Those of us who make our living with words know that writing is a subjective business. Literature is full of anecdotes of famous writers who received multiple rejections before finding success. “Robinson Crusoe” — 20 times. “Dune” — 17 times. And it took Dr. Seuss 17 attempts before “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” the forerunner to “The Cat in the Hat” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” was finally published in 1937.

Writers love language and to us, reading is as essential as breathing. So it should come as no surprise that while we word nerds trade books back and forth as rapidly as a new deadline approaches, we also argue about what makes a good read. Best sellers or classics? Fiction or nonfiction? Crime? Romance? Fantasy?

Just for fun, we asked one another for our top five favorite books. Here, in alphabetical order, is what we came up with.

 “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck

“Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist,” Alston Chase

“Being There,” Jerzy Kozinsky

Holly Camero, assistant editor, Bolton Common and Harvard Post

Any Elizabeth George mystery, particularly the Inspector Lindley series

“Living Seasonally – The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill,” Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd.

“Patti Smith: Complete 1975 — 2006 Lyrics, Reflections and Notes for the Future,” Patti Smith

“The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon,” Dan Eldon

“DeKooning’s Bicycle: Artists and Writers in the Hamptons,” Robert Long

“Ernie Pyle’s War: America’s Eyewitness to World War II,” James Tobin

“Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story,” Martin Luther King, Jr.     

“Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions,” John Kotter and Haloger Rathgeber