Favourite book?

[Heq]

I was surprised this topic has not come up before, or maybe I just didn't go far enough down the necropost.

Many of us here are avid readers and intellectuals, so what's your favourite book (and why if you care to offer)?

I'm a Moby Dick man, I suspect because it was the first real book I learned to read and grew up by the sea.  There is virtually no topic to which Melville does not apply, and it is far more respectable then my love of Wuthering Heights.

[Cren]

"A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking, because its the best single book on astrophysics for the common reader.

Note- One of my friend got the "50 Shades of Grey" trilogy. It can be my next favourite :-P

[Lefanis]

*yawn*

Lord of the Rings. End of thread.  ;D

[Sacha]

I don't really have one favorite book, so here's some recent good ones I've read:

Elmore Leonard - '52 Pick-up
Elmore Leonard - Rum Punch

And I've started the ASoIaF series, working my way through the first book now... good stuff so far!

[LilWolf]

Many of us here are avid readers and intellectuals, so what's your favourite book (and why if you care to offer)?

You ask the impossible!

For the longest time I would probably have said Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Now I'm just unable to give that title solely to that. So many competitors have cropped up. Too many to start listing here.

Also, shouldn't this be under General Talk instead of BM General Discussion?

[Dante Silverfire]

I don't have favorite books because all of my favorite books are part of series.

Here's my top 3 series/books I've ever read:

1. The Kingkiller Chronicles (2 of 3 books released)
2. The Wheel of Time (13 of 14 books released)
3. A Song of Ice and Fire (ie. Game of Thrones) (5 of 7 books released)

[Bedwyr]

I tend to have favorite authors rather than books.  And for me, there can only be one:

Lois McMaster Bujold.

[Iltaran]

Put me down as another who couldn't just pick one. That said, I will offer up something a little less well know that's a favourite.

Anyone read The Blade Itself (and sequels) by Joe Abercrombie?

[LilWolf]

Anyone read The Blade Itself (and sequels) by Joe Abercrombie?

Yup. Very good books.

[Vellos]

What a loaded question!

However, I'd say my favorite book, in terms of just one I could read over and over again, would be a 4-way tie between:

1. an anthology of Icelandic Sagas (Egil's and Njal's especially)
2. The Tale of the Children of Hurin, Tolkien
3. The Napoleon of Notting Hill, Chesterton
4. Cyrano de Bergerac, Rostand (technically a play; whatever)

[Nathan]

I too cannot pick a single book, however a selection series I thoroughly loved reading:

The Dreamers, by David & Leigh Eddings
Dune, by Frank Herbert (and to a lesser extend, the sequels/prequels by his son)
Discworld, by Terry Pratchett (mainly stories about The Watch)

[Iltaran]

I too cannot pick a single book, however a selection series I thoroughly loved reading:

The Dreamers, by David & Leigh Eddings
Dune, by Frank Herbert (and to a lesser extend, the sequels/prequels by his son)
Discworld, by Terry Pratchett (mainly stories about The Watch)

If I was going to pick something from Eddings it would probably be the Elenium; didn't really enjoy the Dreamers. Dune is brilliant and I can't think of anything else in the genre that stands up to it, sadly including its sequels. Big fan of Terry Pratchett, read most of the Discworld novels.

[Tan dSerrai]

uhhh...difficult. Not a single favorite book...thats impossible.

Authors:
Micheal Swanwick: most shortstories; The Iron Dragons Daugther, Stations of the Tide
Frank Herbert: Dune
Gene Wolfe: The Knight/The Wizard Knight
Alfred Bester:Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! (Also known under 'The Stars my Destination')
Mary Gentle: Rats and Gargoyles

Barbara Tuchman: The Guns of August)
Ceasar: Civil War (not meant as 'look how impressive I am' - it truly is an excellent book/autobiography/history/propaganda piece)
John Hemming: The Conquest of the Incas

[Glaumring the Fox]

Shardik, or anything by Richard Adams.

[Cren]

Some of my other favourites:

*"The Immortals of Meluha" and its sequel "The Secret of the Nagas", two great mythological fantasy tales.

*"The Affair" and "Killing Floor" by Lee Child