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I know there's a list of books that have been searched for more than once, but I'm wondering which ones have been asked for time and time and time again? And what do you think it is about those particular books that make them so memorable... or forgettable, I'm not sure which.

Just curious.

Unfortunately we don't have a quick way to see which books have been requested the most. If a book makes it onto the "searched for more than once" shelf, it could be searched for twice, or 7 times.

But certainly one of the books that comes up again and again and again - I'm guessing it's in the top 5 - is House of Stairs by William Sleator. It's interesting because I think the book is both really memorable, but obviously forgettable too! Otherwise we'd all have the title on the tips of our tongues. There's just something about the story that is so creepy and alienating - the food pellets, the stairs, the teenagers.

Thanks. I was just wondering what people remembered answering or seeing over and over.

I swear I've answered with Old Magic multiple times. No idea if it's one of the most asked for, though.

The Great Good Thing has been requested a bunch of times. I also see the author Enid Blyton mentioned repeatedly. Don't know if she is the answer to lots of queries, or just that people suggest her all the time. I also see a lot of Ruth Chew.

I think the most memorable part of House of Stairs for many people is the dancing for the traffic light.

Pamela wrote: "I think the most memorable part of House of Stairs for many people is the dancing for the traffic light."

I have no memory of that!

The Faraway Lurs by Harry BehnHarry Behn is another book I've noticed that is frequently asked for.

I know I've answered The Green Book a couple of times and it had already been answered a few times.

Back when I posted on the Abebooks BookSearch forum, tons of people searched for Mirror of Danger. I was one of them! I bought it and still love that book. Another that seemed to be asked for a bunch was Sawdust in His Shoes. Would love to read that one again, but I've never managed to track down a reasonably priced copy. Oh, and they identified Wild Pony Island for me, which at the time was out of print and crazy expensive. I was overjoyed when it got reprinted.

The Girl Who Owned a City has been requested and solved 5x.

I have seen multiple requests for "Invitation To The Game" and something that I think was called "Ready Player One" or something similar.

Lobstergirl wrote: "The Girl Who Owned a City has been requested and solved 5x."

I only found it requested and solved three times.

Rosa wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "The Girl Who Owned a City has been requested and solved 5x."

I only found it requested and solved three times."

It gets suggested for a lot of things where it isn't the answer.

I know I've solved for Aurian several times. Same for Sorcery Rising. Oddly both books I didn't particularly like when I read them.
I think those stick out for me more since they're not ones I would expect to have been that common.

I think at least sometimes the problem is titles that are either too generic/common and thus forgettable (romance novels are terrible for this) because there's nothing that hooks that title to the book in a reader's mind, or odd enough not to be something you can get half right and still have show up in a search. There's probably a sweet spot somewhere, but clearly a lot of books miss it.

And then memory is a big ball of snakes and unreliable anyway, one of the most interesting things about this group is seeing just how differently multiple people can remember the same book.

Alien Secrets keeps popping up, too. It's common enough that a lot of people have read it, and it has memorable moments like the navigation system or the friendship with the alien boy, yet it doesn't have a distinctive title or a famous author, so it's easy to lose track of. I myself have a hard time remembering the title, though I've found it for other people a couple times.

I think I've solved Stormy at least a couple times.

My Louisiana Sky maybe? Three solves.

I think The Westing Game must be pretty high up on the search list.

I'm going to guess it's "The Thief of Always" by Clive Barker. It was the solution to 23 threads.

"The Westing Game" comes in at 13 solves.

"House of Stairs" - 11 solves.

The Wind Singer comes up like crazy!

Stonewords: A Ghost Story seems to come up nearly annually. I just stumbled across it, realised it sounded super familiar, and saw the 6 or so previous solves....

Nothing close to The Thief of Always @ 23, though...

The Dark Hills Divide is also super popular!

Is Clive Barker then the most searched-for author?

Because between Abarat, The Thief of Always, and, today, Mister B. Gone, I'm starting to wonder..!

Clive Barker comes up a lot because of The Thief of Always, for sure.

The Fairy Rebel and Running Out of Time come up a lot!

More popular requests!

The Giver
Winter of Fire
Another Faust
The Changeover
Both Sides of Time
The Valley of Secrets
The Ghost of Fossil Glen
A Murder for Her Majesty
Saturday, the Twelfth of October
Gullstruck Island/The Lost Conspiracy

Another popular one!

What I Saw and How I Lied

Also Wellspring of Magic!

The Grounding of Group 6
The Trouble with Thirteen
Zenda and the Gazing Ball

First Light is 9 solves, probably going on 10 today...

Rainbowheart wrote: "Another popular one!

What I Saw and How I Lied"

Came up again this week. ;)

As of today, and going by 'SOLVED' threads, here are the books mentioned in this thread by # of solves:

28 - The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley
26 - The Wind Singer by William Nicholson
26 - The Thief of Always by Clive Barker
17 - Another Faust by Daniel Nayeri
17 - The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
16 - Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix
15 - Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes
13 - House of Stairs by William Sleator
11 - Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan
11 - The Fairy Rebel by Lynne Reid Banks
10 - Old Magic by Marianne Curley
10 - Saturday, The Twelfth of October by Norma Fox Mazer
10 - The Girl Who Owned a City by O.T. Nelson
9+ - First Light by Rebecca Stead
9 - The Lost Conspiracy/Gullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge
9 - The Valley of Secrets by Charmian Hussey
9 - Both Sides of Time by Caroline B. Cooney
8 - The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh
8 - Abarat by Clive Barker
7 - Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause
7 - A Murder for Her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner
7 - The Grounding of Group 6 by Julian F. Thompson
6 - Stonewords: A Ghost Story by Pam Conrad
6 - The Changeover by Margaret Mahy
6 - The Ghost of Fossil Glen by Cynthia C. DeFelice
6 - Zenda and the Gazing Ball by Ken Petti
5 - The Giver by Lois Lowry
5 - The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman
5 - The Trouble with Thirteen by Betty Miles
4+ - What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
4 - Mirror of Danger/Come Back, Lucy by Pamela Sykes
4 - Aurian by Maggie Furey
4 - Wellspring of Magic by Jan Fields
4 - Sorcery Rising by Jude Fisher
4 - My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt
2 - The Faraway Lurs by Harry Behn
2 - Stormy by Jim Kjelgaard
1 - Sawdust in His Shoes by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
1 - Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker

"+" indicating that there's a likely pending solve in the works, and it may roll up

No Solves (?!) - Ready Player One. I went through 21 pages of discussion topics for that one, and not once was it a "SOLVED" book on this thread. I think it must be guessed quite often, especially considering how often the answer truly was Invitation to the Game. ;)

The Giver must also come up so often because it's read so widely in schools. There were 812 discussions about that book (28 pages' worth where it's the topic, not just mentioned). ;)

Clive Barker has 35 solves for his books alone (at least those three mentioned above. Haven't checked the others yet). ;)

EDIT: Checked through the top 20 of Barker's books, as listed on GR by "popularity" (got bored and stopped with 20, could have kept going). These books of his are also previous solves:

4 - The Great and Secret Show
2 - Weaveworld
1 - Imajica
1 - Books of Blood, Volume Two
1 - Everville
1- In the Flesh
(45 solves if you include these!)

Awesome, thanks for breaking this all down!

Rainbowheart wrote: "Awesome, thanks for breaking this all down!"

My pleasure! :) Thought it might be fun to have something concrete to check back to the next time one of these books gets 'solved'! ;)

Wow, Capn that is an impressive breakdown of the data

Marla wrote: "Wow, Capn that is an impressive breakdown of the data"

I'm a (currently) unemployed scientist and nerd. Can you tell? XD

We are a family comprised of nerds & one scientist who can appreciate your efforts!

The China Garden is another popular request!

The Cry of the Icemark has also come up a lot.

Nice work, Capn!

It looks like The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson has been filed as solved 11 times, and The Divide by Elizabeth Kay 9 times, and I think both would have a + for pending solves (if threads in the Abandoned folder can be counted).

There's quite a few books that I think have come up loads, but when I look them up it's only 4 or 5 solves - funny how the mind works.

Becca wrote: "Nice work, Capn!

It looks like The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson has been filed as solved 11 times, and The Divide by Elizabeth Kay 9 times, and I think both wo..."

Ah right! :D

Yeah, as you point out, the unsolved/abandoned threads with solutions just languishing weren't included in my count, either. Those ones I haven't taken into account are also probably skewed towards less-obscure books, too, since the OP might have stumbled upon the solution themselves, had a friend suggest it, etc., or, you know, just a law of numbers thing (more people read it, so more forgot it). :)

It's interesting, isn't it, which books get forgotten. Title mismatch? One-off attractive cover, well-displayed, or marketing? A book that felt as though it was written by another, better known author? I'm always curious what drives it. Makes sense to me that many were books you half-listened to in a classroom and didn't actually sit down to read yourself. ;)

I think several of these have a memorable "hook" or plot twist that remains lodged in people's brains even long after they've forgotten the title.

Rainbowheart wrote: "I think several of these have a memorable "hook" or plot twist that remains lodged in people's brains even long after they've forgotten the title."

That would make sense!

Oh cool, I didn't know about this thread! This one hasn't made it onto this list before now but I've counted that it has been solved 12 times (and is the answer to one other thread that was abandoned) - The Wings of a Falcon

The Gospel According to Larry has also come up a bunch of times.

The Kneebone Boy is another popular one!

What Happened to Lani Garver has come up a lot.

Frozen Fire by Tim Bowler has come up at least 10 times!

Fake ID also comes up frequently!