The best book I ever read is.....

[Bearman]

I was going to lay down the rules that you could only nominate one. But, then I thought what about those other books that have impressed. So you can nominate but you must  choose one book.

 

Here are a few if mine ( in no particular order)

Quiet flows the Don.

The ragged trousered philanthropist 

The Grapes of Wrath

Catch 22

But, for me the winner is......

.......

Les Miserable 

 

[moorside roughyed]

Not being the biggest reader in the world I normally go for an autobiography on someone who really interests me. So it has to be Adrian Morley's autobiography,it took me three days,not bad going for me. A good read it was too.

[JDINTHEHIZZOUSE]

Ooh bearman that's tough, anything by carlos Ruiz zaffon and I thought the diceman by Luke reinhart was brilliant,the mayor of casterbridge ,catcher in the rye,I could go on as I'm sure we all could,however the one that always comes to the forefront of my mind when asked this question has to be the quite wonderful "my secret history" by Paul Theroux 

[JohnM]

Fiction

Top rank: Moby Dick,  The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Len Deighton's Bernard Samson saga, Les Miserables

2nd rank: Clochemerle (Gabriel Chevalier), Roughing It (Mark Twain ) most of Charles Dickens, Sam Manicom, any one (just one) of Jack Reacher, any one of VI Warshawski, Inspector Montalbano...

[Wiltshire Rhino]

To Kill A Mockingbird 

We (my class) read it at school. I enjoyed it so much that I never gave the book back. I would return it (no I wouldn't) but the school no longer exists. 

[DavidM]

8 minutes ago, Wiltshire Rhino said:

To Kill A Mockingbird 

We (my class) read it at school. I enjoyed it so much that I never gave the book back. I would return it (no I wouldn't) but the school no longer exists. 

All because you didn’t take that book back...

[Bleep1673]

Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez*

The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett, not his best, but it did turn me on to Discworld, his best is either Guards, Guards!, or Night Watch

Riotous Assembly/Indecent Exposure by Tom Sharp

12 Steps & 12 Traditions

*GGM's 100 years of Solitude, but Love in the time of Cholera, I have read, probably about 10 times, and I still find it beautiful.

Going through my Kindle books, and I had 12 Years a Slave. Amazing book.

[Irish Saint]

So many to choose from many already mentioned on here. I shall add:

Saturday Night Sunday Morning- Alan Sillitoe

A Kind of Loving (Trilogy) -Stan Barstow

My all time favourite. In Dubious Battle- John Steinbeck.

[gittinsfan]

Most of either James Michener or Leon Uris.

[Leeds Wire]

Nice thread, Bearman 

My fiction runners up are a bit clichéd, but true:

Birdsong  - great insight into the terrible world of the trenches, yet somehow not depressing.

To Kill A Mockingbird - seems to have a lasting impact on everyone, largely because of the characterisation.

The Old Man and the Sea - inexplicably gripping! How can the story of some old bloke hooking one fish go on for so long and keep you spellbound?  (I won't spoil the end )

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - a very real insight into the world of the Edwardian underclass, yet still as potent today. 

Non fiction:

Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux - A remarkable tale of travelling by land from the north to south coast of Africa.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins - the definitive and overdue book that "outed" millions of closet atheists.

Fibber in the Heat by Miles Jupp - You need to be into cricket, I think! Jupp's autobiographical story about blagging his way into the press box for England's tour of India. Great fun, wonderful anecdotes.

Overall winner: Robinson Crusoe.  An absolutely timeless classic. Even as a slow-ish reader I absolutely rattled through it. I don't truly know why this pops up in my head whenever anyone asks for my favourite book.  Maybe it's because we all broadly know the story of the cartoon character, but then reading the book brings it all to life. It's a fantastic story and wonderful that it is still so readable today. 

[DavidM]

When I was a kid anything n everything by Roald Dahl . Pure magic 

[TMF]

Anything by Mike Gardener, an old classmate of mine. I think you'll get this.

[Padge]

Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy 5 book trilogy, Douglas Adams. Funny and philosophical.  

A special mention for The Throwback by Tom Sharpe, hilarious.

[Clogiron]

Robert Harris- Pompeii, first of a trilogy about Roman times, I love all his books but that's my #1

Tim Cahill- Jaguars Ripped my Flesh, again love all his books, the best adventure travel writer I have read.

Horatio Clare-Down to the Sea in Ships, fascinating, Icebreaker is nearly as good.

Rugby League Books #1 Tony Collins, Rugby's Great Split, Should be compulsory reading.

Stanley Gene-Daydream Believer, the best player biography by far, worth reading for the story about Steve MacBananas car.

Andrew Moore- The Mighty Bears, not the short lived Oldham ones either.

[Leeds Wire]

43 minutes ago, Clogiron said:

Tim Cahill- Jaguars Ripped my Flesh, again love all his books, the best adventure travel writer I have read.

Yes! 

[Bearman]

Boy, am I glad I started this thread.

I have mentioned on these forums before that I now listen to books on Audible as I drive around all day. I sometimes run out of ideas about what to listen to next. That problem has now gone away as you lot have inspired me to search out your selections.

Thanks everyone!

[ckn]

My shortlist based on re-readability for me that I can think of after a few whiskies:

- Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising.  Probably my most read book over the years

- Andy Weir’s The Martian. Works even better by audiobook, fantastically read

- Raymond E Feist’s Magician.  My first fantasy book that I’ve read a good few times now, I had to persuade the librarian to let me have it as I was under 14 when I first saw it and our libraries had “child” cards for those under 14. I’ve read all his long, long list of books a couple of times from start to end.

- Tom Sharpe’s Throwback. A dangerously funny book.

- Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series.  Again, even better by audiobook with James Marsters doing an outstanding job of narrating. 

- Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings series. A thoroughly enthralling read that just drags you into an immaculately imagined world.

Aaaaand the number 1 of that shortlist is:

Red Storm Rising. Outdated and it shows but is just a cracking hard to put down read.  The detail, writing and context is fantastic and I’m on my 4th copy, including going through two while on exercise in the army.  I can’t get a Kindle version though so am a bit annoyed at that. 

[Oxford]

Almost anything by Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams plus

and

[Griff9of13]

16 hours ago, Padge said:

A special mention for The Throwback by Tom Sharpe, hilarious.

 

10 hours ago, ckn said:

 Tom Sharpe’s Throwback. A dangerously funny book.

A book I'd advise not to attempt to read in public! The first time I read it, it must have taken the best part of 15 minutes to get through a single page; I could barely finish a single line without putting it down until the laughter subsided enough to continue. Anyone who's read it will probably be able to guess which bit I'm taking about.

[Derwent]

29 minutes ago, Griff9of13 said:

 

A book I'd advise not to attempt to read in public! The first time I read it, it must have taken the best part of 15 minutes to get through a single page; I could barely finish a single line without putting it down until the laughter subsided enough to continue. Anyone who's read it will probably be able to guess which bit I'm taking about.

The cheese grater ?

[ckn]

31 minutes ago, Griff9of13 said:

 

A book I'd advise not to attempt to read in public! The first time I read it, it must have taken the best part of 15 minutes to get through a single page; I could barely finish a single line without putting it down until the laughter subsided enough to continue. Anyone who's read it will probably be able to guess which bit I'm taking about.

 

1 minute ago, Derwent said:

The cheese grater ?

The plan come to fruition.  The Colonel, his dog, the old ladies, the custard mixer.  I seriously hurt after the first time I read that section. 

But then there’s so much more, including the GP’s reactions

[Clogiron]

1 minute ago, ckn said:

 

The plan come to fruition.  The Colonel, his dog, the old ladies, the custard mixer.  I seriously hurt after the first time I read that section. 

But then there’s so much more, including the GP’s reactions

After i posted my list I thought of about a dozen more I could have included inc..Tom Sharpe when you mentioned him, Books, Music & Beer have probably be the one constant in my life that have never let me down.

[Oxford]

18 minutes ago, Clogiron said:

After i posted my list I thought of about a dozen more ....

Yeah, knew this would happen

     

 

It's amazing how much a lot of these cost even on kindle/Amazon now. Like my Marvel comic collection that I gave to the Children's Hospital I'd be a rich man now if I had only a few. I'm the opportunistic opposite of Allan Sugar.But I wouldn't change a thing.

And all this has given me a new list to work on.

[Wiltshire Rhino]

I'd like to change my nomination from "To Kill a Mockingbird" to "The Wonky Donkey" especially when read by my 6 year old niece.

Here's a Scottish Granny showing what a great book it is. 

 

[Padge]

6 hours ago, Griff9of13 said:

 

A book I'd advise not to attempt to read in public! The first time I read it, it must have taken the best part of 15 minutes to get through a single page; I could barely finish a single line without putting it down until the laughter subsided enough to continue. Anyone who's read it will probably be able to guess which bit I'm taking about.

The first time I read it I was travelling on a coach to Cornwall, the other passengers thought I was nuts as I couldn't help but laugh out loud and had tears streaming down my cheeks. It is seriously that funny.