Top three books of all time

Middlesex - Jeffrey Euginedes
Pride and Prejudice - jane austen
the handmaids tale - margaret atwood

Im a big Harry Potter fan (books not movies) too but no one book would make the top 3.
 
A Confederacy Of Dunces
Galapagos
The Ragged Trousered Philantropists
Just three that come to mind. But the list could go on for yonks.
 
Can't decide on my top 3, but these are some of my favourite reads:

Marley & Me - John Grogan
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Shadow of the Wind
 
That Childhood Country by Deirdre Purcell.
Reading Marley and Me at the moment. Nice story.
 
Complainer said:
I'm surprised that Hollywood hasn't picked up this story, given that they already did his (much weaker) Virgin Suicides novel.
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Agreed.
Hollywood have I believed picked up another great book - The Time Travelers Wife - I hope the dont wreck it. I loved that book too.
 
Books - Top three best reads and worst reads of all time.

I'm not a literary snob and read just about anything as long as it’s a good story and well written. I'd be interested in other people’s views of good reads to buy. I read about 14 books a year. My favourite three of all time would be

1. The The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

2. The http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skallagrigg-William-Horwood/dp/0140072063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215531663&sr=8-1 (Skallagrigg) by William Horwood

3. Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger.

Most disappointing reads ever where

1. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Browne - so clichéd and badly written and unbelievable characters

2. http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-50th-Anniversary-Vol/dp/0618640150/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215532659&sr=1-3 (Lords of the Rings) by J.R.R. Tolkien - could anyone fully understand it before the help of Peter Jacksons film.

3. http://www.amazon.com/Kite-Runner-Khaled-Hosseini/dp/1594480001/ref=cm_srch_res_rpli_1 (Kite Runner) - Good first half and clichéd second

Any views on my choice or what would yours be? Hopefully a couple of gems to read will be found and ones to bypass.
 
Re: Top 3 book best reads and 3 worst reads of all time.

1. More than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
2. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
3. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes



1. Any cliched chick lit novel (e.g there were three friends - the hardnosed business woman, the dull married one with kids, and the ditzy singleton)..awful!!
2. Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
3. The Celestine Prohecy
 
Re: Top 3 book best reads and 3 worst reads of all time.

paddi22 said:
1. More than Human - Theodore Sturgeon
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paddi22 said:
2. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
3. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
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Thanks Paddi is More than Human more of a sci-fi read or just more general fiction? It would be good if people could class according to a genre. None of the three you mentioned have been read by me, but they all get great reviews on Amazon. Food for thought though.

Pity about Dan Browne - off to a bad start then



Come on, everyone has an opinion. Let’s know yours...
 
Re: Books - Top three best reads and worst reads of all time.

- Lord of the Rings (yep twice even before the film came out)
- Phone book
- Dictionary

worst.....
- anything by Jeffrey Archer
- Peig Sayers
- Great Expectations
- The Charwomans Daughter
- Bullai Mhartain
(yep - the school books leave the biggest dent for sure )
 
Bubbly Scot,

I picked up shadow of the wind from the Library last night. Started it and have to say, not too sure yet, not what I expected, but will keep with it!

I see someone else mentioned Marley and Me - what a lovely book too!
 
Re: Books - Top three best reads and worst reads of all time.

I would read anything - have been even known to read the Argos catalogues - but I draw the line at PS I love you or any of those chic lit type things. Cecilia, Cathy Kelly, etc.

three friends, yawn, one blonde, brunette, and the other with mahogany hair and green eyes. someone's husband is having an affair with the nanny, yawn, but despite kicking out the waster, she starts a business and becomes very sucessful and meets the man of her dreams, yawn, yawn, they fall madly in love and live happily ever after. Boring beyond belief. complete waste of paper!
 
Re: Books - Top three best reads and worst reads of all time.

3 good ones:
- The Cider House Rules (John Irving) - Movie was an awful let down.
- Tortilla Flat (John Steinbeck)
- The Star of the Sea (Joseph O'Connor)

3 bad ones (that were recommended):
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
Bridges of Madison County (Robert James Waller)
Geralds Game (Stephen King)
 
Best:
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
Pride and Prejudice
Middlesex by Eugenides
Anything by Bill Bryson

Worst:
Anything by Claudia Carroll
Anything by Patricia Scanlon
(in fairness Ive only read one book each from both but wouldnt chance another)
A book by Dan Browne set in the arctic(not the code or angels or demons... this book(whose name I have confined to the dustbin) makes them look like literary classics



PS Ive never read The Celestine Prophecy but the film has to be seen to be believed... its the worst ever too bad even to fall into the category of so bad its good.
 
I really liked the Celestine Prophecy book and didn't know there was a film. I was a lot younger when I read it but might give it another go to see if I still enjoy it.
 
I don't think I would be able to pick a difinitive top three, but recent reads that have been excellent are:

We need to talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver
tried another book of hers (double fault) and just could not get into it.

The time travellers wife - Audrey Niffenegger

The ice man "confessions of a contract killer - Philip Carlo
Its about Richard Kuklinski's life as a contract (and mob) killer. I could not put it down. But then again, I really like true crime books.

Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

Another vote for Scar Tissue - Autobiography on Anthony Keidis (lead singer of red hot chili peppers)

Another vote for Wonderland Avenue - Danny Sugarman: about life as a runner and eventually manager of the Doors.

1984, Animal Farm, Down and out in Paris and London, Homage to Catalonia - all by George Orwell

I have heard great things about the Kite runner - so must put that on my list.
 
Impossible to chose the 3 best - but I guess these are the ones that had the most impact/stayed up all night to finish/ read several times ...

Middlemarch & The Mill on the Floss (yes I know thats 2 - can't choose!)- George Elliot

Quiet flows the Don & The Don Flows Home to the Sea - Mikhail Sholokhov

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

Sacred Hunger - Barry Unsworth

The First Circle - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
 
Re: Books - Top three best reads and worst reads of all time.


Wow, MandaC, you're onto a winner there - get writing !!
 
Re: Books - Top three best reads and worst reads of all time.

redstar said:
Wow, MandaC, you're onto a winner there - get writing !!
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Get to it, but don't forget the one who gets the good guy in the end has to go through at least half a book worth of misunderstandings with him before they finally realise they were meant to be together!

 
Cahir said:
I really liked the Celestine Prophecy book and didn't know there was a film. I was a lot younger when I read it but might give it another go to see if I still enjoy it.
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I too liked the Celestine Prophecy when I first read it - when I was younger (when did I get old? ). Must see if I can find it buried amongst the rest of my books & if it reads as well second time round.

2 other books I think are worth a mention are:

Love in the Present Tense - Catherine Ryan Hyde
The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue

And I really liked The Historian too - see its been mentioned above, not what I expected but couldn't put it down.
 
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