Best Survival Stories

1

Lord of the Flies

by William Golding

56,650 members

810 reviews

½ 3.7

5 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington, Dilara86, ahef1963, sr994

2

Life of Pi

by Yann Martel

47,371 members

1,050 reviews

3.9

5 Members: KimarieBee, DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

3

The Old Man and the Sea

by Ernest Hemingway

35,198 members

561 reviews

3.8

5 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington, cej1027, ahef1963, sr994

4

Watership Down

by Richard Adams

27,828 members

513 reviews

4.2

5 Members: inge87, DeltaQueen50, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

5

The Martian

by Andy Weir

22,668 members

1,375 reviews

½ 4.3

5 Members: timspalding, KimarieBee, DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963

6

Hatchet

by Gary Paulsen

21,849 members

632 reviews

3.8

5 Members: timspalding, DeltaQueen50, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

7

Into the Wild

by Jon Krakauer

20,101 members

484 reviews

3.9

5 Members: mojobee, DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

8

The Incredible Journey

by Sheila Burnford

6,735 members

84 reviews

3.9

5 Members: inge87, DeltaQueen50, cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

9

Catching Fire

by Suzanne Collins

59,170 members

1,902 reviews

4.2

4 Members: KimarieBee, DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963

10

Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel

14,577 members

873 reviews

4.1

4 Members: mojobee, DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963

11

The Passage

by Justin Cronin

10,401 members

673 reviews

3.9

4 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

12

The Day of the Triffids

by John Wyndham

8,410 members

239 reviews

4

4 Members: KimarieBee, DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963

13

The Windup Girl

by Paolo Bacigalupi

6,920 members

322 reviews

½ 3.7

4 Members: aulsmith, DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ManWithAnAgenda

14

The Stand: Expanded Edition: For the First Time Complete and Uncut (Signet)

by Stephen King

4,981 members

72 reviews

½ 4.5

4 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

15

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

76,295 members

3,637 reviews

½ 4.3

4 Members: KimarieBee, DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963,cej1027

16

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

by Max Brooks

17,473 members

764 reviews

4

3 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ManWithAnAgenda

17

Blindness

by José Saramago

14,577 members

431 reviews

4.1

3 Members: sturlington, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

18

My Side of the Mountain

by Jean Craighead George

14,471 members

162 reviews

4

3 Members: cej1027, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

19

Night

by Elie Wiesel

12,884 members

240 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: dara85, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

20

Parable of the Sower

by Octavia E. Butler

11,416 members

316 reviews

4.1

3 Members: sturlington, Dilara86, ManWithAnAgenda

21

Year of Wonders

by Geraldine Brooks

9,484 members

435 reviews

4

3 Members: KimarieBee, sturlington, ahef1963

22

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men against the Sea

by Sebastian Junger

6,743 members

103 reviews

3.9

3 Members: DeltaQueen50, cej1027, ahef1963

23

Parable of the Talents

by Octavia E. Butler

4,826 members

125 reviews

4.1

3 Members: sturlington, Dilara86, ManWithAnAgenda

24

The Twelve

by Justin Cronin

4,054 members

177 reviews

3.8

3 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington, ahef1963
Explanations: sturlington: Survival in post-apocalyptic world overrun by vampires.

25

Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors

by Piers Paul Read

2,658 members

69 reviews

4

3 Members: dara85, DeltaQueen50, ahef1963

26

The Plague Dogs

by Richard Adams

2,436 members

47 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: DeltaQueen50, cej1027, ManWithAnAgenda

27

Eifelheim

by Michael Flynn

1,212 members

74 reviews

3.8

3 Members: aulsmith, DeltaQueen50, sturlington

28

The Road

by Cormac McCarthy

38,755 members

1,509 reviews

4.1

2 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington

29

Robinson Crusoe

by Daniel Defoe

28,885 members

360 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: DeltaQueen50, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda,aulsmith

30

Island of the Blue Dolphins

by Scott O'Dell

21,515 members

324 reviews

3.9

2 Members: inge87, DeltaQueen50

31

Oryx and Crake

by Margaret Atwood

18,749 members

577 reviews

3.9

2 Members: sturlington, ahef1963

32

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

by Neil Gaiman

17,257 members

1,034 reviews

4.1

2 Members: sturlington, ahef1963

33

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

by Jon Krakauer

15,675 members

342 reviews

4.2

2 Members: dara85, ahef1963

34

A Canticle for Leibowitz

by Walter M. Miller

13,216 members

341 reviews

3.9

2 Members: sturlington, ahef1963

35

Dreamcatcher

by Stephen King

11,116 members

102 reviews

½ 3.3

2 Members: sturlington, ahef1963

36

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

by Stephen King

10,657 members

173 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: sturlington, ahef1963
Explanations: sturlington: Lost in the woods.

37

Survivor

by Chuck Palahniuk

9,263 members

104 reviews

3.9

2 Members: sturlington, ahef1963

38

Julie of the Wolves

by Jean Craighead George

8,831 members

130 reviews

3.9

2 Members: cej1027, ahef1963

39

Wool

by Hugh Howey

8,599 members

420 reviews

4.1

2 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington

40

The Girl With All the Gifts

by M. R. Carey

6,303 members

447 reviews

4

2 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington

41

Between Shades of Gray

by Ruta Sepetys

6,038 members

375 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: dara85, inge87

42

The Ruins

by Scott Smith

4,151 members

210 reviews

½ 3.4

2 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington

43

Lilith's Brood

by Octavia E. Butler

2,938 members

65 reviews

4.2

2 Members: sturlington, Dilara86

44

The Endless Steppe

by Esther Hautzig

2,429 members

35 reviews

4

2 Members: dara85, inge87

45

102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers

by Jim Dwyer

1,510 members

50 reviews

4.1

2 Members: dara85, mpenetos

46

World Made By Hand

by James Howard Kunstler

1,055 members

56 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington

47

The Reapers Are the Angels

by Alden Bell

1,029 members

122 reviews

3.9

2 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington

48

Walkabout

by James Vance Marshall

888 members

17 reviews

½ 3.3

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

49

The End We Start From

by Megan Hunter

532 members

50 reviews

½ 3.4

2 Members: sturlington, ManWithAnAgenda

50

Thin Air

by Michelle Paver

397 members

24 reviews

3.9

2 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington

51

Lost Canyon

by Nina Revoyr

102 members

17 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: DeltaQueen50, sturlington

52

Ender's Game

by Orson Scott Card

45,469 members

1,121 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: sturlington, ahef1963,ManWithAnAgenda

53

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

by Laura Hillenbrand

14,277 members

618 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: dara85

54

The Swiss Family Robinson

by Johann David Wyss

9,920 members

97 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

55

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

by Alfred Lansing

6,213 members

152 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: inge87

56

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

by Erik Larson

6,093 members

306 reviews

4.1

Member: dara85

57

Nation

by Terry Pratchett

5,644 members

259 reviews

4.1

Member: ahef1963

58

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

by Erik Larson

4,716 members

149 reviews

4

Member: sturlington

59

A Night to Remember

by Walter Lord

3,488 members

72 reviews

4.1

Member: dara85

60

Tunnel in the Sky

by Robert A. Heinlein

3,082 members

47 reviews

3.8

Member: timspalding

61

Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival

by Joe Simpson

2,918 members

78 reviews

4.2

Member: dara85

62

Deliverance

by James Dickey

2,835 members

63 reviews

3.9

Member: DeltaQueen50

63

The Brief History of the Dead

by Kevin Brockmeier

2,719 members

181 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

64

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

by Anthony Marra

2,619 members

195 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: DeltaQueen50

65

The Troop

by Nick Cutter

2,608 members

163 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: DeltaQueen50

66

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

by Edith Hahn Beer

2,269 members

67 reviews

3.9

Member: dara85

67

The Revenant

by Michael Punke

2,233 members

80 reviews

3.8

Member: DeltaQueen50

68

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

by Aron Ralston

1,863 members

50 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: dara85

69

The North Water

by Ian McGuire

1,646 members

104 reviews

4

Member: DeltaQueen50

70

The Last Town on Earth

by Thomas Mullen

1,362 members

61 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: DeltaQueen50

71

The Wild Shore

by Kim Stanley Robinson

1,230 members

23 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: aulsmith

72

Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home

by Nando Parrado

1,095 members

46 reviews

4.1

Member: dara85

73

Yellow Star

by Jennifer Roy

1,069 members

49 reviews

4.2

Member: dara85

74

Icerigger

by Alan Dean Foster

982 members

6 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

75

Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole

by Jerri Nielson

848 members

19 reviews

3.8

Member: dara85

76

Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope

by Don Van Ryn

804 members

36 reviews

3.9

Member: dara85

77

Pacific Edge

by Kim Stanley Robinson

737 members

15 reviews

3.8

Member: aulsmith

78

Alicia: My Story

by Alicia Appleman-Jurman

712 members

11 reviews

4.2

Member: dara85

79

Lost on a Mountain in Maine

by Donn Fendler

644 members

16 reviews

3.9

Member: timspalding

80

Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero

by Michael Hingson

615 members

32 reviews

3.9

Member: dara85

81

The year we disappeared : a father-daughter memoir

by Cylin Busby

342 members

12 reviews

3.8

Member: dara85

82

Girl in Ice

by Erica Ferencik

341 members

29 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

83

A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy - One Child's Courage to Survive

by Dave Pelzer

339 members

8 reviews

4

2 Members: dara85, cej1027,

84

Winter Camp

by Kirkpatrick Hill

322 members

5 reviews

4.2

Member: cej1027

85

The Feed

by Nick Clark Windo

267 members

37 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

86

Toughboy and Sister

by Kirkpatrick Hill

207 members

5 reviews

3.8

Member: cej1027

87

Out of Captivity: Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

by Marc Gonsalves

196 members

8 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: Friederike.Geissler

88

I Am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility

by Trisha Meili

191 members

3 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: dara85

89

Love, Greg & Lauren

by Greg Manning

169 members

3.8

Member: dara85

90

Refined by Fire: A Family's Triumph of Love and Faith

by Brian Birdwell

131 members

2 reviews

½ 4.7

Member: dara85

91

The African Equation

by Yasmina Khadra

124 members

12 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: inge87

92

Miracle on the Mountain: A True Tale of Faith and Survival

by Mike Couillard

52 members

2 reviews

½ 4.5

Member: dara85

93

83 Hours Till Dawn

by Gene Miller

48 members

3 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: dara85

94

My Search for Patty Hearst

by Steven Weed

40 members

1 review

½ 2.3

Member: dara85

95

Hey I'm Alive

by Helen Klaben

32 members

1 review

3.8

Member: dara85

96

Road of Bones

by Rich Douek

22 members

½ 3.3

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

97

The Zombie Survival Guide

by Max Brooks

8,116 members

135 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963,dara85

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