Favorite Book

What is the best book you have ever read????????????

So far, my favorite book is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, hands down. I finally read Anna Karenina this past year, fell in love with Tolstoy's writing, and now that I'm reading War and Peace, I'm even more in love with his work!

How about you, Bradon?

That's a very good (but tough) question, Bradon. I'd have to say my favorite novel is A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul, a tragicomic novel set in Trinidad in the 1950s, whose main character is based on the author's own father.

My favorite book that I have ever read would have to be Gym Candy... It is a great book...

It is by Carl Deuker...

>>4 BradonK:,5 That looks like quite a book.

I'd have to say Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I love his books, and I'm looking forward to the new one that comes out next month in the U.S.

I never heard of Kalfa... What is it about??????

It's bizarre and dreamlike. Here's the New Yorker's review: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/01/24/050124crbo_books1

A favorite sports-related novel for a younger age group would be Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, which involves football. The sequels are really good, too.

cool!!!!!!!!!!!

Middlemarch, without a doubt. What is it you like so much about your choice Bradon?

Because it is such a great book!! Do you want me to tell you what it's about?????

That's a tough question. I have favorites and books that I think are the "best", but it tends to be a fluid list. But books that I recommend to most people when they ask me, the most often are;

East of Eden by John Steinbeck;
An American classic that is a retelling tale of Cain and Able.

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein;
The moon has been used as a penal colony by Earth. The moon now has it's war for independence led by a computer that only wanted to learn how to tell jokes.

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis;
A what if story. FDR loses the election for a 2nd term and a Fascist President is elected in the 30's.

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson;
A collection of stories which show that every one has skeletons in their past that are best not known about.

The Hobbit (Collector's Edition) by J.R.R. Tolkien (my favorite LOR book and in my opinion the best);
It's a simple story of a common not so interesting person being caught up in larger than life events in his world, and he rises to the occasion.

The Mule by Juan Eslava Galan;
The same story as the "Hobbit" only takes place in the Spanish Civil War

I can tell you like reading... LOL

The BEST book I have ever read?

It isn't easy to pick ONE book that's my favorite.

If you asked this question: "If you were on a desert island, and could only have one book, what would it be?" I could answer more readily.

That book would have to be something you wouldn't mind reading over and over and over...

With that question posed, I'm going to choose the Bible: it's a good sized tome, full of interesting stories about people. It also has writings that can really make you feel better when you're down in the dumps.

My favorite book is The Iliad. I have several translations and read it about every three or four years. It is a story of the basic elements of human nature told in beautiful poetic language. The fact that it has stayed in print for 2500 years speaks well for it's quality and universal appeal.

i think id have to say vonnegut's slaughter house five but orwell's 1984 would be really close. s.h.5 just seems to me to be one of the least cliche stories ive ever read.

jimnightshade, I've not read Slaughterhouse Five (yet!), but have read 1984, twice. I have to say I have no plans to read it again...it gave me nightmares!

I like the bible.... I havent heard of Slaughterhouse five but it sounds really good!! The Iliad, what is it about?

What the Iliad is about:

Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus
and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians,
hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls
of heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feasting
of dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplished
since that time when first there stood in division of conflict
Atreus’ son the lord of men and brilliant Achilleus. . . .

Robert

I've not read the Iliad, Robert, but I can hear it as I read your post.

Hmm...does that make sense???

I certainly wouldn't deny that it does.

Robert

I have to say, when I read Runner by Carl Deuker. It was amazing. I'm not sure it was my favorite book, but it def in the top ten books I have ever read. I've reviewed that book here: http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/10/runner-by-carl-deuker.htm...

I don't know if that was the book you were talking about, but just by reading that book, I know he's an excellent author. So I can see why you picked him, BrandonK.

Yea Carl Deuker is a great author... Have you read Gym Candy by him?

I can't choose just one, because I read several different genres so I'm going to pick one from each genre.

Fiction: Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. Two eight-year-old boys are having a dispute when one of them throws a stone-laden snowball at the other. The second boy ducks the snowball and it hits a heavily pregnant young woman in the head, bringing about the premature birth of her child and distroying her sanity. The rest of the book traces the lives of the two boys and the way their varying feelings of guilt and responsiblity shape their futures.

Memoir: Journal of the Terror by Jean-Baptiste Clery and Abbe de Firmont. An account of the last few days of the French royal family while they were imprisoned told by a loyal servant and the family's priest.

Poetry: Five Decades: A Selection by Pablo Neruda. The man has a gift for finding beauty in even the most mundane and ugly places.

Philosophy: Letters from a Stoic by Seneca. Philosophy as a conversation between friends through a series of letters.

#24 So lovely to see someone pick a book by the sublime Robertson Davies! I trust you've read the rest of The Deptford Trilogy? Absolutely superb.

Dang you must like Carl Deuker a lot to read that many of his books, LOL!

#25 Not only have I read the rest of the trilogy, but I reread it every few years. I get something different out of it every time. I even bought the special edition published by the Folio Society.

http://www.librarything.com/work/32421/15119731/

cool

You know it's impossible to pick one, but in fantasy:

Patricia Briggs When Demon's Walk
(http://www.amazon.com/When-Demons-Sianim-Patricia-Briggs/dp/0441005349/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320760506&sr=8-1) It's an older book

In thriller: Judas Child by Carol O'Connell

I'd also probably list Ilona Andrews On the edge as another fantasy that I think was right up there with perfect.

I'm still thinking about the perfect cozy. At one time in my life I'd probably have said one of the Janet Evanovich books...but I'm not sure they have held up over time (or over the series probably) to make it to the perfect book. More thought.

Judas Child sounds good. Whats it about?

It's about a kidnapped kid basically (two really.) Much of it is told from the viewpoint of one of the children. It's haunting and really an incredible read. O'Connell keeps the tension going the entire book.

Ill have to check that out.

And of course then come back and tell us what you think!

yea

The Outsiders

What does 'yea' spell?

Robert

Yeah!!!!!! Like your saying yes but Yeah.... And yea is a shorter way of spelling yeah...

Yea is an older form of 'yes'. When people used to vote by voice, there would be a call for 'yea' or 'nay'.

"And the yeas have it!"

Yep!!

My most fdavorite book of fall time is I know This Much is True by Wally Lamb; i received The Language of Flowers as an ER book and absolutelu positively loved it- that one comes in a close second

A thousand splendid suns

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I love the writing, the characters and the history of the book. I've probably read it a dozen times.

Well I dont exactly have a fav book but i have a favorite serise. The pretty little liars and The lying game by sara sheperd are some of the best mystery book I have every read. Also they lauren oliver book and sarah dessen. All amazing authors and amazing books.

Sorry thats not exactly my FAVORITE book but it is my favorite bookssssssss

my best book is ,, public relation,,
i also write this at my new blog motor matic injeksi irit harga murah

I tend to flip flop between Gone With the Wind, Exodus, and Wuthering Heights depending on mood.

I have a favorite for different genres as it were

Adult Fiction: The Reader
Classic Fiction: The Scarlet Letter
Teen Fiction: Looking For Alaska
Biography: Angela's Ashes
Non-Fiction: Anything by Alison Weir
Children's books: Anything by William Joyce
Juvenile Fiction:A tie between two series The Guardians of Childhood and The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series
Horror:Pandora
Sci-Fi: Fahrenheit 451
Romance: None
Western: Some things by Louis L'amore

I think Tom Sharpe - Riotous Assembly

Ronia the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren and The last Summer of The death warriors by Francisco X. Stork

A thousand splendid Suns

Slaughterhouse Five was the first Kurt Vonnegut book I ever read. Loved it.

My fave though is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Also my fave movie. Both were genius.

#51 Touchstone fairy - A Thousand Splendid Suns

Has anyone ever heard of Life With Its Sorrow, Life With Its Tear by Lester Atwell? One of my all-time favorites. A story about the coming of a boy's coming of age as he makes his home with his late mother's family after his father's death. I've reread it many times.

Thank you mk1960 for mentioning Life With Its Sorrow, Life With Its Tear. It was an unfamiliar title, but after reading nine reviews on Amazon, I immediately ordered a copy this afternoon.

So many books to choose from, and so many that have been mentioned. I have found that favorites change as my life experience has expanded. Here are some books I would love to re-read, or recommend:
Kavalier and Clay by Chabon
A yellow raft in blue water by Dorris
The secret garden by Burnett
Wonder by Palacio
tale of two cities by dickens
chronical of a death foretold by marquez
night wiesel

"The name of the rose" by Umberto Eco. Beautifully written and intellectually challenging, but also mysterious and exciting.

I cannot have a favorite book; the others might become jealous, or worse, surly. But recently I greatly enjoyed:

The graveyard book / by neil gaiman
Love wins / rob bell
It's a book / lane smith
Press here / Herve tullet

The last 2 are picture books btw

Tiny, 54 page novella by Frederick Forsyth entitled The Shepherd. I get goosebumps and cry every time I read it which is usually once a year.