If you could recommend just one book...

[LizziePizzie]

... what would it be. And make it somehting that you think only 1% of the population has read! The unsung heros of the book world...

Mine would be Lucy Rees - The Maze...beautiful story...

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett.

The Book of Ebenezer le Page by G B Edwards.

the princess bride - William Goldman

I LOVE the Princess Bride! My favourite film EVER!! My friends called their kittens Buttercup and Wesley!

Pillars of the earth -.seconded!

'This Thing Of Darkness' by Harry Thompson - about Darwin and Fitzroy's visit to Tierra Del Fuego in The Beagle.

I also love The Princess Bride - it's Westley not Wesley but both are great names for boys, or kittens! :)

I know this much is true by Wally Lamb.

(also loved the book & film of the princess bride.)

I cannot decide between "Touching the Void" by Joe Simpson or "Castaway" by Lucy Irvine.

Touching the void is another great book!

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie - sorry typo!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

(DH and I had 2 passages out of The Princess Bride book as a reading at our wedding!)

How sweet re passages at the wedding. My dp would never do anything so romantic! If we ever get married, he'll probably find an extract from 'A Clockwork Orange' or 'American Psycho' or something. :)

A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear. It's difficult to describe as the plot can come across as sounding, well, a bit dodgy, and some people could well be offended/upset by bits of it (and now I get bogged down) - if someone was offended by it, I would feel let down if they were my friend as it would demonstrate a certain chooses phrase carefully "tendency to bigotry" maybe, but at the same time, it is a delicate subject.
It deals with homosexual relationships between men, some of whom are actually heterosexual, but does it really sensitively and as part of the plot, the sex is not what the book is about. It's about love, and honour, and sacrifice, and standing up for the people and places one loves and has sworn to defend - it's beautifully done. It's set in a sort of Norse mythology world, not quite Earth but not really so very far removed from it either, and the characters really live on the page. I love it, and can read it over and over again - I'm on my third copy as I've worn it out twice now.
I don't think I'd give it to a younger reader, it needs a certain maturity, for want of a better word - young people tend to see things as black or white and it's all about the grey iyswim, although that said, it could do a great job of getting that across to someone.
See how I've wittered now but I always do when I get going about this one, it is just So Damn GOOD. Quite possibly the best book I ever read, and certainly one of the most moving.

A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz

Pom - I will give it a read! thank you!

The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault. In fact, just about anything by Mary Renault. Still available from Amazon, too.