So what IS your favourite book?

...of all time. The one you've loved the most, that has changed your life the most, that you've re-read the most or which you've recommended the most to others. If you can't manage just one, then tell us the ones that share the first place.

I'll start with Genome by Matt Ridley. Every page was mind boggling and awesome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome_%28book%29

another book which isn't my favourite but deserves to be mentioned because it's so awesome is Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. It's just pure genius. So is all his books, but this one stands out I think.


So what do you think guys?

There's no way I can pick just one. But I do have my favorites.

Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" is up there, mainly because it's such a wondrous tale of adventure mixed with a fairly consistent "history" of its own.

Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series. Seldom does a book (or books) get me so engrossed that I want to reach into the pages and help the good guys, or strangle the bad guys. There were times when I had a strong physical reaction to what was happening, and not always good reactions, either.

Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", an irreverent look at government and society, probably one of Heinlein's best.

Auel's "The Clan of the Cave Bear" and its sequels, just because they were fun to read! That girl is single-handedly responsible for the advance of civilization!

Turtledove's alternate history books, too numerous to mention. Extremely detailed and well thought-out "what-if" scenarios with just enough reality to make you think things really COULD have happened that way.

I don't know, there are so many. My home library has over 700 books, hardcover and paperback, and they've all influenced me in one way or another.

We even have a Bible, a gift from my sister, though I've never touched it (it might scar me for life ;) ) and we keep it locked in a dark closet where innocent children won't be corrupted by it.

Anything from Tolkien is outstanding.
Then there's "Fight Club" and "Choke"
Finally anything from Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan) is kind of corny but under rated and awesome.

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Originally Posted by DOMLORD

Anything from Tolkien is outstanding.

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I don't know if I would go that far. "The Silmarillion" was interesting, but rather slow and somewhat boring in parts. Good background for the history of Middle Earth, though.

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Finally anything from Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan) is kind of corny but under rated and awesome.

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Yeah, I enjoyed the Conan stories, too, but I don't think I could classify them as being among my favorites.

Good thread (as usual) Tom.

Ok, anything by the late great Sidney Sheldon. He was a brilliantly gifted author, but more than that I love that he loved to write about strong female characters.

Call Of The Wild

It is hard to choose just one, so here are my favorites:

For just wonderful word play and children's books that aren't really for children: Norman Juster's Phantom Tollbooth, Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-glass, and The Book of Merlin by T.H. White

Great characters, including the cities that the stories take place in: Armisted Maupin's Tales of the City, A.S. Byatt's Possession, Mary Renault's Last of the Wine and Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy.

Fascinating World Building: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, Ammonite by Nicola Griffith, Parable of the Sower by Octavio Butler.

Excellent Southern US writing: Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides, Fanny Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes, Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver and Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton

Lord of the Rings ...

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Originally Posted by Thorne

There's no way I can pick just one. But I do have my favorites.

Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" is up there, mainly because it's such a wondrous tale of adventure mixed with a fairly consistent "history" of its own. Enjoyed them and the movie rocked because so much of the imagery matched my own. But it's never merited a full reread for me.

Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", an irreverent look at government and society, probably one of Heinlein's best. Yes... but a flawed book. Heinlein unwittingly misidentified the main protagonist and killed him.

Auel's "The Clan of the Cave Bear" and its sequels, just because they were fun to read! That girl is single-handedly responsible for the advance of civilization! I would be right with you, but Auel riddled it with Larmarkian evolution... and that spoiled it for me. LOL

Turtledove's alternate history books, too numerous to mention. Extremely detailed and well thought-out "what-if" scenarios with just enough reality to make you think things really COULD have happened that way. I'm all over that with you... but was disappointed with his newest series which begins with Opening Atlantis. It's good but isn't really new or thought provoking. He tried to do something with the natural history of the land (zoological) but missed the mark. Just a retake on Australia more or less. Birds instead of marsupials...

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Good choices Thorne

I guess when I read for enlightenment and knowledge, I absorb in a way that I rarely think about the book itself... and they all commingle and combine to create my own personal perspective and awareness of the world around me... the universe I live it.

When I read for entertainment, with rare exceptions, once the book is done, it's done. Even those I poured through in short order... barely more than an entertaining movie.

So my 'favorite' has to be those stories that bring me back to reread over and over again.

The Lensman Series - Seven books by E.E. Doc Smith. Space opera from the 1930's.

and

Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card.

I enjoy them afresh, every time I crack them open.

Ursula Le Guin -- Left Hand of Darkness.

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and I really hope that whoever finishes this series based on his notes before his death does a good job.

Surprised nobody mentioned Phillip K Dick(androids), Dashiell Hammett(red harvest), Jim Thompson(too numerous to mention)(Grifters). John Irving(Hotel New Hampshire)
What about "Dune"
"The Floating Opera" (Barth)
"The thought Gang" by Tibor Fischer is the funniest book I've ever read

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Originally Posted by Ozme52

I guess when I read for enlightenment and knowledge, I absorb in a way that I rarely think about the book itself... and they all commingle and combine to create my own personal perspective and awareness of the world around me... the universe I live it.

When I read for entertainment, with rare exceptions, once the book is done, it's done. Even those I poured through in short order... barely more than an entertaining movie.

So my 'favorite' has to be those stories that bring me back to reread over and over again.

The Lensman Series - Seven books by E.E. Doc Smith. Space opera from the 1930's.

and

Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card.

I enjoy them afresh, every time I crack them open.

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Funny, but even though I've been reading science fiction my whole life I've never really been able to get into either of those series. I remember reading the original "Ender's Game" when it was a novella in Analog magazine, I believe. It did nothing for me.

I know when I was younger, and poorer I suppose, I could read some books more than once and still enjoy them. LOTR was one of those. I probably read it at least four times when in my 20's. But now I find I'd much rather find something new than go back to something I've read before.

Okay so this really silly. But can a your favorite book be a book you are reading now??? I love to read and can breeze through most books in a couple of days.

Currenty I am reading Andy Warhol's The Philosophy or Andy Warhol (from A to B and back again) Some of sayings and looks on life he had are so simply put that it gives you a sense of peace when you read them.

One of the books that I especially love is The Student Conductor by Robert Ford. It blends classical music (a huge love for me, and a part-time job) with romance and politics, not to mention well-crafted writing. Whilst it is satisfying as a quick read, I would recommend to read it slowly (often going back over paragraphs) to make the most of the language in it and the literary mise en scene.

My all time favorite book is An Unknown Woman by Alice Koller. It is a memoir, originally written in 1962/63. Koller is 37, single, has a PhD but no job and no home (she crashes at friends' homes). She decides to live for three months in the middle of winter in Nantucket. Her only companion is a German shepherd puppy (and she doesn't know anything about dogs). She goes to Nantucket to find out the truth about her life and what she wants to do with it.

I've reread this book several times. It was one that truly showed me that you can live your life the way you want to, as unconventional as it may seem to others. You can be true to yourself. You don't need the white picket fence and two car garage and 2.5 kids and the golden retriever in order to be happy.

Since others were discussing series here, I want to say what my favorite series are:

The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey
The Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton

Oh how I love, LOVE reading!! So many different categories of books too. Here are a few of my favorites:

Fiction:

The Secret Life of Bees ~ Sue Monk Kidd
Cry the Beloved Country ~ Alan Paton (Powerful book)
The Poisonwood Bible ~ Barbara Kingsolver (really love this author)
Lying Awake ~ Mark Salzman
The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ Khaled Hosseini

Erotic fiction:

Just finished book 2 of the Marketplace Series ~ Laura Antoniou (really enjoying these).
Master/Slave ~ N.T. Morley (great compilation of short stories)

My all time fav is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee

Sensei ~by David Charney

Lord Of The Rings definitely and A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving

Personally I cant name just one but I have to put a few down
Lotr series and the Hobbit for sure
Shogun by James Clavell (the tv series was pretty darn awesome aswell)
2001 a space odyssey by Clarke
hmm I am pretty sure I can come up with some more books that I really loved but those are for now anyways

i read a hell of a lot and all genre so id be hard presed to say which is my favourite, erotic books id say has to be beautys punishment by anne rice.

i love true story ones so the tory hayden books
angelas ashes by frank mccourt is wonderful both funny sad and inspiring.

the book of the die by luke rhinehart i found a bit weird but very very different and id certainly recommend it.

its about an eminent psychiatrist who decides to live each day by the dice,
so he will each day set up a way of being or an action for each number some good some bad and he got more and more strange until eventually all his choices were weird and had some peculiar effects on his life!

its very very difficult to explain it and the write-ups dont do it justice it sounds a bit naff, but i would say if ever you get the opportunity read it! its a really great and original book

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Originally Posted by donriser

Just finished book 2 of the Marketplace Series ~ Laura Antoniou (really enjoying these).

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ive been trying for ages to get hold of this series and cant half the bookshops say they'll order them in then never get round to it, will have to use amazon.

If it’s well written subject doesn’t mean much to me, it depends on what mood I am in. I love reading, I read a lot and I read everything. I love getting into other peoples heads and their thought process, so obviously I love books with BDSM theme. But if I had to pick my absolute favourites…

“The Trial” (“Der Process”), Franz Kafka – I love the way Kafka writes, its brilliant, complex and yet so everyday. And it’s scary how modern and relevant it still is today.

“Waiting for Godot”, Samuel Beckett – The best existential analogy ever.

"September" Rosamunde Pilcher – I don’t usually go for books in this genre, but this one is simply so beautifully written. It doesn’t happen often that I wish there was more, and this is a thick book with good ending.

Maybe the Master and Margarita?

So powerful and full of mystery that I seriously considered giving up writing.

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice and Queen of the Damned by the same

The Magus by John Fowles.

wow, i dont know if i could really list all my fav's lol, obviously as a kajira i more than liked the entire "Gor" series by John Norman, i am an Anita Blake zealot, but i really really loved kelly armstrongs bittin, steaphen kings dark tower series, but the absolute best for me was Collegine Mccullocks "First man of Rome " series,,in addition to Herodotus, Thycidides, Xenophon etc etc etc, (history majior sorry) i dont mind an occasional jaunt through people magazine lol

Well, if I had to name one, it would be Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

The most amazing first two chapters ever written. period. full stop.

Hmm...my favorite book would be Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami