Show, and the Abarat series (for younger readers?) are also fantastic, and prove that he shouldn’t just be known for Hellraiser.

Be sure to check out Samuels’ books!


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Shazzi

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
Shazzi blogs at reader@work. The About page there tells us a bit more:

“I like books, reading them, reviewing them, collecting them, clicking pictures of them, walking into bookstores, and the like. I book blog here and am a reviewer at The Fantasy Book Critic (FBC) blog. You can find my reviews here, on the FBC blog, on Goodreads, and Instagram. I use Twitter to mostly interact with authors and publishers and other book lovers, tend to tweet obsessively about my current reads and upcoming books I’ve been fortunate enough to receive advanced copies of (thank you, kind publishers and authors)…

I read all kinds of books from classics to thrillers to YA, but you’ll find I spend most of my time with fantasy and mythology books. I really enjoy reading books with strong narrative voices, diverse representation, and those that focus on character examination.”

The prompt for these posts was, “what are your All-Time Desert Island Top 5 books? (at least, what’s today’s version of that?)” Some of the contributors took that prompt and ignored it to give something better…Shazzi is the first of those that I’m sharing.


Just five? I can make do with just one. Hear me out as you pick your jaw up off the floor.

I need a book that can give me as many fantasy tropes as possible, and contains a variety of characters. I like my characters grey, and it would be enjoyable if there were tidbits I could pick up on with each re-read. And I have just the omnibus (no, it’s not cheating) for that:

The Complete Mahabharatha by Ramesh Menon

Arguably the largest epic in the world, the Mahabharatha is the longer of the Indian epics, and is allegedly 8 times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined. There are prophecies, self-fulfilling and otherwise, instances of divine intervention, more characters than I can ever remember, and even though I’ve read it over fifteen times, I always end a read feeling like I need to start reading the story all over again.

It reveals the sociopolitical climate of ancient India, and every fantasy trope and narrative style you can name. While it is largely associated with the Hindu religion and has the status of a myth today, I believe it is one of the greatest and grandest stories ever told, and make time for a re-read every year. There are tons of versions available, both in academic form, and otherwise.

Give me a copy of the Mahabharatha, and I will toss my TBR into the fire, there’s no question about it. There’s nothing that can draw me away from this story. It is one I grew up listening to as a child, and as I get older, given the vast saga it is, I find something new to relate to, and appreciate. You need to remember, this is set in a time that does not align with our present-day values, but there is still plenty to learn from this epic.

That’s it. That’s the book I need. Not five, just the one.

Be sure to check out Shazzi’s reader@work, at Fantasy Book Critic, or Twitter!


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Vesper Aeon

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
I couldn’t find much information about Vesper Aeon to provide this bio. Their webtoon The Epimethians is “an independent comic series about space marine mercs in the distant future”, which sounds promising. I really like their approach to this question.


A Desert Island Reading List

By Vesper Aeon

Everyone likes to ask the question of what you would take to read if you knew you were going to be stranded on a desert island for an extended period. It’s a valid question because we need novelty and distractions, otherwise our minds turn inward, and a proper reading list would help guide our thoughts. Compiling a good list, however, isn’t as easy as it sounds as I learned when I accepted this assignment.

In my youth there were certainly books I re-read, especially The Martian Chronicles. They weren’t especially complex stories, but they were not only entertaining, but showed the author’s love for the stuff that he read as a child and how they were still affecting him as an adult. Now, as an adult, I don’t find too many books that interest me enough to re-read them.

My ex-wife suggested I read Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which was one of her favorites, and we came away from it with very different understandings of the story. Likewise, she loved The Plague Dogs and, while I agree the book has a lot going for it, I felt that the ending was changed by the Editor who decided that it needed something more upbeat than what the author had intended. But I don’t think I could, or would need to, read either of those more than twice.

So, what would I take? I don’t want to give joke answers, and I’d also prefer not to be cliché, but if I had to choose, then I suppose this is the list.

1. The Bible: King James Version

Let’s be clear, I’m not bringing this because I’m especially religious, I’m not. But you would be hard-pressed to find any volume in the world that has had a greater impact on human civilization, for good or ill. Everyone and their mother want to hurl quotes at you, but let’s be honest here…how many people do you know who have actually read it?

The staff of the RPG company White Wolf Studios certainly did, and their takeaways were nothing less than fascinating, as shown in their interpretation of the story of Cain and Abel and the origination of the vampire.

2. Don Quixote

After 500 years people are still reading this epic tale, and it is highly celebrated in Cervantes’ native Spain. I tried reading it long ago, but there were so many passages in French, Italian, and German that I felt that by skipping them due to my inability to speak those languages, I was missing something crucial to the plot. If they weren’t necessary, why did Cervantes include them? And if they wouldn’t lose their meaning by being translated in Spanish, why didn’t he? Since I was reading “Don Quixote” in English, why wasn’t everything translated into English?

The reason, I supposed, was that Cervantes felt that these passages would lose something in their translation, and thus he refused to. With unlimited time, and a greater understanding of the fundamentals, I think I could make a better effort at it and might enjoy the book more.

3. The Bhagavad Gita

This is a book I had never even heard of until I saw it referenced, quite unfavorably, in Robert Heinlein’s classic “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Again, I’m not especially religious, but this holy book is over 2,000 years old and has influenced the lives of millions of people in India, one of the most populous countries on earth. Freed from the distractions of ordinary life I could finally settle in to study it and see what it has to offer and why Heinlein was so quick to dismiss it.

4. Finnegan’s Wake

I’ve heard this book referenced occasionally, including a blurb in the satirical newspaper The Onion. For those who are unaware, this book took James Joyce 17 years to write, and most people spend almost that much time reading it. Not because it’s boring, but because it defies conventional storytelling methods. Probably the only downside to reading it would be the lack of someone to share it with, which certainly aids in understanding anything.

5. The Koran

Despite my frequent protestations that I’m not religiously inclined, here I am adding a third holy text to this list.
Most of what I know about the Middle East was gained during my time as a student at the University of Washington, but my education was a mile wide and an inch deep. I gained a broad understanding of the history of the region, mostly in the post-WWI eras, but the best way to understand a culture is to explore their relationship with the Almighty. And this saves me from accusations of taking sides or ignoring one of the major religions of planet earth.

Is my list trite? I probably don’t know, but it’s honest, at the very least. If I had to remove the Bible and the Koran, I have other titles in mind, but I’ll save them for a future list.

Be sure to check out The Epimethians or its Twitter feed!


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Raven

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island BooksRaven was kind enough to provide their own bio for me, so I’ll just shut up and let them get to it.

Hello! My nom de plume is Raven which is either (a) glamorous and mysterious or (b) a harbinger of doom depending on your viewpoint! In reality I am but a humble bookseller (21 years and counting) and book blogger at Raven Crime Reads based in the UK. I am a resident judge for the Petrona Award for Scandinavian Crime Fiction In Translation, and lurk on social media (links below) being pithy and interesting- in reality, probably deeply annoying and uninteresting…

X/Twitter- @ravencrime

Instagram- @ravencrimereads

BlueSky- @ravencrime.bsky.social

GoodReads- https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5973984-raven

The Storygraph- @raven88


Well, having been tasked by H.C. Newton—The Irresponsible Reader—to select five books with which to be washed up on a desert island, this was an enormously difficult decision. After much pondering and changing of mind, these are my final five!

Vikram Seth- A Suitable Boy

I have listened to the radio production, and watched the TV dramatization, but have never managed to make it through all 1349 pages of Seth’s magnum opus. I have tried on several occasions, but with the thought of being entirely alone on an island with possibly fewer distractions, this sprawling family saga, will be conquered once and for all…

Stephen King- The Stand

Despite being a confirmed fan of Stephen King, I have never read The Stand- 1325 pages- one of the very few of his I have not read over the years. Again, what an ideal time to get stuck into what is widely recognised as one of his finest books, and be enveloped in this nightmarish tale of apocalyptic destruction, sitting under a palm tree and listening to the waves lapping on to the beach.

F. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby

Being a bookseller and a book blogger, my to-be-read mountain is of epic proportions, so I rarely have time to re-read anything. However, the one book I religiously re-read every year is this one. As one of the great American novels, this slim and affecting tale of life amongst the overprivileged folk of Long Island in the Jazz Age, remains one of my favourite books of all time. Would have to have a copy of this with me.

Raymond Chandler- The Big Sleep

I read this classic of crime fiction, way, way, before I should have done as a kid, and this is the book that I always cite as being the catalyst for my continuing passion for crime writing. Even now, my favourite authors of the genre, all have the spare, uncompromising style of Chandler, and that dry humour that underscores all of his books. Philip Marlowe would be a great companion to have on my desert island.

Magnus Mills- All Quiet On The Orient Express

This is probably a much lesser known book, but I wanted something to remind me of home, and the curious eccentricities of the British. Set in the beautiful surrounds of The Lake District, this remains one of the funniest, most surreal books I have ever read, and perfectly captures the quixotic nature of what makes the British, well, so British… A little piece of home when stranded far, far away…

Be sure to check out Raven Crime Reads and follow at least some of those social media accounts! That blog is (will all due respect to others) the best Crime Fiction-focused blog I follow. You want insightful takes? Here’s where you start.


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Mark Pepper

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
In his day job, Mark is an Intelligence Analyst for a financial regulator in Washington DC. He is a qualified secondary school drama teacher, and worked as an actor for fifteen years, having graduated from RADA in 1990. 

His first two novels, The Short Cut and Man on a Murder Cycle, were published by Hodder & Stoughton, and his third, Veteran Avenue, originally published by Urbane and now by Red Dog Press. Veteran Avenue, is mainly set in LA, and is currently being developed as a TV series by the actor Warren Brown. 

Find him on twitter: @PepSixSix

Mark Pepper writes Crime Fiction with a lot of punch–a couple of my recent favorites—but what kind of books does he recommend?


First Blood – David Morrell

The book that started it all off. Very different to the movie!

Dispatches – Michael Herr

The horror of Vietnam

Mortal Error: The Shot that Killed JFK – Bonar Menninger

Fascinating and compelling analysis of that day by a firearms and ballistics expert. By the end, you’ll be in no doubt.

Psychic Warrior – David Moorhouse

Billed as “The true story of the CIA’s paranormal espionage programme”, written by a key participant. More a spiritual journey than an exposé. Published in 1996, it makes you wonder what the hell they might be up to these days.

The Real Anthony Fauci – RFK Jr.

Controversial, but everything is backed up to the hilt by reference after reference. Whatever your political persuasion, set that aside and read about a truly evil man.

Be sure to check out Pepper’s Books!


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Lilly and Sara from Fiction Fans Podcast

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
Fiction Fans Podcast is described as “A podcast about reading literature, depending on your definition of literature.” Join two casual readers as they completely ignore their academic backgrounds and talk about the books they loved, and sometimes the ones they didn’t. Includes segments like “Journey to the Center of the Discworld,” “Words are Weird,” and “Pet Peeves.” Ever wonder why someone would read bad fanfiction? They talk about that too. It can be found on its website, its Twitter feed, its Instagram page, and and its Goodreads page.

Lilly tries to get her podcast reading done in between projects at her day job, and tries to get writing done in between podcast episodes. She has a special soft spot for speculative fiction and tends to prefer formal poetry over freeform poetry even though she feels bad about that. Lilly has two cats who always keep her on her toes. She can be found on Twitter.

Sara has been an avid reader of SFF since she was a little girl insisting on bringing her book with her to the dinner table. When she’s not reading on the couch with her two pugs, she can be found outside in the garden. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram.


Conveniently, we were actually just on the Books to Last Podcast talking about this very question! If you want to learn more about our choices (including the books that almost made the cut), you can listen to the episode here or on all major podcast providers. [It was a lot of fun to listen to]

Lilly’s choices:

The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien

If forced to choose only one book from Lord of the Rings it would be ROTK. Partially because it is the end of the story so it actually gets wrapped up at the end, but mostly because this is the book that gives the most page time to Eowyn.

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Okay so this is neither the first nor last book in this series, but these books are so episodic that it doesn’t really matter. What DOES matter is that this is the book with an amnesia plotline, which I am a huge sucker for.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I tried to avoid major bummers, but this book has such great re-readability that I couldn’t help myself. I feel like I get something new out of it every time I read it.

Sabriel by Garth Nix

This is somewhat a nostalgia pick, but I do love this series (and the first book has a satisfying enough ending to stand alone). It also always leaves me in a good mood when I’m reading it, which I think would be important on a desert island.

Hel’s Eight by Stark Holborn

The second book in its series, this book has all of the payoff that I was left wanting from Ten Low. An amazing dystopian/western setting, a little superstitious/spooky,  just a touch of romance, and some great found family means this book hits basically all of my buttons.

Sara’s choices:

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien

I chose this for two reasons: a) it’s very dense and would keep me occupied for a good long while and b) even though I’ve read it before, because it’s so dense I feel like I’ve never really retained much of it. If it’s one of five books I have to read on a desert island, maybe it’ll finally stick with me. Also I couldn’t not include at least one Tolkien book on here, and it felt like cheating to pick The Lord of the Rings as a single volume.

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

I debated between this and Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (for variety’s sake, I didn’t want repeat authors) but Night Watch ultimately won out because it’s the Discworld novel I reread every 25th of May. Hopefully I have some way of tracking the time while I’m on this island…

Dashing for the Post: The Letters of Patrick Leigh Fermor by Patrick Leigh Fermor

Sometimes you just want something non-fiction, and this collection has the benefit of reminding me of that time I saw Benedict Cumberbatch read a letter about genital crabs for charity

Saint Death’s Daughter by C. S. E. Cooney

This is technically the first book in a series, but I think it stands alone enough for me to not get (too) frustrated by not having the entire series with me, and the way that Cooney plays with words and language is just a joy to read. Also, the premise is a necromancer who is literally allergic to death, which is brilliant.

Legacy of Brick & Bone by Krystle Matar

This is book two in a series and almost certainly not stand alone enough for me to not get frustrated by not having the next book. I say “almost” because I haven’t actually read it but I really want to, and I’d definitely finally have the time to do so if I’m stranded on a desert island.

Be sure to check out the social media pages I listed above, and above all, listen to their Fiction Fans Podcast!


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Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books with Daniel Meyer

Top 5 All-Time Desert Island Books
Daniel Meyer tried his hand at a few careers, but fearing they were too realistic and achievable, he became a fantasy writer instead. Now he spends his days writing stories about magic and explosions. He is a lover of Eighties rock, an occasional kilt-wearer, and a supporter of raccoons. He lives in Missouri, where, as ever, he’s working on his next novel.

His debut novel Credible Threats, book one of the Sam Adams series, is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BDW5KGZN

https://www.danielmeyerauthor.com/

https://twitter.com/dmeyerauthor


My Top 5 Desert Island Books

By Daniel Meyer

The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell

Most of Cornwell’s bibliography ranges from good to great, but The Winter King, book one of the Warlord Chronicles trilogy, is on a whole different level. Set in Dark Age Britain, the book combines Arthurian myth, history, and Cornwell’s considerable imagination to create what’s easily my favorite retelling of the King Arthur legend. The book follows Derfel, a minor figure from the King Arthur tales, from a naïve teenager to a powerful warrior fighting for Arthur in his desperate effort to unite the petty kingdoms of the British against the invading Saxons. His plans go haywire, as they’re wont to do, and Derfel, Arthur, and their allies go to war, fighting ruthless enemies and their own demons, culminating in a desperate, last-ditch battle against impossible odds. Simultaneously brutal and bewitching, The Winter King sucks the reader into a time period just as alien and fascinating as any fantasy world, a land of warring kingdoms, ruthless monarchs, battles, feasting halls, and magic. The depiction of magic is one of its strong suits: while the book takes place in our real world, the characters all believe in magic and the supernatural, and act accordingly. I particularly liked the concept of a ghost fence, an ostensibly magical barrier made from human skulls, meant to strike down any enemy that attempts to cross it. (If you want to know whether it works, you’ll have to read the book.) And you gotta love Cornwell’s sheer audacity for opening with the phrase “Once upon a time.”

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Now this one takes me back.

I first read The Hunger Games when I was freshly out of high school; it had seemed like something that would appeal to me, and after months of putting it off for some arcane reason, I bought the book and wasn’t disappointed. Like the bottom dropping out of a rollercoaster, it scooped me up and dragged me on a wild ride, before dumping me at the finish line with my mind boggled.

Equal parts vulnerable and ferocious, self-interested and heroic, immediately capturing the reader’s sympathy, Katniss Everdeen would be welcome company on a desert island; perhaps her battle to survive would give me some inspiration to build rafts and pick coconuts, or whatever it is people do when they’re stranded on a desert island. Though hopefully my own adventure wouldn’t involve people trying to kill me, unlike hers. It’s an emotional, exciting read, and witnessing the hype around it in real time was a ton of fun.

And while it’s by no means a light and fluffy book, it’s something of a comfort read nonetheless, when I revisit the characters and become invested all over again, just like when I read it the first time. I suppose it just goes to show that a favorite book can be like an old friend, and who wouldn’t appreciate having an old friend on a desert island?

Robert the Bruce by Ronald McNair Scott

If I’m going to be stuck on a desert island, I’d never want to do it without some nonfiction, and nonfiction doesn’t come much better than this biography of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. There are so many historical eras that fascinate me, and out of all of them, I suspect Medieval Scotland is my favorite. As the book opens, Robert Bruce is a young nobleman who’s one of several with a claim to the Scottish throne. His loyalties are torn between the Scots and the English, and once he finally makes his choice, he’s forced to battle impossible odds to even stay alive, let alone sit the throne. If that description sounds like some Ridley Scott historical epic, that’s intentional, because that’s exactly how the book reads. You’ll meet other fascinating figures as well, like Edward Longshanks, the Hammer of the Scots, Isabella MacDuff, who defied her husband to side with Robert Bruce, and James “The Black” Douglas, a knight turned guerilla fighter whose swashbuckling adventures threaten to steal the whole show.

With more knights, battles, castles, and cliffhangers than you can swing a sword at, this book catapults the reader into a savage but fascinating era, and it’s the perfect antidote to the claim that history is boring.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

File this one under “needs no introduction.”

First of all, it’s nice and thick, and a good doorstopper is a necessity for desert island reading. And there’s simply no way I could languish on a desert island without taking some fantasy along, and what better to take along than the first book of my favorite fantasy series?

It’s become so recognizable these days that people more or less take it for granted, but it bears repeating: these books are terrific, with George R.R. Martin weaving such a powerful spell that the fact I’d had some of its biggest twists spoiled by the TV series doing nothing to keep me from being on the edge of my seat the first time I read it.

In case you’ve been sitting out of pop culture for the last decade or so (and given that I haven’t listened to popular music since I graduated high school—is Flo Rida still around?— I’m in no position to judge), it goes like this: the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are in a state of uneasy peace, but the death (was it murder?) of the Hand of the King pushes the houses of Stark and Lannister to the brink of civil war. In the meantime, a young girl across the sea dreams of returning home to restore her dynasty to power, and in the far north, an ancient evil stirs that none of them are prepared for.

George R.R. Martin does a lot of things well, characters, lore, and so on, but for me, this series has always had an intangible extra something that I can’t put into words but has kept my attention more than any other fantasy epic I’ve come across.

The Barsoom Trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Okay, so I’ve fudged a little by including this one; it actually encompasses three books, A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars, but since my copy is an omnibus including all three, I thought I could get away with it. The stories, loosely interconnected, follow earthling John Carter as he’s transported to Mars under mysterious circumstances and starts battling pretty much everyone he meets. And though he begins as a loner, he ultimately finds himself with a motley crew of allies who are likeable characters in their own right. (Special mention goes to Woola, John Carter’s beastly and adorable companion.)

Though dated in many respects, the John Carter books are likely to be of interest to SFF fans, if for no other reason than to realize how much influence they had on the stories we enjoy today. And the depiction of Mars—Barsoom to its inhabitants—is fascinating. Disparate tribes and city-states fight for power and resources in a decaying world, Barsoom a shadow of its former glory, with medieval and futuristic technology coexisting side by side. Jam-packed with monsters, swordfights, airship battles, gladiator duels, and more, you’re never more than a few pages away from some new escapade, and its themes of exploring a hostile environment and rip-roaring adventure would make it an excellent desert island read.

Be sure to check out Meyer’s Credible Threats!


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