What's your favorite book?

[docduany]

I guess I'm just kind of simple, but my favorite book ever is F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. I've really enjoyed all of Fitzgerald's books that I've read. I also really enjoyed Hemingway's A Moveable Feast.

[DHonks]

I was a big fan of Dan Brown and Tom Clancy. The Jack Ryan series by clancy is a fun read. I suggest reading them in order. At the very least, Debt of Honor, Executive Orders, and The Bear and The Dragon comprise one very good book. On the whole, I'll bet the three books make up a 3000 page story.

 

The Dan Brown books are very easy, fun reads. The problem is that they all feature some unbelievable way of cheating death, whether falling from 3,000 feet and surviving, or being rescued by a submarine.

[rwa12]

I love this thread, and will be making a trip to the library tomorrow to pick out a few of the titles! I read Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom at least once a year. It is an incredible book that I feel everyone should read at least once. As for the person who recommended Grisham, while I enjoy his legal thrillers, they seem to have become rather cookie cutter. I have, however, thoroughly enjoyed his other books (A Painted House, Bleachers, Skipping Christmas).

[brewizard]

One Hundred Years of Solitude

By Gabriel García Márquez

 

Just a masterpiece, IMO

 

Yep. Best book ever. Russ, you are dead on, as usual.

 

The Good Earth is great. So is Gone With The Wind. Just read 1491 and enjoyed it.

 

But has anybody read Life of Pi? Fantastic read.

[TooLiveBrew]

Very late to this thread, and I know many have been mentioned already, but...

 

Invisible Man, Ellison

 

The Jungle, Sinclair ("The horror!")

 

Native Son, Wright

 

 

and for some 'books,'

 

Hamlet

 

King Lear

 

The Crucible

 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

 

(film version is well-done, directed & adapted by Stoppard, starring Gary Oldman ® & Tim Roth (G))

[rluzinski]

Glad to see the Marquez love... While I think 100 Years of Solitude is his greatest literary accomplishment, my favorite book ever is Love in the Time of Cholera...

 

And I was a bit let down by it, at least with the ending. In contrast, I've never had the emotional reaction to a book as I did with the ending of 100 Years of Solitude. Of course, had I read "Love" first, I probably would love them both. "100" spoiled me, though.

[gypcasino]

I'll say The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Just because it's such a simple yet amazing psychological study.

[brewcrewman17]

Quote:

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The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Absolutely - A Pale View of Hils is also excellent.

 

Quote:

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Native Son, Wright

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I just finished this book last night coincidentally. Parts I and II were fantastic only to be surpassed by Part III

[flosses like fossas]

i have a lot of favorite classics - the bulk of what has been recommended earlier in this thread (hell, i have the original cover art from the catcher in the rye and jack kerouac's face tattooed on my body) - but my personal favorite book is The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker. it's a short book, a true story according to Baker, about one afternoon in his life. the bulk of the book is made up of footnotes of his thoughts. i love the footnote style because it is acutely evocative of the way i think; i totally associated with the associative stream of consciousness. it's funny and insightful.

[dadofandrew]

For me, it'd be a tough call, but the author would be Mark Twain.

 

It's a pity his dry humor and top notch storytelling have been nearly banned because his stories contain language of his era which is not acceptable today.

[Boy Jeenius]

I too like Clancy and Ludlum, and recently Vince Flynn's books I just blew through.

Right now I'm reading "Team Of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is a fascinating read about Lincoln and his cabinet, which was made up of all of his political rivals. I'm just mesmerized by this book.

[stoutdude04]

I will admit, I am not a HUGE reader by anymeans. So when I finish a book for fun it must be good. Lately I have been reading Ueks book "Catcher in the Wry." Fun read. Otherwise I like thriller books.

[pogokat]

i really enjoy a little bit of everything...my studies and field of work lead me to read tons of books, man very boring, but some compelling nonetheless.

 

personal favorites:

 

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers

 

McCullers is from my surrogate hometown, and her bleak outlook of city life in the south is phenomenal.

 

Water Music - T.C. Boyle

 

Every sentence is well crafted and hilarious. The story is moving and, wll, amazing. Those that love Garcia Marquez's Magical realism should check out some of Boyle's.

 

I am One of You Forever - Fred Chappell

 

This book is as sentimental as all get out, but it's moving and surreal. Thouroughly enjoyable.

 

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

 

The white whale is hated by many, but its the full platter when it comes to literature. This novel explores issues of identity, multi culturalism, sexuality, and violence before literary criticism even considered books written outside of England literature. Beyond that, perhaps it's the rhythmic and musical flow of the novel and its ability to experiment that makes it a fun read. Most are only familiar with "The Symphony," which is Ahab's final duel with the whale, but getting to know Ahab will impress you much more.

 

I was Right on TIme - Buck O'Neill

 

O'Neill was perhaps the most lovable person to ever play baseball. His story is simple, but beautiful, and a lot of fun to boot.

 

I'm glad so many of you guys like Garcia Marquez. I teach some of his shorter writting, and i generally get the impression that my students hate me for it...nonetheless, i think he's a genius...I need to read Cholera and Solitude sometime, but right now i'm taking a break from serious work to read graphic novels and john hodgman.

[tyguy20204]

I'll list a few.

 

The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

Probably tied for my favorite book of all time. The only bad thing about this book is that you will never read something so good again.

 

War and Peace - Tolstoy

Probably tied for my favorite book of all time. Way better than Anna Karenina. Long, but reads fast.

 

Pedro Paramo - Juan Rulfo

I've never read Marquez but I know Marquez was a big fan of this book. Everything I've read by Rulfo (this and the Burning Plains short stories) has been incredible

 

Dune

An incredible book for any sci-fi fan

 

The Foundation Series

An incredible series for any sci-fi fan

 

The Borders Trilogy - Cormac McCarthy

An amazing set of books. All the Pretty Horses is probably the standout, although the first section of The Crossing may be my favorite of McCarthy's writing.

 

Tender is the Night - Fitzgerald

For whatever reason I like this better than Gatsby

 

Lord Jim - Conrad

Can't go wrong with my man Conrad

 

Of course, these are just novelists. As far as I'm concerned, Chekhov is the best writer of all time.

Other short story authors I love - Alice Munro, Ray Carver, Joyce (Dubliners).

[BrewCrewRising]

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For me, it'd be a tough call, but the author would be Mark Twain.

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Here, here. I just started into "Life on the Mississippi" and his word agility and wry humor never cease to amaze me. I sometimes debate to myself if I think he's one of the greatest writers of all time, but I definitely know that he'd make my top 10 list of people of history I'd like to meet.

 

Props to whomever up above said Remains of the Day. That was an excellent read.

 

Has anybody read much Michael Ondaatje? I really like his minimal yet fluidly descriptive style. I have only read Anil's Ghost and In the Skin of Lion (still need to read English Patient.)

[GAME05]

Huxley's A Brief History of Time has probably gone the furthest to shape my perception of politics and society. Then also Machiavelli, Lord of the Flies and Paradise Lost.

[hammytime]

Time Traveler's Wife was excellent, but took a bit to get into.

 

I've read a lot of Grisham, Patricia Cornwell, Jeffrey Deaver, Michael Crichton--all good.

 

Mitch Albom's books are pretty good--fast reads, too.

 

As for my all-time favorite(s):

Gone With the Wind, a bunch of children's lit that I can't think of right now.

[Robideaux]

a few in no particular order:

 

The Road Cormac McCarthy

(McCarthy's book All the Pretty Horses was a pretty good read as well, title notwithstanding)

 

The Straight Man Richard Russo

 

White Noise Don DeLillo

 

On The Road Jack Kerouac

 

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert Pirsig

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey

[TerraceReserved]

Although it's hard to pick just one book, Life of Pi might be my favorite. The story of Pi's survival on the lifeboat is very cool, and the ending is odd but very satifying. I highly suggest it to anyone for a good read.

[UeckerAddict]

As an English major, I read so many books I can't even begin to count ( love the Delillo, Vonnegut, and Melville love in here), but if I had to rank my favorite book it would not be any of the ones I read in school. Perhaps the fact that it was a random pick up is why I love it.

 

Shot in the Heart

by Mikal Gilmore

 

This is Gary Gilmore's brother (the last man legally put to death by firing squad in the U.S.) retracing his family's history over the generations in order to prove that his family is cursed and doomed to failure no matter what. I couldn't put the thing down.

[Schlitz001]

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions. I'm going to go check out,

 

One Hundred Years of Solitude

The Sound and the Fury

The Remains of the Day

 

I remember One Hundred Years of Solitude being brought up on these forums before, so it's about time I check it out. I've read a lot of the other books already mentioned and some of my favorites are:

 

Catch-22

Gatsby

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Life of Pi

 

Of books that haven't been mentioned, I have enjoyed Watership Down, which is a good quick and entertaining read. The Giver is a book I read over and over again when I was young and I recently reread and loved it as much as I did when I was younger. It's still probably my favorite book. I have recently been enjoying anything and everything by John McPhee and Bill Bryson. Also worth mentioning are Crime and Punishment, which is probably my number 2 favorite and Ethan Frome.

[IslandsAC]

I also have really enjoyed this thread. I went to the library yesterday and picked up Life of Pi and The Remains of the Day. I started The Remains of the Day and I can tell I'm really going to like it.

 

I didn't want to start with 100 Years becuase everyone's said it's the best so where would I go after that? I do have a nice long summer reading list now... so thanks guys!

 

EDIT: Oh yeah, now I remember why I posted. Has anyone read The Diary of Anne Frank? I've always wanted to.

[rwa12]

I took the opposite approach to Islands...I checked out 100 years a few days ago, and am about 100 pages into it. I am enjoying it so far, and am finally getting into the flow of his writing style. Pretty sure that this book won't last much past the weekend. Will be bookmarking this thread to further my summer reading as well. I think my wife has Life of Pi somewhere around the house, that one may be next.

[gypcasino]

I started The Remains of the Day and I can tell I'm really going to like it.

 

After you're done with the book rent the

movie. It's also phenomenal. It might be Anthony Hopkins' finest hour.

[deeswan]

Excellent suggestions all. I, however, am not as deep a thinker as most of you. And I like thriller/crime/spy/serial killer novels. There's probably something very wrong with me. Anyway, here is a short list of my favorite fiction, with a non-fiction bonus.

 

The King of Lies by John Hart

 

Anything by Nelson DeMille, the earlier the better. I particularly recommend The Charm School and By the Rivers of Babylon.

 

Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

 

Fantasy novels by Terry Brooks

 

Anything by J.F. Freedman

 

Non-fiction bonus

Remembering America: A Voice from the 60's by Richard Goodwin - I read this after seeing Quiz Show, as the movie is based on a chapter from this book. An amazing study of Goodwin's life in politics, who he worked for and who he dealt with. I highly recommend it.