If you could recommend one book that everybody should read....

[ClashCityRocker]

What would it be?

For whatever reason, because it has a great message or just because it's a bloody good read?

To kill a mockingbird, because it's a beautiful book with loveable characters but also important, in terms of understanding something that we should fight against whenever we see it, judging another race or group of people as intrinsically inferior.

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel.

I appreciate the world and my life more since reading it.

Go Ask Alice - diary of a teenager growing up in the USA during the 60's 70's and her relationship with drugs

Send me no flowers by Jenny Tomlin

Hard going & heartbreaking but amazing

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder. It is one of David Mitchell 's favourite books and has influenced his style.

The character Luisa Rey, who appears in Ghostwritten, Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks is an homage to it.

I'm plagiarising an Amazon review.

This book is quite modern in its structure and style, in the sense that there is no single plot. It is an exploration of the individual lives of five people in eighteenth century Peru, who die together when a bridge collapses. A priest attempts to find some sense of religious purpose and meaning in the tragedy, but though he is the starting point of the narrative, he fades completely from the action until the final pages

The power of the book lies in the compassion and insight with which Wilder illuminates the lives, passions, faults and virtues of the characters. He makes no attempt to judge them, only to bring them to life on the page. He writes with a simple, direct elegance that makes reading a positive pleasure.

The master and margharita by mikhail bulgakov, simply wonderful, might have to bump it up the read list and reread it now you've reminded me!

Gilead by Marilynn Robinson. just beautiful

The Alchemist

*Comfyshoelady
*
You stole my first choice for this thread 😂
But I second To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, just because it's a beautifully written heartbreaking book that teaches you a lot about other people's lives.

The Power by Naomi Alderman. Because it's really original and thought provoking but also an easy read.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell.

Wonderful idea for a thread, OP.
the secret life of bees has stayed with me too Anna I also agree with many others and will read the ones recommended here.
Definitely going to watch this thread.

I would also say To Kill a Mocking Bird - I did it for GCSE at school many moons ago and it changed me and how I saw the world.

I have also recently read The Alchemist and also thought this was amazing, makes you sit back and think about things in a different way.

If I were to suggest a book that IMO should be read by everyone, Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari. It's about the war on drugs.
Fast Food Nation changed my life. Don't know if that book is still widely read.
chasingthescream.com

Oh, and Angela’s Ashes 😭

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
Love the world while we still have it. We could lose (almost) everything at a moment's notice.

I listened to the audiobook so I hope it’s still allowed...

Our souls at night by Kent Haruf.

Nothing really happens, but I found it really touching. There’s just something simple and beautiful about it.

Beloved by Toni Morrison, it's utterly heartbreaking but written like poetry and the story (which is based on true events) is incredible

I'm going to add the rest to my reading list, 100% agree with The Vanishing of Esme Lennox, loved that book

Cheating with a series rather than a book but Terry Pratchett Discworld series. Very cleverly written, very funny and oddly reflective the way they hold up a distorted mirror to our world and makes you question ideas, beliefs and traditions. He hasd a great aptitude for challenging everything, including beloved fairy tales, in an entertaining, light hearted way.

Jane Fonda and Robert Redford star in a film version of Our Souls At Night, she mentioned it on Graham Norton last week.

The Power Of Now By Eckhart Tolle.

film version of Our Souls At Night ow, I'd like to see that, just watched the trailer, looks good. Thanks for the recommendation.