What is your favorite book?
You know, the books you could (and do) read over and over.
I love to read. I'm open to lots of books and have read and enjoyed the fad (and possibly future classic?)books like Harry Potter and the Hunger Games but my all time favorites are the classics. My top two are Treasure Island and The Wind in the Willows, follwed closely by Sherlock Holmes, and anything by Jules Verne.
I'd say my favorite is "Musashi" by Eiji Yoshikawa. Love, betrayal, history, action... the book has it all!
However, at 970 pages, I do not read it "again and again" but, do pick it up and re-read it little by little in between regular-sized books.
Asimov's Foundation trilogy. I've lost count of the times I've read that series over the years. After that, probably The Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. (Lost count of the times I've read those books too.)
The Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel
Catch 22 seems to get more hilarious every time I read it.
To Kill A Mockingbird, I think. As soon as I post this I'll probably think of 10 others I could list as "my really favorite favorite," though.
It's too hard to name just one but a few of my favorites are:
The Golden Key, Foundation series, The Three Musketeers, A Hero of Our Time, Shogun.
Early Tim Powers books are great. The Anubis Gates is probably my favorite. On Stranger Tides a close second (which is nothing like the movie from Disney). He blends history and fiction/fantasy perfectly. No slow pages for these great books.
I am not big on re-reading books, but there are a few I enjoy going back to every few years. The one I probably enjoy the most in that way is Dan Simmons Summer of Night. Simmons has won sack-fulls of awards for other novels and I even agree that Hyperion and Illium are superior in terms of literary skill and epic greatness. But I really connect with the characters in Summer of Night. I was about the same age as these kids at about the same time and place, I led quite the same sort of life in those years. Other than them all being boys I could have been one of them. This makes the horror elements very personal, makes the story really resonate for me. Everything is so familiar it could be memory rather than novel.
As time changes, so does my preference in books, but at the present my favorite series (and has been for about 9-10 years) is The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
Sorry, I can't limit myself.
I'll just list the authors -- Heinlein, Asimov, AE Vogt
The Great American Novel by Philip Roth
I am a Hermann Hesse fan. My favorites from him are: Narcissus and Goldmund, Siddhartha, and Demien.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas; it's compelling and intensely modern, even though written long ago. It truly belongs among the classics.
Ah, so many, many books! During the very brief and happy period of my life in which I had a housekeeper, she told me that it would be so much easier to keep my house clean if I would just get rid of some books.
I got rid of the housekeeper.
Growing up, the book I checked out of the library over and over was The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. A few years ago I did some searching and found and bought my own copy! Still love it!
One of the lesser known series by Donaldson is Mordant's Need. I stumbled upon The Mirror of Her Dreams and bought it for the intriguing cover. I've now worn that cover off, along with the one for the sequel, A Man Rides Through.
@magic cave: To Kill a Mockingbird, for certain!
@hot72chev: Reading the last of the Cave Bear series now!
And, concurrently (because I'm a little crazy), I'm also reading the last of the Wheel of Time series.
Love me some books!
hard to pick one... instead i'll pick notable favorites from different points of my life. As a younger reader (pre or early teen) it was stephen king's eye of the dragon (unofficially part of the tower series)
as a teen is was definitely hitchikers guide to the galaxy
in my older teens, all things asimov and heinlein, though if i had to pick it would be stranger in a strange land, with the foundation series a close second.
my most recent favorite is an older book - two years before the mast.
i can't list an all time favorite.. my "favorites" list would be hundreds, from nearly all genres... but the most impactful... the one that stirred my imagination the most, and gave me all sorts of daydreams, and actual dreams... would be a childhood favorite - tarzan of the apes
God's Other Son - Don Imus
Being surrounded by over 100,000 books everyday makes this question very hard for me but I think I will go with Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The story if fantastic and it is a short, quick read.
@pstrnutbag44: Have you read Portnoy's complaint? It's very sexual which might be a problem for some, but it is an amazing read.
Definitely add it to your listen if you've never read it before.
As a child anything by the American author, Louis L'Amour. I could not read them fast enough, especially his westerns. He wrote everything from novels to non-fiction and poetry.
As an adult the only book cover I have time to open now, are the ones containing the Irish and Scottish works I love so much, with some American classics thrown in also..
Of course I'm speaking of the extensive whiskey list at my favorite whiskey bar!
@portezbie: Indeed! Huge fan of Roth's works in general. My favorite modern author. I can always turn back to The Great American Novel because A.) I'm a huge baseball fan and B.) It's always a fun read without being too serious at all.
Of course, I also think everyone should read Groucho's letters, which can be found in various publications.
The Stand by Stephen King.
Chrome Book by Google...
Not a fair question so I answer Eye of the World first half. Or Disc World series.
Wheel of Time series. I have read all the books multiple times. Though never the whole thing straight through (only 10,000+ pages). Glad to see other fans on this post.
I also go back to Anne McCaffrey frequently.
@wlknlight: Don't drop any spoilers! I'm only halfway through the last one!
I have many favorites, but the only books I actually re-read were the Dragonlance books (Weiss & Hickman) and The Hobbitt + LOTR.
Though, I am rereading the Wheel of Time series just because I forgot the details in the earlier books and that the series is finally finishing.
Unable name only one as a favorite. Two that I enjoy immensely and reread: Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand. The Old Man and The Boy, Robert Ruark. Side note: Have read all of those 2 author's books. All more than once.
Ruark wrote memorable books about the Mau Mau uprising in Africa. (Uhuru & Something of Value) and numerous books on hunting. Can't resist mentioning Michener. He's a delight to read; a very tedious delight. Novels packed w/history and often interwoven w/centuries of the lives of families.
Reading, to me, is pure joy.
@mml666: I just finished the final WoT book not ten minutes ago! Favorite book ever is Princess Bride. Followed by the Little Prince.
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.. Super excited, book 8, Written In My Own Heart's Blood is coming out in the Fall 2013
I really like Dracula by Bram Stoker. Not a big vampire fan as such but it's a classic and re-readable.
@dreamyvelvet: my favorite also!
I have always loved The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. They made it into a crappy movie, but the book was wonderful. I enjoy pretty much all of Irving's works, but this one just really stuck with me. It might be time to read it again.
@pitamuffin: I was just coming here to add that one! My favorite, too. I don't even know how many times I've read it. I haven't really enjoyed Irving's stuff recent stuff, but that one is perfect, every time.
@jsimsace: Agree - The Stand is a great book to get you through the winter months! Love Stephen King!
I think I'd have to say 1984 by George Orwell or Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins.
Hmmm. I don't know that I can pick a favorite. I mean, I read the Bible every day but that's a little different.
For books that aren't the Bible, I've probably read The Princess Bride and The Hobbit at least half a dozen times each. I've read Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card), The Hunt for Red October and Clear and Present Danger (both Tom Clancy) a handful of times. I've reread the Harry Potter books a couple of times each. And those are all great.
I also really enjoyed Little Brother (Cory Doctrow), Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman), Divergent (Veronica Roth), The Hunger Games (the first one, less the second two) and a bunch of others.
And then there's the kids' books - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and the Dr Seuss story Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are are two of my all-time, never get tired of, give to people as presents books.
Bellwether by Connie Willis. By the side of the bed. Usually along with some Archie Double Digests and a random Harry Potter.
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