Favourite Books

Bodshi

Bodshi

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Apr 23, 2009
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Nimbus65's thread on the BBCs list of 100 books seems to have stirred up a lot of opinions so I wondered whether people would post a list of their favourite books and why (might give me some ideas). You know, the ones you keep coming back to over the years ...

Mine are:

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austin
Wuthering Heights by one of the Brontes (Emily?)

Both because they're fantastic stories, terribly romantic and set in days gone by.

To Kill a Mockingbird, just because on the surface it's just a gentle tale and yet very thought provoking.

Felix Salten's Bambi (NOT the Disney version) - don't think you can get this any more except second hand.

Jilly Cooper's Riders - RCB, need I say more?
 
The Man In The Moonlight (Buchan? would have to dig it out to check) - such an eerie, thrilling tale set in Scotland of old......
Jamaica Inn - Du Maurier - scary, thrilling, fabulous smuggling story......
The Byerly Turk - Jeremy James - the first thoroughbred - need I say more?!
The Magic Cottage - James Herbert - Don't read this and then move to the countryside...
The House on The Strand - Du Maurier - time travel? or just a dream? You decide...
Fluke - James Herbert - Reincarnation at its best.......
From The Corner of his Eye - Dean Koontz - beautiful, sad, happy, uplifting tale of supernatural goings on and triumph over evil.........
 
Anything by Jill Mansell for a good girly romcom read

The boy in the bubble by Ian Strachan, this is a book from my teens and it is aimed at that age group but it's such a moving story I still read it over and over now.
 
I love a book called 'The Eight' by Katherine Nevile. It's superb. Set in 2 different times based around a hunt for a mystical chess set which will unlock the key to....something!

I also love 'Weaveworld' by Clive Barker.

and most recently I liked all the Dan Brown books.
 
Forgotten one - Prey by James Masterton - scary, scary scary!lol, NEVER read this book in the house on your own......fascinating story of parallel worlds, time travel and a good dose of sex thrown in for good measure..........once read, never forgotten...
 
I re-read Jane Austen every now and again, and if I want to switch off completely I'll read Dorothy L Sayers' Peter Wimsey books for the nth time.

I used to read a lot of Iris Murdoch and John Steinbeck, but not recently - perhaps time to re-visit?

I enjoy reading biographies, and I love Terry Pratchett.
 
Gosh I absolutely love reading books - what is is about them that is so compelling? If I didn't work (and before I found my full time job) I spent my entire days reading books from cover to cover. I simply loved it.

My favourite book of all time is probably Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I read it after studying another Hardy book at school and have read it multiple times. I love all the Thomas Hardy books I've read, particularly because I can relate to the areas he writes about as he was from Dorset.

I like a good thriller and have read most of Michael Crichton's books. I also enjoy Marian Keyes's books, David Lodge, Bill Bryson (belly aching funny!) Martina Cole.

One good book in particular is A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown (yep, that's her real name!) For those who have lived a sheltered life it's a huge eye opener and absolutely fascinating, as well as sad.

Am going to write down Trewsers's list and add it to my list of books to buy! They sound good!! :happy:
 
Empress Orchid & The Last Empress by Anchee Min.

Various other chinese & japanese historical fictions by authors I can't think of atm.

Phillipa Gregory, the Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom & other british historical fiction especially around the Tudor period.

Crime fiction, mostly Harlan Coben & Michael Connelly.

I'll read just about anything I can get my hands on though - depends what's on offer at the time in Morrisons 2 for £8 or WH Smiths 3 for 2!
 
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Just remembered another must-read;
Dissolution by C J Sansom - atmospheric to say the least, thrilling edge of seat murder / mystery and intrigue set in Tudor England. So realistic you can smell it coming off the pages - the sights and sounds even. (Who am I kidding?! the whole C J Sansom collection is fantastic)
 
I love Mary Renault's novels about the ancient world and can read them over and over. Hard to choose favourites, but The King Must Die is brilliant and so are her two first Alexander books, Fire from Heaven and The Persian Boy.

I always read Terry Pratchett when I am feeling down, his belief in the human race is just wonderful and he's one of the very few authors who makes me laugh out loud. I particularly like the Sam Vimes ones, Pyramids, Going Postal and Unseen Academicals.

I also regularly reread Bleak House by Charles Dickens (which I loathed when I studied it for A level), Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion by Jane Austen and (a bit of a shift) Dune by Frank Herbert.

Hilary Mantel's novel about Cromwell, Wolf Hall, is absolutely superb, a touchstone for anyone who thinks they can write historical fiction! I've read it three times now and got more from it every time. A recent novel which I know I'll revisit is The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which I thought was brilliant. I've also recently reread and reloved Memoirs of a Geisha, Motherless Brooklyn and anything at all by Ursula LeGuin.

Every now and again I go back to Tolkien, too.

In fact one of my recent learnings is to go through and throw out all the novels I possess which I won't read again. I still have enough left for a small library!
 
Gosh there are so many - am a very avid reader - I'm the saddo who actually picks up the deodorant can whilst sitting on the loo to read it from side to side if there is nothing else available!:bounce:

Love any thrillers, whodunnits etc. But my most favourite recent read has to be The Book Thief - loved it and will definitely read again soon.

Benefit of getting older and more forgetful is that you can re read a favourite book and the twist and turns are often still a suprise second time around!:giggle:
 
Wilbur Smith, I really like River God and there are another 3 in the series, I think they are seventh scroll, warlock can't remember the last one but it's the worst and spoils the series

Stephen King, James Herbert.

Can't remember the writers name but they are about an american woman whose a forensic patholigist (i think) they are lots of books. Patricia somethingorother.
 
Trewsers said:
Just remembered another must-read;
Dissolution by C J Sansom - atmospheric to say the least, thrilling edge of seat murder / mystery and intrigue set in Tudor England. So realistic you can smell it coming off the pages - the sights and sounds even. (Who am I kidding?! the whole C J Sansom collection is fantastic)
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i love these books, probably because they are vaugely reminiscent of Ellis Peters Cadfael books which i read avidly as a child in the summer hols (pinched from my grandad who was a huge fan!). I've read the complete works of Jane Austen and the Brontes. We went to Haworth to their birthplace on childhood holidays. I'm also a fan of war poetry, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen are my top reads. We studied anthem for doomed youth at school and from then i was hooked! Nancy Mitford is a must read, as is Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons and anything by PG Woodehouse.

I also like Terry Pratchett, only discovered in the last few years but thoroughly enjoy his stories :) can't think of any more, i've 4 book cases in my flat, and a good few hundred books still left at my parents. Think i developed my book worm tendencies from my mum who's degree is in English.

Sadly reading seems to be a forgotten passion with kids today, without fail when i ask my pupils if they read for pleasure the resounding answer is no!!
 
Love Jane Austin. I read Pride and Prejudice as a kid, and did not know the story at all. I remember being amazed when Darcy asked Lizi to marry him!

I really love historical stuff both fact and fiction and something a bit of both. I really enjoy books about India and have all MM Kaye's books (three novels, two set in India, one in Zanzibar). She also wrote some "who dunnits" that are a bit like Agatha Christie (who I also think is brilliant!).

Love the Flashman books by George McDonald Fraser. These are set in Victorian times and cover everything from from the second Afgan war to Little Big Horn. Maybe not politically correct now, and Flashman is a bit of a bounder :tongue:

Light reading, Harry Potter, Jilly Cooper and Wendy Holden.
 
eventerbabe said:
Sadly reading seems to be a forgotten passion with kids today, without fail when i ask my pupils if they read for pleasure the resounding answer is no!!
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Not all kids! My two are both bookworms like me. You should see our bathrooms. The hubby has a couple of golf instruction books on the go, I'm re-reading The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, the 9 year old has a couple of Jacqueline Wilsons in there and there's various Dr Seuss scattered around by the 7 year old.

I think a lot of kids don't find that enjoyment because they don't see it from their parents.
 
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