# What's your favourite Book ?



## horusd (16 Mar 2011)

Just finished the second book of the border trilogy by Cormac McCarthy(author of _The Road_). The three books are _All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain_. Kinda western style stories, but achingly beautiful writing. Got me to thinking what's my favourite book of all time. If I had to pick one (okay maybe two) it would be  a choice between _The Incredible Lightness of Being_ by Milan Kundera, or _To Kill a Mocking Bird_ by Harper Lee. What's your favourite book?


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## Deiseblue (17 Mar 2011)

My favourite is Bram Stoker's Dracula , I loved it as a child and have re read it several times since.

I also love anything by H P Lovecraft - now there's a man with a very strange mind !


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## horusd (17 Mar 2011)

Lovecraft is great. The Call of the Cthulu was brilliant. But he was a racist so and so.  Poe is another great one if your into the gothic, as is Hawthorne. He wrote two really chilling stories I remember well, "The Scarlet Letter" and "The Minister's Veil".


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## Deiseblue (17 Mar 2011)

I must look up the Hawthorne stories .

In a totally different genre , I'm particularly fond of all Raymond Chandler's books.

My late father remembered him holidaying in Waterford , Chandler's mother was from a well known Quaker family in the City - there is one of those blue plaques on the house where he stayed on his holidays in the City centre.


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## Lak (17 Mar 2011)

Have just re read Uncle Tom's Cabin as it was free on the Kindle, enjoyed it many years ago and was very moving this time around, if not a favourite then a book everyone should read once in their life time.
My all time favourite Birdsong - Sebastian Faulkes.


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## horusd (17 Mar 2011)

Deiseblue said:


> I must look up the Hawthorne stories .
> 
> In a totally different genre , I'm particularly fond of all Raymond Chandler's books.
> 
> My late father remembered him holidaying in Waterford , Chandler's mother was from a well known Quaker family in the City - there is one of those blue plaques on the house where he stayed on his holidays in the City centre.


 
Recommend any particular books from Chandler Deise?  BTW there is a very good Norton series on American literature (I think it's volume 2) that includes Hawthorne's works. You can get it from the Library.


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## Deiseblue (17 Mar 2011)

horusd said:


> Recommend any particular books from Chandler Deise?  BTW there is a very good Norton series on American literature (I think it's volume 2) that includes Hawthorne's works. You can get it from the Library.



Thanks for the recommendation , will look it up in the library.

There is a recent Chandler compilation entitled  " The Big Sleep and other novels " which is great value as it also includes " Farewell my Lovely " & " The Long Goodbye " - " The Big Sleep " being my favourite with the other two not far behind.


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## micmclo (17 Mar 2011)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Diamonds-Great-English-Dynasty/dp/0670915424

Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey

Covers the rise and fall of an English family. In the 1900's worth billions and by the 1970's, lost their title and money.
Lawyers got a lot of it, isn't that always the way!

Covers accusations of swapping a child at birth so there were issues of inheritance
And covers lots of issues like the conditions of miners and the rise of unions and the Labour Party
And contrasts them with the lords and Dukes and realy, if you want to see scandals and infidelity and scheming and cheating, it wasn't the working class at it! No, it was the so called "betters" with their expensive educations
Even Joe Kennedy and his family got involved. Secret World War II commando missions too

Loved that book.........and it's not fiction, all true
But then I liked Downton Abbey also, same kind of theme but so much more


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## fizzelina (18 Mar 2011)

There was a couple of threads with favourite book / author discussed - http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=17568&highlight=reading&page=3
and this one on what are you reading which got some great input already - http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=145870

you might want to read them


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## Caveat (18 Mar 2011)

For me, like music, it depends on mood, state of mind etc.

However, John Irving's _The world according to Garp_ would certainly be high on my list.


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## missdaisy (18 Mar 2011)

I loved Wild Swans:Three Daughters of China. Definitely worth a read.


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## Knuttell (19 Mar 2011)

Boy Wonder by James Robert Baker,the funniest book I have ever read.

http://www.trashfiction.co.uk/boy_wonder.html


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## Firefly (30 Mar 2011)

I loved the New Testament... an incredible book of fiction...God you couldn't make it up 

As a kid I used to love the Gone with the Wind / Gone to Ground series of books about foxes.


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## Betsy Og (30 Mar 2011)

I like the Ross O'Carroll Kelly books, not very "worthy" but plenty of laughs, ideal "de-stress" light reading.


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## fobs (30 Mar 2011)

Wuthering Heights


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## Pique318 (31 Mar 2011)

The Wheel of Time series (fantasy like LOTR, but much better, more detailed, but slower).
Misery and The Dark Half by Stephen King. Read Misery in one sitting when I was 16 and loved it ever since. The Dark Half still makes me tingle when I think about it.

For non-fiction, I thoroughly recommend Fingerprints Of The Gods....seriously makes you wonder.

Memoirs of a Geisha is good.

I love the old Irish Mythology ones too, any will do.


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## horusd (31 Mar 2011)

Pique318 said:


> The Wheel of Time series (fantasy like LOTR, but much better, more detailed, but slower).
> Misery and The Dark Half by Stephen King. Read Misery in one sitting when I was 16 and loved it ever since. The Dark Half still makes me tingle when I think about it.
> 
> For non-fiction, I thoroughly recommend Fingerprints Of The Gods....seriously makes you wonder.
> ...


 

We have very similar tastes Pique. I loved King and LOTR. I'll pick up the dark half for a look see. You might like Joyce Carol Oates of u havent come across her yet, and Margaret Atwood, ( The Handmaid's Tale particularly). I loved Mythology too. Didnt read so much of the Irish stuff, but did read a lot of Roman, Greek and Egyptian stuff as a young adult.


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## Godfather (31 Mar 2011)

"The tartar steppe" by Dino Buzzati.


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## fizzelina (31 Mar 2011)

I read Chapter 1 of Ghost Light last night, I actually bought it months ago but never got around to starting it and the current One City One Book campaign prompted me to open it last night.


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## Newbie! (31 Mar 2011)

horusd said:


> or _To Kill a Mocking Bird_ by Harper Lee. What's your favourite book?



I agree and a case where the film was every bit as good as the book.
I also loved A Thousand Splendid Suns.


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## Niall M (31 Mar 2011)

Newbie! said:


> I agree and a case where the film was every bit as good as the book.
> *I also loved A Thousand Splendid Suns*.


 
I loved this one too...


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## MrMan (1 Apr 2011)

Reading 'The Passage' by Justin Cronin. If you enjoy Stephen King I think you will enjoy this, I am anyway.


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## Complainer (1 Apr 2011)

Catch-22

Still cracks me up every time.


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## Marion (17 Apr 2011)

I have finished a really good book called _One Day_ by _David Nicholls_. It's funny, it's sad, it's a great read ...

It's definitely one for the holidays.

Marion


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## Bubbly Scot (19 Apr 2011)

Betsy Og said:


> I like the Ross O'Carroll Kelly books, not very "worthy" but plenty of laughs, ideal "de-stress" light reading.



Love them, but they were starting to get a bit "same-y". Still devour every one that comes out though.

I loved the Harry Potter series, I queued in Tesco a few times for them.

More intellectually I loved "The Book Thief".

For Christmas I got a copy of "Room" by Emma Donoghue, I loved that one.

I buy a lot of books from Tesco, has anyone else noticed a bit of an Australian theme going on there? I bought "The Slap" but couldn't stick with it and moved on to "The Penance Room". That was a nice read.


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