If you could recommend one single book to read, what would it be?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

I've set myself an annual readingoal, having lost the wherewithal to read like I used to, pre kids.

I'm flying through the books on my list, and also want a new target to aim for next year.

So.

I need more on my list. I'm literally open to any genre. Any length etc.

if you could only recommend one single book, what would it be? And why?

[quote Philandbill]@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz hurrah for public libraries which stagger on despite government cuts.[/quote]
I read recently too that authors get royalties when their books are loaned (capped at something like 6k a year(?, so its good for them that I loan too.

The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

To Kill a Mockingbird. Recently read it again, I'd forgotten how good it is.

@ssd

The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Good call.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz They do. There is a list published each year of the most loaned books I believe. I love a good public library. We have had so many cuts in our provincial city that all but five libraries are run by volunteers. It makes me both sad and cross. As a teenage bookworm who couldn't afford to buy every book I wanted to read I was very thankful for our local library.

I've just read 'Born Survivors' by Wendy Holden about 3 babies born in Ww2 concentration camps.
True stories & a very well researched book although quite upsetting in places.

@SommerTen

I've just read 'Born Survivors' by Wendy Holden about 3 babies born in Ww2 concentration camps. True stories & a very well researched book although quite upsetting in places.

Thank you. I've ordered this now.

My absolute favourite book, a beautiful historical novel - Desiree by Annemarie Selinko. I've read it numerous times, it's absolutely breathtaking and I'd highly recommend it if you enjoyed historical novels ❤️

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

He wrote it originally as a screenplay but Hollywood wouldn't touch it. So he turned into a book which won a Pulitzer, then Robert Duvall was cast in the TV mini series and it went stratospheric. It's long.

I love anything by Santa Montefiore if you like romance novels.

Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree is my favourite, and the deverill books (songs of love and war etc.).

Wild Swans by Jung Chang, a real life epic.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It is a short book but utterly gripping.

@PeskyRooks

Cats eye Margaret Atwood Beloved Toni Morrison Ladder of years Anne Tyler Oops sorry thats three, narrowed it down as much as I could!

Loved Cat’s Eyes and The Blind Assassin.

Cat’s Eye!

@Frankley

To Kill a Mockingbird. Recently read it again, I'd forgotten how good it is.

Brilliant book! First read it in school but have read it a few times since.

It's so hard to pick just 1!

I agree that Born Survivors was brilliant.

I think my one to read would "The 900" which is the story of the first women's transport to Auschwitz. I think it links in with Rena's Promise which is now on my to read list.

Lots of my favourites here and some interesting new suggestions. I'm throwing out an old favourite that rarely gets mentioned in these lists
The Women's Room by Marilyn French....I don't know why it's not often mentioned , I think it was a really important novel when it was first published and I found it so moving and full of truth.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/46456.The_Women_s_Room

It's such a personal choice isn't it! I've hated some of the ones that other people have recommended!

I'll pick a couple as from different genres, cheating I know!

Literary fiction: The Heart's Invisible Furies
Historical fiction: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Penman
Fantasy: Lord of the Rings. One of the few books I've read 4 times.

@MorrisZapp

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

He wrote it originally as a screenplay but Hollywood wouldn't touch it. So he turned into a book which won a Pulitzer, then Robert Duvall was cast in the TV mini series and it went stratospheric. It's long.

I have just finished this and really enjoyed it. My sister rated it as one of the best books she had ever read so I bought it to take on holiday with me last week. About to join the library so I can borrow some of his other books.

So many books mentioned on this that I loved.

Also didn’t like The Poisonwood Bible!

And loved The Mists of Avalon @SticksOutLikeDogsBalls. Bought it years ago when I first moved to London and read it a few times. Got rid of it for some reason but bought it again recently to read yet again.

Most recent favourite, Circe by Madeline Miller

Classic comfort books - the Adrian mole series.

The lovely bones.

The film does it absolutely zero justice and should never have been made.

@MyMabel

The lovely bones.

The film does it absolutely zero justice and should never have been made.

I saw the theatre version of The Lovely Bones that was brilliant.

Non fiction - definitely Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Fiction - I enjoyed All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (and I Am Pilgrim as previously mentioned - loved the shorty punchy chapters that ended on a cliffhanger to get you read on).

@Ekofisk I’m not sure I’ve got the emotional strength to see it in theatre, I’d be blubbering from the beginning! 🙈

Monsieur Linh and his Child, by Philippe Claudel

www.amazon.co.uk/Monsieur-Linh-Child-Philippe-Claudel/dp/0857050990?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

It's about a refugee who flees to another country with his infant granddaughter after their family were killed during a war. He forms a deep friendship with a man he meets, despite them not knowing a word of each other's language. It's an incredibly moving book.