So a question for all. What is the best book you have ever read?
So a question for all.
What is the best book you have ever read?
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So a question for all.
What is the best book you have ever read?
Best like “OMG this book is blowing my mind”: Michel Foucault, Disciplne and Punish.
Best like “I will read this book a dozen times,” Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose.
Non Fiction: Why Nations Fail by Acemoglu and Robinson.
Guns, Germs And Steel by Diamond.
Fiction: I am Pilgrim by Hayes.
KPax by Brewer.
Tough to say, I’m too much of a prisoner of the moment. It’s usually the last book I finished or the current book I’m ready.
The whole Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury.
That’s like asking which is your favorite child
i’ve always had a soft spot for valley of the dolls. i find the character development top tier and the general message very interesting.
Peter F. Hamilton – Commonwealth Saga
I hope I haven’t read it yet!
The Brothers Karamazov
A Confederacy of Dunces. Not even close.
Harry Potter. Every time I read it, it has new layers and I discover new problems with the writing / character development or story in general as I grow
I don’t think I can name one yet…
So many. But if I had to pick one it would be Illusions by Richard Bach.
The best book I’ve ever read would have to be the one that I hugged to my chest, and kissed its cover, after I finished reading it. Mmmmm … well … this happens, on average, every two years, so … the last-best-book was “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” by Muriel Barbery
So difficult as I think a reader matures and therefore enjoys different books at different ages.
However, I read The Handmaid’s Tale when it was published, probably one of my faves
The Crimson Petal and the White
Really interested to see the answers though!
No way I can name the best book I’ve read. The list is so, SO long!
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
That is an exception book
The Holy Bible.
A Little Life
I dnf that. Maybe I’ll pick it up again.
Many bests but try the novella A Month In The Country by J L Carr. Made into a film with Colin Firth ad Kenneth Branagh back in the 90s.
Another treasure! Loved it!
My favourite tends to change with my mood, but to be as objective as possible it should be the one I’ve reread the most and still enjoyed, which would be Generation X by Douglas Coupland.
Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright.
Lonesome Dove,
Larry McMurtry
Can open to any page and be entertained. TV series has great casting.
A Perfect Spy by John le Carré.
Probably one of John Irving’s earlier books.
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn ??
The Catcher in the Rye, All the Bright Places, I’m Thinking of ending things
http://amazon.com/
I think for me To Kill a Mockingbird is up there. I read it back to back without stopping and just sat in silence taking it all in when I finished. Fantastic book
The Bible will always be my first. But after that, my CURRENT favorite, until I read a better or just as good, is “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”. The older you get, the more difficult it is to narrow it down. To me a favorite is one you want to read again frequently.
Angela’s Ashes
In my top 5-10, it was my Mom’s favorite. ?
1984..trainspotting 2nd place..
Cool- I’m reading Trainspotting right now
Im reading Porno now.its as good so far…
Nice! I’m already trying to decide which one of his to get next
Iv got porno,blade artist and dead mans trouses to read and Scag boys is a prequel to trainspotting..
Fiction – The Coldest Winter
Non-Fiction – Warmth of Other Suns
Colony
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An impossible question! My tastes have changed so much over the years, I guess I have a favourite or two in every genre. Agatha Christie and Terry Pratchett are my go-to books when I need comforting, I love Jerome K Jerome and Mark Twain, or Wilkie Collins or Charles Dickens. Norah Lofts or Georgette Heyer or Ken Follett for historical fiction. Kathy Reichs or Patricia Cornwell, David Baldacci or Mark Billingham or Ruth Rendell for chilling murder. And then Douglas Adams to cheer me up 🙂
Not possible to choose.
I reread Harry Potter frequently, and also Pratchett, Gaiman, Graham Joyce. But my current fave is Frédéric Backman’s My Grandmother Asks Me to Tell You She’s Sorry.
Favorite book of 2018 is A Gentleman in Moscow
Mine too!
Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry.
Kane and Abel.
I would have to say To Kill a Mockingbird bc it’s the only book I’ve ever read multiple times.
I Know This Much Is True – Wally Lamb
Truly one of the best books I have ever read! And the longest. Excellent choice!
This, to me, is one of the universe’s great unanswerable questions. I could never give a one book answer.
So impossible to choose but will list those I reread with some regularity…
Dune by Frank Herbert…Exodus by Leon Uris…The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede…The Chosen by Chaim Potok…The Hobbitt…the Harry Potter series…Hawaii by James Michener…Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin…Beginning Operations by James White [Sector General Series]…Shogun by James Clavell…The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett…Is Paris Burning? by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins…The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean…
Oh I’d forgotten about The Pillars of the Earth! Great book
And I had forgotten Shogun. That is why this question is so hard
I know, after 6+ decades of reading, it is so hard to remember they all off the top of head. Which I guess one reason I like going to the bookstore or library coz as I read the titles I keep encountering beloved old friends even as I search for new ones. But I suppose the truth really is if forced I would have to name Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. I even took to college with me; have given it as a gift too many times to count, and still think it sums me up the best.
Non fiction: Americans in Paris by Charles Glass and The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. (I’m adding more in my mind as I type!)
Ok, and fiction, OMG, I cannot choose one or 50. Too many faves!
Anything by Jodi Picoult
I love all of her books
No doubt about it, the Harry Potter series. The only book that made me love books.
There is no way I can name one book. My choice changes as time goes by. When I was in my teens it could have been Katherine by Anya Seton but then that would have taken away the Williamsburg Series by Elswyth Thane.. At one time it was A Town Called Alice by Nevil Shute and then there is Outlander which is still a favorite. Even if one is asked to pick by category that is also impossible for me. And I forgot Dream Man by Linda Howard which is an absolute favorite too. It is like picking one’s favorite child which one loves all of them!
“If on a winter’s night a traveler” by Italo Calvino
THree Men In a Boat by Jerome K Jerome
So funny, great choice. I forgot to put it on my list, too.many great books out there to remember them all 🙂
A Man Called Orv
War and peace
Piller’s of the world
I know this is true – Wally Lamb, To kill a mockingbird and The Shack. However I absolutely love Janet Evanovich and Sue Grafton (may she rest in peace) I’ve read so many wonderful books it’s hard to pick just a few.
Well for me since its time I reply.
The Kite Runner is the best book I’ve read till date.
There have been other books I thoroughly enjoyed but the story and the final words of the book always stay with me
??
A fine balance – Rohinton Mistry
The Count of Monte Cristo. Took me forever to finish but I fell in love with the characters. It’s hard to top that one for me so far.
The movie was also good
@James I couldn’t stand it, to be honest. Only because they changed so much and cut out so much that I was upset when I saw it.
I hate to hear that. I guess I will read the book then
@James it’s worth it. I had waited to see the movie till after I read the book and I was really disappointed they almost changed the entire story, and cut out more than half of the plot, and changed the ending. The book was 100 times better.
Oh I bet . I really enjoyed the story line..The best revenge is success…I can’t until I read the book
I forgot about The Goldfinch!
Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry.
Centennial by James A Michener.
I was thinking of sampling a Michener, looks like Centennial is a good one.
@Wandy the best. The first chapter can be a bit hard going. ( geology) not my favourite subject. The book is amazing. Try Chesapeake also by him.
Two books: 1.Boy 2.Going Solo: both by Roald Dahl
Two books for different reasons: The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.
Am reading Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. It’s right up there with the best. I’d have to say though, THE WEIGHT OF WATER is right”up there”.
The Lord of the Rings
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice.
The once and future king – T H White