What is the best book you have ever read?

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I think mine has to be (at least at the moment) The House at the End of Hope Street because I grew up not far from there.

Which is your favourite book and why?

Not just one book but three - His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman and I am so, so excited for the release of The Book of Dust by Pullman in October - been talk of it for 20 years (contains characters from His Dark Materials and is another trilogy spanning before and after the original trilogy).

Onions in the Stew, Betty McDonald had me howling with laughter.

Sorry about the stilted posts, I've only managed to get MN to load twice today :(

utahgirl no not read The Wild Truth, will look out for it. Thanks!

The Great Gatsby

Most recently . . .

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

Lots of old favourites mentioned here. Would thoroughly recommend anything by Margaret Atwood, Iris Murdoch. Loved the (minimal) Nabokov I have read, including Lolita. Loved Hesse as a late teen / early 20 something but can't bear to re-read in case it is not as wonderful as I remember. The Glass Bead Game was a particular favourite of mine.

In times of trouble,
Vanity Fair
The Way We Live Now
Any of Robertson Davies novels

I agree with loads on here but has to be a tie between:-

Good Morning, Midnight - Jean Rhys. Made me remember why I did an English degree.

The Sword of Honour Trilogy - Evelyn Waugh. I love his characters and find myself alternately spluttering with laughter and then being sunk into the depths of gloom. His humanity transcends the religion and preconceptions of politics.

East of Eden
The Collector
Gone With The Wind
Postcards From The Edge
Rachel's Holiday
Riders
The Beach
Room
Are all books that have stayed with me, or made a great impression while reading them

.

I love many of the books listed above. However the best book for me has to be "To kill a mockingbird" it had a profound effect on me when I read it and it has stayed with me for the rest of my life.

The Color Purple. I will never be clever enough to describe how it affected me.

Good Omens. I forgot Good Omens!

The alchemist

Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

King Lear - William Shakespeare, my favourite fictional father
The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Secret Story - Donna Tartt
Travels with Charlie - John Steinbeck

He's a bit unfashionable at the moment but I'd go for Coming Up For Air by the mighty George Orwell.

It's a great read about a middle-aged man who has won £16 on a horse (worth a lot more then) and he wants to have a bit of fun with it by himself instead of dutifully giving it to his wife so that she can get new boots for the kids etc.

Another was Esther Waters by I think, George Gissing. A sad story about a young girl who gets pregnant, she's down to almost her last farthing and is scared of giving birth in the workhouse. That particular part certainly brings on the tears.

For more modern stuff Stephen King always write a rattling good yarn.

Changes all the time and tends to be a recent read, but A Little Life was unbelievably moving, and I also loved The Northwater (similar style and themes to Cormac McCarthy). No Country for Old Men is another favourite.

There are a couple I have read over and over: The Secret History by Donna Tartt, The Poisonwood Bibke by Barbara Kingsolver, Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson and High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. One of these four is probably my all time favourite but I can't narrow it down!

The Tales of the City books by Armistead Maupin are my very favourite books and are looking a bit battered now.

So pleased to see The Goldfinch mentioned - I finished it about a month ago and had to give myself some time off reading afterwards as I knew nothing would live up to it so soon afterwards. Donna Tartt is an amazing writer. Love The Secret History too and am due my 5th read of that soon!
Also can't wait for Book of Dust and will reread HDM over the summer in preparation, cooling myself down by immersing myself in a world of armoured polar bears!
Reading fiction has always been my favourite way to pass the time, love and appreciate books and the clever people who create the worlds within them. How can you pick just one?

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. A momumental book.
Where would we all be without books?

Khaled Hosseini - And the mountains echoed (Amazing, can't wait for his next book)

Oh I couldn't choose just one!!

-pride and prejudice - I get so drawn in every time, I must have read it a dozen times
-lord of the rings trilogy - you still notice new things every time you read them, new links etc
-wuthering heights - I cry like a baby every time!
-sense and sensibility - timeless
-shy boy (monty Roberts) - a fascinating man with a fascinating outlook on horsemanship
-Harry potter series - it's a classic!
-kiss and tell - different to the others, utter fluff but it's a good read!

Brideshead ....Birdsong....Donna Tart books ..... you guys are reminding me .... what fun ...Armistead Maupin .....life changing books ..... thanks for reminding me about them!

Oh I loved The Tales of the City! I read them all from the library years ago so cannot refresh my memories.

My all time favourite is now War and Peace, partly because I have reread it through my life and see it differently on each return . Also it's one of the few books that I have in common with my DH.

Wild swans, The Kitchen Gods Wife, Frost In May, any Colm Toibin or William Trevor, What Katy Did Next, Memoirs of A Geisha, all Hilary Mantel. All Jane Austen.Diana Wynne-Jones. Oh and Cider With Rosie.

Loving this thread. My senses are singing just remembering some of these wonderful books.

Many of my favourites have already been added, except for perhaps-
American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The old and now-forgotten Gods are woven into everyday life in America and discovered by the central character of the novel. Really great story telling.

The Blind Assasin- Margaret Atwood
A behemoth of a book but I ate it up!

Have been inspired to give The Secret History another shot. Loved The Goldfinch but never made it through S.H. unfortunately.