What's the best book you've ever read?

[grapidianclaret]

American Gods and The Graveyard book by Neil Gaimen.
I had almost forgotten Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen, incredibly funny.

[starting_11]

Bill Bryson - Notes from a Small Island.

I must have read it 30 times or more.

Shame the new one is crap.

[triadclaret]

An Instance of the Fingerpost. Ian Pears

[triadclaret]

The Sett by Ranulph Fiennes. Thank you for that one Dejavu. Reviews pretty special. A deal on Book Depository. Got it.

[Jeremy_Bentham]

. once read Lord of the Rings in the wooded area down Grove Lane overlooking the training ground.

He had just finished college for the summer and each morning he would go down there for a couple of hours to relax and enjoy the book. He's not sure if Lord of the Rings is the best book he's ever read but it was the one he most enjoyed reading getting to do it in that environment.

[brexit]

I'll Tell You What...: My Take on the Modern Game of Football by Robbie Savage

[Clarinetclaret]

. once read Lord of the Rings in the wooded area down Grove Lane overlooking the training ground.

He had just finished college for the summer and each morning he would go down there for a couple of hours to relax and enjoy the book. He's not sure if Lord of the Rings is the best book he's ever read but it was the one he most enjoyed reading getting to do it in that environment.

Have you got MPD?
The Beach
Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
Band of Brothers
Excursion into Hell(Falklands)
The Nemesis Files
Chapter and Verse( Bernard Sumner)
Freaky Dancing(Bez)
Hans and Rudolf.

[sculptureofman]

Best book I've ever read is probably Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.

Honourable mentions to Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying, and Stephen King's IT

[kindonesque]

A Perfect Spy

"Le Carré refuses to allow his books to be entered for literary prizes. It's probably just as well. He'd win every time"....Clare Morrall (Indie)

[Flat Stanley]

The Outsider (Sometimes called The Stranger) by Albert Camus is my favorite.

I also love One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey.

I am also a big fan of Catch 22 and Grapes of Wrath mentioned above.

Non fiction, I read a book recently called Sapiens: A Brief History of the Humankind by Yuval Harari which was unbelievably good. Really brings history to life, feels more like a story to read and makes you think about who we are in a different way.

[Erasmus]

Remembrance of Things Past: Marcel Proust
Anna Karenina: Leo Tolstoy
Beloved: Toni Morrison

[Mala591]

Cycling in the Lake District by Rudyard Pedaling

[AndrewJB]

Best non-fiction books - stuff by John Ralston Saul, Bruce Chatwin, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Antony Beevor. Novels by Robertson Davies, Isabel Allende, Wilkie Collins, Kate Chopin, Margaret Atwood. I couldn't choose a favourite.

[JohnMac]

I have read thousands of books but this is the only one I can ever recall reading and then re-reading it immediately, as in last page followed by first page!

'JAWS'.
Peter Benchley

This was before the film so I had no idea what it was about, the suspense and tension was incredible at the time.

[Mondsley]

Tough question. From my schooldays I would say The Great Gatsby. Then, in no particular order.
To serve them all my days. R F Delderfield
11/22/63 Stephen King
Any Human Heart William Boyd.
Any of the Harry Hole novels by Jo Nesbo
Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafan
A Thousand Splendid Sons Khaled Hosseni.

Also like Tom Clancy and the Rebus novels of Ian Rankin.

[Gowerclaret]

Anything by John Steinbeck and Kurt Vonnegut. Also enjoyed the Steig Larsson Millenium trilogy.

[RMutt]

Funny book. Billy Liar. Had me in stitches. Intellectual book. The Trial. I just got lost in it. Inspirational book. Touching the Void. Made every discomfort feel like nothing. Difficult book. Beautiful Losers. Impenetrable.

[Pstotto]

A Field-guide to British Birds and Their Nests.

[Inchysince93]

Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall. It's like Jaws meets the Matrix.

[Stevie2112]

11/22/63 Stephen King

Watched the tv series and did not realise it was a book by King.
Enjoyed the tv series .

[Mondsley]

Watched the tv series and did not realise it was a book by King.
Enjoyed the tv series .

TV Series did justice to the book. Enjoyed them both.

[Jeremy_Bentham]

Have you got MPD?
The Beach
Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
Band of Brothers
Excursion into Hell(Falklands)
The Nemesis Files
Chapter and Verse( Bernard Sumner)
Freaky Dancing(Bez)
Hans and Rudolf.

. has not got MPD. He does have a slight headache but thinks he's just a bit tired. He thanks Clarinetclaret for asking about him.

[Jeremy_Bentham]

I have read thousands of books but this is the only one I can ever recall reading and then re-reading it immediately, as in last page followed by first page!

'JAWS'.
Peter Benchley

This was before the film so I had no idea what it was about, the suspense and tension was incredible at the time.

. saw the film before he read the book. He was very surprised to read that Hooper rogered Ellen Brody & that Ellen feared leaving a stain on the seating in the restaurant.

[COBBLE]

Two things I've learned about some great modern novels.

Firstly, some seem to shine and fade in line with broader current and liberal trends, then they slip away.
Secondly the more important the book is the less likely the person who I have lent it to will give it me back. You know who you are.

So let me name "Bury my heart at Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown.

[Wile E Coyote]

good post this, i have jotted down quite a few i fancy reading.

[JohnMac]

. saw the film before he read the book. He was very surprised to read that Hooper rogered Ellen Brody & that Ellen feared leaving a stain on the seating in the restaurant.

JohnMac was wondering at which point in the film Hooper was going to roger Ellen!

[minnieclaret]

Read Shadow Of The Wind after asking for recommendations, in another place. Saw it mentioned above and can confirm it's an excellent read.

[Clarinetclaret]

. has not got MPD. He does have a slight headache but thinks he's just a bit tired. He thanks Clarinetclaret for asking about him.

Just asking because it's a very strange thing to do to keep writing in third person. Not sure whether you're a 13 year old or think you're being funny. Maybe you're one of saxos personalities. Weird.

[Holtyclaret]

I've read Cider with Rosie loads of times and loved the Wilt books.

[Jeremy_Bentham]

JohnMac was wondering at which point in the film Hooper was going to roger Ellen!

. wonders if JohnMac spotted Peter Benchley's cameo in the film playing the part of the news reporter on the beach?

[box_of_frogs]

Red Storm Rising. Love it!

[Claret-On-A-T-Rex]

The Grapes of Wrath
The Lord of the Flies
The Aubrey - Maturin Novels (all 20)

[boiledclaret]

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin is well worth a read. True story about how the author, a white collar, white American, blacks up professionally and spends some time living in the deep south, inparticulary Alabama.

All Quiet on the western front: or any books by it's author, Erich Maria Remarque.

R.U.R (Rossoms Universal Robots) by Karel Capek, who introduced the word 'robot' into the English language upon it's release in 1921. Prior to that the English had used the word 'automaton' to describe an automated being.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.R" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

The plays of Tennessee Williams, which are available in a couple of volumes.

and 'Married to a chimp' by John Collier, a funny and bizarre novel.

[Crawley Claret]

John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath...theme ...Mans inhumanity to man !!

[Hipper]

One of Our Submarines by Edward Young

A true biography of a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve who works his way through officer training to become commander of a WW2 submarine.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Submarines ... submarines" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Worlds of Robert F Young

A set of science fiction short stories with little twists. I'm not into science fiction.

(Instead of starting at 'A' with my reading it seems I started at 'Z'. I didn't get much further)

[Elder statesman]

Just finished the last of the Peter May, Lewis trilogy. I can really recommend it.

[cloughyclaret]

I dropped my Kindle Paperwhite in the bath last night. I am genuinely gutted.

[doncasterclaret]

The ones I keep going back to are -
Fever Pitch, A Short History of Nearly Everything and the Kenneth Williams Diaries

[CaptJohn]

The books by Jean M Auel about Ayla & Jondallar. "Clan of the Cave Bear" was the first followed by the "Valley of Horses", "Mammoth Hunters" "Plains of Passage" etc.