What is your favorite book & why?

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  • cmotting
    cmotting Posts: 97 Member
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    Yay, I'm not the only one who thinks Persuasion is better than the much more popular Pride & Prejudice. (Dont get me wrong, love that one too, but Persuasion is the best of the best!!)

    Yes! And I think Northanger Abbey is the close second! I LOVE Mr. Tinley :)
  • RedHeadDevotchka
    RedHeadDevotchka Posts: 1,394 Member
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    I am a Stephen King fan, my absolute favourite book is Bag of Bones be SK.
    Jane Eyre is second.

    Well, just picked up Bag of Bones at the Thrift store for 40 cents, so glad it is a good read :)
  • neonemesis
    neonemesis Posts: 74 Member
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    Hawkmoon series by Michael Moorcock. i just love his writing and the whole multiverse.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
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    Non-fiction - Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
    Fiction - Any of the Jesse Stone books by Robert B. Parker
  • Allie_71
    Allie_71 Posts: 1,063 Member
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    Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

    I could have picked tons. But I narrowed it down to two....

    Oops, didn't say why. (edit)

    Flowers for Algernon because it's sweet, poignant, triumpant and a little sad. But beautifully written.

    Catch-22 because it's interesting and thought provoking. Satirical and funny.
  • rosesigil
    rosesigil Posts: 105 Member
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    My absolute favorite is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I like love stories, and Wuthering Heights isn't the traditional 'happily ever after', ' girl finds her prince charming' love story. And it's a classic!
    The 2009 movie adaptation with Tom Hardy is excellent also. Mainly because he's hot ;P

    I was very pleasantly surprised with the movie version. Wuthering Heights is a good choice.

    I'd probably answer your question with, "what genre?"

    Fiction (my top few):

    1. David Copperfield by Charles ****ens
    2. The Lord of the Rings series including The Hobbit and Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
    3. The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged) by Alexandre Dumas
    4. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
    5. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
    6. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy

    Nonfiction: cannot choose just one... I'd say my top five are (not really in order):

    1. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
    2. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
    3. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
    4. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
    5. Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy

    I really love historical nonfiction. I have a passion for Roman history, so I really enjoy reading good biographies of the Emperors and the late-republic era. With fiction, I look for complex interesting characters more than anything. The style of writing should also be eloquent and gripping but not tiresome. I'm not a huge fan of happy endings either. I tend to enjoy dark sad endings...

    Try I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves. Both books are super.
  • anifani4
    anifani4 Posts: 457 Member
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    Thanks for all the great titles for me to check out of the library.

    "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. Pi is such a survivor and he loves swimming.
    "Hawaii" by Mitchner...absolutley engrossing..
    "Dragon Bound" by Thea Harrison....also her other books in the Elder Races Series. Great characters. Fun reads.
    All of the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. Love Reache,r an exmilitary, who travels with only a toothbrush and always finds trouble. Spellbinding suspense.
    "The Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean Auel because it makes the life of the first humans seem believable.
    "Coma" and "Outbreak" by Robin Cook. Medical thrillers that really grabbed me.
  • petstorekitty
    petstorekitty Posts: 592 Member
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    Favorite of all time, HitchHiker's Guide to Galaxy (and sequels)

    But that's from ages ago and pretty careworn so I did just finish reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman and it was just fantastic; a really fresh, imaginative approach to theological fiction.

    Damn you beat me to it. Hitchhiker's Guide series is my favorite ever. I've read those books more than any others.

    They are just random, rambling, ridiculous and fun. <3<3


    Thanks for posting this, OP. I have lots to add to my Goodreads list now xD
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    To Kill a Mockingbird and The Little Prince.

    Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
  • kel665
    kel665 Posts: 401 Member
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    Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine. It's just amazing, I haven't read it for a few years now and I think it will be the only book I will ever ready twice. I love books where people go back in time and live another life and this is one of the best I have read. It describes everything so well you nearly feel like you are living in that time yourself. Beautiful.
  • Allie_71
    Allie_71 Posts: 1,063 Member
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    .... sorry. repost. :/
  • petstorekitty
    petstorekitty Posts: 592 Member
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    My absolute favorite is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I like love stories, and Wuthering Heights isn't the traditional 'happily ever after', ' girl finds her prince charming' love story. And it's a classic!
    The 2009 movie adaptation with Tom Hardy is excellent also. Mainly because he's hot ;P

    I love this story too. I wrote a paper on it in school.

    Think my favorite love story is that of Much Ado About Nothing.
  • ekkand
    ekkand Posts: 592 Member
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    I have way too many "favorite" books. But some I can think of are the 50 Shades of Grey series, the Hunger Games series, all three books written by Heather Gudenkauf, If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and many more.
  • rosesigil
    rosesigil Posts: 105 Member
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    So many!

    The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams; this is brilliant and funny Dirk Gently detective

    The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit and Silmarilion

    Watership Down by Richard Adams ; great story telling, rabbits, and lots of English flora and fauna

    The Belgarion series (10 books) by David Eddings; magic, swords, great characters, lovely!

    The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault; historical fiction at its best--all of her books are great

    Weeds of the Northeast; lovely field guide of "weeds" (= wildflowers)
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
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    Try I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves. Both books are super.

    I, Claudius is outstanding! I've not read Claudius the God yet though. I will check it out. Thanks!
  • 1258936
    1258936 Posts: 115 Member
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    I'm loving this thread! Great choices for sure and some new ones for me.
    I recommend The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. The characters are so vibrant I feel like they are close personal friends. I loaned the series to a co worker and she doesn't want to give the books back she feels so connected to them.
    Also I would be remiss if I did not mention The Princess Bride by William Goldman, I can pick that book up, open at random and read happily away. It's so silly, so whimsical.
  • missashley2390
    missashley2390 Posts: 185
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    13 steps down. hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. the fifty shades series. hay potter. and stolen innocence.
  • foraubs
    foraubs Posts: 263 Member
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    I am so surprised and happy to see By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. I've been hauling that book with me every time I moved for more than thirty years.

    I've never met, or come across, anyone else who has read it - and hearing you have makes ME happy!
  • mackzaj
    mackzaj Posts: 42
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    The one that comes to mind at the moment is "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. LOVE his writing.

    But then there's John Irving, Wally Lamb, and so many others. For light reading, I love Jan Karon's Mitford novels - so endearingly wholesome.
  • vice350z
    vice350z Posts: 1,066 Member
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    Jim Norton - Happy Endings.

    Love him and his book was f'ing hilarious.

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