Have to agree with CharlesG. Pillars of the Earth is one of my favorites. .Takes you back in time and you relive history.
yes! I’m about to read it a second time Something I normally don’t do. The reason? I struggled a little with the 2 follow ups to Pillars so I’m hoping rereading it, helps me move forward.
I am unfamiliar with The two other books mentioned above by the 2 posters. A google didn’t seem to know either.
Past a certain age, the idea that I could ID a single favorite book (or movie or album) is beyond me. I could come up with a short list but it would be difficult to ID "one" as the best.
Past a certain age, the idea that I could ID a single favorite book (or movie or album) is beyond me. I could come up with a short list but it would be difficult to ID "one" as the best.
you can also list a few or just one that perhaps is an all-time favorite or one of your all-time favorites. There’s no specific rule indicating you either have to say just one or you’re not allowed to say anything.
A lot of people love the LBM movie and haven't read the book. The movie is real good but it's not the book.
Spike Lee did a movie version of Clockers. An even more pronounced difference between book and movie there. To me, Clockers is the Great American/New Jersey novel (of murder, drug dealing, cops, addicts, street life in a thinly disguised Jersey City).
I honestly can't commit to a list of favorites, largely because there are so many. Free associating, I came up with a few, but I am sure I am leaving off lots of books I could add.
So what counts, for me? Either I loved it so much I have already read it more than once, or I would gladly do so. Scenes or themes from the book pop into my head unbidden at times, in other words it has wrapped itself into my consciousness. And/or I have recommended to others. Here are a few that meet those criteria:
Anything by Becky Chambers, especially when in a grumpy or depressed mood and need a lift
The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel (But read all of her books, most of them are related and thread together in interesting ways)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay By Michael Chabon
Spin series by Robert Charles Wilson
Actually, anything by Robert Charles Wilson
Many / most but not all Kim Stanley Robinson (he can get a little heavy handed at times). My favorite is the Years of Rice and Salt.
Elizabeth Strout - I wish she could write faster as I go into withdrawal between her books
Haruki Murakami - I haven't read all of his books but a good sampling. I like 1Q84 a lot.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy, with a chaser of Becky Chambers because you will need it
I honestly can't commit to a list of favorites, largely because there are so many. Free associating, I came up with a few, but I am sure I am leaving off lots of books I could add.
So what counts, for me? Either I loved it so much I have already read it more than once, or I would gladly do so. Scenes or themes from the book pop into my head unbidden at times, in other words it has wrapped itself into my consciousness. And/or I have recommended to others. Here are a few that meet those criteria:
Anything by Becky Chambers, especially when in a grumpy or depressed mood and need a lift
The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel (But read all of her books, most of them are related and thread together in interesting ways)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay By Michael Chabon
Spin series by Robert Charles Wilson
Actually, anything by Robert Charles Wilson
Many / most but not all Kim Stanley Robinson (he can get a little heavy handed at times). My favorite is the Years of Rice and Salt.
Elizabeth Strout - I wish she could write faster as I go into withdrawal between her books
Haruki Murakami - I haven't read all of his books but a good sampling. I like 1Q84 a lot.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy, with a chaser of Becky Chambers because you will need it
My favorite Murakami books (read them all) are, in order:
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
A Wild Sheep Chase
Dance, Dance, Dance
1Q84
Have also read many Kim Stanley Robinson books, Red Mars and Years of Rice and Salt being my favorites.
Read a few Cormac McCarthy novels, but Blood Meridian is a stand out. Big debt to Faulkner in his writing.
Need to check out Becky Chambers and Robert Charles Wilson. The Glass Hotel sounds tempting, too.
1. The series of Three Body Problem and Dark Forest and Deaths End all had me reading late into the night. 2. I also like almost all of the James Michener books. His short fiction stories became one of my favorite plays, South Pacific. His fictional historical narratives gave me lessons on World History. Poland is very applicable now. Also one of his last books, Recessional was a slow start, but as an older person, I came to very much like the characters.
When it comes to Stephen King, Gerald's Game was truly creepy. It was never made into a film and few people I know have read it. King did a strange little trick. There is a scene that seems insignificant but just happens to relate to a scene in Dolores Clairborne, another moody favorite of mine.
When it comes to Stephen King, Gerald's Game was truly creepy. It was never made into a film and few people I know have read it. King did a strange little trick. There is a scene that seems insignificant but just happens to relate to a scene in Dolores Clairborne, another moody favorite of mine.
Misery was a good read as well.
The Stand was truly epic, esp. the author's uncut version that was released years later. Scenes and themes from that book have stayed in my mind after what, 50 years? It's been filmed twice and neither TV series has come close to living up to the book. The Walkin' Dude, Randall Flagg. No better demon in any other book. And the great cross-continental battle between good (Abigail Freemantle; Colorado) and evil (Flagg, Las Vegas) was a heart-pounder. If you haven't read it, put side your King biases and dive in.
My favorite Murakami books (read them all) are, in order:
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
A Wild Sheep Chase
Dance, Dance, Dance
1Q84
Have also read many Kim Stanley Robinson books, Red Mars and Years of Rice and Salt being my favorites.
Read a few Cormac McCarthy novels, but Blood Meridian is a stand out. Big debt to Faulkner in his writing.
Need to check out Becky Chambers and Robert Charles Wilson. The Glass Hotel sounds tempting, too.
I am certain you will love RCWilson and Emily Mandel's books. Glass Hotel is marketed as a financial thriller but it is not. Lots of magical realism and IMO it is the overall plot construction that makes it special, I could read it 100 times I think.
I am an evangelist for Wilson. the Spin books are like Mandel's in that you can read them on different levels. Totally effing mind blowing.
Shemademedothis collects whole series of old SF and fantasy; we’re surrounded by literally thousands of books - and he’s duplicated them all into audiobooks now!!
Where’s @Library_Lady when we need her?? Shemademedothis collects whole series of old SF and fantasy; we’re surrounded by literally thousands of books - and he’s duplicated them all into audiobooks now!!
I have a couple of editions of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit displayed proudly on my mantelpiece. I have never duplicated the joy I experienced reading that adventure through any other book. I also have it on an audiobook and it helped warm me through my 16 day power outage after Hurricane Sandy.
Through the years as a Fantasy painter, I have not found the right model for Gandalf, Strider or Smaug.
My wedding ring had the One Ring poem inscribed inside it. In my ex's ring I had inscribed the Elvish greeting Elen Sila Lumenn Omentielvo.
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett.
What’s yours?