The best book you've ever read?

semi-pro waster said:
To just name one book is very difficult, there are easy dozens of books that I could name which have been great in one way or another. However in the spirit of just sticking to one I'll go with 1984 by George Orwell, it's a book I believe everyone should read at least once in their lives, even if just to say that they have done so.
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I came into this thread to say the same thing, one of the most important books you can ever read. It's a polictical warning
 
One of the brilliant things about threads like this is how diverse a range of tastes it illustrates - I really rather dislike a number of the books that are recommended here, that's not to say they shouldn't be read but more simply that I didn't think them worthy of all the acclaim they get.

However I've decided that I want to add another to my choice and one book which I almost never see get enough love is The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan, a gripping spy thriller. It is in some ways very much a product of its time and some of the phrasing may offend modern sensibilities ("but let me tell you that you're a white man" is perhaps the most notable and misunderstood) so you've got to remember the context of the time it was written.

//edit it's also well past the licensing period so it's available for free in PDF form as per here, if you've got an ebook reader then it's worth getting.
 
Impossible to say as I wouldn't even remember 50% of the books I've ever read. Book I keep coming back to is American Gods and the Cicero books, Imperium and Lustrum by Robert Harris. Every time I reread those books, I find another layer. I also have a great love for The Hobbit.
 
semi-pro waster said:
One of the brilliant things about threads like this is how diverse a range of tastes it illustrates - I really rather dislike a number of the books that are recommended here, that's not to say they shouldn't be read but more simply that I didn't think them worthy of all the acclaim they get.

However I've decided that I want to add another to my choice and one book which I almost never see get enough love is The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan, a gripping spy thriller. It is in some ways very much a product of its time and some of the phrasing may offend modern sensibilities ("but let me tell you that you're a white man" is perhaps the most notable and misunderstood) so you've got to remember the context of the time it was written.

//edit it's also well past the licensing period so it's available for free in PDF form as per here, if you've got an ebook reader then it's worth getting.
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The Thirty Nine Steps is an excellent read.
 
All a matter of taste and personal opinion. For something factual I'd say -

Churchill, Hitler, and 'The Unnecessary War' by Patrick J Buchanan.
He discusses the causes of the 1st and 2nd World Wars but from a different angle to anything else I've read. Churchill doesn't look too good in it - more like a warmongering blunderer than inspirational leader!

As far as fiction goes I like Sci-Fi and my all time favourite is the Star Wars. New Jedi Order series.
 
physichull said:
With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge, read it about 2 years ago over a Xmas and couldn't put it down, loved every minute of reading that. I have leant it out to a mate and I am unlikely to see it again which is a shame! I think I will have to buy it again. Just couldn't put it down.
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Thanks for that post - it reminded me that I bought this after watching The Pacific and haven't read it yet. Need to make it my next book :)

Hard to name one favourite. Recent one I enjoyed was Child 44 for it's sheer bleakness and Moondust for it's interesting content
 
For fiction, you can't beat the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson - starting with the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

For non-fiction, Most Secret War by R.V.Jones is a fascinating autobiographical account as head of Britain's Intelligence Section of the RAF during WW2. Or try the Vietnam War helicoptor pilot's account Chickenhawk by Robert Mason. Moving on to Iraq, Sniper One by Dan Mills is non-stop adrenalin from start to finish.

But for me, the Best Book of All Time is Marian Pretzel's Portrait of a Young Forger - sadly out of print but can be found 2nd hand on Amazon etc. Non-fiction. Don't ask ... just get it! Simply stunning.

Any other offers?
 
Hard to pick...

Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?

In terms of a fictional created universe, Iain M. Bank's Culture is my fave sci-fi ever (although the Dune-iverse, Neal Asher's Polity universe, the Hyperion Cantos, the Sprawl trilogy, Gibson's Shoal Sequence trilogy and Ringworld have all blown my mind) They're my favourite fictional realities, built up over several books so perhaps that renders them invalid. I'm a bit of an SF nerd. :D
 
I pick up books and don't finish them etc but still take away bits and pieces from them.

The last book I read from start to finish was "The Damned United" by David Peace. That was about a month ago and probably the last book that really got into and thoroughly was disappointed when I was reaching the last few pages, knowing it would end soon.

Technically though, the last book I read was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I was pretty much dared one night to give the books a chance, as before I had dismissed how great the series was (not saying I thought it was bad either to be fair.) So I managed to pick up all of the series on audio-book, which is technically why they aren't the last books I've read. ;)

But yeah, listened to the whole series from start to finish. I admit, I was wrong, there is something great about the story and will enjoy seeing the final moments on film in July. :D
 
Call of the wild by Jack london. First read this over 20 years ago, picked up a copy in a second hand bookshop recently
 
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