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Original poster

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

221 replies

lostinthoughts · 22/06/2025 21:59

Holidays coming up and I’m fed up of starting books and not finishing them as they just don’t grip me. Give me your best ever books that have had you hooked….

OP posts:
BlueEyedBogWitch · 09/07/2025 03:08

I can’t say which is the best, but books I loved include:

Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel.
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel.
Music and Silence by Rose Tremain.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie.
Beloved by Toni Morrison.

I’ve just noticed they’re all by women. Hmm. Interesting!

sadmillenial · 09/07/2025 02:25

"the remains of the day" was my fav book for so long, until i read "an artist of the floating world" by the same author. They are two gorgeous books, real companion pieces that enrich each other. i hugely recommend both!

MyTwoSense · 09/07/2025 02:18

'How High We Go in the Dark' by Sequoia Nagamatsu

TenaciousDeeds · 09/07/2025 00:48

David Nicholls’ Sweet Sorrow is my favourite ever book - much better than One Day, which was too high concept for me to be completely immersed in.

Every so often I read the last two chapters again - nothing seismic happens, but it’s just such a poetic description of what could happen to anyone.

Bluebay · 09/07/2025 00:32

I suppose books I read over and over...
The Foundling - Georgette Heyer
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever - Stephen R. Donaldson

and I still read books I loved as a child, especially the William books by Richmal Crompton and E Nesbit's Bastable series.

SnowFrogJelly · 09/07/2025 00:27

Agree with Pat Barker books.. also Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

IndigoBluey · 09/07/2025 00:23

The Green Mile.

SkalengeckOrSiegbarste · 09/07/2025 00:21

Dragon Rider - Cornelia Funke (kids book but read as an adult and I loved it)
Little Women - my copy fell apart, loved the following books too but the first was always my favourite.
Anything Dorothy Koomson, her characters feel so real, I feel like I'm in their heads.

Notuntrustworthy · 09/07/2025 00:01

The book i enjoyed most when I first read it was Gone With The Wind. Super problematic in so many ways but I liked it most of anything on first reading.

Or, The Dark Is Rising.

I am choosing to interpret that as the meaning of "best".

Growlybear83 · 08/07/2025 23:56

The Stand - Stephen King
Level 7 - Mordecai Roshwald

Mere1 · 08/07/2025 23:51

The Hand that First held mine. M O Farrel.

jocktamsonsbairn · 08/07/2025 23:42

Castles

jocktamsonsbairn · 08/07/2025 23:42

The Nightingale by Keaton Hannah
Fury
the Shadowman
castmes Burning - Magda Denes

FrillySocksAndDocs · 08/07/2025 23:41

Naomi's room

Titasaducksarse · 08/07/2025 23:39

Perfume by Patrick Suskind
A rogue choice but I love the Hannibal Lecter trilogy by Thomas Harris

wanttokickoffbutcant · 08/07/2025 23:17

AnotherDayanotherNameChangeX · 22/06/2025 22:03

Stephen king -Holly

I am about a quarter through this and as a die hard King fan this is leaving me cold - is it worth perservering?

sproutsandparsnips · 08/07/2025 23:13

I agree I really enjoyed all of Khaled hosseini .
Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling - I couldn’t put them down!
An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris, amazing
I’ve really enjoyed the Kingsbridge novels by Ken Follet.
Catcher in the Rye JD Salinger
12 years a Slave was really good too.

TryingAgain7651 · 08/07/2025 23:11

Oh All The Light We Cannot See!

KrankySchwester · 08/07/2025 22:43

Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin
funny with characters you want to spend time with.

RebelMoon · 08/07/2025 20:54

I agree with lots of these (Demon Copperhead, Poisonwood Bible, All The Colours Of The Dark, Kite Runner, Thousand Splendid Suns, The Goldfinch).

I'd be hard pushed to choose one favourite book. "Best" is so subjective anyway. Best written or best story? I think the best story I've ever read is I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. I daresay it's not the best written book ever but I've never been so gripped by a story.

jollyhollyday · 08/07/2025 20:32

The Trees Percival Everett
Once a Monster Robert Dinsdale

thinkofanewusername · 08/07/2025 20:25

A Thousand Splendid Suns

fussychica · 08/07/2025 20:10

Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks spring to mind

Cactusali · 08/07/2025 17:19

frogpigdonkey · 23/06/2025 12:02

I absolutely love the Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker. Not easy or light reads but they have stayed with me since the first read and I go back to them often. Absorbing, thought provoking and gripping.

I absolutely agree. I re-read them every few years and always find something new. I love Rivers, really love him.

terracelane23 · 08/07/2025 16:58

Oh and Demon Copperhead