# What's your ultimate favorite book?



## jeanne3 (May 13, 2005)

i know it's hard to choose just one but support and share with everyone you ultimate favorite book....


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## XandrilZaax (May 13, 2005)

The Lord of the Rings-the one volume edition, because its meant to be one big book anyways.


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## Saponification (May 13, 2005)

_Fight Club_ by Chuck Palahniuk.


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## lisajane (May 14, 2005)

_Isobel On The Way To The Corner Shop_ - Amy Witting


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## Sub (May 14, 2005)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.  Pure genius.


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## Nickie (May 15, 2005)

Only one book? So very difficult! 

But guess then I should answer: "Mara, daughter of the Nile" by Eloise McGraw.



Nickie


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## Manx (May 15, 2005)

'Only Forward' by Michael Marshall Smith


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## Sithre (May 17, 2005)

hmmm, favorite book. That is a hard one for me. I really like "The last war" or whatever the other name for it is... But i like most things by H. G. Wells, Dean Koontz etc...


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## sammisan (May 18, 2005)

The Princess Bride by William Golding...come on, the man annotated a a book that he made up by an author that doesn't exist!  It doesn't get much better than that.


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## dlloyd (May 18, 2005)

Tolkien's _The Silmarillion_, though I realize my fascination with this book puts me in the minority even among Tolkien fans.


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## Matt (May 18, 2005)

Frank Herberts Dune


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## speculative (May 28, 2005)

"The Martian Chronicles."  Yes, I realize that it is really a collection of short stories disguised as a book, but still.  It reflects humanity back upon itself within a sci-fi setting.  Yup, that's the stuff.  No one write 'em like Bradbury...

I mean, just take Usher II alone - pure genious, with literary allusion galore.  Or the hotdog stand at the end of the universe, or the martian who takes different forms...

If not for my adhesion to speculative fiction, I would pick The Great Gatsby without a doubt.


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## evadri (May 28, 2005)

The book I enjoyed reading the most is 'Of Human Bondage'. I seriously wanted it to never end.


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## ispollock (May 28, 2005)

*re*

Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway. I learned more from that book as a kid than from anything else, really.


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## BadLuckNovelist (May 29, 2005)

The Last Herald-Mage by Mercedes Lackey.  I am aware it is three books, but when I read it the first time around, it was one big book (and I happily lugged that thing around!), so I still somewhat count it as one.  

If that one doesn't count here though, then I guess right now my favorite would be Long-Lost Bride by Day Leclaire would be it..at least, until I read the next book I'm due to read by RA Salvatore.


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## Craiglet (Jun 15, 2005)

Sphere by Michael Crichton


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## waylander (Jun 16, 2005)

Remembrances of things past (or whatever the bad translation is), by Marcel Proust.


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## journyman161 (Jun 16, 2005)

Most mind-blowing was Eon - Greg Bear. Turned my concepts of the universe upside down.

Most important in my life was The People - Zenna Henderson. Never read a story-teller like her & I wanted SOOOO badly to be one of the People. It also altered my concept of family & what it was supposed to mean.


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## Death Requiem (Jun 16, 2005)

_God Emperor of Dune_ by Frank Herbert


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## Kikster (Jun 16, 2005)

The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger

it was really hard to pick just one, I have something like ten favorite books that I couldn't live without....


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## Mada (Jun 16, 2005)

This is a hard one....Ill make a list cuz I dont have 1 favorite (i 4got some of the authors
Star WArs Ep. 3 
Predator: Cold War
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (not actually written by Tom Clancy)
Eragon by Christopher Paolini


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## LeatherBound (Jun 17, 2005)

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse.


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## Ralizah (Jun 17, 2005)

My ultimate favorite book is the one I'm currently writing. I'm the only person who can write a book that is completely to my liking.

 As for my ultimate favorite book from someone else, I'd have to say 'The Fountainhead.' Even though Atlas was more fun to read, this is the book I find myself going back to time and time again, because it is a chronicle of one of the greatest sorts of battles ever waged by men - the battle for human and artistic integrity.


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## Mada (Jun 17, 2005)

Ralizah said:
			
		

> My ultimate favorite book is the one I'm currently writing. I'm the only person who can write a book that is completely to my liking.


  I totally agree with that.  I never think of the books I read when I'm trying to go to sleep, I think of the ones I'm writing.  Besides, if you don't like it, why write it?


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## EmuJenkins (Jun 18, 2005)

I don't know if I answered this question yet, but
LIFE AFTER GOD by Douglas Coupland.
Read it now.


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## ssj2raider (Jul 13, 2005)

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas


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## Mona (Jul 13, 2005)

EmuJenkins said:
			
		

> I don't know if I answered this question yet, but
> LIFE AFTER GOD by Douglas Coupland.
> Read it now.



I'm also a Coupland fan too, but my favorite is Hey Nostradamus!


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## barnsturm (Jul 13, 2005)

"Bruchko" by Bruce Olsen (non fiction)


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## mswietek (Jul 16, 2005)

Its always hard to pick an absolute favorite, but for now that honor would have to go to Martin Amis' Times Arrow.

Runners up are Dune, The Gunslinger by Stephen King, Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton, and Art and Lies by Jeanette Winterson.

Michael


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## MiloDaePesdan (Jul 16, 2005)

I think I'll have to go for Robin McKinley's "The Blue Sword" on this one. This may or may not be due to the fact that I've lived in a desert country half of my childhood, but it sort of captures the romance of an ancient Middle East.

Others are(sci-fi/fantasy/alternate history all): 

1632
The Misplaced Legion
The Hobbit
Magic Kingdom For Sale
Wiz Biz
The Warrior's Apprentice :wink:


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## donjose444 (Jul 25, 2005)

"The Invisible Man" by HG Wells


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## Julian_Gallo (Jul 28, 2005)

It's really hard to narrow that down but I will try.  Two of my all-time favorite books are: 

"Tropic Of Cancer" by Henry Miller

"Rayuela" by Julio Cortazar

There are tons more but I think these two would be the one's that have influenced me the most.


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## The Lone Prospector (Aug 1, 2005)

*Ulysses*

Ulysses by James Joyce. It changed my concept of time itself. 

One of the basic units of anyone's life is the day. Joyce broke down the day for me (along with a lot of other things), and showed me how the sum total of one's existence, for better or worse, can be shown through the analysis of just one day, a morning, an afternoon, and a night. I used to think in terms of years, months, eras...but after reading Ulysses I learned that the apparent depth of these longer time periods is present in the day, 24 hours, if you look hard enough. 
That's the other reason I liked this book so...detail. You don't know detail till you go through an phonebook-sized companion to Ulysses that explains every single reference


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## Avarice (Aug 2, 2005)

American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis


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## The Evincar (Aug 30, 2005)

The Mayor of Casterbridge- Thomas Hardy
The Power and the Glory- Graham Greene
Catch 22- Joseph Heller
Lollita- Vladimir Nabokov


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## dreamer42391 (Sep 1, 2005)

starrwriter said:
			
		

> Kikster said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Man, you hit the nail on the head.  That's my favorite book, too.


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## evidently okay (Sep 1, 2005)

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.  Such a great book!  I keep on wanting to reread it, but i have so many other books to read...


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## Squirrel (Sep 2, 2005)

Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein. Before you say anything: don't judge it after the movie. There is absolutely no relation. It's a philosophical coming of age book, while the movie was "Oh no, an army of bugs. Let's blast 'em!"

It is also incredibly character driven. I have argued with teachers that plots are useless because I care so much about the protagonist in this book that I would read it even if the plot consists of nothing but him peeling bananas.


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## Kokoriet (Sep 2, 2005)

Mmm Starship Troopers the book.. is it any way as political as I thought the movie was? ie... the 'nazi-ism' and way of life that is so different from ours?

My favourite book - Blue Moon Rising by Simon Green... I accidentally ranted on it, and decided that rather than delete it I would turn it into a book review, which I will look up on and edit very soon for spoilers.


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## Quantum Loser (Sep 2, 2005)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. :roll:


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## Squirrel (Sep 2, 2005)

> Mmm Starship Troopers the book.. is it any way as political as I thought the movie was? ie... the 'nazi-ism' and way of life that is so different from ours?


Well, I didn't think the movie was political, so I'm not the best person to ask about that. Both are set in the same type of semi-orwellian (should that be capitalized?) society. But I don't think either actually advocates it.


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## ArmsofMorpheus (Oct 14, 2005)

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner


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## demon_ (Oct 14, 2005)

_The Hobbit_ by J.R.R Tolkien


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## doctor (Oct 14, 2005)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, although it is torture to choose only one.


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## jayme (Oct 15, 2005)

evidently okay said:
			
		

> A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.  Such a great book!  I keep on wanting to reread it, but i have so many other books to read...



Mine too.


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## Joekool (Oct 17, 2005)

hmmm, my favorite...tough choice

Its between The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. But i would have to give it to LOTR, by a molecule.


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## white-wolf (Oct 28, 2005)

Ditto on the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, with The Hobbit as a close second.


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## xxshattered heartxx (Oct 29, 2005)

Oh gosh.. well I have more than one.. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Giver, and Gathering Blue

I know it's more than one.. but.. I'm special and I can't decide


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## ThatSmokingGuy (Oct 31, 2005)

I've yet to read my favourite book, but I know it's out there.:salut:


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## tanmay (Oct 31, 2005)

My fav book is

*Love Story by Erich Segal.*

**


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## epone (Nov 4, 2005)

Vurt by Jeff Noon - pure class. Pollen and Nymphomation are also good but Vurt was my introduction into the world of feathers.
I just wish his present work would recapture his earlier feel and flow.

I also loved the 'culture' which featured in several Iain M. Banks books, although The player of games was my favourite from his Sci-fi collection (and Complicity from his fiction collection).


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## VinrAlfakyn (Nov 6, 2005)

Only 1?! I'll just make a small list.

The Swan Lake Trilogy by Mark Helprin
The Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson
LOTR by Tolkien (including Silmarillion and Hobbit)
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis


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