Best Books You've Read

[mgrace]

I think there was a thread like this on the other site and I got several great recommendations from that. So, what are some of the best books you have ever read? Any genre, any time period.

[Carrie K]

I don't know about best book but I really liked Virgin Queen by Robin Maxwell.

[cyd_96]

The best book I've read recently is "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.

Of course, when I read it, Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt had just put down a contract for their production company to own the rights to the movie. :rolleyes:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/015602943X.01._PIdp-schmooS,TopRight,7,-26_PE34_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[Toonces]

I love the every popular "Tuesdays with Morrie". That's one I can read over and over. One of my other top faves is "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" by James Patterson.

Right now I'm reading a bunch of Kay Hooper books. She writes about the paranormal - psychics, telepaths, mediums, etc. It's very realistic and some sections of her books have given me goosbumps.

[JillyBean]

Best book I ever read was "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. It's a retelling of the book of Hosea and is set in the 1850's. It was very powerful, and I don't think I've cried so hard while reading a book.

[Reenie]

[QUOTE=cyd_96]The best book I've read recently is "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.
QUOTE]

I second this book. I have read it a couple of times and recommended it to countless people. Do you know if there are actually plans to make a movie of it? I think that it would be very interesting to see who they'd choose for Henry and Claire...

[EmilyZA]

I absolutley loved Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060987561/qid=1122242532/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_sbs_1/002-2254057-4173664?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). That is probably my favorite.

I was also a big fan of The Time Traveller's Wife.

[Wrighty26]

I third or fourth Time Traveler's Wife-- very very well written!

In the past year or so, I've also read and liked(those these aren't necessarily recent):
The Dogs of Babel
The Red Tent
Devil in the White City
Fast Food Nation
Middlesex

[bookworm]

I can't remember a lot right now (and, for an English major, "best book" is scary!) but here are some off the top of my head:

I'll agree with Time Traveler's Wife (I'm not positive it's "best ever," but it's among the best recently.)
I'll also second The Red Tent. I resisted this one for years (2 people actually handed me copies of the book, saying "You must read this," and I didn't), but when I finally read it I was amazed.
Possession by A.S. Byatt (movie was a yawn, book was beautifully written)
Sister of My Heart was wonderful. I can't remember the author's name, but she also wrote Mistress of Spices, which was impressive in a very different way.

I'm looking at my bookshelf, and see many I really liked, but aren't quite in this category.

For classics, I have to add Little Women and (a bit more contemporary) Anne of Green Gables. If you've never read them, I think they're worth it...even as an adult.

[magrat]

I can't narrow it down to one, but I would recommend:
Jane Eyre
Gone With the Wind
Ender's Game
The Princess Bride
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
and the whole Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold
anything by Terry Pratchett

[amew]

If I had to pick one favorite book, it would be The World According to Garp.

[hub1176]

Nothing fancy but I love The Shell Seekers, September, Winter Solstice, and Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher.

[Ohana]

My all time favorites are

Little Women
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

The Anne of Green Gables series is also excellent, as is the Maeve Binchy series that includes Tara Road, The Evening Class, Scarlett Feather, and Quentin's.

[shaqangel]

Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

its wonderful.

[nekopie76]

I think my favorite book of all time is Five People You Meet in Heaven. I have read it at least 5 times. I highly recommend it.

[Myra]

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

[maple]

My favorites:
Memoirs of a Geisha
Girl with a Pearl Earring

[vwinkel]

There is something about Anita Shreve's writing that I love. I loved The Pilot's Wife and also The Last Time They Met. I have read some of her other books and wasn't very impressed with the story line, they were difficult to get through. Some may find that also with The Last Time They Met but I really loved how you truly felt like you were in the heads of the characters.

For light easy reads, I love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I finished Eleven a few months ago. I've never laughed out loud so much at a book. I love the characters she has created.

[daydreamer]

I'm fairly traditional...
The Grapes of Wrath
Anne of Green Gables
Jane Eyre
The Thorn Birds

[dh5678]

It's hard to narrow it down for me. :o

*My Antonia by Willa Cather
*Death Comes for the Archbishop, also by Willa Cather
*Precious Bane by Mary Webb
*The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

I also really like the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde (The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots, and Something Rotten.)

[Sabrina]

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

[lawyerlee]

Persuasion by Jane Austen is one of my very favorites. I also love:

* To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

* A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

* The Color Purple by Alice Walker

[SNK2004]

Best book I ever read was "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. It's a retelling of the book of Hosea and is set in the 1850's. It was very powerful, and I don't think I've cried so hard while reading a book.

Have you read the Mark of the Lion Series by Francine? I liked the first two better than Redeeming Love even though it was also the best I had read... and I am finishing up the third in the next couple days. Anyway, I suggest it:

Books in the Series are:
1. A Voice in the Wind
2. An Echo in the Darkness
3. As Sure As the Dawn

[JillyBean]

Thanks, SNK2004. I'll have to check those out :)

[angelpalgt]

My favorites:

Pride and Prejudice
The Three Musketeers
Dracula
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the rest of the series
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy

One of my favorite modern authors is Lori Wick, so anything by her usually scores well in my book. :)

[danielle]

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Kundera
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.

[wander_woman]

Ooh, I second The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Brothers Karamozav - Dostoevsky
In the Time of the Butterflies - Julia Alvarez

[endymion411]

pride and prejudice
a fine balance
god of small things

[mgrace]

bump

[EuropeBride]

A book I loved was "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I could not put it down, a fantastic read!
I also liked:
"Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
"Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides
"A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby

[karlatta]

The Chosen by Chaim Potok
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

[emmjay]

American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser

The Alexandria Quartet - Lawrence Durrell (this is probably the best book I've ever read in terms of the quality of the writing)

I, Claudius - Robert Graves

[BlackMagicRose]

To Kill a Mocking Bird-Harper Lee (This is one of my all time favorites)
Animal Farm-George Orwell
A Clockwork Orange-Anthony Burgess
Dracula-Bram Stoker
The Metamorphosis-Franz Kafka

my all time favorite short story is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. It is such an amazing piece of literature.

As far as more modern stories go, I love Anne Rice's earlier works. I have not been reading as much as I would like though. I hope to get some good reccomendations here :)

[chrisinluv]

I'm going clear to the very back of my library for some of these.. I'm omitting my favorite classics and memoirs, as there are way too many to list.. no particular order

The Known World Edward P. Jones

Eyewitness to History edited by John Carey
The Female Experience edited by Gerda Lerner

The Rape of Nanking Iris Chang

The Black Rose Thomas Costain

Einstein's Dreams Alan Lightman

A Natural History of the Senses Diane Ackerman

[maniach]

To Kill a Mockingbird All time favorite
The Catcher in the Rye
The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged (I find myself wondering where John Galt is ALL THE TIME)
Memoirs of a Geisha

[bevvied]

I've read so many books, but these stand out:

The Beautyful ones are not yet Born - Ayi Kew Armah
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe
Night - Eli Weisel

[Adaya]

Thought I'd bump this up to see if I could find some good summer reading. I just got The Red Tent from a friend b/c of this thread, and I think I'm gonna start reading it today.

I have a lot of favs and a couple of mine have been mentioned already. I'm sure some my favs have never been heard of b/c they are not mainstream. But here are just a few as I have many.

Coldest Winter Ever-Sister Souljah
Gal-Ruthie Bolton (non-fiction)
Breath, Eyes, Memory-Edwige Dandicat
Cry, the Beloved Country-Alan Paton
Sweet Hell Inside-Edward Ball (non-fiction)

[Brandy]

Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

My Antonia by Willa Cather

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Of Love and Other Demons AND Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi

And of course... ;)

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

[schmeevee]

In no particular order. Books that I couldn't put down and couldn't stop talking about after I read it.

THE RAPTURE of CANAAN by Sheri Reynolds
THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini
SOMETHING BORROWED by Emily Griffin
THE WEDDING by Nicholas Sparks

[CHM06]

To Kill a Mockingbird

I could read that book over and over again.

[MattsBug]

I love reading! This is a great thread, will definitely be picking up some new books soon!

Memoirs of a Geisha
All of the books by Maeve Binchy; Scarlett Feather, Circle of Friends, Silver Wedding, I'd recommend reading Quentins after reading a couple of her books, I like the references to the other books, and if you read this one first it will actually give away the ending to some of the other books.
Sybil
In Her Shoes

[Kellie]

The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

[princesse]

My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. I just finished reading it and it touches on just about every emotion that there is. Any book that makes me cry is one of my favorites, so I have to add The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks to my list as well.

[Baxter78]

A Widow for One Year
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Cider House Rules
(definitely a John Irving theme going on here ;))
Anna Karenina
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

[scorpioanne]

I just finished a book by Marya Hornbacher about her life with an eating disorder and it was very well written. It's called Wasted.
Fall on Your Knees by Ann Marie MacDonald is fabulous and I agree about Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True, that one stuck in my head for a long time. The Secret Life of Bees is very well written and I am now reading a wonderfully written book called The Cure for Death by Lightening. I also really enjoyed The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie.

[rosa727]

I love The Time Traveller's Wife!

I also love To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

BUT, my all time favorite book is definitely The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz. It is an amazing true story of a group of men who escaped from a Siberian Prison and WALKED to India for freedom. It truly changed the way I look at the world. I have passed it around to numerous friends and everyone is amazed by it.

[rosa727]

Oh, I just saw someone else mentioned God of Small Things, and I remembered that I loved that book too.

[VASLP]

Contemporary:
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Kite Runner
The Time Travelers Wife
Childrens:
Leo the Lop
The Velveteen Rabbit
Classic:
The Thorn Birds
To Kill a Mockingbird

[ruledbymercury]

My favorite would probably have to be Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

[nawsgirl]

Some of my favorites have been:

Smack- Melvin Burgess. This is about 2 British teens who become addicted to smack, and how it changes their lives. I read it years ago and didn't want it to end. I thought about the characters for weeks afterwards.

Adrian Mole Diaries- Sue Townsend. About a slightly neurotic British teenager named Adrian Mole- the format is journal entries, and there are about 5 or 6 books in the series. Hilarious.

Reading through this thread I am reminded of some others I loved, some of which were high school summer reading!

Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe
The Agony and The Ectasy- Irving Stone (Michelangelo bio)
Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter's Daughter- Amy Tan

[bookworm]

My favorite would probably have to be Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Can you sell me on it? I've tried 3 times, and never made it past about page 50. But it's still on my shelf, making me feel guilty every time I see it (particularly since it's next to "Shopaholic and Sister" which was not at all a good book, but which I had no trouble finishing.).

[jenahdawn]

(I'm going by books I could just pick up and open anywhere and just read)

"Memoirs of a Geisha"
"The Joy Luck Club"
"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"

And I know there are more.

[Nanner]

Any fiction by Anne Lamott, esp. Rosie.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Pillars of the Earth
The Great Gatsby

[Adaya]

A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story by Elaine Brown

This is a really interesting female perspective of the Black Panther Party. It's like a little insider's view. Loved it!! It's in my top 10.