Favorite reads

I love reading your threads. Sometimes you find new favorites and share about them. Sometimes old ones crop up, or we find a way to sneak them in.

All the same, I'd like to be a bit more intentional. What are some of your favorite reads? I won't ask for the top 3 ever, although if you can do that, I'd love to know! For me, that would be impossible as my 'favorites' change according to mood or whim or the moon?

I suppose 'favorite' my might be a bit of a misnomer for what I was angling for when I wrote that too. I was thinking more of what impacted you most. So I guess, if you post, maybe you could share what kind of fav they are (ones you recommendation to others, personal impact, comfort...)

Thanks -- Susan

Probably the book that impacted me the most is the first one I ever bought for myself - Charlotte's Web. The reason I say that it impacted me the most is that as a child, we moved so frequently, I rarely had the time or inclination to make friends and here was a friend I could take with me wherever we moved! Thus, a life long biblioholic was born.

John Brunner, The Sheep Look Up. I read it on the plane home (to Germany) after being abroad for a while and while reading thought 'oh, at least it's not that bad yet' and as soon as I got off the plane I was confronted with ozone alarms, particulate matter warnings and bio-food.

I think this is going to be an interesting thread. Thanks for setting it up, suslyn!

Top 3 (adult) books>

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Confessions of Max Tivoli is my all time favorite. I read it a couple of years ago and I can still open it up, read the last page and tears will begin to flow.

My favorite book as a kid was The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I still read this from time to time. It is a wonderful book about using your imaganation.

Holy mind-reading, Batman! When I went to bed last night, I was thinking, "I should start a favourite reads thread on LT" and now that it is morning, here you have done it for me!! Thanks Susan!

So, as a child I read a lot - the Narnia books, anything by Kit Pearson, anything by Lucy Maud Montgomery, etc. My Dad tells me that books were always a part of my life, as my parents read to me extensively as a baby, since they were big readers too. One book that literally changed my life was Wuthering Heights. It was the novel that we had to read in grade 11 English, and I trace my decision to persue an English degree to the moment I finished this book. Now, I am currently in teachers' college to be a high school English teacher, so reading Wuthering Heights really did impact my life's path!

Now, as to why it changed me - before this, I read books becasue they were fun, because they had interesting characters with lives infinitely more exciting than mine. With Bronte's work, I became a new type of reader - a critical, literary reader. My teacher pointed out all kinds of amazing things found in Wuthering Heights - the way the setting and the characters are linked, the parallels between the older and younger generations, the raw emotion that came from the mind of a relatively reclusive writer, etc. I just could not believe that a book could contain all of these exciting ideas, and from that moment on, I was hooked. I went on a Classics binge that lasted years, and I find it hard to read a book without critiquing its literary merit - I will always be an English major!

Beyond Wuthering Heights, I love Anne of Green Gables and all seven Harry Potter books (so I guess there is still a kid in me too), an obscure Canadian novel called The Double Hook (because it was one of the books for my Honours Thesis), and The English Patient. I am fiercly Canadian, so many of my favourite works are by Canadian authors - a very undervalued group, IMHO!

Oh thank you. So nice to get to know you all better. We were pretty poor growing up (dad was a student), but my folks found ways to let me buy books starting in kindergarten. A biography of George Washington Carver has stuck with me. Guess it's for middle age kids. His humility, creativity and tenacity impressed and challenged me even as they impress and challenge me today.

It's amazing the sacrifice that parents make for their kids. Even though my parents had money woes (I never knew how bad until I was an adult) I was always able to buy books and take piano lessons.

Joan d'Arc and I have no idea which one it was. I remember that in 1962-3 it had a red (cloth) cover with joan on the front, I think in armor. I do not remember the author or anything else except that I read it over and over and felt so connected to Joan and so proud that she did what she knew to be right. I wanted to be like her. I lost it, among other things, when my parents lost our home when I was ten.

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

I didn't realize it at the time, but that little read leather book I read as a child sparked my lifelong fascination with linguistics and myth.

>5 glassreader:: glassreader, can you say a bit more about The Confessions of Max Tivoli and why you love it so much? I keep seeing that around and wondering about it but find it hard to tell whether I'd like it or not... Thanks!

The only two books I've ever rated 5 star (masterpiece) are Pride and Prejudice and Killer Angels by Michael Schaara. I'm very stingy with 4 1/2 stars and 5 stars.

Favorites? From childhood: Charlotte's Web,The Enormous Egg, Escape from Warsaw, The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek, and The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell come to mind.

Adult: Lucy by Donald C. Johanson. Any by Dorothy Sayers. A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Devereaux, many more by lots of favorite authors.

I've never read Killer Angels, Lucy or A Knight in Shining Armor -- where have I been :)? Thanks guys for sharing -- loving the chance to get to know you a bit more.

The book that I always recall as having impacted me the most in my childhood was called Shadow Castle by Marian Cockrell. When I was quite young, I found a tattered copy of it inside a hutch at my grandmother's place, and was thrilled to open the first page and find... my mother's name! I brought it to her, and she told me that it was her book when she was a young girl, and how she and her sister used to pass it back and forth all the time, reading it over and over... which was probably why it looked so ratty.

She told me I could keep it - so I did, and read it, and was immediately entranced. I had to share it with my cousin (my mother's sister's daughter, as it happened!), and she TOO loved it! So... a second generation began passing the book back and forth, even though we lived in different provinces! Any package that was mailed out, or any visits to their home, required the exchange of The Book.

A few years ago, I was on Amazon.com and stumbled across a reprint edition, bound in hardcover with extra material. I was absolutely thrilled, and gave my cousin a gift of her own copy. I also learned that there were hundreds of other people 'out there' who'd been waiting for a reprint - they'd read it as a child, or had inherited a copy and lost it as I had, etc. Who knew one little book (as far as I know, the *only* book this author wrote) could have such an impact on so many childhoods?!

To this day, I credit my love of fantasy and imagined worlds to this little volume.

>14 dk_phoenix: What a wonderful story! That's just precious.

msg 11> FlossieT- One of the greastest aspects of The Confessions of Max Tivoli is that the character of Max is written so well. It could go either way writing a character who ages backward. You know from the beginning the book will only end in tragedy. Somewhat similar to having a dog. You get the dog knowing you will most likely outlive it, but take the risk anyway. You grow to love the dog like a child and are heartbroken when the end comes even though it was expected. Sometimes we do things in life because the "living" part of the thing we've chosen far outweighs the sure conclusions. That is what the book is all about. Max moves forward with living his life even with his rare condition and complications it brings. He does all things deeply. What takes the cake for me is the way he loves Alice. I won't say anymore because I'll get carried away and give away half the book! I can still read the last page of the book and feel his love for Alice.

#16: What a terrific explanation of the book. Thanks, glassreader.

Great stories and great books.

I have scores of books that I love.

Pride and Prejudice is just so deliciously perfect as a work of art, that it is my number one favourite literary classic.

The book that has had the greatest impact on my life when I read it at age 16 was John's Gospel. the verse beginning: "God so loved the world...." is the greatest statement of God's love to mankind in general and to me in particular, that when I read it, it changed my life forever.

- TT

My all-time forever and ever favorite is To Kill a Mockingbird. I LOVE this book. It is the only book I have ever cried in (I'll admit, my heart has stone-like qualities). I also teared up while watching the movie version and balled (by my standards) while watching the play version. I'm trying to get my husband to read it. He will be starting law school in the fall, and I think that To Kill a Mockingbird should be required reading for all future lawyers. Atticus is such a wonderful, strong, wonderfully written character! I wish that Lee had written more novels, but if you are going to only write one book, this is it.

I also really like Water for Elephants. I read it 2 Christmases ago and really need to re-read it. I'm also a sucker for the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. They are hilarious!

My favorite childhood books are probably Number the Stars and Lily's Crossing. These are the only ones I remember reading more than once. I also loved Charlotte's Web and The Outsiders.

ps-thanks suslyn for such a fun topic! I've loved reading about everyone's favorites!

me too -- and such great stories!!

For me, it depends what type of book we're talking about before I can decide. Here's my try.....

History/Biography - Just started to get into these recently, so I have to say that it is a tie right now between John Adams and Patriarch: George Washington and the new American nation Both were sensational!

Romance/Historical fiction - The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss I've read this book about 15 times because no matter how many times I read it, I adore the love story and the tiny mystery built in.
I give an honorable mention to the Cynster series by Stephanie Laurens and the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. I was really disappointed when the Bridgerton series was ended and holding out the latest Laurens romance for later this year.

Mystery - The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King This is a series and I did enjoy the entire series but this is my all-time favorite mystery. I grew up with Sherlock Holmes and to see this continuation of him later in life was a real treat.
I give an honorable mention to the Alexandra Cooper series by Linda Fairstein.

Cozy Mysteries This has to be a series rather than a single book.
That said, I have to choose the Goldy Schulz series by Diane Mott Davidson. Can't wait for the new book this year.

FANTASY - HERE AGAIN I HAVE TO CHOOSE A SERIES HARRY POTTER GETS MY VOTE EVERY TIME! IT'S MY ALLTIME FAVORITE SERIES NO MATTER WHAT TYPE OF BOOK.

Fiction (stand-alone) Mr. Darcy's Daughters I loved finding information on how Darcy and Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice (my favorite CLASSIC) progressed.

That's all I can think of right now.

>22 cyderry: what a great list!

I can't pick just one either, but here are some standouts:

Classic: The Grapes of Wrath -- this was one of those high-school reads for English class that I absolutely enjoyed while everyone else was trudging through it. I ended up doing my junior-year term paper on Steinbeck.

From my childhood: Island of the Blue Dolphins -- read this one over and over and over and I still have my well-worn copy. I may give it another go for my 75 this year.

Memoir: The Glass Castle -- what an incredible story of growing up with unorthodox parents.

Historical fiction: Outlander -- couldn't put this one down and have since read the rest of the series and The Outlandish Companion. And to think I almost didn't read it because the friend who gave it to me admitted she found it in the Romance section.

Fantasy: The Hobbit -- this was made all the more special for me by reading it while on a trip to England and Ireland.

Horror: It -- clowns still trouble me to this day, but I couldn't put this one down either. Just goes to show you, never judge a book by its made-for-TV movie miniseries.

Recently-read Fiction: The Time Traveller's Wife -- this was heart-breaking and enthralling to read.

Recently-read Young Adult: Twilight -- I was skeptical, but became addicted to this series once I delved in.

Entire Series: The Harry Potter books -- I found all of these to be excellent and really appreciated the world that was created as the backdrop. I think one of my favorite things about these books was the descriptions of the magical world.

I could go on and on...

edited to fix typo

Please do 'go on and on' Missy -- I quite enjoyed your list :) I had forgotten how much I enjoyed The Hobbit the first time I read it in my early teens.

I enjoyed...Hard Times by Charles Dickens quite much..as well as Jane Austen's Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice if I have to pick some among classics..

From fantasy genre, I love Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones

Those are the few that comes to mind at this time (although it's not that early) of the day...

I enjoyed your list too, missy! cyd's too! I am going to run now before my wish list gets any longer.....

This was a great idea, suslyn. I'm still coming up with my list. But everyone else's lists are reminding me of books I loved or adding the my huge TBR list.

Missylc - I too loved The Time Traveler's Wife and had forgotten just how much I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins. That was one of my favorites from my childhood! I read It when I was a freshman in HS. I can't say that it is one of my favorites, but it sure did its job - I was complietely scared!

One of my favorite books is The Picture of Dorian Gray. I also love The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by Hogg.

Luxx I just put The Picture of Dorian Gray on my 999 classics list :)

Fabulous!

Message #19...Your favorite is the same as mine.
To Kill a Mockingbird remains my favorite long after I first read it when a junior in highschool.

Message #32- Yeah! It's the best!!!

Message #24- I'd forgotten all about The Island of the Blue Dolphins! I should re-read that!

I have three favorite reads: A Wrinkle in Time, The Neverending Story and Journey of Hope.