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Original poster

Best book you’ve ever read...

140 replies

Beautyschooldropin · 09/07/2021 11:57

Wanting ideas for summer reading really. What’s the best book you’ve ever read? Do you have a book that you go back to and read again and again? Do you listen to audiobooks? Would you recommend them?
TIA!!!📚

OP posts:
colouringindoors · 11/07/2021 00:13

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. Pure sunshine and friendship in an Italian Spring.

shinyblackdog · 11/07/2021 00:11

Any Human Heart

Kollamoolitumarellipawkyrollo · 11/07/2021 00:10

Shantaram by Gregory Roberts
The Snow Child
Tiger Hills
Water for Elephants

IdblowJonSnow · 11/07/2021 00:10

If really choosing just one, it would be Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson.

harverina · 11/07/2021 00:06

Sorry so many typos! I really need to preview 🙄

IdblowJonSnow · 11/07/2021 00:04

Life After Life. Such a clever book.
And The Goldfinch.
I loved the Book Thief years ago but recently tried to reread it and totally couldn't engage with it for some reason.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.
Back to Black by Hillary Mantel although it's extremely dark as the title would suggest.
Just started Hamnet and really drawn in although I'm not generally a fan of the author.

harverina · 11/07/2021 00:02

I read so many books and often don’t even n is the title / author because I pick them in the kindle store.

However, some have stood out of the years.

I love Rebecca - I’ve read it many times over the years. My mum loved it too.

The Dwelling Place by Catherine Cookson is also a brilliant book.

More recently I’ve really enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Quornflakegirl · 11/07/2021 00:01

Educated by Tara Westover is one I loved in recent years.

twilightermummy · 10/07/2021 23:58

Oh fgs, sorry I forgot you asked for just one.

twilightermummy · 10/07/2021 23:57

The Bell Jar
Dracula
The Book Thief
The Time Traveller’s Wife
Most of Jane Austen
Where the Crawdad’s Sing - oh, how I wept

I’ve just finished Shuggy Bain and that has certainly made my top 10 books of all time. It was breathtaking.

Books really are different for different people though as I agree that Hamnet was very good but I thought, a tad overrated. I didn’t get the hype.

llm24 · 10/07/2021 23:53

Another vote for Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

jewel1968 · 10/07/2021 23:52

Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Beloved - Toni Morrison
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
Pride and Prejudice

tangone · 10/07/2021 23:46

My favourite books are the heart’s invisible furies and a Thousand splendid suns.
Love Maggie O Farrell
Shirley Jackson books are a good read.
I’m reading Graham Norton at the moment- his books are great.

spaceghetto · 10/07/2021 23:39

I liked shadow in the wind and life after life

Ikeameatballs · 10/07/2021 23:36

A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell
Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

thenightsky · 10/07/2021 23:29

The Beekeeper of Aleppo on audio, read by Art Malek. My eyesight is shot now I'm 62, so its audio all the way for me.

MojoJojo71 · 10/07/2021 23:23

All Khaled Hosseini’s books but my absolute favourite is A Thousand Splendid Suns.

The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne. I read it after seeing it recommended on a mumsnet thread and can’t stop telling people they must read it, it’s fantastic.

EarringsandLipstick · 10/07/2021 23:20

Enjoy Chorusline 🙂

Agree completely Passthesauce. The lines from Wodehouse are pure genius.

chorusline79 · 10/07/2021 23:11

@EarringsandLipstick thanks so much - will add these to my list!

Passthesauce · 10/07/2021 20:53

@EarringsandLipstick's post has made me hang my head in shame at not mentioning PG Wodehouse. My OTHER all time favourite is Uncle Fred in the Springtime. Perfect summer reading, particularly if you're in a garden in England, as so many of us are likely to be this summer (weather permitting!).

It also contains my all-time favourite line about someone listening to someone else moaning about their uncle and feeling like Noah listening to someone complaining about a bit of drizzle.

Most PG Wodehouse books are perfect summer reading.

YellowMonday · 10/07/2021 15:35

My favourites include,

Atonement
Middlemarch
Jane Eyre
Cave of the Clan Bear (Earth's Child series)
Far from the Madding Crowd
The Alchemist
Year of Wonders
The Thorn Birds
The Blind Assassin
Wolf Hall
Life of Pi
The Sea

My most respected non-fiction works are Helen Garner's Joe Cinque's Consolation and This House of Grief. Both texts significantly challenged me and left a lasting impact. I adore Garner's body of work.

marmaladehound · 10/07/2021 12:54

@Beautyschooldropin

Some great suggestions here! Thank you 😊 a friend has recommended A Gentleman in Moscow - so will definitely give that a go!
Do it's a beautiful slow read. Cannot wait for his next book!
suckingonchillidogs · 10/07/2021 12:28

I love East of Eden by John Steinbeck, it's almost perfect. Completely different to the film which only covers a small part of it. I go back to it every few years (not too often in case it spoils it!)

cloudjumper · 10/07/2021 12:24

Recent highlights:
The Heart's Invisible Furies
The Mercies
Where the Crawdads Sing

All-time favourites:
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lord of the Rings
Wuthering Heights
Beloved
Pride & Prejudice

Original poster
Beautyschooldropin · 10/07/2021 12:18

“I know it’s topical at the moment but I read The Handmaids Tale in the 1980’s and it stayed with me ever since, tv series aside

Truly a masterpiece”

Yes - brilliant book

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