The best book you’ve ever read?

[ICECream821]

There we go! Sorry if there is a thread like this…but what’s the best book you’ve ever read? Or I guess the book that left you thinking about it for days after?

For me I would say The Kite Runner

I agree with @Sssloou I was coming on to say Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I really enjoyed the sequel too - Olive Again. So well written. Books that make me want to be a better person.

I absolutely loved Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore too. Also all the Gilead books by Marilynne Robinson.

Delighted to see Ann Patchett mentioned because she’s my cousin!

Another Secret History fan here

I love All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr. It’s beautifully written.

I find Arthur Phillips a really interesting author.

Loads of books set in India on this thread that I love. I don’t know why, but I love books set in India. Pick up one at random and there’s a high chance it’s engrossing and well written (even outside of the famous authors).

The exception to the above being anything Salman Rushdie. His books fall under the cruel and unusual punishment category imo.

I am reading a thousand splendid sun's right now. Its brilliant. Kiterunner is next

My absolute favourite though is the Nightingale by Kristen Hannah

I also love all Thomas Hardy, massive Wuthering Heights fan, and love love love the Claudius books! I’ll be taking some book tips from this thread!

I have enjoyed reading the following books on many different occasions:

Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr
Katherine by Anya Seton
The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Another vote for The Poisonwood Bible. I also loved Memoirs of a Geisha.

Couldn't pick a favourite, but Rebecca is the first book I just couldn't put down till I finished it.

The Goldfinch was a masterpiece of storytelling. Hurry up and finish your next novel, Donna!

The Song of Achilles
Fair Stood the Wind for France
All my Friends are Superheros

One of the depending on my mood.

The five people you meet in heaven is one of my favourites

I love almost anything by Annie Prloux but particularly Accordion Crimes and The Shipping News. Also Brokeback Mountain which was written as a novella.

@BeeyatchPlease

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini. I've read it countless times and often find myself thinking of the book.

Love that and The Kite Runner. So sad there's been nothing else recently from him.

Enid Blytons The Faraway Tree books.
Because I think that's when I realised that books transport you.

Great thread!

Best for me is very different from think about for days. The best books I have read are without doubt Terry Pratchett's. Every single one is better than any non-Pratchett book.

Probably more what you have in mind...
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood - read it 10 years ago but I think about it all the time. .

I love Andrew Kaufman's books - born weird and all my friends are superheroes.

I am glad to see the love for The Poisonwood Bible. It is amazing. I was also impressed with her novel The Lacuna.

The Underground Railroad was uncomfortable, but that was the point. Ditto The Bluest Eye.

The Handmaid's Tale is incredibly unnerving, and I can't shake it.

@Thirtyrock39

Mine is not very well known :- blood sugar by Suzannah Dunn It's a coming of age type book about a group of friends - starts in 1981 when they're in sixth form and every chapter is the following year over the next decade and catches up with what they're doing - it's brilliant

I like the sound of this. Normally I find these threads very predictable and contain books which are far too wordy for the story . I tend to read thrillers or crime novels but think I'd really enjoy this as that's the same year I was 6th form .

Any Human Heart by William Boyd
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
The Women's Room by Marilyn French

Oh and the Narnia books!
I haven't read anything much 'proper' as an adult as far as fiction goes.

@tutorwho

I have enjoyed reading the following books on many different occasions:

Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr
Katherine by Anya Seton
The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Marianne Dreams. Oh my goodness. The stones with eyes in that book. And the bars on the windows. Creepy but unforgettable

Many of my faves on here but the one that I can never put down is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

I’m coming back to make notes later because there are so many fabulous suggestions 😊

I preferred The Goldfinch to Secret History.

Rebecca is a book I can easily turn to over and over again.

The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Sun's have stuck with me many years after reading them.

I also love Marianne Dreams as mentioned above.

Books from childhood that are firm favourites are The Secret Garden and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

It's very hard to pick a favourite. However I would go with The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I still have my first copy given to me when I was 12 and will always cherish it.

All The Light We Cannot See - absolutely spellbinding

Too many to remember!
I also loved A Fine Balance. I thought the Silence of the Girls was amazing. Also loved the Hilary Mantel trilogy. The Narrow Road to the Deep North is brilliant but hard to read in parts. I love Sarah Waters too, Affinity & The Little Stranger are class. And the Shardlake books...
I might be alone with this one, but I thought Engleby was fantastic. Still shudder about Irish Mike. My DH hated it so much he was cross with me for recommending it...

Yes to The Shadow of the Wind & the sequels, especially The Labyrinth of the Spirits. Brilliant.

Middlemarch. I didn't want to read it as it seemed so long and boring but it's just amazing. I convinced both my skeptical parents to read it too.