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It’s time again for another excellent Top 5 list. This week I am doing my Top 5 books of all time. This list was a little tough because my favorite books tend to change depending on what I am reading at the time or what I’m into at the time. But I think this is pretty close to what my ALL time favorites are. So here it is…

5. “The Partly Cloudy Patriot” by Sarah Vowell. This book is essentially a series of essays and articles she wrote for different newspapers or magazines. She talks about the 2000 U.S. election, her fear of Tom Cruise (this is way before he went nuts mind you), her love of Tom Landry, Carlsbad Caverns’ Underground Lunchroom, Pop-A-Shot, and a whole lot more. She has a very unique voice and a great sense of humor. A very good read.

4. “Master and Commander” by Patrick O’Brian. This is the first book in the Aubrey and Maturin novels. This is not a book for everyone. The language can be a challenge, and you have to have an interest in early 19th century naval combat. But Patrick O’Brian has great skill in drawing you into his world. His characters are all well written and can be very funny. The best part bout this book is all of the action. There are a lot of naval battles in it and they are all really exciting.

3. “Dragons Of Autumn Twilight” by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This was the first book I ever read and liked, and it is also the book that got me into reading. It is about 10 companions who embark on a journey to save the world from an evil Goddess who seeks to conquer it. Pretty simple plot, but the characters are what make this book shine. Two of my favorite characters in any book come from this one. Tasslehoff Burrfoot, a kleptomaniac, hobbit’like’ character who has a knack for getting his friends out of as much trouble as he gets them into. And Raistlin Majere, hands down one of the coolest characters ever to be written. He makes Sarumon look like a chump.

2. “Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix” by J.K. Rowling . If I have to explain this book you don’t deserve to read it.

1. “Jurassic Park” by Michael Crichton.  I was really into dinosaurs when I was little, then I kind of lost interest until this book came out. This was the first book that I stayed up all night to read because I could not put it down. It was exciting, had lots of gore and action, it had lots of really good characters, and this book is also responsible for introducing the world at large to one of the coolest dinosaurs of all time…the velociraptor!

There you have it. Read, discuss, criticize. You know you want to.