Favorite book of all time
 

Loved reading the 1300+ reviews on what you are all reading.

If you could only pick one, what would be your favorite book of all time.

I know it's a bit lite, but mine would be Nelson DeMille's "The Gold Coast".

I love books that "take you there", so Elizabeth Adler's series(A House in Amalfi, etc.) would be close runners up.

I read about 2 books a week, and hearing about everyone's favorites would be interesting.

Off the top of my head, I'd say it's a toss-up between SWANN'S WAY, MADAME BOVARY, and THE RAZOR'S EDGE. Today.

t, I agree, Nelson DeMille is really enjoyable. Without thinking about it too much, I'd probably pick "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry, or "Prince of Tides" by Pat Conroy. "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck would be right up there, too.

I will give you my top 10 novels:

Anna Karenina
Sister Carrie
Anil's Ghost
Madame Bovary
Pere Goriot
Brave New World
Howards End
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Beloved

And not a novel, but a collection of short stories--The Complete Short Stories of Flannery O'Connor

Thin

The World of Pooh

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Thorn Birds

TPAYT: My book club has been asking for submissions for next year's reading, so I about fell off my seat when you said "Gold Coast." I was thinking of submitting it to test the waters.

I don't think the group could take it (a tad conservative group), but I was just reflecting on how many belly laughs I had per page (zillions). It helped that I had just watched re-runs of "The Godfather" series.

Anyway, I was just going to re-read it to see if it could stand test of time and to see if I had the guts to recommend it to the group.

Otherwise, "To Kill a Mockingbird" seems to hold up; "Pride and Prejudice" sure does. I'm also a big Thomas Hardy fan: "Jude the Obsure" and "Far from the Madding Crowd" are faves that I re-read.

Just one? That's like Sophie's Choice. Can't do it...

Here are a few:

Portrait of a Lady
Stones from the River
Bel Canto
Ahab's Wife
Runaway (stories)
Interpreter of Maladies (stories)

Love these book threads - almost better than the travel!!

gruezi

Dont' know if i can pick just one, but a few come to mind:

To Kill a Mockingbird
Catcher in the Rye
Brave New World

Here's two that definitely aren't classics, but still very good:

The Time Traveler's Wife
The Day After Tomorrow

Great question. Like others, I can't limit myself to one:

To Kill a Mockingbird
A River Runs Through It
Somerset Maugham - Short Stories
Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth
Jane Howard
Gone With the Wind
A Dark Adapted Eye
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Dispatches

Pride and Prejudice

Interpreter of Maladies is one of my fav books! I wish it had more stories.

I want to read "A Moveable Feast" at the moment. Gotta check it out from the library.

I agree with Thin, The Flannery O'Connor short stories are models for writing. One should also consider those by James Joyce and Isaac Singer.

Some favorites:

Tristam Shandy
Humboldt's Gift
Flaubert's Parrot

And while we are on tangents-favorite plays:
Lysistrada
The Importance of Being Earnest (The first act is perfect satire)
Waiting for Godot

Rickmav, can't believe someone else knows about The Cazelet Chronicles ... I discovered by accident the first book in the library, and was hopelessly addicted, when couldn't find the next one there I bought the set of four, and read straight thru. She created an entire world that you fell into and lived inside.

That's the same power of I guess (if I'm forced to choose) my favorite novel: "Middlemarch." First read it (NOT for a class) when I was bedridden 40 years ago. Now I read it about every 10 years, just to see if it still does it for me. So far!

Me too, me too for the Cazalet books
and EJ Howard.

Did you know she was a wife of Kingsley Amis and mother of Martin?

She also wrote an hysterically funny
book about a hairdresser finding love in London - made into a movie
that was v. cute. Senior moment here.

.....the book is Getting it Right.

Lost Horizon is my favorite classic novel. I have read it several times. Something about Shangrila...

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is such a great story of the hardships in America among the immigrant families. I loved it.

Modern day books, I have really liked the Kite Runner. It was very eye opening and the book was just well written.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author was good as well.

I read the Gold Coast so long ago!! I think it was the early 80's when I read that. I remember it was a good book.

travelerjan and llamalady - I discovered Elizabeth Jane Howard when I picked up her autobiography in England called 'Slipstream'. I had never heard of her before. Then I read a biography of Kingsley Amis (in Howard's book he comes across as a bit of a cranky drunk), then the Cazalet Chronicles. They gave me another reason to love Sussex.

I used to say "of mice and men". i think maybe "grapes of wrath" was my favorite book though, i remember tears falling on the page as a read...

"the heart is a lonely hunter" by carson mccullers stands out, and also the short story, "the ballad of sad cafe" is short, memorable, and beautiful.

read all of these books if you read two a week, they won't let you down. let me know what you think once you're done, my email is [email protected]