What do these books have to do with Lost?

A lot. Some of the episodes of LOST are named after them. Many episodes contain references to them. Some of the story lines closely follow them.

These books served as creative inspiration to the show's creators, writers and producers. Because of that there are themes, clues and references from the books worked into the plot of Lost.

An example is the name Henry Gale. In Lost, this is the name Ben gave to the tailies when they found him, claiming to have crashed on the island in a balloon. Henry Gale is the name of Dorothy's uncle in The Wizard of Oz.

The balloon crash (and the Flight 815 crash) is similar to a Jules Verne novel, The Mysterious Island, where the main characters crash a balloon onto an island in the South Pacific. Strange things happen as the survivors begin to realize they are not alone on the island. Sound familiar?

The Last Addition To The Lost Book List

May 24, 2010...wow, the show's over, done, gone, moved on...surprisingly there were no new books in the last 6 shows, including the series finale.

This is the last book featured on LOST. Hurley found it in Ilana's belongings on the beach after she blew up in episode 11 of season 6. It's also the second Dostoevsky novel seen on LOST.

Notes from Underground
by Fyodor Dostoevsky


The Most Popular Books Seen on Lost

Curious about which of the many books seen on Lost other fans are reading?  Below are the 10 most popular books that were featured on the show.

Since he was the character most often observed with his face in a book, it's not surprising that several of these are books that Sawyer was seen reading during the show. The ranking is based on sales during the seven years that I published this Lost book list on another site (Squidoo).

10. Island by Aldous Huxley. Although this book about a remote Pacific island was never seen, it begins similarly to the opening scene of Lost's pilot episode. Also, the island in the book shares the same name, Pala, as the ferry on the island in Lost.

9. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. The last book that Desmond wants to read before he dies.

8. Watership Down by Richard Adams. Sawyer is seen reading this book in two episodes of Lost.

7. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. The Dharma Initiative's orientation film was hidden inside of this book found on a bookshelf in the Swan station.

6. VALIS by Philip K. Dick. Locke found this book on Ben's bookshelf and brought it to him while he was imprisoned.

5. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Sawyer was seen reading this book in season 1.

4. The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares. Sawyer read this book about a fugitive on a deserted island during his stay at the Others' barracks.

3. The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. A book that Desmond had in the Swan station.

2. Bad Twin by Gary Troup. Hurley and Sawyer both read the manuscript to this book. It was written by a fellow Flight 815 passenger. He was the one sucked into the plane's engine on the beach in the pilot episode.

And the most popular book featured on Lost is...

1. Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor. This is the only book that Jacob was seen reading. He read it while waiting for Locke to be thrown out of a window in season 5.

As a bonus, the top book about Lost is the Lost Encyclopedia by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry.

The Best LOST Finale Alternate Ending

After LOST ended, the producers released several alternate endings to the series. This one gets my vote as the best because it brings back an old character and explains who had the real power on the island. It may also be better than the real series finale ending.

Sadly, no books were featured in this alternate ending either. Here's the link to the clip (I would have embedded it, but the screen shot gave away some of the ending). Enjoy.