Books that you have enjoyed the most~ fiction

Not the best books, but the ones who hold a special place in your heart and on your bookshelf.

In no particular order:

The Once and Future King by T.H. White

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Birth House by Ami McKay

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

ETA stuff

The Sparrow is on my TBR pile...and i do mean pile......maybe I should move it up!

as to my favorite books of all time...hmmmmm...i will have to give that some thought...so many books...

There are many that I remember or think of fondly for one reason or another. From my earliest to the most recent:

Serendipity by Stephen Cosgrove
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Bloom
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Xanth Series by Piers Anthony
The Unicorn Creed by Elizabeth Scarborough
The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Dark Prince by Christine Feehan
Ransom by Lee Rowan
The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling

All of these books have been read multiple times and enjoyed every time.

The Lord of the Rings, for many different reasons. It's almost always been a part of my reading life.
Gone With the Wind, because my grandmother introduced me to it
Best Loved Poems of the American People, again, because of the sweet memories with my grandmother
Rocket Boys
The Right Stuff

It's a bizarre collection, but then, maybe it's just me that's bizarre!

The Sparrow continues to languish in my TBR pile as well, even though I've heard such great things. I tell myself I'm going to move it up to the top, and then I end up delaying. (Oh well, sooner or later...)

No particular order:
Straight Man by Richard Russo
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Plowing the Dark by Richard Powers
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
A Tale of 2 Cities by Charles Dickens
A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlow Ruiz Zafon

There are others, but those are the ones at the top of my list.

Recently...
The Brothers K by David James Duncan
The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson
A River Never Sleeps by Roderick L. Haig-Brown

And I recently re-read and thoroughly enjoyed the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser R.I.P.

Edited for spelling and to add 1.

The Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien
The Barcester series by Anthony Trollope
Little, Big by John Crowley
Geek Love by Katharine Dunn
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (new addition!)
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

but there's so many, many more....

I have read many books that left a lasting impression on me. Here are the most memorable, in no particular order:

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
World War Z by Max Brooks
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Redwall series, mostly Redwall and Taggerung

All nine of Robin Hobb's six duchies books :)

These are all time faves for me & no other story or cast of characters has stuck in my head near as much :)

11 - Ditto all that. I own Assassin's Apprentice in three languages. *blush*

Yup...that series (all three trilogies) are on my list too.

I was working at a book store at the time I first read one. I remember I'd looked at the first one and hummed and hawed over it for quite a few months. I was only just really getting into fantasy at that time. So, I bought the first one, and then the rest, and by the end of the last line in the third book ('we dream of carving our dragon' - one of my most favourite last lines) I was stupefied, and in awe of Ms Hobb.

Sigh.

What a reading experience...that first time.

off the top of my head
lord of the rings cause it just swept me away
the good master a childhood favourite, one of these days I will go Hungry
good omens which I have just convinced my father to read- he is loving it
enders game
newford series by charles de lint
mirror of her dreams and a man rides through
jaran, but I have never been able to get in any other Kate Elliot books
Eyre Affair and other Thursday Next book by Jasper Fforde

I love all of de Lints books.... especially the newfords!

The Elric series, the Dirk Gently duology, and of course the Hitchhiker's Guide "trilogy."

Gone With the Wind
Anne of Green Gables
Trainspotting
Lord of the Rings
A Game of Thrones
The Historian
Dune
The Dark Elf Trilogy

Oh, so many . . . and I keep thinking of new ones as I read your lists.

Beauty: A retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien
The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery
The Mitford series by Jan Karon
Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
The Attolia series by Megan Whalen Turner
A Midsummer Night's Dream (and others) by William Shakespeare

The BFG - Roald Dahl (the first book I ever really loved)
The Green Mile - Stephen King
Needful Things - Stephen King
Peter Pan - JM Barrie
Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly
Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

OK, so its not the best written series I ever read & I know this will prob make a few ppl cringe, but Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is nothing if not memorable to me...

Annother that will prob make ppl cringe but will stay with me forever is David Eddings Elenium trilogy, simply coz it was what got me into fantasy...

Don't worry Seanie, Eddings is good for a lot of people who get into fantasy. I know a lot who say that, but it's usually his Belgariad series that did it. Mind you, I've also heard that the Elenium (which I have also read and quite liked at the time) is kind of the same story anyway...

*reassures* nothing wrong with liking what you like. :)

The Belgariad series is popcorn.

But, it's fun popcorn.

Gone with the Wind
The Blue Sword
Little Women
Mistress of Mellyn
Touch Not the Cat
Below the Root
Below the Salt
East
Percy Jackson series

Mostly YA, but that's ok. It's my job. Strike that - it was my job. Old habits.

There are some books that I have read over and over, and go back to whenever I want to read something comfortingly familiar.

Primarily:
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, and
Wall of Words by Tim Kennemore,

which both reliably make me cry every time, even though I must have read them literally 50 times each.

Also:
Lord of the Rings
the Redwall series (Mostly Redwall, Mariel, and Mossflower)
Harry Potter.

P.S.- Hello! I have been sticking my head in at the Dragon for a few weeks now, and decided this was as good a time as any to actually say hello, so Hello!

#14 Spiceycat
Have you read The singing tree also by Kate Seredy. I still remember those books & been enchanted by Hungary ever since. I also loved all the "Little House" books & another book I read over & over was On to Oregon by Honere W. Morrow.
Recent good books include
Gone with the Wind
Kristin Lavransddatter
Poisonwood Bible & Animal Dreams all of Barbara Kingsolver's works
Conrad Richter's The Awakening Land trilogy
Edith Pargeter's The Heaven Tree Trilogy
Young'un Herbert Best
Moving on & Lonesome Dove most of Larry McMurtry's stuff
Mrs. Mike
Breathing lessons & St. Maybe & All Anne Tyler
Bel Canto
Louis Bromfield's The Rains Came & also about India The God of Small Things
Raintree County Ross Lockridge Jr.
should be near the top of the list also all the Lake Wobegon books, they're a riot --Maeve Binchy for when you're not feeling good....There's too many, I'm probably leaving out a lot

The Elric saga by Michael Moorcock. I had a first edition, and loaned it to a friend, never to be seen again. There is still a special, empty spot on the shelf, waiting for the book's triumphant return.

Hm, something that isn't in my Top 30 list I have linked:

Daughter of the Empire and the other two in the series. These are my comfort books. I've read them all easily 10 times by now. I know every plot turn, every character. Found the first when I was 15 - my first Big Fat fantasy.

Ooooh god, this could get long.

First, there's my Top 5:

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. This is my perfect book. Don't even get me started on why. We'll be here all night.
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. This was my perfect book before I read Tigana. Theatre, deep friendship, musings on good and evil, and some truly fantastic Dionysiac imagery. I love me some Dionysiac imagery.
Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander. This was my perfect book before I read The Vampire Lestat. Family, travel, self-discovery... gah. Love it.
Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Not my usual fare - I'm hardcore into the character-based stuff - but GOD do I ever love what Maguire does with this book.
Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay. It's epic. It's personal. Every time I finish it I find myself sobbing wretchedly.

Other stuff that's made a huge impact on me:

Round the Year Storybook. My grandmother used to read me stories from it when I was just a wee bairn. I had the damned thing memorized by the time I was three. I'd call her out if she tried to skip parts.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I've read 'em more than twenty times.
The rest of The Chronicles of Prydain. They have their faults, but they mean so, so much to me.
R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books, especially the ones that make up The Dark Elf Trilogy. The writing is terrible and the humor is beyond corny, but these were among the very first fantasy I read. When I was twelve, I thought they were pretty much the best thing in the entire world. About two years ago, I reread 'em for the first time in a decade. The horrible writing stood out much more prominently, but I still found myself devouring them as quickly as I could get my hands on them.
Almost all Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books. Even the not-so-good ones make me all happy and squishy, when I'm not crying my eyes out.
Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice. I discovered it when I was fifteen. It opened my eyes to a whole new kind of literature. My eclectic reading tastes, (which, I'm sorry to say, aren't really reflected in the books that've meant the most to me), date from the day I cracked the spine.
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. I never get tired of these. I notice new things and make new connections every time I read them.

Then there are the books I've only read once but which I anticipate returning to time after time. Robin Hobb's Six Duchies books are among these. So are Ellen Kushner's Riverside books, Ysabeau S. Wilce's Califa stories, Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series and Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths series. I'll be absolutely crushed if any of these mean less to me the second time through. CRUSHED.

ooooh yes, Tigana for sure :)

& annother standalone fantasy (that I dont think many people would have heard of) which will stay with me forever is Glenda Noramly's Havenstar

Pick one?

Call of the wild.

chc - I've taught a couple of reading classes and we always read Call of the Wild. It's a great book. Then we have to take it a step further. We watch the movie and the students write an essay discussing the differences between the book and movie.

*waves to foxen*

A few of my dearest favorites, from teenager to middle ager, off the top of my head:

Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin
Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delany
Little, Big by John Crowley
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Demien by Hermann Hesse
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Lord of the Rings trilogy
King of the City by Michael Moorcock
Cruddy by Lynda Barry
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Babel by Patti Smith
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Miss Wyoming by Douglas Coupland

Yikes, I'm havin' a flashback of my whole reading life!

Welcome, foxen!

>#26: Sigh. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but... it's a book. It's not the prodigal son. It hasn't gone off to the big city to make its fortune. It's not a faithful pet that has been sadly left behind, and will travel thousands of miles across the country and have many adventures, finally to be reunited with its owner in a tearful closing scene.

It's a book and it's been stolen. Go track it down and deal savage justice to you "friend", or write it off and fill that space.

Sorry, but i thought some tough love was required there.

Let's see:

Catseye
Day of the Triffids
The Maker Of Universes
A Princess of Mars
Tarzan
Bug Wars
Doomtime
Sos the Rope
Ender's Game
The Grey King
A Wizard Of Earthsea
The Lord Of The Rings
The Silmarillion
Desolation Road
Catcher In The Rye
The Wasp Factory
The Riders
The Shipping News
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime
The Book Thief

I have to add the book I just read. Passage by Connie Willis

I loved it.

mckait - I just put Passage on my hold list at the library. I hope it comes this week!

>#34. Tough love, you call it. Blasphemy, I call it! :) But, I'm going to remember your post, and I'll remember it well. Someday, I'll be able to say "I told you so!"...I hope.

How did I miss this thread until now?! There's some great books listed here already. Here's mine, in no particular order:

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (I read this over and over and over)
It by Stephen King
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Harry Potter Series
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Anne of Green Gables books
The Little House on the Prairie series
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Chesapeake by James Michener
The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Georgia... to bad you and richarderus aren't neighbors...LOL no doubt he would hand it over to you grateful that you were willing to take it off your hands! I hope it is available for you soon.. let me know how you like it, if you remember..

Hello to everyone at the Dragon! I just found LibraryThing a few days ago and feel like Christmas has arrived early this year. Some of my favorites...
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (I think it very unfair that we don't get daemons in this world. If I had one it would surely be an otter.)

Welcome celebrian! Pull up a stool and Rosie will serve you an ale. Nice books!

Another Alaskan! Arctic will be pleased! Welcome, and I hope you like cheese...

Edited to add: Hey, that rhymes!

Welcome to The Green Dragon celebrian!

Welcome and stuff to both you and Foxen... :)