What is the most beautiful book you have ever read?

[umbrellabird]

I've had a tough year and just want to surround myself in good things...

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. It's short and exquisite. The only book I've ever got to the end of and have immediately wanted to reread.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. The whole book was good, but the ending was so beautiful I read it about six times.

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller - so poignant and totally unforgettable. The film adaptation starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep is brilliant also!

Yet another vote for Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. I normally struggle with books that win prizes as I find them too hard going but this was the most beautiful book I have ever read and not a difficult read at all, I savoured every moment and wished it would just keep going. Her next book Home is also very good and as someone mentioned upthread Lila has just been published (just in hardback in the uk at the moment - I have just started it :))

Has anyone recommended Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks yet? I don't know about beautiful - it's horrific in many parts - but it's a book I've never been able to forget. Completely gripping.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini has the same effect.

Wilmaj - I love that book. Not seen the film, read and re-read it, then sent it to a woman in America who wanted it.

The Slave by Isaac Bashevis Singer

aaaand...not to forget absolutely wonderful...exceptional Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

VelvetGreen yes, yes, yes to On the Black Hill, by Bruce Chatwin. I have read it so many times. Never 'met' anyone else who has read it before.

Have loathed all the Mitch Albom books, I think someone used the word tosh upthread. Agree.

Oh. Johnathan Livingstone Seagull. Another book that changed my life, sent to me by my Uncle when my son died.
Again, passed it on to someone who needed it, but it has stayed with me

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, my vote goes to this one.

Wow it keeps going, I am so impressed and grateful for all of these posts, hopefully others are enjoying some new titles too! I am a librarian so have been recommending them all loads! I have decided to get through as many as I can but sadly some I can't track down, Gilead is one of them! But i will start with Flowers for Mrs Harris..

Oh. Johnathan Livingstone Seagull. Another book that changed my life, sent to me by my Uncle when my son died.
Again, passed it on to someone who needed it, but it has stayed with me

huuugssss...

this topic is wonderful!

I have to mention Elena Ferrante...Italian novelist and damn great one!...what a discovery!!!

Rabbit Run by John Updike. Rabbit isn't even likeable but it's just so beautifully observed.

yy to Room (quite scary in places and sad but beautiful and v.gripping) and Guess How Much I Love you!
Going to come back here later with my Kindle in hand and download a few samples of the suggestions!

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver : I've just reread it and was blown away by her writing again.

Jonathan Safran Foer Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close : breathtaking

Miss Pettigrew lives for a day by Winifred Watson

www.persephonebooks.co.uk/miss-pettigrew-lives-for-a-day-classic.html

Published by the super Persephone Books, the book itself is beautiful with gorgeous end papers and matching book mark with striking grey cover. I like to 'treat' myself to their books occasionally.

Described as a Cinderella for adults. It is the story that is beautiful rather than the style of writing which is excellent but perhaps not beautiful. Will definitely cheer you up though, sorry to hear you have had a tough year - looks like you have loads to go at here, I have just doubled my amazon wish list after reading all the replies so thanks all

Thank you for the mentions of Mrs Harris - I'd never heard of them, but have been totally delighted with them since this thread started

I just scanned my bookshelves with the word 'beautiful' in mind and the ones that jumped out, for various reasons, were:

• Fair Stood the Wind for France (HE Bates)
• Stoner (John Williams)
• Notes from an Exhibition (Patrick Gale)
• A Widow for One Year (John Irving)
• The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro)
• Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Adichie)
• Rebecca (Du Maurier)
• I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)
• The Time Travellers Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)

...they don't all necessarily have beautiful writing, but a pervading quality of beauty (for me) nonetheless.

Cowbiscuits, I was coming on just to recommend Miss Pettigrew Someone lent a copy of it around our office a few years ago, and everyone borrowed it in turn. I walked along the street reading it, and just loved it. One of the happiest, most enjoyable books I've ever read. If you need a pick-me-up, that's your one.

That said, I do love quite a lot of the rest of this list, though many of them are so sad I'd be reluctant to recommend them if you've had a tough time. But Pride and Prejudice is my other go-to book for instant comfort. In fact, I was travelling in India when I was 18, horribly homesick and lonely, and found a copy in a bookshop and was so comforted by its words. Jane Austen rocks.

Thought of another - Green Dolphin Country by Elizabeth Goudge. Finely drawn characters against a beautiful setting.

Yes, Like Water for Chocolate for its magical realism and gorgeous descriptions of food. I also agree with The Secret Garden.

JL Carr, A Month in the Country
Ronald Blythe, Akenfield

Both of these are beautifully written; the Carr is a short and evocative novel and the Blythe is based on interviews he carried out in rural Suffolk, c1960.

Mebs

I love Ronald Blythe's Worningford Trilogy too. Such evocative writing and what he doesn't know about Suffolk isn't worth knowing. Same with Roger Deakin -a all three of his books and Kathleen Jamie's Sightlines.

Lil, I once went to a talk by Ronald Blythe once - such a nice man!