Whats the best book you've ever read and why. what made it your favourite book to date and what made you buy it?

Roald Dahl: Danny the champion of the world. My favorite all time book, got me into reading more often too. I dont know what it was about the book, it just caught me really.

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Les Misérables

I have less than 200 pages left to read and this will be my favorite book to date.

Reason 1: It's about history, it's about philosophy, it's about architecture and it's about many other things. This novel is in a totally different league ...

Reason 2: Character development. Characters are really alive and you feel attached to them, even though some of them aren't exactly saintly ...

Reason 3: With all this complexity, the novel is so well structured ...

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton for its unabound use of imagination and creativity.

The Phantom Tollbooth. The best children's book ever.

(Wasn't sure if I should post in this thread or the other, but I figured might as well do it here..)

Best ever? Currently Johnny Got His Gun, close seconds would be Nineteen Eighty Four, I Am Legend, and Slaughterhouse Five.

Why? It made a huge impact on me, my way of thinking, everything. I love anti-war novels and their effects on people, not to mention the twisted way it ended. It felt human. And that's all I want from a book.

I haven't bought it yet, though I read it from the Library because it was on a list of anti-war novels/banned books.

My favorite book ever? This is actually quite difficult. I'm a huge fan of the classics, but also love the lesser known works as well...hmm.

I really enjoyed a book called Saint Iggy.This book dealt with several elicit topics but the author portrayed them with such poetry that they didn't seem so bad after all. And I love the transformation the character undergoes. It's a quick read, and I reccommend everyone to go snag it from the library or the bookstore. ;)

I have two that I can not choose between.

1. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

2. Deception Point by Dan Brown

Dan Brown takes such time to write his books. So much research and thought goes into a single paragraph. His plots are unbelievable and so realistic. I have issues putting any of his books down once I have started them.

Oh yes, the entire Twilight series is wonderful! I can't wait until Eclipse is released! :D

I think these are my prefered reads:

Nineteen-Eighty Four
Starship Troopers
Shadows of the Empire

That about covers it.

'Hacked' was nice. That's all. Toooo picky + hardly read.

I'll add my sixtytwelve cents in herejust cuz:

BEST BOOK EVARRR: American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Runners-Up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling and A Dirty Job by Terry Pratchett

BEST SERIES EVARRRR: The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
Runners up: The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud and The Hitchhiker's Trilogy by Douglas Adams (All five of them.)

BEST AUTHOR EVARRRR:Terry Pratchett
Runners up: Neil Gaiman, Christopher Moore, Douglas Adams, JK Rowling, Diane Duane, Jonathan Stroud, the list goes on...

I'm not big on reading books, but my favorite book of all time has to be Silent Bob Speaks:The Collective Writings of Kevin Smith I'm a huge fan of Kevin Smith, so that's probably the only reason I bought it. I'm also a fan of the Hank The Cowdog series, lol.(Don't judge me, I'm only 15.)

I'm not big on reading books, but my favorite book of all time has to be Silent Bob Speaks:The Collective Writings of Kevin Smith I'm a huge fan of Kevin Smith, so that's probably the only reason I bought it. I'm also a fan of the Hank The Cowdog series, lol.(Don't judge me, I'm only 15.)

Oh my! I used to love hank the cowdog! Gosh I have not seen those around for quite some time.

Oh geez, Hank! I loved those books!
=;D
Unenchanted Forest FTW.

"Deathhunter", Ian Watson.

Lal is a great character. Very funny too, esecially when he is trying to decide on a name for himself.

Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse. Beautifully told story showing two mens path to enlightenment one through art and nature while the other one through science and logic.

Best book? Well, I love reading series of books for some reason. I love the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels by Laurell K Hamilton, the Black Jewels Trilogy, can't quite remember the auther, think it's Anne Bishop but not sure, James Patterson is bloody awsome in his Alex Cross novels, his series about lab experiment kids Max is one of the characters.. (damn I miss my bookshelf!) And the latest books I like is the Dark Heavens Trilogy by Kylie Kwong! Phew....

My favorite book is White Oleander by Janet Fitch.

Why? Because I used to be her. I used to be Astrid. Maybe in a slightly different sense, but I had the same thoughts and the same issues. Plus, the book was incredibly well-written, and it had such an amazing voice to it.

Johnny Got His Gun - It's a fantastic, dark, disterbing and terrifying novel about the horrors of war, told from a man who has lost his arms, legs, eyes, nose and mouth in a bomb blast in WW1 about discribes his slow slip into maddness. Unforgetable, as is the Black and White film.

1984 - Fantastic and dark fantisy from the best polical writer of our time, where can you go wrong? This novel scared me sh*tless when I first read it.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - One of the world's first Epics... brilliant story that is older than the new testiment.

The Call of Cthulhu - H.P. Lovecraft was the best!

Johnny Got His Gun - It's a fantastic, dark, disterbing and terrifying novel about the horrors of war, told from a man who has lost his arms, legs, eyes, nose and mouth in a bomb blast in WW1 about discribes his slow slip into maddness. Unforgetable, as is the Black and White film.

1984 - Fantastic and dark fantisy from the best polical writer of our time, where can you go wrong? This novel scared me sh*tless when I first read it.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms - One of the world's first Epics... brilliant story that is older than the new testiment.

The Call of Cthulhu - H.P. Lovecraft was the best!

You totally copied me! ; )


I haven't read a novel in a really long time (I've been sticking to history books..) but Doctor Zhivago - Pasternak is beginning to be quite a favorite..

The one sitting on top of the huge pile of favorites would have to be LOTR. I've read it about 5-6 times now, and will most likely read it again. Tolkien is the God of fantasy!

My favorite series, A Song of Fire and Ice, by George RR Martin. The first book, A Game of Thrones, just pulled me right in and I'm impatiently waiting for the next book. *strumming fingers* (Book # 4 I think... I'd have to look.)

Apparently they are making it into an HBO mini-series in 2008! I really, really hope they don't botch it, it would be terribly sad to see it hacked by cheap special-effects, and B rated actors...

Roald Dahl: Danny the champion of the world. My favorite all time book, got me into reading more often too. I dont know what it was about the book, it just caught me really.

That was a good book, I liket it alot too when I was a kid.

The Historian, a fantastic book. I read a review it received on Amazon the other day and it's tainted my feelings a bit, mentioning it was a piece of work where they author had tried to include everything she'd ever found out about vampires, so it became more of a book of 'blagging', however I still think it's fantastic, and the old bookish, Oxford University feel it has is amazing. A must read (and I'm not even in to vampire tales!)

The Historian, a fantastic book.
I agree, it is a valuable addition to my collection of vampire novels. So much research must've gone into that book!

My favourite is Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, for having a hilarious surprise in every sentence. I still giggle when I think of the Whale coming to a conclusion that the ground is ground and uses of a towel. The towel bit made me laugh so much I made a student video with that theme.

I don't really have the best book, there are quite a few books I really adore, and like the most depending on the mood I'm in; e.g. I love Kafka and everything he wrote - he was such an amazing person. But then again, Kafka is only good for certain hours and cannot be read in every moment, and it's like that for every single author or book I could name now.

Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse. Beautifully told story showing two mens path to enlightenment one through art and nature while the other one through science and logic.

I love that book as well, in fact it's my favourite by H. Hesse.

I loved the book White Oleander by Janet Finch

Beautifully poetic, melodic, raw and honest.

I loved all the short stories written by Oscar Wilde, his fairy tales especially (if you will) Ie: 'The Happy Prince'

Also the Northern Lights series was amazing, very clever ..

But my favourite novel(s) of all time was the Adrian Mole Series, simply because I liked the character's wry sense of humour and the unusual depth to each installment, also, back in the old days, I used to fancy myself as similar to Adrian, lul.

Catch-22 - I can't begin to describe how awesome this book is.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott. Fitzgerald

Beautiful. Lyrical prose. A doomed Character who doesn't know it. Or he might. Well worth the read. Way better than anything produced today.

Better than Hemingway.

I've got a lot, and it seems they've all been mentioned here before.

No, I cannot choose between, not even for runners up.

Bartimaeous Trilogy for its slapstick humor and great plotlines
Phantom Tollbooth because it changed my way of thinking
Hitchhiker's Guide series because it furthered that change.

Okay, I lied, one runner up: Les Miserables --I loved it, but hated all the history and random detail. I just finished it a few days ago... and now they're forcing us to watch the musical. And though my favorite character from the novel would have to be Gavroche or Cosette, after seeng the musical I feel more sympathy for Eponine.... (Sorry about the rant... :p)

I just finnished the classic 'The Devine Comady' (Commanly known as Dante's Inferno) it was brilliant!
I loved it. And a trip though Hell was really fasinating.

Whats the best book you've ever read and why. what made it your favourite book to date and what made you buy it?

One of the best stories I have read of late is Shutterbug. I had seen some amazing reviews of the novella and decided to give it a read.
It was amazingly good. It had such a twist at the end that wasn't too predictable really. It was awesome though. Definatel worth while buying in my opinion.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - definitely. As it says on the back of the book, it will change the way you think and feel about your life.

Shogun by James Clavell the first novel I've read. It just blew me away. The moment I started the first page, it transported me through space and time. To 16th century Japan. Such rich and enchanting characters and there are dozens of them. Not least the main characters, Blackthorne, Mariko and Toranaga. Great and byzantine plot, superb dialog, beautifully written.

It got me into reading. It also started my love for modern Japanese culture.

Although there were other books afterwards that engrossed me, the feeling I got from Shogun was never surpassed. I couldn't put the book down. It practically had me thinking "Japan" and "samurai" for a months.

And I've re-read it over the years since that first time I've did way back in 1983. I've read it maybe 10 times already and it still captures me as much as it did.

It also changed my outlook in life. Since reading that book I've kind of adapted the eastern (Japanese) outlook in life which I find practical, simple and beautiful.

Special Mention

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - the best Fantasy novel
Dune by Frank Herbert - the best Science Fiction novel

Artemis Fowl and the arctic incident by eoin colfer. It is excellent.