Recommend the Best Book

[Pakey]

Mists of Avalon
Thousand Splendid Suns
Peony in Love
The Witching Hour
Prince of Tides
The Pact

 

[Calrissian13]

Back to Gabaldon- isn't the character development amazing? Who on earth could they ever cast as Jamie Fraser in a movie (and keep the fans happy!)? The fact that they are in North Carolina now (my home state) thrills me (I live near New Bern!).

I've been thinking Gerard Butler could pull off the part quite well. He's tall enough, has the accent, and is definitely easy on the eyes. http://www.gerardbutler.net/ And as a bonus, the man can sing (Phantom of the Opera anyone?)

okay...done hijacking...

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

And anything by Christopher Moore.

 

[Fifinella]

As much as I adore Tolkien's works, as well as the Chronicles of Narnia, I'd have to say it's a toss-up between To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

 

[tennvalgirl]

I really enjoyed

'Jurrassic Park' & 'The Lost World'

both by Michael Crichton


I also adore the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer, but it's not for everybody.

 

[pogo791]

So many books, so little time.

Sorry to start out with some musing, but what do you mean by "best"? Looking at the previous posts, I would say that they can be divided into two categories: those recommending Big Books (meaningful, thought-provoking - in short, Great Literature), and those recommending good reads (easy to swallow, gripping - and yet which in many cases still make you think). F'r instance, I would put To Kill A Mockingbird, and Jane Eyre, in the first category, and A Hitchhiker's Guide, or the Harry Potter books, in the second.

OK. So my favorite(s)? If you fall back on the old traditional question, what book would be the one book you would want to have with you if you were shipwrecked on an island, I would go for the Bible. (Or, of course, "Raftmaking for Dummies".)

If you ask which book I could and have re-read again and again, it would be the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but also for example Leo Rosten's Captain Newman, M.D. (anyone remember that one, from fifty years back?)

And if you ask what books I simply found so good, I couldn't stop reading them until the end, it would be Centennial, Shogun, the first Harry Potter, The Alchemist, and The Name of the Rose.

 

[JVL1018]

The best book I've ever read (and my favorite) is To Kill a Mockingbird. I re-read it just about every year. Scout and Jem and Atticus seem like family to me and I like to visit them.

Although I do agree with so many others that Diana Gabaldon's books are right up there on my list, too, along with Jane Eyre and so many other books.

I agree with you-To Kill A Mockingbird is fantastic. I looooove the Outlander books.
I also really loved Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvick, Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg, Molokaii by Alan Brennan(?)
I also very much enjoyed The Lovely Bones and The Time Traveler's Wife.

 

[JVL1018]

Lots of great books mentioned here already, but here are more:

Gone With the Wind
A Tale of Two Cities
The Kite Runner
Midwives
A Map of the World
Hamlet (not technically a book, but great!)


I also loved Owen Meany, Pillars of the Earth. These are all books that were really hard to put down. Like, "get up at 4:30 in the morning so you can read uninterrupted books."

Oh I forgot about Gone With the Wind, I adored that as well...and Midwives was great and so was The Kite Runner.

 

[Sorsha]

I forgot to add - honest and for true - the original Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne.
I LOVE this book, and read it out loud to any child in my vicinity who will sit still for it and some who won't. Still makes me laugh out loud, no matter how many times I read it.

 

[JennSaint]

Some of my favorites:

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philipa Gregory

The Pact & Plain Truth both by Jodi Piccoult

One For the Money by Janet Evanovich this is book one of the Stephanie Plum series Some of the stuff in these books are laugh out loud funny
I can't stop reading this series. Started in the summer and I just finished book 9. I read these in between my book club books.

 

[Tarheel Tink]

If you fall back on the old traditional question, what book would be the one book you would want to have with you if you were shipwrecked on an island, I would go for the Bible. (Or, of course, "Raftmaking for Dummies".)
.

 

[Tarheel Tink]

I've been thinking Gerard Butler could pull off the part quite well. He's tall enough, has the accent, and is definitely easy on the eyes. http://www.gerardbutler.net/ And as a bonus, the man can sing (Phantom of the Opera anyone?)

okay...done hijacking...

You know, he might be able to do it! Of course as Jamie he would not need to sing,LOL! Thanks for the link.

 

[KDIPIAZZ]

I am not much of a fantasy/sci fi fan. I was at a garage sale where a little old man practically shoved a book in my hands and begged me to buy it - INSISTED that i would love it. he even reduced the price from 50¢ to 25¢ and I finally bought it just to shut him up.

Ended up taking the book to a baseball game.

LOVED IT. Couldn't put it down. I very very rarely buy books (except at garage sales) because I read 4-6 per week and that little habit gets expensive. However, after finishing this one, I immediately ordered the rest of the series and even went for a hardcover edition of the latest book in the series because I couldn't wait.

It's the A Song of Fire and Ice series by George RR Martin. So far there are 4 books

1. A Game of Thrones
2. A Clash of Kings
3. a Storm of Swords
4. A Feast for Crows

I've now loaned it out to 5 different people after convincing them that they should give fantasy a try. All loved it.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Les Miserable - Victor Hugo
Alice in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
Count of Monte Christo - Alexander Dumas
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Free to Choose - Milton Freidman

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I have to give 3 books:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (go with the complete edition that includes all 5 books)

Catch-22

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

I agree with you on Hithhiker's(I have read all countless times, but I would put Confederacy of Dunces in front of the other(though I loved the other 2).
I think Ignatius P Riely is one if not the greatest fictional character ever created).

 

[rascalmom]

I chose the books that I will most likely want to re-read throughout my life:

1) To Kill a Mockingbird

2) Harry Potter (the series, and yes, I am an adult

3) The Secret Life of Bees

4) Water for Elephants

5) The Poisonwood Bible

I see many others I have loved in this thread.....and some new ideas.

 

[jimmiej]

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

 

[autumnpalm]

White Oleander

 

[Anewman]

The Godfather

Silence of the Lambs

Angels and Demons

 

[kaytieeldr]

The dictionary It contains just about every word (and many proper names) in common/relatively common use. You just need to put them together yourself