Here are my top ten books that make me want to quit writing — because I’ll never write anything this good, so why am I bothering?
1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I know, kind of obvious, but I defy anyone — whether they’re reading it for the first time or the fiftieth — not to have at minimum twenty laugh-out-loud moments. We are most seriously pleased.
2. Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer
A new addition to my list, and please note how far up. Phenomenal prose style (by page 30, I was reading aloud to people), delightful characters, and you can smell the dust on the trail. And if you don’t cry at the ending, you’re simply not human. It says a lot about frontiers and what gets left behind when they’re gone, too.
3. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
A British policeman flat on his back in a hospital solves a double homicide four hundred years old. Terrific on every level — characters, plot and setting(s).
4. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
This is the first time Jesus ever died that I felt like I’d lost a friend. There are entirely too many great scenes to recount here, beginning with Jesus resurrecting his brothers lizard. Later, a jittery Jesus on a caffeine high buzzes around Antioch marketplace healing everybody. A funny book, yes, but also very, very smart.
5. A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
Actually, I like pretty much anything by Georgette Heyer, who wrote the best dialogue in the English language. I love this book because its her most realistic novel, but I also love The Unknown Ajax
6. Trustee from the Toolroom by Nevil Shute
You’ll know Shute from On the Beach
7. The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman
This book informed my entire world view. In it, Tuchman posits the existence of folly, or the pursuit of public policy contrary to self-interest. In other words, why nations keep shooting themselves in the foot. She uses the Trojans taking the Greek horse inside the walls of Troy as her template, and then goes on to talk about how the Renaissance popes caused the Reformation, how the British lost America, and how the US lost in Vietnam. It has a lively, engaging prose style with a hint of “Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
8. The Lions Paw by Robb White
I grew up on a fish tender in the Gulf of Alaska, and I was always looking for books about other kids on boats. In this one, Ben, Penny and Nick run away on a yacht called the Hard-A-Lee. They’re not coming back until they find a rare sea shell called a lions paw, because when they find it Bens father will return from the war in the Pacific. Great details, great characters, and I wish the White heirs would get it together to bring this book back into print. See also “The Pearl Lagoon”
9. The Gate to Women’s Country by Sheri Tepper
In post-apocolyptic America, the women have a plan to study war no more. Tepper doesn’t chicken out, either. She’s got an idea and she sees it through to the bitter end. Or as she puts it, the Damned Few. 
10. The Seersucker Whipsaw by Ross Thomas
A couple of American politicos go to the African nation of Albertia to run the election campaign of Chief Sunday Akomolo, and there is nothing they wont do to win. Funny, smart as hell, and an ending that will knock you sideways.
How do you find an overseas pharmacy. I am interested in Retin A. I too use Vaseline to remove eye makeup, feet, elbows etc. 
I agree you shouldn't "keep reading" but I don't believe in moving on to the next chapter if I speed-read the last one without comprehending it. Then I agree, move on, the better for having analyzed. Sometimes we stick with the old chapters because t
If you keep rereading the last chapter, you will never get to the next one..get on with your life.
Do not hide your light so that others won't feel insecure around you. And as you let your light shine, you unconsciously give others the right to do the same.
Lamb
by Chris Moore is among my top ten books, too. What a wonderful book! I’ll check out the rest of these, thanks! 
Moore’s got a new book coming out in February that looks pretty good, too: Fool: A Novel
Truth & Beauty: A Friendship
by Ann Patchett is one of my favorite reads. I love to write and she inspires me to keep going. Just sit myself down and begin. Don’t listen to those inner voices that say this stuff I am writing doesn’t matter or I have nothing to write today or whatever that crabby critic says in your ear. You love to write, so write. Thank goodness we have found a passion that is just with ourselves for now. Natalie
Dana, Are you kidding??? I love your books; you are one of my favorite writers. Kate ranks up there with Monty. This is weird, though; the email just before this one from Vibrant Nation was from half.com telling me that they had to cancel my order for The Daughter of Time because the seller did not have it. It is not offered on Kindle or Nook, except audio version. Quit writing???!!! Don’t even think about it!
I’ve printed out the list and will try to read them all.
Have you read “Fall on Your Knees” by Ann-Marie MacDonald? Spellbinding!