What's your all time favorite book?

[KodaPop]

Just recently in the past year, I've been getting way more into reading for enjoyment. I've noticed, with family and friends, the topic of books and what our favorites are rarely, if ever, comes up. So I thought to ask the forums what your favorite books are.

I love seeing what other people have read, and possibly checking those out myself.

I'll start:

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Just over a year ago, my roommate recommended me the book House of Leaves. He told me to not scan the book at all, or flip through the pages, just start reading on page one. I won't go into spoiler territory here, but oh boy this book was the wildest fictional rides I have ever took on in my life. The subtle dread and despair on each page was captivating, and got me dreaming of the house on Ash Tree Lane. I felt like another character in the story by the end of the read, and have never gotten that feeling before. Years down the road, I'll still be talking to my friends about this lonely house in the southeastern Virginia countryside, waiting to be entered again.

The book is definitely not for everyone though. If you are into experimental horror, this would be a strong recommend.

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So I bounce the question back at you, what's your all time favorite book? It can be a series, fiction or non-fiction, or even a textbook. Did it impact you in any meaningful way, or was it just a fun read to pass the time?

 

[LeFay]

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is my all time favorite and the movie did it no justice. The writing is witty, fantastical endlessly amusing.

Guardians of Ga'hoole is anthor really great book series that had a bad movie. It's a fairly long book series where the main characters are owls and goes into some fairly dark topics the would likely get me banned for mentioning them but a couple tamer ones are brainwashing, primal warfare and childhood abandonment. Very deep book series for what it is.

 

[KodaPop]

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is my all time favorite and the movie did it no justice. The writing is witty, fantastical endlessly amusing.

This has been on my reading list for awhile now, I've only heard great things about it and will probably start reading it this Summer.

Guardians of Ga'hoole is anthor really great book series that had a bad movie. It's a fairly long book series where the main characters are owls and goes into some fairly dark topics the would likely get me banned for mentioning them but a couple tamer ones are brainwashing, primal warfare and childhood abandonment. Very deep book series for what it is.

I've heard of the series before and seems pretty interesting. I'll put that on my list as well. I enjoy reading about darker topics a lot, gets me to feel things I otherwise wouldn't feel.

 

[MauEvigEternalCat]

To be honest, the Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, and The Black Gryphon. I tend to lean toward fantasy and sometimes science fiction types, that is when I can make my ADHD cooperate so I can actually sit down to read. lol

 

[Zayev_Ezroni]

My all time favorite book series is the Gotrek and Felix collection, though the Gaunt's Ghost series is a very close second.

 

[Kit H. Ruppell]

A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. It's a humorous look at the history OF natural history and related fields.

 

[grrfret]

Marley and Me - Not many books have had the ability to make my cry with laughter and sadness at the same time. Other notable mentions for excellent books are Five Hundred Mile Walkies by Mark Wallington and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

 

[AdenineWolf]

The Cthulhu Mythos, one of the best books I've read so far, haven't read it all yet as it contains so much but holy cow, this masterpiece is surely a classic! If you're into Lovecraftian books and lore, i HIGHLY suggest you pick it up! It'll surely keep you interested for days!

 

[Arishipshape]

Hmmm. What an excellent question.

If I'm judging based purely on the ending and how awesome it felt after reading, then Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Valley of Fear", a Sherlock Holmes novel, takes first prize. It has the best ending of any piece of fiction of all time in my most humble opinion (though the main body of book is almost a drag). The spoiler puts Rosebud to shame! I literally can't say any more about the book for fear of spoiling the ending!

On the other hand, if I'm judging for an enjoyable main body of book, William Goldman's The Princess Bride has almost a lackluster ending but every second leading up to it is absolutely priceless and hilarious. Nearly every snarky sentence, be it dialogue, monologue, or narration is just bursting with sarcasm, subversion, and general wittiness.

If I'm judging based on which book packs the most wisdom and utility for life, Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning almost literally gives you the meaning of life on a silver platter. I would highly, highly recommend it to anyone who suffers and/or finds life meaningless, though it's not exactly an enjoyable read.

Some honorable mentions include Howard Pyle's Robin Hood, Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes (I count the entire collection as a book), and Ian Doescher's "William Shakespeare's Star Wars" trilogy.

 

[Ashwolves5]

I'm kinda tied between "The Hobbit" by JRR Tolkien and "Interview with a Vampire" by Anne Rice. Also basically everything both those authors have wrote heh.

 

[hara-surya]

The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint.

It's an ugly story about the adult survivor of child sex abuse and the sister she left behind. There's also something about the Dreamlands, First Peoples shapeshifters and other magical stuff. It and its sequel Widdershins - which has a subplot about the spirits of buffalo gathering an army to kill everyone in North American except First Peoples - are two of the best books I ever read. But, I had a Norman Rockwell childhood and I found them hard to read because of the intense subject matter.

I wouldn't recommend it as the first book to read by the author, for that I'd suggest Someplace to be Flying or Memory and Dream, or one of his short story collections.

 

[WitherSDL]

I don't have a favorite book because I tend to favor books that tell a small part of a bigger story. My favorite series is Battletech which tells stories that take place over a couple hundred years in the Inner Sphere (part of our galaxy). There's political intrigue, war, and anything else you can imagine. The series has more than a hundred novels contributing to the story.

A more manageable series is Gaunt's Ghosts by Dan Abnett... tells the story of normal humans in the Warhammer 40k universe. If you're not already a fan of 40k though there may be many questions.

 

[Simo]

Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson: this book paves the way for 20th century American literature like none other, giving us intimate yet raw views in the strange, interior world's of the inhabitants of an otherwise 'normal' small town in Ohio. If American literature is best viewed for its probity of the psychological landscape of the individual, Anderson, despite his almost accidental, telling-a-story-by-the-fireside style, is its greatest pioneer. From Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Jean Stafford, John Cheever, and even later, to Joyce Carol Oates and Raymond Carver, Anderson redefines what it's possible to discuss in fiction, while opening the gateway to a vast expanse of topics, just below the surface, that had been otherwise hidden.

Had Stephen Crane lived to a later age, he might have arrived at a similar point as Anderson, who seems to have arrived at the point he did almost accidentally, and with a body of work, that, aside from his masterpiece, is unremarkable.

 

[Canopus the Dreamer]

My favourite series of books are the accursed kings (Les Rois Maudits) by Maurice Druon. These are the books that inspired George R R Martin to write A Song of Ice and Fire.

The Books tell the story of the French Kings of the Capet Dynasty and the build up to the Hundred Years War. Just to be clear its a historical drama.

I love the way the author described character without a lot of detail. For example Robert of Artois is described as being huge, looking powerful and wearing red boots.

 

[UwUCarlaUwU]

warrior cats, DUH

XD

 

[FrostHeart]

The Kane Chronicles
Percy Jackson
Any other Rick Riordan book

 

[AppleButt]

I don’t read a lot but my favorite so far is A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

 

[Borophagus Monoclinous]

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by Haruki Murakami

The world that this author creates in this book is totally insane, but his writing completely sucks you in. I didn't want it to end.

 

[Raever]

Moribito: Gaurdian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi. The story was so unique to me and I'd first read it as a child. I can always read it to it's conclusion and still find little secrets and meanings between the pages. It's such a good story. ♡

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
by Haruki Murakami

The world that this author creates in this book is totally insane, but his writing completely sucks you in. I didn't want it to end.

I'll have to check that out for sure. The title alone sounds highly interesting.

 

[Borophagus Monoclinous]

I'll have to check that out for sure. The title alone sounds highly interesting.

Murakami has more popular books, but Hard-Boiled Wonderland did something for me. I have also somehow associated it with a Fleet Foxes song. My brain is screwy.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Kafka on the Shore are also excellent.

 

[Canopus the Dreamer]

Another interesting book I read was case studies about mental illnesses.

I can't remember what the book was called, but it had a picture of a hat on the cover and the words 'ce n'est pas ma femme' (this is not my wife).

The cover was reference to one of the case studies where one person sees a hat when he looks at his wife.

I remember thinking how frightening it was to think that you could be detached from reality and not know about it.

 

[Van the cheesen one]

Oh! I have the same "problem"! Most people I know either don't read books in general, or have such different tastes in genres that the conversation dies down quickly.
Some of my favorite books in the last few years have probably been (I try not to spoiler things ><):

"Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood - Haunting read about suppression and autonomy of the female body set in a dystopian future (can recommend if you like books like 1984)
Frank Herbert's "Dune" and "Dune Messiah" - quite famous sci-fi series, set in a far off future, deal with power and what power can do to a person, as well as the struggle against pre-determinism.
Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series - If you've seen the movie, it's nothing like that. It's good IF you like King's writing. It's the first book ever that had me sitting in a parking lot after work, finishing it, because I couldn't wait till I was home. Love it to bits.
"Do androids dream of electric sheep" by P.K. Dick - I just love Bladerunner, what can I say

 

[owoLillian]

I usually like to read old literature, such as Huckleberry Finn and Animal Farm. It’s a little unusual for people my age to be into classic writing or history in general, but I think it’s very fascinating! I almost cried reading 1984

 

[ClumsyWitch]

I read "Skulduggery Pleasant" when I was around 14. I loved it! At least then, I thought Derek Landy was a master of sarcasm, his main character was very funny to me.

 

[Hipsteralbatros]

I don't do a whole lot of reading and the little that I do read is usually manga, but I do really like The Art of Racing in the Rain. Usually anything with some sort of fantasy/fiction element is game for me.

I've been trying to get back into reading again since I found some gems in my late Grandmother's old book stash.