Top 12 and 2nd 12

Kathy, from bermudaonion.net (an excellent book blog if you're looking for a 2nd blogger - or maybe even a 1st!), looked at the list of recommendations and my personal preferences and wondered what my top books were.  She said we appeared to like the same books.  It occurred to me that it's been 2.5 years since I posted my top 12 and almost a year and a half for my 2nd 12.  This seemed like a good time to re-post.  The 1st group, not surprisingly, consists of the bigs.  And the 2nd list is a little bit less big.  Feel free to let me know which ones you agree with.  If you disagree, keep it to yourself.  No, actually, you can tell me know about those, too (at which point, you will be excommunicated from The Book Sage!).

Baldacci, David - Wish You Well
Clavell, James - Shogun
Conroy, Pat - My Losing Season (non-fiction)
Conroy, Pat - South of Broad
Diffenbaugh, Vanessa - The Language of Flowers
Follett, Ken - Pillars of the Earth
Follett, Ken - Winter of the World
Haley, Alex - Roots
King, Steven - 11/22/63
McMurtry, Larry - Lonesome Dove
Michener, James - The Source
Walls, Jeanette - The Glass Castle (non-fiction)

1.    Conroy, Pat - Beach Music (he's already got 2 books in the top 12 - this one takes
       place over 3 generations
2.    Follett, Ken - Fall of Giants (#1 The Century Trilogy - book #2 is in the top 12)
3.    Follett, Ken - World without End (sequel to Pillars of the Earth - Pillars is in top 3 ever)
4.    Franklin-Willis, Amy - The Lost Saints of Tennessee (February, 2014 VHOB Book Club
       author/book)
5.    Hart, John - Iron House (this guy is an ace)
6.    Hart, John - The Last Child (2 aces)
7.    Hoffman, Beth - Saving CeeCee Honeycutt (April 1, 2014 phone-in VHOB Book Club
       author/book)
8.    Ludlum, Robert - The Matarese Circle (the best cold war book I've read - top U.S.
       spy and top Soviet spy, mortal enemies, have to collaborate)
9.    Patterson, Richard North - Exile (a Jewish lawyer, 20 years out of law school,
       defends a former Palestinian law school classmate/girlfriend who is accused of
       assassinating the Israeli prime minister
10.  Picoult, Jodi - The Storyteller (I've read them all - this is the best)
11.  Uris, Leon - Exodus (1958 - the story of Israel's war of independence)
12.  Wallace, Irving - The Plot (1967 - a story about a number of individuals with individual
       stories who come together for the climax)
13.  Follett, Ken - Edge of Eternity (#3 in the Century Trilogy)

Notice this 2nd list has 13 books, instead of the 12 that I posted April of last year.  That is because I recently added #13.  And don't forget that Goodnight June, by Sarah Jio, is a 4.0+.  It's not top 25, but it's higher than a 4.0.  The ratings pressure is enormous!...but I'll be okay.

EGO-DRIVEN CONTEST:  Okay, let me know how many of the 25 you have read, whether you liked them or not.  Whoever has the most common reads gets his/her choice of any book on the list, in any format he/she wants - hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook. Fun, eh?  And if you don't want to put your answer on the blog, you can email me at lloydrrussell@gmail.com.  Now I'm done.