What is your favorite book?

BobbiSueEllen said:
I watched the Dustin Hoffman version of it. It was good then, too. And the make-up person, ya gotta admit, did a good job on 'elderfying' "Dustbin", for '70s cinema.
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Yeah it was a well done movie. I felt like it captured the absurdity of the book.
 
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I'm not an avid reader and have no favorite books. But, I very recently read The Greatest Beer Run Ever. It is a true account of a "beer run" the author made during the Vietnam War. As it turns out, he was a civilian from New York that ended up in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968 as he was trying to deliver beer to friends from his neighborhood in the states. The book, while chronicling his beer run, was more about the Tet Offensive.
 
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Peesalot said:
I'm not an avid reader and have no favorite books. But, I very recently read The Greatest Beer Run Ever. It is a true account of a "beer run" the author made during the Vietnam War. As it turns out, he was a civilian from New York that ended up in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968 as he was trying to deliver beer to friends from his neighborhood in the states. The book, while chronicling his beer run, was more about the Tet Offensive.
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I should have added I was there during the Tet Offensive, too. While I had no idea this was a part of the book when I started reading it, I found it coincidental early on that the author arrived in port in Vietnam the same day I reported aboard the ship I served on in Vietnam.
 
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If you enjoyed the "Lord of the Rings" series, you should try Terry Brooks and "The Sword of Shaniera" series.
 
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I primarily read non-fiction books on film, music and true crime; I rarely read fiction nowadays, but my go-to answer for contemporary fiction is usually David Wong's 'John Dies at the End', plus its sequels. It's a brilliant slice of absurdist horror which occupies that rare space between Lovecraftian cosmic horror and low-brow stoner comedy.

I've always been a fan of comic/offbeat/satirical twists on genre fiction, like what Douglas Adams is to sci-fi or Terry Pratchett and Christopher Moore are to fantasy. Good horror-comedy is very hard to find in any medium, usually it's just too broad and slapsticky and leans way too heavily into comedy than horror. If anyone happens to have any recommendations for very darkly comic horror, I'm all ears.
 
Right now I'm re-reading THE IRON DRUID CHRONICLES by Hearn. Most of the books in the series are really well written. (But the operative word there is MOST.)
BUT... I think my favorite book has to be 2001 A SPACE OF ODYSSEY by Clark.
 
I'm ashamed to admit that my favorite book isn't a Pulitzer prize winner but rather, a horror story. I absolutely love "Let Me In'. The original Swedish title is "Let the Right One In". There's two movies based on it, one US and the other, Swedish. The Swedish version is more accurate and better with its detail.
 
Books, hmm, mine are Anne of Green Hill and Dragon Ball comics✨☁️
 
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dogboy said:
I'm ashamed to admit that my favorite book isn't a Pulitzer prize winner but rather, a horror story. I absolutely love "Let Me In'. The original Swedish title is "Let the Right One In". There's two movies based on it, one US and the other, Swedish. The Swedish version is more accurate and better with its detail.
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I had not heard of this one before... it looks interesting!

I think my favorite may also be a horror story... The Shining. In contrast with the movie version, Jack is a very relatable character early on and has a very close relationship with Danny. Danny is one damn resourceful kid, and Stephen King's portrayals of child protagonists have always resonated with me deeply.
 
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No question about it, the best book I've ever read is Labyrinths by Jorge Borges.

It's a compilation of short (and VERY short) stories. They're so dense and packed full of ideas that you have to read slowly to take it all in. It's one of the few books I could read and re-read and still find it fascinating, absurd and thought-provoking. :)

The first story is long and confusing -- skip that and get to the rest. The best stories you should read first are:

- The Library of Babel
- Funes, the Memorius
- The Lottery in Babylon
- The Garden of the Forking Paths

Semantic Scholar says:
Semantic Scholar said:
Jorge Luis Borges was a literary spellbinder whose tales of magic, mystery and murder are shot through with deep philosophical paradoxes. This collection brings together many of his stories, including the celebrated "Library of Babel", whose infinite shelves contain every book that could ever exist, 'Funes the Memorious' the tale of a man fated never to forget a single detail of his life, and 'Pierre Menard, Author of the "Quixote"', in which a French poet makes it his life's work to create an identical copy of "Don Quixote".

In later life, dogged by increasing blindness, Borges used essays and brief tantalising parables to explore the enigma of time, identity and imagination. Playful and disturbing, scholarly and seductive, his is a haunting and utterly distinctive voice. Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A poet, critic and short story writer, he received numerous awards for his work including the 1961 International Publisher's Prize (shared with Samuel Beckett). He has a reasonable claim, along with Kafka and Joyce, to be one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century.
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I love Clark... To my mind he has three books that really stand out
CHILDHOOD'S END https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi...vel,at the cost of human identity and culture.
RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama
And IMHO his best work
2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey
I love the twist endings of the first two. But even better is the way Clark leaves you with no real answers, and lets you think about, and decide?, what it's all supposed to mean.
 
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Favorite? That would be like asking my favorite Grateful Dead song. It changes by the day.

Given that you seem to like scifi-fantasy, I'll throw out a few.

1. Edgar Rice Burroughs - If you haven't read Burroughs, you don't have the base to properly appreciate things like Star Wars or any of the more recent superhero comics and films. When I was ten, I wanted to be Tarzan. Most of the Tarzan (24 books) and Mars series (10 books) are available free at gutenberg.org. The language is a bit dated, given they were written 100 years ago and more, but still a fast and fun read.

2. His Majesty's Dragon (10 book series) by Naomi Novik. A semi-historical fantasy. A re-imagining of the Napoleonic wars in a universe with dragons as an air force. I found myself reading with google earth open on my tablet to follow the geography of the travels and travails of the protagonists. There's even a social justice angle explored since the dragons are sentient.

3. Farseer Trilogy - Robin Hobb Trust me. Worth it.

I'm currently working my way through Wheel of Time. Hopefully fast enough to stay ahead of the impending Amazon video series.
 
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The periodic table - by Primo Levi
Solaris - by Stanislaw Lem
The man in the high castle - by Philip K. Dick
The end of the affair- Graham Greene
The day of the owl - Leonardo Sciascia (but I’m afraid that the value of the book is mostly lost in the translation from Italian)
 
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kirigaya said:
Hi all,

I'm looking for something new and cool to read. However, a completely "normal" non-abdl book...

I read like every genre and love fantasie from Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt, Tolkien and Rowling, but I fancy thrillers from Beckett or Sebastian Fitzek just as much.

What is your favorite book? Which one would you recommend to everyone?

kiri For now, this book The Red Pony is my favorite! But I don`t have only one book as my favorite, it always changes 🤣 If you are looking for something to read I would advise you to go here https://freebooksummary.com/category/the-red-pony and read a summary of a book I have mentioned. Otherwise, you can also look for any other book on the site so you could choose something you will like more. I wish you get a lot of pleasure from reading!
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For now, this book The Red Pony is my favorite! But I don`t have only one book as my favorite, it always changes:ROFLMAO:
 
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My favorite books are by Stephen King. IT and Pet Sematary are my favorite Storys.
 
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I recently read "Boys Life" which was supposed to be on the New York Times best seller list for 40 weeks. It's in the paranormal genre but it's really a coming of age story involving a 12 year old boy growing up in southern Alabama in 1964. It's very well written and I found it to be vey enjoyable.
 
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2001 A space Odyssey Arthur C Clarke
 
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The Hunger Games
 
Don Quixote

Considered one of the most important pieces of literature written as well as one of the most translated

Our hero Don Quixote goes to battle as a knight on his old nag of a horse, his helmet a chamberpot, his armor cardboard, as he battles windmills as giants and flocks of sheep as armies, with his faithful squire Sancho panza.

They have many miss adventures that teach of bravery, humility and will leave you laughing out loud.

One of my favorite books, would definitely recommend

Second choice would be "Canterbury tales"
 
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