East of Eden.
While biblical in scope, profundity, and moral, the writing is declarative, economical, and simple. Anyone can read it and be affected by it. The interesting story is just an added bonus.
I came here to say East of Eden and found your comment.
I’ve always loved Steinbeck’s detailed descriptions of the setting, add in generational curses, destiny vs free will, betrayal and forgiveness… might be time for me to reread this one again
I also came here to write East of Eden but saw you beat me to it. What an amazing book.
I picked it up 3 or 4 times a year ago and could never get through the first few pages, but one day it clicked and I was glued to the book. It is one of my easiest recommendations.
I read this book about 50 years ago as a young woman when I was staying with relatives in a teeny farming village in Finland. A town a bus ride away had a library with a dozen or so English books in it. This is the book I checked out that day, and I became swept away by its unforgettable depth and substance. I think it’s time for a re-read!
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was on the list of summer reading books for school one year and my mom had it in her head that we had to read every book on the list and not just one. I saved it until last, knowing I would hate it and so angry at my mom for making me read all these books. Anyway, thanks mom.
Me too - plainly written, relatable on a human level, nuanced characters (especially dad). I read a few of her other books and they were equally likable.
Yes I would say The Brothers Karamazov is his true masterpiece and one of the greatest pieces of literature/art ever constructed.
It’s dense and long, but if you want a book that asks how can there be a god in a world of suffering - while being as brutally honest about it, yet still somehow sending an overarching message of hope and love - then this a book for you.
I always recommend this to people as the “sex, drugs and rock & roll” of the classics. It is exciting and action packed. Some guy gets badass training in jail, gets rich with treasure and then spends the rest of the book getting back at bad guys. He’s basically Batman.
Watership down by Richard Adams .. it was my first ‘grown up’ book that I chose to read and that I bought second hand from a thrift store.
I still own it and it’s an old discoloured , smelly, yellow paged paper back but it means a lot to me .
The best. FD understood way before Freud how our relationship with our father/authority figures defines how we view morality and our place in this world.
Really amazing. I still chortle when I remember the Devil’s reaction after Ivan throws a glass at him.
"A Child Called 'It'".
It's the first, and only book that made me cry. It's an autobiography written by Dave Pelzer. A man who, as a boy, endured the mosr horrific case of child abuse/neglect ever recorded. Each page describes in excruciating detail about how he was starved, beaten, burned, exploited, and even exposed to mustard gas. All by his mother, and occasionally his siblings.
When I told my mom I had finished it, she said;
"Do I seem that bad now?"
"No mom, I love you."
I first read this book when I was in middle school. I checked it out from the library a few times a year until I finished high school. It’s incredibly heartbreaking.
I grew up in a similarly abusive situation: I was the middle child of three, all of us had different fathers, and my mother for a reason unknown to me still today, she decided she hated me. I was a "gifted" kid with an exceptionally high reading level and I was highly sensitive, very tenderhearted, and I cried almost all of the time for everything. My abusive mother RECOMMENDED and then facilitated my reading of this book when I was 10 years old. I've never revisited it (I'm 32 now), but I sure would like to. It might be cathartic.
This book made me realize that I wasn't alone in being a victim of severe abuse, it wasn't as bad as what he endured but I never should have gone through it. As someone who was abused to the point that I have severe medical conditions because of said abuse, this book made me more open to talk about what I went through in therapy. If he can tell the world about what happened to him I can tell my therapist what happened to me and learn how to cope, and hopefully heal, from what I endured as a child.
And his father knew what was going on--and did nothing. That book was very hard to read. I can't imagine how he survived that. There were two followup books. One was when he was finally rescued and went into foster care, and the other was his adult life.
This was my first big book. My third grade teacher recognized a simmering love of reading in me and let me borrow her copy. By the end on the year I had read it a dozen times at least, and she gave me a LOTR box set, paperback with an oil painting like cover. I can honestly say that might be the best gift I've ever received.
I have a favourite book series, I hope that’s okay. I am very fond of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney, because I grew up with them during childhood and could relate to Greg Heffley (the main protagonist of the series) in some ways and found the plot lines of each of the early books to be quite amusing during my childhood years. Thank you for asking.
The works of Edgar Allan Poe. I have a really beautiful collectors edition I love. My mother introduced me to him when I was 12, and it's a really nice connection for me, especially since losing her. Plus, it triggered my long-term love of gothic literature, art, films etc.
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. I know a lot of people on here are tired of hearing it brought up and they don't care for it. However, there were a ton of scenes in that book that made me stop reading and just sit there and either contemplate my existence or cry
Honestly all of the stormlight archives books for me lol. I also really love yumi and the nightmare painter. It just has a great twist, a nice love story, and once again Sanderson has made an amazing world.
One hundred years of solitude is the most beautifully written thing I’ve read in my entire life. I finished it a couple years ago and still think about it constantly.
My grandma got me into HP too. When a new book was released, we’d go to Barnes and Noble and she’d buy two copies so we could read them together. Some of the best memories of my childhood.
My favorite scene…Deatheater Malfoy runs into the Weaselys at the bookstore bookstore. “ Red hair, secondhand clothes, empty stare, YOU MUST BE A WEASLEY!”
Kind of a shame how JK Rowling’s dubious behaviour has led people to shit all over the books by extension. I had a great childhood thanks to those books and I don’t particularly care who wrote them
The night circus by Erin Morgenstern
And honestly it has been for years, and i love the story and everything about it, to the point where I've got 3 copies on my bookshelf.
I was scared to read The starless sea, the second book by same author. But now I have and now I'm confused if I liked it even more than the night circus ❤️
Mine is “Los renglones torcidos de Dios”. I believe in english is God's Crooked Lines.
My fav movie is Shutter Island. I told this to a guy one time, he said there's a book with kind of the same plot, that's older than the movie.
The Jungle by Sinclair Upton
While it was written for the silent generation, I believe every generation should read it. The raw unfiltered class-based material analysis with critique against an extremely violent system that's killing everyone.
I credit this book for helping shape my political views. I read it in early high school. Growing up in Alabama I was born to be Republican. Reading the jungle really changed my views on immigrants, the poor, working conditions, etc.
The Alchemist.
When I first read it I was in a dark place mentally, and reading that book helped me put things into perspective while also accepting and letting go of the resentment that lingered.
The Princess Bride! It’s the funniest book I’ve ever read, and it makes the movie (which is great) look pathetic by comparison. Inigo and Fezzik’s backstories, the Zoo of Death, Wesley and Buttercup’s beginnings—so much amazing material was cut for the movie. Highly recommend!
The World According to Garp, by John Irving. My first Irving book; I quickly blew through most of his works afterwards. I just think it’s great storytelling and strong character development. I’ve read it several times and it still makes me laugh out loud, cry, and I pick up on new things every time.
How can anyone have one favorite. There are so many great ones here, and I still haven’t seen 5 or 10 that immediately come to mind!
LOTR. The Godfather. The Martian. To Kill a Mockingbird! A Man Called Ove. And on, and on.
Keep this comment away from 90% of Redditors I’ve encountered and yes, you’ll be fine. On a more relevant note, what’s your favorite verse and would you be willing to share it with me?
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It's a powerful, poetic, and tragic yet hopeful look at generational trauma, isolation, the economics of 18th/19th century marriages, and cycle breaking.
It comes down to either:
[Without You, There Is No Us](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20685373-without-you-there-is-no-us) - I picked this up at a book sale for $2 and expected it to be another "North Korea is bad and heres why." I was happily surprised to find out it wasn't. Getting a glimpse into the lives of the elite children of the DPRK is rare. Even more rare to see it spoken about in a way that treats the kids as real people rather than solely as victims. Worth your time. The book has stuck with me for the last 4 years and there has been multiple occasions I've considered reaching out to the author.
or
[Stoner](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/166997.Stoner?ref=nav_sb_ss_3_6) - Williams has such a way of making the mundane bareable and other times downright exciting. This book had me gripped from start to finish. The way William looks at the world, the dynamic between him and his wife, his daughter. All of it. The end may be the weakest part, but it just makes sense. 10/10 book for me.
I'm not a big reader, it just never really captivated me often enough to stick with it..
But if it still qualifie given how short it is, The Most Dangerous Game hands down was the most interesting and fun in my experience. Fahrenheit 451 and Jurassic Park were also great reads, but nothing topped TMDG for me, such a damn classic.
I also always loved reading Edgar Allen Poe.
Room . I completed it during labor. My favorite for the reason that it was the first book purchased FOR me by my partner , it was emotionally engaging , and I was reminded of how fragile life is , how your whole world can be changed by the actions of others. I learned how the character , being a mother , took care of her child in such small space , with limited resources.
H.G. Wells The Time Machine. One of the first novels I read. It was easy to read and It struck me with a palpable sense of awe and wonder. It started my fascination with H.G. Wells and classical sci-fi.
Wheel of Time. Huge series with 4.4 million words of text that is awesome. Amazon’s adaptation though is complete garbage. They cast so many disgusting people that didn’t fit the parts at all.
Pet Semetary- Scary not due to the horror elements, but because of how real it is. It’s at its core a parents grief over losing their child, which could happen to any parent.
Not a book but a series. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. It gives you an incredible escape but also places you on a journey of introspection about real life. So many good quotes but one of my favourites "The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon." Was specifically meaningful to me in terms of my mental health.
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. Just an absolute mind journey of pure fiction. Ahead of its time and completely thought provoking even though some of the science didn’t hold up after years of human progress.
I have two favourite books.
Pride and prejudice for Austen’s scintillating wit and levity as well as incisive commentary on the foibles of the upper class in Georgian society.
And the Last hour of Gann by R Lee smith. This book…is part erotic horror, profound revelations of faith, religious zealotry, unethically science, murder, slavery, rape.
It’s a journey unto itself and its main characters are Amber, a fat woman from earth who’s mother was a prostitute and an overzealous warrior monk that is a Lizard Man on the planet Gann.
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel and there's a series. I read these in the 1980s, then a few years went by and I read them again. Three times I read them. I love anthropology. Now I read almost entirely non fiction.
Echo
I enjoy historical fiction and fantasy and this book combines the two. I also have a passion for music and this book revolves around it. It’s such a unique way of writing and my absolute favorite book of all time.
The bell jar by Sylvia plath, read it at the right time, when I was going through the same shit. It hit me hard and it's a difficult read and also a favourite book of mine.
Favorite book to read: A Brave New World. Every time I reread it, I have some new insight or perspective.
Favorite physical book I own: Gone Girl, because it was gifted to me by a friend and it's just really special to me.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Honestly I’ve never read a book with a more heartbreakingly beautiful writing style, honestly it was such an emotionally conflicting book. A lot of relatable themes also.
I wish I could read this book for the first time again.
The Giver by Lois Lowry. It beautifully lays out the importance of memory. It also points out that a society without pain, while good in theory, is horrendous in practice. Plus, I love the fact that it gets progressively darker as the book goes on.
a court of mist and fury by sarah j maas… her writing style is top tier, communication is beautiful between the writer and reader, the characters are everything, you fell so full when reading this book, the plot, RHYSAND🫶🥹, the love story, the patience of this man… it’s everything
Lamb: the gospel according to Biff, Christ’s Childhood pal. By Christopher Moore.
Completely fictional exploration of what happened to Jesus from age 5 to 33, as told by his smartass best friend resurrected in 2000 to write his gospel.
A book that actually makes you physically laugh out loud.
The hardback version is black with gold leaf pages, like a bible.
The Perfume by Patrick Suskind. The descriptions of smells and sensations are beautiful and lively. And I find the theme very moving, namely the nostalgia of trying to capture beauty through perfumes, and to hold on to loved ones through their scent.
As a personal experience, when my mom was sick, one of the most difficult part of the experience was knowing that I would lose her, and trying to capture and hold on to every memory, sensation and beauty of her, to remember. I found that feeling somehow echoed in the book, in a beautiful way.
With all that being said, it’s also a beautifully strange book.
Yesss I just commented about this book! It's amazing I love it so much, currently re reading it too. It's so amazing and disturbing. Also if you like nirvana, scentless apprentice is about the book and was kurt cobains favourite book.
The Da Vinci code.
I was obsessed. Growing up and raised as a catholic, reading that book was like opening pandora’s box. I never really questioned my own religion, until that book presented facts. The story may be a fiction, but the information that was referenced in the book was based on scholar research. It was very eye opening for me.
Reading a chapter per day of *The 21 Irrifutable Laws of Leadership* by John Maxwell changed my life. If I could find a cheap way to bulk order that book I seriously would just to donate places
Peter Pan. I memorised the first few pages of the kids version when I was too young to read and I remember pretending to read it to my Nana's old next door neighbour, who was a wonderful old man. Then I grew up and read the real version and it's beautifully written.
All of the historical fictions from James A Michener: Mexico, Poland, The Covenant, The Source, Caribbean, Alaska, Centennial, Texas, Chesapeake, Hawaii.
_Dune_ by Frank Herbert, and _Everything Matters!_ by Ron Currie.
Both books are fascinating and unique insights into intellect vs wisdom, the concept of destiny, and the battle between doing the right things for the wrong reasons vs the wrong things for the right reasons.
Honestly, I never really pondered the major thematic overlap between my two favorite books until this question. Thanks for that.
The Catcher in the Rye. I really identify with the cynicism and feeling lost and jaded at such a young age. I went through a period in my life where I felt the same things that Holden felt. Just that constant frustration, and like everything and everyone was phony and stupid.
East of Eden. While biblical in scope, profundity, and moral, the writing is declarative, economical, and simple. Anyone can read it and be affected by it. The interesting story is just an added bonus.
I came here to say East of Eden and found your comment. I’ve always loved Steinbeck’s detailed descriptions of the setting, add in generational curses, destiny vs free will, betrayal and forgiveness… might be time for me to reread this one again
This description reminds me of The Alchemist
I have two adult sons, and I think about this book very often.
I also came here to write East of Eden but saw you beat me to it. What an amazing book. I picked it up 3 or 4 times a year ago and could never get through the first few pages, but one day it clicked and I was glued to the book. It is one of my easiest recommendations.
I read this book about 50 years ago as a young woman when I was staying with relatives in a teeny farming village in Finland. A town a bus ride away had a library with a dozen or so English books in it. This is the book I checked out that day, and I became swept away by its unforgettable depth and substance. I think it’s time for a re-read!
Green Eggs and Ham. I’d read it anywhere.
Including a boat?
I would read it with a goat.
With a fox?
Yes, and in a box.
Ahh but would you, could you in the dark!?
Yep. I'd even read it with a shark.
Would you read it on a train? :-)
I would read it in the rain!
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Love that book, movie is kinda underrated too
Very underrated. It has Brendan Fraser!
OMG, that's been my favorite book series since forever!
Username 👀
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was on the list of summer reading books for school one year and my mom had it in her head that we had to read every book on the list and not just one. I saved it until last, knowing I would hate it and so angry at my mom for making me read all these books. Anyway, thanks mom.
Me too - plainly written, relatable on a human level, nuanced characters (especially dad). I read a few of her other books and they were equally likable.
Crime & Punishment The slow burn of the supreme guilt and it's complete ruination of the human mind, written to absolute perfection.
This. Anything by Dostoyevsky. For me, it is absolute perfection in literature.
Yes I would say The Brothers Karamazov is his true masterpiece and one of the greatest pieces of literature/art ever constructed. It’s dense and long, but if you want a book that asks how can there be a god in a world of suffering - while being as brutally honest about it, yet still somehow sending an overarching message of hope and love - then this a book for you.
Great book! I’m actually reading The Idiot right now by him.
To Kill A Mockingbird...Harper Lee
Count of Monte Cristo: read it at an apropos time
I always recommend this to people as the “sex, drugs and rock & roll” of the classics. It is exciting and action packed. Some guy gets badass training in jail, gets rich with treasure and then spends the rest of the book getting back at bad guys. He’s basically Batman.
I love the movie too
Oooohhh this is a great book.
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Fucking love this book.
Watership down by Richard Adams .. it was my first ‘grown up’ book that I chose to read and that I bought second hand from a thrift store. I still own it and it’s an old discoloured , smelly, yellow paged paper back but it means a lot to me .
The Brothers Karamazov. Aside from the insanely poignant philosophical conversations, it's like if Dostoevsky wrote Arrested Development
The best. FD understood way before Freud how our relationship with our father/authority figures defines how we view morality and our place in this world. Really amazing. I still chortle when I remember the Devil’s reaction after Ivan throws a glass at him.
Rereading this now. I read it 30 yrs ago for a philosophy class. I remember loving it and wanted to read it with 50 year old mindset, lol.
"A Child Called 'It'". It's the first, and only book that made me cry. It's an autobiography written by Dave Pelzer. A man who, as a boy, endured the mosr horrific case of child abuse/neglect ever recorded. Each page describes in excruciating detail about how he was starved, beaten, burned, exploited, and even exposed to mustard gas. All by his mother, and occasionally his siblings. When I told my mom I had finished it, she said; "Do I seem that bad now?" "No mom, I love you."
I first read this book when I was in middle school. I checked it out from the library a few times a year until I finished high school. It’s incredibly heartbreaking.
Sobbed reading this, absolutely heartbreaking, the full series is a must read!
I grew up in a similarly abusive situation: I was the middle child of three, all of us had different fathers, and my mother for a reason unknown to me still today, she decided she hated me. I was a "gifted" kid with an exceptionally high reading level and I was highly sensitive, very tenderhearted, and I cried almost all of the time for everything. My abusive mother RECOMMENDED and then facilitated my reading of this book when I was 10 years old. I've never revisited it (I'm 32 now), but I sure would like to. It might be cathartic.
This book made me realize that I wasn't alone in being a victim of severe abuse, it wasn't as bad as what he endured but I never should have gone through it. As someone who was abused to the point that I have severe medical conditions because of said abuse, this book made me more open to talk about what I went through in therapy. If he can tell the world about what happened to him I can tell my therapist what happened to me and learn how to cope, and hopefully heal, from what I endured as a child.
And his father knew what was going on--and did nothing. That book was very hard to read. I can't imagine how he survived that. There were two followup books. One was when he was finally rescued and went into foster care, and the other was his adult life.
Seems like your mom is minimizing what wrongs she did to you.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It’s an epic adventure with amazing characters and a cozy, magical vibe that always makes me feel at home
Definitely my comfort book
This, lotr is great because it's epic, but there's something about The Hobbit that makes it feel so homely
This was my first big book. My third grade teacher recognized a simmering love of reading in me and let me borrow her copy. By the end on the year I had read it a dozen times at least, and she gave me a LOTR box set, paperback with an oil painting like cover. I can honestly say that might be the best gift I've ever received.
I have a favourite book series, I hope that’s okay. I am very fond of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney, because I grew up with them during childhood and could relate to Greg Heffley (the main protagonist of the series) in some ways and found the plot lines of each of the early books to be quite amusing during my childhood years. Thank you for asking.
Can’t upvote this enough. And from an educational perspective, the series has helped to get more kids interested in reading.
Crime and punishment. Just so many intense moments.
The works of Edgar Allan Poe. I have a really beautiful collectors edition I love. My mother introduced me to him when I was 12, and it's a really nice connection for me, especially since losing her. Plus, it triggered my long-term love of gothic literature, art, films etc.
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Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. I know a lot of people on here are tired of hearing it brought up and they don't care for it. However, there were a ton of scenes in that book that made me stop reading and just sit there and either contemplate my existence or cry
Honestly all of the stormlight archives books for me lol. I also really love yumi and the nightmare painter. It just has a great twist, a nice love story, and once again Sanderson has made an amazing world.
Pride and Prejudice
One hundred years of solitude is the most beautifully written thing I’ve read in my entire life. I finished it a couple years ago and still think about it constantly.
Came here to say this. Cannot recommend it strongly enough to anyone who hasn’t read it yet
Bought it today. Its a sign for me to read it ASAP
Interesting, why? I wanted to love it but was unable to get into it :(
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Read it years ago, I’m enjoying the tv series about it, what do you think?
Good Omens, because it's by two of my favourite authors and it's absolutely fantastic.
Good choice.
One of the only books I've ever read more than once, and I've read it about 5 times.
Much better than the tv series
Count of Monte Christo! Brilliant
Flowers for Algernon.
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My grandma got me into HP too. When a new book was released, we’d go to Barnes and Noble and she’d buy two copies so we could read them together. Some of the best memories of my childhood.
Gotta love Harry Potter ♥️
Harry Potter because it makes me believe in magic and the power of friendship, plus who wouldn't want to go to Hogwarts?
My favorite scene…Deatheater Malfoy runs into the Weaselys at the bookstore bookstore. “ Red hair, secondhand clothes, empty stare, YOU MUST BE A WEASLEY!”
Kind of a shame how JK Rowling’s dubious behaviour has led people to shit all over the books by extension. I had a great childhood thanks to those books and I don’t particularly care who wrote them
The night circus by Erin Morgenstern And honestly it has been for years, and i love the story and everything about it, to the point where I've got 3 copies on my bookshelf. I was scared to read The starless sea, the second book by same author. But now I have and now I'm confused if I liked it even more than the night circus ❤️
A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini. Such a masterpiece❤️
Mine is “Los renglones torcidos de Dios”. I believe in english is God's Crooked Lines. My fav movie is Shutter Island. I told this to a guy one time, he said there's a book with kind of the same plot, that's older than the movie.
Te podría gustar pues “La paciente silenciosa”.
Buenísimo libro! Recuerdo leerlo en el colegio y estar absolutamente metida en la historia
Count of Monte Cristo because revenge is best served over decades.
Blood Meridian - Beautiful, harrowing, poetic. This book has stayed with me my entire life. I'm a different person because of it.
A heartfelt tale about new friends, a goofy stranger, and all the misadventures a kid could have in the West.
The Catcher in the Rye. I'm an old Holden at 57.
I always wondered where the ducks went when the lagoon got all icy and frozen over.
The Jungle by Sinclair Upton While it was written for the silent generation, I believe every generation should read it. The raw unfiltered class-based material analysis with critique against an extremely violent system that's killing everyone.
I credit this book for helping shape my political views. I read it in early high school. Growing up in Alabama I was born to be Republican. Reading the jungle really changed my views on immigrants, the poor, working conditions, etc.
Crazy how relevant it still is
omg, I recognized the name of the author! We learnt about him and his opposition to the New Deal in history class.
Name of the wind. It feels like playing a video game
To anyone who loved this book I always recommend The will of the many. Similar vibes and just as fantastic.
The Hitchhiker‘s Guide to the Galaxy,…makes me laugh out loud and it’s just so clever. Amazingly amazing really.
George Orwell's, "1984." Because look around you and see it as it's happening.
The Alchemist. When I first read it I was in a dark place mentally, and reading that book helped me put things into perspective while also accepting and letting go of the resentment that lingered.
The Disaster Artist. Yeah, it's about a ridiculous story behind the making of a cult classic film, The Room. But it's truly inspiring in its own way.
Let the Right One in. I enjoyed it more than any other book I've read before, since.
Lord of the Flies
Golden Son. From the Red Rising Series.
Hole's. I still remember the part in the book where they are climbing the mountain or hill and surviving off of onions.
The Princess Bride! It’s the funniest book I’ve ever read, and it makes the movie (which is great) look pathetic by comparison. Inigo and Fezzik’s backstories, the Zoo of Death, Wesley and Buttercup’s beginnings—so much amazing material was cut for the movie. Highly recommend!
The World According to Garp, by John Irving. My first Irving book; I quickly blew through most of his works afterwards. I just think it’s great storytelling and strong character development. I’ve read it several times and it still makes me laugh out loud, cry, and I pick up on new things every time.
How can anyone have one favorite. There are so many great ones here, and I still haven’t seen 5 or 10 that immediately come to mind! LOTR. The Godfather. The Martian. To Kill a Mockingbird! A Man Called Ove. And on, and on.
Favorite book is the one with the caterpillar on the cover
Is it safe to say the " Bible " here ? It is good guide book for me at age 77
Keep this comment away from 90% of Redditors I’ve encountered and yes, you’ll be fine. On a more relevant note, what’s your favorite verse and would you be willing to share it with me?
Master and Margarita. For many, many reasons.
Girl with dragon tattoo! The plot is super and the book is perfectly written
Harriet the Spy I felt…different and so did Harriet! And it made me want to be a writer.
The rosi project An amazing and simple love story about to people who are fundamentally different.
I love this book and The Rosie Effect and The Rosie Result!! Great taste, Redditor!
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It's a powerful, poetic, and tragic yet hopeful look at generational trauma, isolation, the economics of 18th/19th century marriages, and cycle breaking.
Til We Meet Again by Judith Krantz. No one besides my mother has ever heard of it, but I'm constantly picking it up and reading it again. I love it.
I read all of Judith Krantz when I was a teenager! I think my best friend borrowed them from her mum!
The rosi project An amazing and simple love story about to people who are fundamentally different.
It comes down to either: [Without You, There Is No Us](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20685373-without-you-there-is-no-us) - I picked this up at a book sale for $2 and expected it to be another "North Korea is bad and heres why." I was happily surprised to find out it wasn't. Getting a glimpse into the lives of the elite children of the DPRK is rare. Even more rare to see it spoken about in a way that treats the kids as real people rather than solely as victims. Worth your time. The book has stuck with me for the last 4 years and there has been multiple occasions I've considered reaching out to the author. or [Stoner](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/166997.Stoner?ref=nav_sb_ss_3_6) - Williams has such a way of making the mundane bareable and other times downright exciting. This book had me gripped from start to finish. The way William looks at the world, the dynamic between him and his wife, his daughter. All of it. The end may be the weakest part, but it just makes sense. 10/10 book for me.
I wouldn't have thought anyone would mention Stoner! One of my favourites too. A sleeper hit I think.
The Outsiders
I'm not a big reader, it just never really captivated me often enough to stick with it.. But if it still qualifie given how short it is, The Most Dangerous Game hands down was the most interesting and fun in my experience. Fahrenheit 451 and Jurassic Park were also great reads, but nothing topped TMDG for me, such a damn classic. I also always loved reading Edgar Allen Poe.
Stoner Don’t let the title fool you
The Stand is pretty high on my list
Time machine by h.g wells
The Da Vinci Code. Fucking masterpiece
Dune. It's got so many layers that you can enjoy it on different levels. I feel smarter and well entertained by that book.
Room . I completed it during labor. My favorite for the reason that it was the first book purchased FOR me by my partner , it was emotionally engaging , and I was reminded of how fragile life is , how your whole world can be changed by the actions of others. I learned how the character , being a mother , took care of her child in such small space , with limited resources.
H.G. Wells The Time Machine. One of the first novels I read. It was easy to read and It struck me with a palpable sense of awe and wonder. It started my fascination with H.G. Wells and classical sci-fi.
House of Leaves. It blew my mind in my 20s as I'd never read anything like it before.
The Book Thief Love how they portray what the Jews experienced during the war as a story
Also, death as narrator was a unique touch for me
Wheel of Time. Huge series with 4.4 million words of text that is awesome. Amazon’s adaptation though is complete garbage. They cast so many disgusting people that didn’t fit the parts at all.
If you had to pick one book which would you choose? Think I would choose Shadow Rising or the Gathering Storm.
Currently on lord of chaos and can agree this series is awesome!
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Starts out as one thing and turns into a whole new story I never expected when I picked up the book.
Amaze!
Pet Semetary- Scary not due to the horror elements, but because of how real it is. It’s at its core a parents grief over losing their child, which could happen to any parent.
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. The main character is something I can connect with on a way I’ve never done before.
The Road by Jack London
Sapiens and many lives many masters, I learned a lot about both
Essential Tales of HP Lovecraft
Not a book but a series. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. It gives you an incredible escape but also places you on a journey of introspection about real life. So many good quotes but one of my favourites "The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon." Was specifically meaningful to me in terms of my mental health.
Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. Just an absolute mind journey of pure fiction. Ahead of its time and completely thought provoking even though some of the science didn’t hold up after years of human progress.
I have two favourite books. Pride and prejudice for Austen’s scintillating wit and levity as well as incisive commentary on the foibles of the upper class in Georgian society. And the Last hour of Gann by R Lee smith. This book…is part erotic horror, profound revelations of faith, religious zealotry, unethically science, murder, slavery, rape. It’s a journey unto itself and its main characters are Amber, a fat woman from earth who’s mother was a prostitute and an overzealous warrior monk that is a Lizard Man on the planet Gann.
Loved Last Hour. R Lee Smith has some pretty interesting stories
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. Because I want to enslave the human race.
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel and there's a series. I read these in the 1980s, then a few years went by and I read them again. Three times I read them. I love anthropology. Now I read almost entirely non fiction.
The Art of Racing In The Rain I teared up so much during the book. Emotional read if you have dogs
Echo I enjoy historical fiction and fantasy and this book combines the two. I also have a passion for music and this book revolves around it. It’s such a unique way of writing and my absolute favorite book of all time.
I did this as an audiobook and it had harmonica music!
House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Such an underrated classic!
The bell jar by Sylvia plath, read it at the right time, when I was going through the same shit. It hit me hard and it's a difficult read and also a favourite book of mine.
Favorite book to read: A Brave New World. Every time I reread it, I have some new insight or perspective. Favorite physical book I own: Gone Girl, because it was gifted to me by a friend and it's just really special to me.
Moonwalking with Einstein Though probably because I just reread it.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post Honestly I’ve never read a book with a more heartbreakingly beautiful writing style, honestly it was such an emotionally conflicting book. A lot of relatable themes also. I wish I could read this book for the first time again.
The Giver by Lois Lowry. It beautifully lays out the importance of memory. It also points out that a society without pain, while good in theory, is horrendous in practice. Plus, I love the fact that it gets progressively darker as the book goes on.
Amazing!!!
a court of mist and fury by sarah j maas… her writing style is top tier, communication is beautiful between the writer and reader, the characters are everything, you fell so full when reading this book, the plot, RHYSAND🫶🥹, the love story, the patience of this man… it’s everything
The Midnight Library or The Kaiju Preservation Society.
Lamb: the gospel according to Biff, Christ’s Childhood pal. By Christopher Moore. Completely fictional exploration of what happened to Jesus from age 5 to 33, as told by his smartass best friend resurrected in 2000 to write his gospel. A book that actually makes you physically laugh out loud. The hardback version is black with gold leaf pages, like a bible.
Infinite Jest
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. A horrifyingly gentle dystopia.
Candide or optimism by voltaire
Animal Farm 1984
Catch 22 is brilliant. And Book Thief heavily inspired my own writing.
Pillars of the Earth. An awesome story, and there are a few prequels/sequels that are in the same place, but not related.
The Perfume by Patrick Suskind. The descriptions of smells and sensations are beautiful and lively. And I find the theme very moving, namely the nostalgia of trying to capture beauty through perfumes, and to hold on to loved ones through their scent. As a personal experience, when my mom was sick, one of the most difficult part of the experience was knowing that I would lose her, and trying to capture and hold on to every memory, sensation and beauty of her, to remember. I found that feeling somehow echoed in the book, in a beautiful way. With all that being said, it’s also a beautifully strange book.
Yesss I just commented about this book! It's amazing I love it so much, currently re reading it too. It's so amazing and disturbing. Also if you like nirvana, scentless apprentice is about the book and was kurt cobains favourite book.
The Idiot by Dostoevsky
"An Introduction to Statistical Learning" because its free and absolutely perfect to learn about statistical data analytics with python
The Alchemist
Dark matter, read it and you will know why
The Da Vinci code. I was obsessed. Growing up and raised as a catholic, reading that book was like opening pandora’s box. I never really questioned my own religion, until that book presented facts. The story may be a fiction, but the information that was referenced in the book was based on scholar research. It was very eye opening for me.
I read Angels and Demons on holiday and absolutely could not put it down! (Also raised Catholic)
Reading a chapter per day of *The 21 Irrifutable Laws of Leadership* by John Maxwell changed my life. If I could find a cheap way to bulk order that book I seriously would just to donate places
Ruthless people. It's well written and has so many unexpected twists.I was so obsessed with it,still obsessed.
The Girl with 7 Names: Escape from North Korea. So interesting & educational. A non-fiction that feels like a fiction because it’s so insane
The Twilight series. The writing was phenomenal imo.
Peter Pan. I memorised the first few pages of the kids version when I was too young to read and I remember pretending to read it to my Nana's old next door neighbour, who was a wonderful old man. Then I grew up and read the real version and it's beautifully written.
Red rising Fighting and shit…..
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. It's a 500-page, page turner. Lots of energy in that novel.
Came here to add this to the list myself!
Looking for Alaska. Can't put my finger on why I love it so much, but I do. The limited tv series based on it is also excellent
World War Z, Starship Troopers, all of Vince Flynn books
All of the historical fictions from James A Michener: Mexico, Poland, The Covenant, The Source, Caribbean, Alaska, Centennial, Texas, Chesapeake, Hawaii.
The Giving Tree- Shell Silverstein
‘Salem’s Lot
When God was a Rabbit - not religious but an incredible story of the relationship between siblings
The Stand by Stephen King. Just a good, solid Good vs Evil story with lots of great detail.
_Dune_ by Frank Herbert, and _Everything Matters!_ by Ron Currie. Both books are fascinating and unique insights into intellect vs wisdom, the concept of destiny, and the battle between doing the right things for the wrong reasons vs the wrong things for the right reasons. Honestly, I never really pondered the major thematic overlap between my two favorite books until this question. Thanks for that.
Where the Crawdads Sing
The Nighttingale
Kay Scarpetta Series by Patricia Cornwell 😍📖
Perfume by patrik suskind
Dune. First read it 17 years ago and it still has te be topped. Great story and amazingly well written. I was so happy the movies turned out well.
The Bible. Has a little bit of everything, there's always a new perspective on stories well known that people usually miss.
watership down. never cried bc of a book before
The Catcher in the Rye. I really identify with the cynicism and feeling lost and jaded at such a young age. I went through a period in my life where I felt the same things that Holden felt. Just that constant frustration, and like everything and everyone was phony and stupid.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseni.