On Books

[pacificpikachu]

F-list, I am randomly curious.

What is your favorite book of all time, and why? If you really can't pick just one, choose up to three but no more than that. Feel free to ramble as much as you'd like.

Edit: A series is fine, too!

Comments

[catystorm.livejournal.com]

Redwall.

[toboe-lonewolf.livejournal.com]

zomg Redwall

[tonko.livejournal.com]

- Watership Down, because of the bunnies, and how there's awesome stuff like Blackberry understanding stuff outside rabbit ken, like the concept of a boat, and all the mythology and rabbit language, and how the ending is really kind of perfect.

- The Dresden Files (I'm cheating and saying a whole series) because they're awesome and adventure-full and really funny, and have had me cackling aloud at plot events.

- The yaoi series FAKE (again, still cheating, I suck, I know) because I love the art, I enjoy it every time I reread it, despite the total bullshit police procedure.

Honorable mention for the Young Wizards series, which pwns Harry Potter.

[kirarakim.livejournal.com]

Oh yay even though I didn't list it in my top 3 I love Watership Down. :)

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Watership Down is my second favorite book of all time, so it makes me happy to see my f-list loving it. :D ♥

[tonko.livejournal.com]

I really think I'm going to have to read it again soon.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Same here! It's been a while since I've read it and it would be fun to read it again. I've seen the movie a ton of times (which is excellent as well), but it leaves out so much and isn't as emotionally stirring.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm evil. >D But I knew if I didn't limit it I would be getting these huge long lists, and I mostly just want to see what the best of the best are in everyone's opinions. :D

[kirarakim.livejournal.com]

I think my top 3 are

Lord of the Rings: probably cliche to say but it's been a favorite for a long time (even before the movies came out). It was the first epic fantasy series I read. I love the world and the characters and everything.

To Kill a Mocking Bird: I think this book is powerful on so many different levels, it's both a growing up story and a story about different types of prejudice. And Atticus is one of the greatest characters in literature.

The Good Earth: I've always been a big fan of historical fiction and I've also always been a big fan of stories focusing on China and this is probably my favorite example of those two things combined. It tells the story of a poor man Wang Lung's rise to fortune and how he changes over time. Just a very powerful and beautiful story that follows the life of one man and a wife who stuck by him no matter what.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

To Kill a Mockingbird is a great book. :D

I actually haven't read Lord of the Rings yet, though I did enjoy the movies quite a lot.

And I've never heard of The Good Earth! Maybe I'll have to check it out sometime. :)

[kirarakim.livejournal.com]

Oh if you like the movies you should definitely read the books. The movies are a very good adaptation but they still left things out and changed things. For me the books>movie for sure but then that is usually the case.

And Good Earth is a really beautiful story. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932 and the author Pearl S Buck also won the Nobel Prize in Literature, first American woman to do so apparently. :)

Oh and I second A Song of Ice and Fire below...it's a very compelling adult fantasy series. My only complaint is the author takes forever with each book.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I'm planning on reading the books sometime! I've actually had the whole trilogy in my room for years, but it's just a matter of finding time to read it with everything else going on in my life. Still, I do think it's something I'll inevitably get to at some point in my life.

Sounds good! I'll look into both Good Earth and A Song of Fire and Ice. :D

[placetohide.livejournal.com]

Uuuuhhhhhhhhh. What if my favorite is a series and not just one book?

Well, I guess I'll do it both ways:

My favorite standalone book is the novel On Parole by Akira Yoshimura. It's very poignant, gripping, and atmospheric. It's an amazing psychological novel about crime, remorse, and moral ambiguity.

My favorite series is the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. All I can say for that is: The closest thing to perfection I have ever seen in fantasy. Epic, beautifully diverse characters, no right or wrong or "good guys" or "bad guys", and very, very dark. Also, the author has a willingness to kill off any character at any time, without remorse, regardless of that character's importance or personality. These books are the epitome of everything that I love to find in fiction.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Series are fine as well!

And I haven't read either of those, but they both sound awesome. I'm picky about my fantasy stuff, but A Song of Ice and Fire sounds like it could be up my alley. Dark and morally ambiguous are two things I adore. And I love crime stuff, too, so On Parole may very well be something I'd enjoy as well.

[toboe-lonewolf.livejournal.com]

Um...

Exile's Honor by Mercedes Lackey.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

White Fang by Jack London.

I had to cut down on the books I bring to my dorm, and only these three made the cut (okay, plus a few series, but that doesn't technically count for your question XP)

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

White Fang is great! I haven't read it in a while, but I did enjoy it when I was younger.

What is Exile's Honor like?

And I must admit, I don't care much for Jane Austen. I suppose she's just not my type of author.

[toboe-lonewolf.livejournal.com]

I never got into reading any of Austen's other books, just P&P because of the movies and the now-romance classic of "girl hates boy, boy likes girl" storyline.

Exile's Honor is one of my more favorite novels by Mercedes Lackey; it's a fantasy and it's...well, it's hard to explain (that and I'm bad at explanations.) It's got philosophy, honor, duty, family, religion, war, little kiddies, and weaponry. XP It probably wouldn't make much sense unless you knew about the Valdemar background from Mercedes' other books.

[pacificolin.livejournal.com]

It might not be my favorite book of all time, but it's up there:

Contact by Carl Sagan

Beyond the plot, Sagan takes every opportunity to shine his thoughts, wishes, and wisdom through his characters. The female lead is a very interesting character. She's a scientist in the age where women really weren't respected yet, maybe respected on paper and legally, but not actual respect. This book is one where the religion/science battle is addressed from a perspective only Carl Sagan can deliver. It's truly neither one way nor the other, it's just... Sagan takes you up to a vantage point so muthafuckin far away from the local frame of reference and just talks you through what you see. I can't really explain it.
Also, the end just ... you just can't beat the feeling that the end of the book portrays. It's impossibly comforting. I'll say no more though.

Anyway, best of luck with the book search and nanowrimo

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Oooh, sounds interesting! I may have to check that out.

I'm actually not searching for books at the moment (this was more of a "What sorts of books do you people like?" thing), but these types of threads inevitably turn into "Hmmm, maybe I should read that!" so I guess it kind of becomes a book search regardless of whether that's what I want it to be or not.

Thanks for the luck on NaNo! It's going fairly well so far.

[pacificolin.livejournal.com]

I have 2 copies of it if you wanna borrow one at some point. Certainly not this month, ne.

I have the biggest man-crush on Sagan. He's a freaking genius. I mean literally, he's a scholar and a scientific genius, but he's really wise too. I kinda wanna read it again now... grr but I still have homework... dang

[astrokittie.livejournal.com]

American Psycho.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

SURPRISING. XD

I actually would very much like to check American Psycho out. Considering I'm quite twisted and interested in serial killers, I imagine I would love it.

[storyteller.livejournal.com]

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. Or maybe The BFG by Roald Dahl...

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Awww, both great books. ♥

ramble ramble ramble...I used to like books, what happened

[mei-san.livejournal.com]

Darn, I read so many manga now and rarely read novels these days. Guess I'm not exactly a well-read person. If I really have to name one, Journey to the West (a Chinese classic) was my childhood favorite.

Catcher in the Rye was the first serious novel I liked when I was an angsty teen.

I fancied (dead white man) British poets/playwrights in my later teens and avoided Victorian novels like a plague (I have never read Austen or Bronte Sisters or Dickens except on Sparknotes..bad I know but I always fall sleep reading them). Dylan Thomas was my favorite poet and Geroge Bernard Shaw was my favorite playwright, although I have not read all of Dylan Thomas' poems nor have I attended to any of Shaw's plays. The last novel I've read was....well Harry Potter 7. That seems ages ago for some reason. Have I named three already? Good.

I think one of my New Year resolution will be: read more books that aren't related to my major

[ylmik-wisty.livejournal.com]

Nothing you can't find on my Nanowrimo page, I think. e.e

1. Watership Down
2. Peter Pan
3. A Thousand Years of Solitude
4. His Dark Materials trilogy is pretty damn awesome.

Wow. There has to be more. Somewhere. e_e

Tender by Robert Cormier was interesting, but it's too short and kind of simple a story for me to call it a mind blowing, super favorite. I need to read more complicated books that are still good to read. Like A Thousand Years of Solitude, which was very... whoa.

[ylmik-wisty.livejournal.com]

Oh lol. It's a Hundred Years. For some reason I just really like saying Thousand instead. e____e *knocks head*

[hideincarnate.livejournal.com]

Favorite book...I haven't really reread many books - or if I have, I've forgotten.

But books I was rather obsessed with:

Jedi Apprentice/Jedi Quest by Emily Watson. They're kids books but they're about Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker. I love these characters and the books often flesh them out more than the films do. They're short and I've re-read them I think once or twice.

SHERLOCK HOLMES. I pretty much know the Hound of the Baskervilles inside and out. I made a talent show skit based off of it. I love this series. It got me into all kinds of mystery novels - Nancy Drew, the Babysitters Club...but I still love Sherlock today.

Harry Potter series(I've re-read some of the books via listening to their audio book versions.)

I consider re-reading to be a way of judging how much I like the book/series.

[eriolgal.livejournal.com]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is my absolute favorite. (I even have a quote from it in my profile.)

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.

The His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman. (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass)

[eriolgal.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

Obvious picks are obvious!

[vitani]

Wicked!

It's beautifully written.

[ensuing.livejournal.com]

-Catcher in the Rye, definitely, because it was one of those "Oh, I totally get him" sorts of things. (I swear, not totally crazy)

-The Artemis Fowl series. They're not amazingly written of anything, but I absolutely love Artemis. He's such a little prick, but there is something about him... ♥

-Howl's Moving Castle. Howl is such a fantastic character. I swear, I read this book every six months and it's like love all over again each time.

[archaneah.livejournal.com]

Oh good lord.... this is so hard... I may not be able to narrow it down to JUST three (but it will be in that ballpark)

Also, this is not in descending order.

1. Life of Pi - This book is incredible in every way a book can BE incredible. It makes me want to cry and laugh and vomit and dance and DIE just thinking about it.. Ahh!!
2. At Swim, Two boys - Very similar to Life of Pi in that it makes me feel just about every emotion under the sun whenever I think about it. This is probably both one of the easiest as well as one of the hardest book I have ever read. The writing is absolutely incredible. Plus, it's about gay, irish boy rebels. How rad is that?
3. Good Omens (or just about anything by Terry Pratchett)- I love British satire. This one makes fun of Christianity and tells an awesome and HILARIOUS story. I like birtish writing in general, bit it's even better when it's this funny.
4. The Little Prince - This book is a kids book aimed at adults. It's beautiful and it made me cry my eyes out. If I ever have children, I will read them this book.
5. Daughter of the Forest - This may be more of a nostalgia thing for me. I LOVE THIS BOOK. The writing is beautiful, it's about Ireland, and it's a very twisted fairy tale.... LOVE.

Other honorable mentions:
-Ender's Game
-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
-The Power of One
-Lord of the Flies
-Coldfire Trilogy (if only for the incredibly slashy undertones of the two main characters, and their incredibly dynamic and twisted relationship)
-Never Cry Wolf
-Childhood's end


Yes... I cheat.

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

Eeek, I can hardly pick. XD

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - it was the first "classic" that I was able to read completely through and enjoy, and it introduced me to Oscar Wilde.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - There's something about that just really resonates with me.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - An awesome story with awesome characters (and awesome social/political commentary).

[ed1nburgh.livejournal.com]

<sub>Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Season of the Witch by Natasha Mostert.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.</sub>

[sakura-nek0.livejournal.com]

Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto

Off the top of my head.

[bluemoon02.livejournal.com]

Most obsessively read & retained: The Harry Potter series
Most frequently read: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Most Frequently read play: Romeo and Juliet (Though never written anything on it, strangely enough)
Favourite book from the last year: Atonement by Ian McEwan
Favourite book studied for class in the last year: Mary Swann by Carol Shields