The best book I ever read . . .

[John_RN]

And lucky you, we've all just recommended our favorite books for you to start!

I'm definitely going to pick up "Like People in History". I had never heard of it but your blog sold me on it. Thanks for the recommendation!

My number one is a toss up between "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and Anne Rice's "Queen of the Damned".

Deathly Hallows because I have never anticipated a book more than that one. Memories of lining up 5 hours in line for the midnight release then going home and reading the whole thing in 8 hours. I will never forget that experience. Couldn't have ended any better.

Queen of the Damned because it is just an awesome story. I loved hearing Anne Rice's version of the origins of the vampires. The story of the red headed twins is both tragic and mesmorizing to me.

 

[rpmdfw]

I'm definitely going to pick up "Like People in History". I had never heard of it but your blog sold me on it. Thanks for the recommendation!

No problem! It's a wonderful book!

 

[Hathaway Browne]

TBH I think the best book I have ever read is "A Baseball Life" by Don Zimmer.

 

[Peepster]

I remember falling in love with books as a kid with "Gone With the Wind"...I hated that it ended. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a favorite re-read. "David Copperfield" is always a great classic and I loved getting into the Harry Potter stuff. I was so surprised when I finished "The Help" just recently that it really stayed with me. Good writing. Wonder if she's got more. August Burroughs "Running with Scissors" and subsequent stuff is brave and well written. "John Adams" by what's his name (fill in the blank for me, please) I loved and "Devil In the White City" by Erik Larson.

Guess this is too many best books...sorry.

 

[hematite153]

My favourite book would depend on my mood and the time in my life. For instance, Stranger in a Strange Land was a favourite of mine for awhile as a teenager. But, then I read Friday (also by Heinlein) and if there was one of his books that I was going to pick up to read today it would be that one -- and I do every couple of years.

All of the Jasper Fforde books are fantastic and I'm sort of surprised that I haven't seen them in anyone's list yet.

I read some phenomenal, yet deeply disturbing books by Lee Weeks in the past year.

I also really love science fiction when I'm in the right mood and I'll go through phases where I'm really only reading one specific author for awhile.

I do most of my reading in July every year, so, I'm fresh off a pile, but, nothing is sticking out as my favourite of this summer.

 

[rpmdfw]

My favourite book would depend on my mood and the time in my life. For instance, Stranger in a Strange Land was a favourite of mine for awhile as a teenager. But, then I read Friday (also by Heinlein) and if there was one of his books that I was going to pick up to read today it would be that one -- and I do every couple of years.

Ooh! Friday is an excellent book. I'd just finished re-reading it over labor day weekend in September of 2001. When the events of 9-11 hit, they reminded me a lot of the coordinated attacks that happened in Friday. It was very scary.

I'm a huge Heinlein fan, and I'd be hard pressed to name anything of his I don't just love. (well, actually, Assignement in Eternity, isn't the best, but it's the only one I'm not fond of.)

I'm really enjoying this discussion of books! I'm thrilled to find out about some authors I've never heard of before.

 

[hematite153]

I'm really enjoying this discussion of books! I'm thrilled to find out about some authors I've never heard of before.

Yes, now I'm going to need to keep track of it for long enough to get around to reading some of them.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Can I pick one from each genre?

Sci/Fi or Fantasy: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire

Historical Fiction: The Boleyn Wife by Brandy Purdy

Fiction: 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult (tie with My Sister's Keeper, also by Jodi Picoult)

"Chick Lit" : Any of Meg Cabot's books (in particular, the Airhead/Being Nikki/Runaway triology)

Series: A Series of Unfortunate Events is pretty awesome

I don't read horror, though, so I can't really say anything about that.

OH, favorite Autobiography/Memoir has to be A Little Bit Wicked by Kristin Chenoweth.

 

[janiebubble]

I think you should meet my brother - he has a masterss degree in science fiction and is the buyer for sci fi for the biggest bookstore chain in the UK!

having said that I've read quite a few of your list too

Tales of the City is one of my all time favourites ... I've been to two of Armistead Maupin's readings and treasure my signed copy of Michael Tolliver ... I bumped into him and his husband in Amsterdam too which was very cool!

 

[rosiep]

Can I pick one from each genre?

Sci/Fi or Fantasy: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire

Historical Fiction: The Boleyn Wife by Brandy Purdy

Fiction: 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult (tie with My Sister's Keeper, also by Jodi Picoult)

"Chick Lit" : Any of Meg Cabot's books (in particular, the Airhead/Being Nikki/Runaway triology)

Series: A Series of Unfortunate Events is pretty awesome

I don't read horror, though, so I can't really say anything about that.

OH, favorite Autobiography/Memoir has to be A Little Bit Wicked by Kristin Chenoweth.

I love historical fiction...Give me anything by Lindsey Davis in the Marcus Didius Falco series.....

 

[rpmdfw]

I think you should meet my brother - he has a masterss degree in science fiction and is the buyer for sci fi for the biggest bookstore chain in the UK!

having said that I've read quite a few of your list too

Tales of the City is one of my all time favourites ... I've been to two of Armistead Maupin's readings and treasure my signed copy of Michael Tolliver ... I bumped into him and his husband in Amsterdam too which was very cool!

That sounds like a fun job!

I loved reading Michael Tolliver Lives. Even if I was a bit disappointed by the parts that happened in Orlando. His details about locations are usually so accurate. I really enjoy the journey of Michael's character through the seven books. He's managed to keep the child-like joy of the character, while allowing him to grow and mature into a responsible adult. As I mentioned on my blog, I think he's one of the best characters in the world of Gay Literature.

 

[kingLouiethe1]

I love historical fiction...Give me anything by Lindsey Davis in the Marcus Didius Falco series.....

You should read "The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B". bySandra Gulland. It's the first fook in a trilogy about josephine bonaporte, and I think that is the most recent thing I have read that I absolutely could not put down.

 

[rosiep]

You should read "The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B". bySandra Gulland. It's the first fook in a trilogy about josephine bonaporte, and I think that is the most recent thing I have read that I absolutely could not put down.

Carolly Erickson is another favorite writer, she did one on Josephine and one on Marie Antoinette.

I actually listen to audiobooks more than I read. I love a story read with an accent: I, Claudius - Derek Jacobi The above mentioned titles by a woman named Donata Peters, Angela's Ashes read by Frank McCourt......just wonderful.

 

[Ava]

Historical Fiction: The Boleyn Wife by Brandy Purdy

I've never heard of this one, although I loved The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory. (The movie was such crap compared to the book it made me angry.) I've also enjoyed the others of Gregory's Boleyn series that I've read. I'll have to look up Brandy Purdy though, I love me some good historical fiction.

My favorite children's book is The Giver by Lois Lowry. I recommend it to everyone, I think it's a beautiful story.

I can't really name a favorite adult novel - most of the ones I've read repeatedly over the years happen to be "gay books" - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Rubyfruit Jungle, Tipping the Velvet (lesbian historical fiction, oh be still my heart, hahaha).

 

[AmandaSparks730]

I've never heard of this one, although I loved The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory. (The movie was such crap compared to the book it made me angry.) I've also enjoyed the others of Gregory's Boleyn series that I've read. I'll have to look up Brandy Purdy though, I love me some good historical fiction.

My favorite children's book is The Giver by Lois Lowry. I recommend it to everyone, I think it's a beautiful story.

I can't really name a favorite adult novel - most of the ones I've read repeatedly over the years happen to be "gay books" - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Rubyfruit Jungle, Tipping the Velvet (lesbian historical fiction, oh be still my heart, hahaha).

The Boleyn Wife is sort of like The Other Boleyn Girl, only it covers a bigger span of time. It's from George Boleyn's wife's POV, Jane Rochester, and it covers from Katherine of Aragon's reign through Katherine Howard's reign. It was such a good book, and it really helped pass the time on the plane ride to WDW!

 

[colaboy29]

"Anne Boleyn had 6 fingers!"
"What happened to the other 4?"

Sorry...couldn't resist!

 

[gmi3804]

Some of my all-time favorites:

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
The Shining - Stephen King
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon

I'm trying to muster the courage to start Cormac McCarthy's Suttree.

 

[RAPstar]

I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse books right now. About to start "Dead to the World"

 

[jjjmranch]

Y
Incarnations of Immortality (the series was incredible)

That is one of my favorite sci-fi series ever.

 

[jjjmranch]

I'm in a book club, so we have great discussions and sometimes even greater reads.

My own personal favorites that I read and reread:

The Stand (Unabridged) Stephen King
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe - Fannie Flag
Incarnations of Immortality - Piers Anthony
Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
Outlander - Diana Gabaldon
The Dragon King Trilogy - Stephen Lawhead
The Harry Potter Series (of course)

and many more!