Your all time favorite books

[Jacksmommy2b]

Just hunting for some recommendations while I wait for the latest hunger games. I'll read just about anything I can get my hands on.

I loved Angela's Ashes, almost everything Stienbeck and Lamb by Christopher Moore.

[Reyadawnbringer]

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King- not horror at all, more like fantasy, sci-fi, western all rolled into one. Its long, and delicious.

The Art of Racing in the Rain- Garth Stein, a really quick read but very emotional. Its good to the core. I lent this one out to someone like... 2 years ago and still haven't gotten it back, I am totally missing it too.

I am sure there are more, but these two really are the tip top of my list of favorites.

[dotgirl]

This is such a hard question, because I read soo much, so I limited myself to five. But fun to try and answer! Most of mine are classics (or at least written a long time ago).

Eight Cousins - Louisa May Alcott
Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie
Sherlock Holmes, Volumes I & II - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Guards, Guards! - Terry Pratchett

[crl]

Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. This fictional book about South Africa won the Nobel Prize. I've read many books that I was sorry to see end, but this is the only one that I felt that way because the use of language was so beautiful.

Patricia Briggs' books, particularly the Mercy Thompson series and the companion Alpha and Omega books and the Huorg duology. On a completely different note, I like science fantasy and wait eagerly for each Patricia Briggs book.

Catherine

[Fairy]

In no real order except the first one -->

Replay, by Ken Grimwood
A guy is 40yo has a heart attack in his office and dies. Wakes up 18yo in his dorm room. Lives his whole life over again, is sure he's doing it all right this time. Knows he's healthy and won't die at 40 this time. But does. Wakes up 18yo in his dorm room. It's not funny, it's not Groundhog Day, and there's ALOT more that I'm not saying here, and it's spectacular

Jemimah J, by Jane Green
A young, overweight woman thinks she knows what she wants, works hard to get it, but then when she gets it, is she sure it's really what she thought she wanted? Inspring and hysterically funny and makes you feel very good about yourself.

The Stand and Eye of the Dragon, by Stephen King
The first is classic good vs. evil and lasts forever, but worth every word. The latter is not your typical King. In any way. Abut two brothers -- also one good one eveil -- fighting to rule the kingdom in medieval times. Two fo my favorite books of all time.

Outlander and all the sequels, by Diana Gabaldon
I've mentioned it before, but addictive. English woman in 1945 after the war honeymooning in scotland with her husband falls thru a circle of standing stones and wakes up in 1743. About her life there. I can go on and on and on and on. Romance meets scifi meets historical fiction. After the first 200 pages, you cannot put these things down.

Living History, by Hillary Clinton
Once you read her autobiography, you will understand her alot more. I was rapt.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Nothing to say that others haven't said for about a million years. Simply perfection.

[fauve01]

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

if i get to name a couple others:
Lords of Discipline
Outlander
Poisonwood Bible
Water for Elephants

[cindys]

I have many but my most fav...

Reedeming Love by Francine Rivers

I also love Jodi Picoult books...specifically My Sisters Keeper (better and different than the movie) and Nineteen Minutes..

Cindy
Mama to 3 boys...19, 4 & 22mos:love-retry::love-retry::love-retry:

[DebbieJ]

Another vote for Poisonwood Bible.

[liamsmom]

The Sparrow and the Children of God by Maria Doria Russell.

Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch.

Getting Over Jack Wagner by Elise Juska (guilty pleasure, but I love it so much to this day.)

[citymama]

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Garcia Marquez
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter - Mario Vargas Llosa
The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov

Second Tier favorites:
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Franny and Zooey - JD Salinger
Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh
Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

[wellyes]

Hmmm. I think today I'll go with 'An Instance of the Fingerpost' by Iain Pears. It's intricate mystery set in the intellectually heady days of Restoration England. OK, there are a bunch of novels out there in that vein, but this one is really smart and arresting and as much about ideas as it is about history and murder. I just got really caught up in it, I *loved* it. It's very much like 'The Name of the Rose'. Which is probably an even better book, actually, but it's not my favorite the way Pears's book is.

[Fairy]

Getting Over Jack Wagner by Elise Juska (guilty pleasure, but I love it so much to this day.)

As in Frisco?

[ilfaith]

Another Poisonwood Bible fan here.

Plus
A Prayer for Owen Meany...John Irving
The Red Tent...Anita Diamont
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay...Michael Chabon
Skinny Legs and All...Tom Robbins

children's classics
Little Women
Make Way for Ducklings
Stuart Little

and for nonfiction I loved Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird, both by Anne Lamott

Of course I'll always run out to get the latest Sophie Kinsella or Jennifer Wiener..so my tastes aren't really that highbrow.

[Carrots]

I have tons of favorites, but a few off the top of my head are:

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
The Giver by Lois Lowry - Excellent, but I wouldn't read it to kids

[wellyes]

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

When I was picking a book to post BOTH of those came up in my mind. Excellent picks!

Another one I absolutely loved was AS Byatt's Possession.

And to balance it out with some guy authors:
Michael Chabon - Mysteries of Pittsburgh and The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Jonathan Lethem - Motherless Brooklyn

[citymama]

Hmmm. I think today I'll go with 'An Instance of the Fingerpost' by Iain Pears. It's intricate mystery set in the intellectually heady days of Restoration England. OK, there are a bunch of novels out there in that vein, but this one is really smart and arresting and as much about ideas as it is about history and murder. I just got really caught up in it, I *loved* it. It's very much like 'The Name of the Rose'. Which is probably an even better book, actually, but it's not my favorite the way Pears's book is.

thanks - Going to get this out of the library since I loved Name of the Rose!

[fivi2]

My favorites are always so mood dependent, but one that I enjoy is Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Just a great book.

ITA with Instance of the Fingerpost and the Stand mentioned above (Also like Eye of the Dragon).

Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett is a fun one.

I like Gaiman and Rushdie a lot as authors.

I'll have to go look at my bookshelf in a bit!

[swissair81]

I have favorite authors. Not so much favorite books. I have a much longer list of favorite children's books.

However, I will shamefully admit to being head over heels in love with Bread & Jam for Frances and Harvey's Hideout, by Russell Hoban.

[frgsnlzrds]

Anne Of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery. Yeah, it's a kids book, but I love it.

I feel a little shallow compared to all the books you guys are reading. I am totally in to fantasy. Terry Brooks is my favorite author and I have read Once Upon A Winter's Night more times than I can count. I also read a lot of YA.

[Cam&Clay]

Hands down, the best books I have ever read are the Harry Potter series. And I don't think it's just because I'm a children's librarian. I've reread them more times than I will admit.

[Roleysmom]

Top of mind:

Toni Morrison's
Paradise (best opening sentence of a book ever)
Song of Solomon

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Non-fiction:
The Childern by David Halberstam, but I really like anything by him especially, The Powers that Be and The Best and the Brightest

Friday Night Lights

Children's Books:
The Little House
Beezus and Ramona series

[overcome]

Here are some of my favorite authors (i.e. I have ready and enjoyed everything they have ever written):
Adriana Trigiani
Anna Quindlen
Mauve Binchey
Jan Karon (Mitford Series)
Sue Grafton (detective..A is for, B is for, series)

I loved reading:
The Help
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Gone with the Wind
Glass Castles (a little disturbing, but amazing)
The Secret Life of Bees
A Girl Called Zippy (so funny)
Poisonwood Bible

And two books that changed my life:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease (I think every parent should receive a copy of this upon the birth of their first child)

Have fun reading!!

[carolinamama]

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

if i get to name a couple others:
Lords of Discipline
Outlander
Poisonwood Bible
Water for Elephants

You and I must like the same type of books. I've never read Outlander, but the other 4 are definitely on my list of best books. Pillars of the Earth is my fave book of all time - I've read it several times. The sequel was okay, but not nearly as good.

[liamsmom]

As in Frisco?

Precisely. I think it was pretty much marketed as chick lit, but I thought it was hilarious.

Some of my favorite authors are Amy Tan, Joyce Carol Oates and Kurt Vonnegut.

[longtallsally05]

favorite book of all time?

Jane Eyre!

This book never gets old, no matter how many times I read it.

I should say, I ate up the Hunger Games and am also waiting for the next installment!

[wendmatt]

So I'm definitely not as intellectual as you all, Harry Potter series is the only one that springs to mind as having loved and wanted to reread more than twice!

[cvanbrunt]

The Good Earth

[jent]

Hmmm. I think today I'll go with 'An Instance of the Fingerpost' by Iain Pears.

ITA, I just finished that book and it was amazing. I think it was the best part of my vacation-- it was so absorbing that every spare minute, I grabbed that book & started reading again. I haven't read that intensely since before DD was born.

I haven't come up with my own list yet...

[bigpassport]

All the Glass family stories by JD Salinger.

[jjjo1112]

Pillars of the Earth and The Giver are my all time favorite books. The Red Tent is right up there as well.

[ILoveLucy]

"Tully" by Paullina Simons is a guilty pleasure that I can read over and over. It is way too long, and I get mad at the main character and lots of times don't even like her, but I can't help but love this, though it is very far from a great book.

I also love:
Marjorie Morningstar
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Emma
A Confederacy of Dunces
The Bluest Eye
The Stand

[rlu]

The Ship Who Sang (so hard to pick just one Anne McCaffrey book)
chapter 14 in Grapes of Wrath
Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (been a while need to reread)

childhood favs
Go Dog Go
Little House series
Trixie Beldens

fav fluff
early works by Amanda Quick
Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters
Q-in-law by Peter David
Forbidden Fantasy by Tiffany White (warning: practically soft-core)

eta: the David Berry Christmas book makes me laugh and cry every single time (we got it the Christmas after BBD passed)

[Indianamom2]

Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell) and the sequel, Scarlett. I've read them each at least twice and with a few years in between will likely read them again.

I love the historical time period that was captured so perfectly in those novels.

Oh and I should include the Harry Potter series. The writing is absolutely divine...and definitely enjoyable as an adult. I was sceptical at first, but I loved them.

[Fairy]

Q-in-law by Peter David

And don't forget Q-Squared and Imzadi.

[rlu]

And don't forget Q-Squared and Imzadi.

They should have done an Imzadi movie!

Don't hate me but I was a Wesley fan so Q-in-law was my fav. Saw Wil Wheaton in something recently (as a repeat, perhaps Criminal Minds), really creepy role. Still attractive. Never saw him at a convention, but did get John de Lancie and Majel to sign the book.

eta: I did enjoy the Peter David books, but I stopped buying the Trek series a while ago - should see what they have by him at the library.

[codex57]

In no particular order, altho it does shed a lot of light on my views on the world:

Enders Game/Enders Shadow - Orson Scott Card
Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
The Godfather - Mario Puzo
Tom Clancey novels (the Jack Ryan universe)

Plus the Harry Potter series. Some of my favorites were also books I had to read in school like Roots, The Good Earth, and The Joy Luck Club.

[rlu]

Enders Game/Enders Shadow - Orson Scott Card



seconding!

[1964pandora]

And two books that changed my life:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver


This book really changed my life too. I resisted reading it for two years after it came out because I knew it would require something from me.

[erosenst]

Several of the ones mentioned are very high on my list (in case there's strength in numbers, or something...)

* Mists of Avalon (One of two books my entire reading group liked. And I'm not at all into fantasy books, so never would have found it on my own. But it's truly captivating.)

* The Help - easily one of my favorites of the last several years, maybe longer.

* Pillars of the Earth, and the sort of sequel World without End. Both very long, and I was sad when both ended.

* A Prayer for Owen Meany - generally don't like John Irving, and had to be all-but-forced to read this by someone. Now on my 'highly recommended' list.

* The Red Tent - partially because of the point of view

* Rain of Gold - beautifully written book about the author's grandparents as the emigrated from Mexico . The other book that everyone in my reading group liked, and another one I likely wouldn't have picked on my own.

And FWIW, I *loved* Lamb....

[larig]

Another Roadside Attraction (Tom Robbins)--I actually like most of his, but this one is the best, IMO. It is fantastic, and I think of the ending line often. He writes strong women characters well. Fierce Invalids is another favorite.

Jane Austen--all + good modern day versions (e.g., Bridget Jones' Diary)
Youth in Revolt (I read this a decade ago and laughed out loud).

I loved Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.

Robin Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice + rest of series (if you dig fantasy and/or animals at all)--castles, dragons, poisons, telepathy, human/animal bonds and loyalty, love... (Robin is a woman, and like Robbins, lives in the PNW. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hobb)

[shawnandangel]

The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
To Kill A Mockingbird - Lee
The Poisonwood Bible - Kingsolver
The Thorn birds - McCullough
Another big Potter fan here

I freely admit loving romance books and love Nora Robert's Circle Trilogy.

[Fairy]

They should have done an Imzadi movie!

Don't hate me but I was a Wesley fan so Q-in-law was my fav. Saw Wil Wheaton in something recently (as a repeat, perhaps Criminal Minds), really creepy role. Still attractive. Never saw him at a convention, but did get John de Lancie and Majel to sign the book.

eta: I did enjoy the Peter David books, but I stopped buying the Trek series a while ago - should see what they have by him at the library.

No good Trek fan doesn't feel that way about Imzadi! They missed the boat not doing that movie, man.

Wil Wheaton is ridiculously talented. He got shafted something fierce. Read Dancing Barefoot, his compilation of autobiographical short stories. And don't miss him on Big Bang Theory, he's crazy good. And I always enjoyed his www.wilwheaton.net, but I dunno if it's still up. And I'll tell you, I've worked with him personally at conventions, and he's a stellar, stand-up guy who is one of my favorite actors I've ever worked with. Ever. Normal, unassuming, decent man.

If you really love Peter David, then you have to get his Strange New Worlds series about a whole new set of ships led by a renegade Captain named Calhoun, and his love interest, Elizabeth Shelby, who was the Commander that was the bane of Riker's existence played by Elizabeth Denehy in Best of Both Worlds. I can't recommend this PD series enough.

[MrsZaz]

Hands down, the best books I have ever read are the Harry Potter series. And I don't think it's just because I'm a children's librarian. I've reread them more times than I will admit.

Me too! and listened to them on tape :) over and over and over again!

Colleen

[MrsZaz]

Here are my favorites:

Harry Potter
A year of living Biblically by AJ Jacobs
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Memory Keepers Daughter Author?
The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose

I also enjoy culinary/homecrafting mysteries: Dianna Mott Davidson, Joanna Fluke

[wellyes]

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose

If you liked that, try "Absolutely American", a Rolling Stone reporter's book about West Point cadets. It's a somewhat similar theme - lefty guy reporting on an iconic conservative institution. Really interesting stuff, well written, and I think it would be a good read whether you lean liberal or conservative. It taught me an enormous amount about the Army and the kind of men and women who choose to be leaders in it.

[VClute]

I loved Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. I read them in high school and I STILL think about them. AND I felt really smart when I understood the Ayn Rand references in The Simpsons. :)

I also LOVED the Red Tent, Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy and A Man In Full by Tom Wolfe.

I read The Reader (Bernhard Schlink) at one point I was reading it in a public park and I burst into tears. When a book affects you like that, you never forget it. The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini) were like that, too.

[Fairy]

I don't know how I could have forgotten Harry Potter. The whole series.

[gatorsmom]

My absolute favorite is Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. The movie is wonderful, yes, but the book is a masterpiece. I despised the sequel Scarlett, written by a different author.

ETA: a close second is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. The ultimate story of revenge. So very twisted, I just LOVE it!

[AbbysMom]

I always loved A Wrinkle in Time, The Outsiders, and The Great Gatsby.