Top 5 Books

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Banz's Top 5 Books

Catch-22 [Joseph Heller]	The best book I've ever read. Hilarious and sad, moving and infuriating. Don't berate Heller for not writing anything this good again. Like he says himeself, "Who has?".
Life of Pi [Yann Martel]	A boy and a tiger share a lifeboat in a moving story which never descends into Hollywood slush. A book which stays with you long after the final chapter.
The Onion Eaters [JP Donleavy]	All JP Donleavy's books are great but this was the first I read and the one I like best This is the story of an American who inherits a country house in Ireland complete with a massive dog, full staff and steepling debts. His initial worries soon fade as the house fills with uninvited, somewhat unruly, guests.
The Big Sleep [Raymond Chandler]	I picked up a Raymond Chandler book of short stories for 50p and was hooked after a couple of pages. The writing is so good that the story happily takes the back seat in favour of descriptions of broads, goons and smokey bars.
French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour De France [Tim Moore]	This book charts the progress of a lapsed cyclist as he tackes the route of Le Tour. Tim Moore's writing is always entertaining and this book makes you want to jump on your bike and head off in the distance - if only to buy a cheap bottle of wine.

Vic's Top 5 Books

Pride and Prejudice [Jane Austen]	Elizabeth Bennett is my favourite of all the great literary heroines. Smart and witty, but (especially at the end) able to learn humility. She is matched by the at-first distant Mr Darcy. Pride and Prejudice is rounded out by a great set of characters, who, as you get to know them, you either love, hate or pity. My favourite of these supporting characters is the dry-witted Mr Bennett.
Gone with the Wind [Margaret Mitchell]	Gone With the Wind twice in my top 5s? Well yes. While the film is rightly seen as a classic, the novel is now often regarded as a melodramatic pot boiler. This is unfortunate as the novel is rich and fully rounded as well as giving the reader more time with the strong survivor (you could call it gumption) that is Scarlett O'Hara.
Catch-22 [Joseph Heller]	The catch - If you're sane, you fly. If you're insane, you don't. But, if you're declared insane because you don't want to fly, than surely that means you're sane. So you can fly. The greatest catch of all....
The Wrong Way Home [Peter Moore]	London to Australia without flying, on a budget of $5,000 Australian Dollars (equivalent to a about ten English pounds). Funny, touching and an eye for detail make this an easy choice for my Top 5. Peter Moore is my favourite travel author and this book is a major inspiration for this trip.
Life of Pi [Yann Martel]	A story of a boy and a tiger in a lifeboat. It shouldn't work, but it does. Full of detail and humour, the story never slow and the relationswhip between Pi and the tiger never descends into the Disney territory that you kind of expect, but are relieved not to find.

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