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Original poster

What is the best book you have ever read?

360 replies

damnedgrubble · 03/03/2017 22:34

I think mine has to be (at least at the moment) The House at the End of Hope Street because I grew up not far from there.

Which is your favourite book and why?

OP posts:
Katsite · 06/03/2017 20:33

and yy to moving this out of chat to somewhere we can keep it. Ta!

Katsite · 06/03/2017 20:31

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, plus many already mentioned like A Suitable Boy and A Fine Balance.

LobsterQuadrille · 06/03/2017 20:29

curly good choice - loved The Goldfinch and hope you do too.

OhCarrieMathison · 06/03/2017 20:10

Loved The Beach.
Was so disappointed by the film.

Curlyshabtree · 06/03/2017 20:04

I have just ordered The Goldfinch due to the load of recommendations on this thread. Thank you all!

BrownAjah · 06/03/2017 20:00

Jane Eyre is my most beloved book and I re-read it each year.

Neil Gaiman is probably my favorite writer. He's magical

LobsterQuadrille · 06/03/2017 19:58

Thank you all of you. I have a hospital stay approaching and am writing all these down - really appreciate this thread!!

Curlyshabtree · 06/03/2017 19:54

utahgirl I LOVE Into the Wild too. Saw the film after I'd read the book, it really did the book justice. Fab! Thanks for reminding me!!

Christinayangstwistedsista · 06/03/2017 19:52

Lord of the Flies
The Secret Garden
Flambards
To kill a Mockingbird
Rivals

SanityAssassin · 06/03/2017 19:51

Black Hunting Whip - Monica Edwards set in the beautiful Devils Punchbowl in Surrey (which is also well worth a visit)

Been my favourite since a child and still readable.

Willow2017 · 06/03/2017 19:49

Little Women
The Hobbit
Watership Down
1984
Brave New World
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Hard Times
Diary of a Nobody

The Stand
The Girl who loved Tom Gordon
The Green Mile

The Road - love/hate it in equal measure! Such hard work to read Smile

jellyhead · 06/03/2017 19:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IdaBlankenship · 06/03/2017 19:37

@watchingitallagain I started Shades of Grey the other month but abandoned it after the first chapter. Is it worth persevering or do you need to love it from the get go?

UtahGirl12 · 06/03/2017 19:09

My absolute favourite, which I've not seen mentioned here, is Into The Wild, by Jon Krakeur. I saw the film and fell in love with it, then read the book and fell in love with that too.....so my favourite film and book! A quote from it, which stays with me forever is....."Happiness...only real when shared".

Other favourites include Captain Corelli and 1984, but I've just downloaded Owen Meany as a result of this thread!

caterpuller · 06/03/2017 19:07

Anything by Rohinton Mistry.

PatSajack · 06/03/2017 19:02

At times in my life I have loved different books for different reasons. But overall I am not a "classics" person. I love contemporary fiction. Favorites off the top of my head are:

Infinite Jest (how has this not been mentioned already?? I know it's not for everyone but the people who love it really LOVE it, if you know what I mean)
Atonement
The Corrections
A Little Life
The Goldfinch
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
A Prayer for Owen Meany -- and lots of others by John Irving

Ylvamoon · 06/03/2017 18:58

Sophies World by Jostein Gaarder- ok probably more a teen classic, but very enjoyable for adults as well.

user1488710594 · 06/03/2017 18:52

I read about 300 books a year, so difficult....The Kite Runner springs to mind.

Feargalthecat · 06/03/2017 18:50

Taking notes for my summer reading.

Too difficult to choose one but the ones that have left their mark

The Stand
Captain Corelli
Roots (which haunted me for years)
Shantaram
Wilds Swans
A Thousand Splendid Suns

tea4two4three · 06/03/2017 18:48

Goodnight Mr Tom - Michelle Migorian
Katherine - Anya Seton

As a teen the ones the ones that floored me were The Stand -S King and A Time to Kill - Jonathan Grisham. I think they were the first 'grown-up' books I ever read.

LobsterQuadrille · 06/03/2017 18:40

I only bought The Poisonwood Bible after a thread like this, where a poster pretty much listed all my favourite books, SuperFlyHigh. I also love Monica Dickens, especially No More Meadows.

nebulae · 06/03/2017 18:35

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
His Dark Materials trilogy, Phillip Pullman
The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
Jamaica Inn, Daphne Du Maurier
A Short History Of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson

southeastdweller · 06/03/2017 18:34

Can this be moved to What We're Reading, please?

My vote goes to The Goldfinch.

SuperFlyHigh · 06/03/2017 18:31

Ps must finish The Poisonwood Bible too saw someone reading it on a train abroad last summer and bought it immediately when I returned.

SuperFlyHigh · 06/03/2017 18:30

lobster I keep reading through the thread and seeing ones I like and loved (Goodnight Mister Tom, The Bullerby Children etc).

Marquez is an absolute master though, I love all his books really, his prose is something else.

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