What is the best book you have ever read, fiction, that you still remember even though it may have been many years ago and why did you like it?
I love to hear about books that people read, and why they liked them so much.
Blessings
By Robyn from TN
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I never read "fiction", per say, growing up I read a lot of fantasy and one book that was hard to set down was "Tales of the Vulgar Unicorn". It was written by several authors of the time. Each author wrote a short story about a different character. The link was a tavern called the Vulgar Unicorn. Some of the stories interacted with some of the others and some of the characters introduced in some of the stories were main characters in later stories. It was very entertaining.
The book I have read the most is To Kill a Mocking Bird. Others are A Wrinkle in Time, Island of the Blue Dolphin, and all of the King and Koontz books...seriously, all of them. Who has time for much else, right?
But I have been able to read others in between. I loved Sparks Message in a Bottle, and others as The Postman, and The Firm. If you want intrigue and a really good ending, I recommend The Other Side of Midnight and If Tomorrow Comes.
Now that is what I call a reading list!!
I have to share my very first favorite book. It was Danny Kaye's 'Stories From Far Away Places' during the early 60's when I was in about the second or third grade. The next favorite book, which is the one that turned me into an avid reader and lover of history, was during the fourth grade and it was a biography about Madame Curie.
I love:
"Anywhere but here" Mona Simpson
"The giant's house" Elizabeth McCracken
"Green grass of Wyoming" Mary O'Hara
"The warden's niece" (alsoknown as "Maria escapes") Gillian Avery
"The pursuit of love" Nancy Mitford
"Two flamboyant fathers" Nicolette Devaux (?)
"Peachtree Road" Anne Rivers Simmons
However a lot of my favourites are non-fiction, for example:
"The egg and I" Betty MacDonald
Hope we can all exchange some ideas for further reading.
Julia
Where do I start? When I was a child, my father told me about the Doctor Dolittle books, which he read as a child. There are about 13 of them. The first is the Story of Doctor Dolittle; the 4th (I think) is the Voyages of Doctor Dolittle; others are Doctor Dolittle's Garden, Doctor Dolittle and the Green Canary, and Doctor Dolittle Goes to the Moon. They are wonderful, imaginative stories, meant mostly for older children, but a great read at any age. They especially show a respect for animals that was not common in the time these books were written (19-teens and 1920s), or even today. The books are infinitely better than the two stupid movies based on them, from the 70s or so. Forget the movies, read the books!
As a teen I received the Complete Sherlock Holmes as a birthday gift, and read it cover to cover. The stories are so well written, and so intriguing and interesting! I re-read them now and then, and they're always rewarding; I notice things I didn't notice before.
If you like mysteries, or even if you don't, (I wasn't a big fan, but I loved this series), the Brother Cadfael stories by Ellis Peters are superb! They're medieval murder mysteries, and the way Bro. C solves them is amazing, considering he had no modern forensic methods to use. Each one is set in a different season of the year, and the series begins with A Morbid Taste for Bones (don't be put off by the title!), in circa 1135. Brother C is a retired soldier who became a Benedictine monk in the small city of Shrewsbury, at the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, which is a real abbey, the ruins of which still stand. The details and characters in these stories are amazing and they are historically accurate. There are about 21 books in the series. You don't have to read them in order, but if you do, you will notice small references to things mentioned in previous books and the whole panorama will knit together in your mind. These are the books the PBS series with Derek Jacoby as the monk were based on. I enjoyed the series, though Jacoby was not what I envisioned Cadfael to look or be like; I'm glad I read the books before I saw the programs.
I also greatly enjoyed Dean Koontz (Lightning, Velocity), John Grisham (The Summons, Skipping Christmas). I am starting to read the Harry Potter books, now that I've seen all the movies first (not my usual way; I usually like to read the books first.)
This is just a start! I hope it helps. If you need more ideas for great kids' books, there are so many more I loved as a child. Let me know if you are interested, and I'll write another feedback.
I have many favorites, but some of the ones I can think of off hand are
The Life of Pi by Yan Martel
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Huckleberry Finn
The Secret Lives of Sargent John Wilson
Anything and everything by Agatha Christie (murder mysteries), Robert Sawyer (sci fi), Anne McCaffery (fantasy), Mitch Albom (inspirational stories), the entire Harry Potter series,
All of these books are intriguing and have great plots, wonderful characters, and something to say about life, without being preachy.
Zane Grey Western collection. I loved the stories of cowboys, a hero, boy gets girl and the description of the western territory; all so exciting. A different place and time period than today and his writing was interesting and captivating to me. He wrote of something soft, rough, of beautiful terrain and people.
Thank you so much for answering this question! We can all have lots of things to read and share about now! Thank you again, you have all given me great feedback and ideas!
Most anything by James Michener, John Grisham, Richard Paul Evans, Alton Gansky (Christian sci-fi books), The Life of Pi, Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton, Too Close to the Falls, and After the Falls by Catherine Gildiner, The Study series by Maria V Snyder, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Host by Stephenie Meyer, Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, That Quail Robert by Margaret Stanger, The Other by Thomas Tryon, The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes, North to Freedom by Anne Holm, and the Judy Bolton Mysteries by Margaret Sutton.
I'm an avid reader and I like "different" and varied.
I have so many favorites, but the book Three by Ted Dekker is right at the top! It has suspense, intrigue, and keeps you reading until you get to the very last page.
The ending is such a surprise that I wanted to read it again to see it from another viewpoint!
As s child, my favorites were the Little Women books. Later Gone With the Wind and John Steinbeck were enjoyed. Now I prefer Christian fiction and suspense.
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