My Favorite: Swashbuckling Novel (No Magic)

The Prisoner of Zenda - Anthony Hope

My sister bought me this book years ago. I read about it and wasn't excited. I was nice, though, and didn't tell her that, and when we left for a family vacation that week, I took it along so that she would think I was excited about it. I didn't actually plan to read it though. As things turned out though, we had a flat tire on that vacation, which meant that I was stuck in a hotel room for a few hours while Dad tried to find a place that could fix a tire. I started The Prisoner of Zenda, was hooked, and was forced to spend the rest of the vacation in a book.

Runners Up:

The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy

Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett