Best book you've ever read?

Sassafras

Jalapeno said:

The book (well 3 books in one) that got me into Elmore Leonard - Stick/Swag/My Majestyk. I've read everything by "Dutch", including his Western stuff.  I love his style. Factoid - only Stephen King has had more films made of his novels (not including the TV Series Justified)

If you like gritty American crime drama give Ellroy James' books a go.

HAL9000

Placidcasual79 said:

Some superb shouts so far - just let me chuck in a few that haven't been mentioned ....

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S Thompson 
The Old Man and Sea - Ernest Hemmingway

Wis’d

57Deluxe

Janet and John #4 - - the red one

https://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/78/78981.jpg

The_Ethical

Kilgore said:

VimFuego said:

to my eternal shame I have never read any vonnegut, seeing as how his name has been mentioned several times here, what would be his seminal works, say 3 or 4 that are good places to start.

Difficult.
The one that most would agree on is probably Slaughterhouse Five.
For me it would then be Jailbird, Galapagos and Breakfast of Champions.

Gotta love Breakfast of Champions :0

JezWynd

Lots of books i’ve really enjoyed, too many to list but the ones that stand out as creating a world that the reader inhabits include the Jack Aubrey novels and Timothy Mo’s An Insular Possesion (about the founding of Hong Kong and the opium wars - there’s a breathtaking chapter about aa journey upriver on an armoured paddle steamer). Honourable mentions to Arthur Ransome, WE Johns and Angela Brazil for making a solitary childhood bearable.

Flanging_Fred

I'm having trouble deciding between Zen and the art of motorcycle mantainance and the October 1991 issue of Razzle.

The_Ethical

johnnyurq said:

The_Ethical said:

johnnyurq said:

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson. Well all 10 books in the  series actually, very epic with a very flawed protaganist.

Pips LOTR & The Hobbit etc for me.

His short stories, novellas and Sci Fi esque Gap series are excellent too, well worth seeking out and having a read.

I stand corrected, that'll teach me to engage my brain before posting.

Quite frankly I've loved all of his work so far and have just started Seventh Decimate (his latest).

Ha ha I must have been asleep, never noticed your post last night @The_Ethical .

Just finished re-reading the whole lot of The Chronicles. for the 3rd time lol.

Pretty much love everything he has done so far. Shame they can   never get it together for the Movie that has been coming since forever.

I’m in two minds about the movie. There’s so much to cover that I fear it’ll be be done badly or a lot will be missed but if they do manage to find a way then it would be epic. Fingers crossed, eh?

Octafish

Got to be the Viz Roger's Profanisaurus.

FelineGuitars

Lots of great suggestions 

How about non fiction.....

Sassafras

FelineGuitars said:

Lots of great suggestions 

How about non fiction.....

How dare you bring guitars into off-topic.

Jimbro66

I just picked up my Christmas read

"Don't You Leave Me Here"

Wilko Johnson's biography. Looking forward to it.

LuttiS

VimFuego said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

LuttiS said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

For me, I really enjoyed the Robert Jordan wheel of time series. I am also a big Brandon Sanderson fan.

I enjoyed them too.. for the most part... Started strong, kind of lost it in the middle, was bought back together for the end

Yes, book 10 is slow. The rest I find are fairly well paced - it dips in action, but the focus on character development between Mat, Rand and Egwene is all crucial - and good to read. 

Book 10 is really slow though... 

Contrast with game of thrones though - a couple of good books followed by mostly boring books with the occasional memorable bit. Bleurg. 

is that the last one he wrote before dying? I seem to recall one that was so slow it almost literally went back in time. Was so bad I kinda gave up on it after that, so burned that I'm not at all tempted to get the one/s his son finished.

I think so yeah...

But when Brian Sanderson took over it really bought it all back together.

Also @GSPBASSES ; I agree, Tom Holt is brilliant.

LoFi

bluechargeboy said:

@LoFi I would go along with that for SevenEves; he should just have written a non-fiction book about what he thinks would happen if the moon fell apart. I really enjoyed the Baroque Cycle. Depends what you mean by recent I suppose!

God, SevenEves was even worse. I'd clearly erased it from my memory.

The Diamond Age and Snowcrash were pure genius, and I thought the Baroque Cycle was great, but again, a bit indulgent. Since then, great ideas that need an editor.

Jalapeno

Sassafras said:

If you like gritty American crime drama give Ellroy James' books a go.

Think you mean James Ellroy   He's good, but no Dutch !
                                           

SteveRobinson

ToneControl said:

a few personal recent-ish favourites

Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

Snowdrops by AD Miller

Loved both of those as well as a lot of others already mentioned.

My favourite book might just be Captain Corelli's Mandolin, for it's portrayal of humanity under duress.

thing

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance-Robert M Pirsig
Chickenhawk-Robert Mason
Catch 22-Joseph Heller
Fate is the Hunter-Ernest K Gann

The Flashman books-George Macdonald Fraser.

Sassafras

Jalapeno said:

Sassafras said:

If you like gritty American crime drama give Ellroy James' books a go.

Think you mean James Ellroy   He's good, but no Dutch !
                                           

Haha!
Yes indeed. James Ellroy.
All that eggnog's gone to my head.

JezWynd

Sassafras said:

Jalapeno said:

Sassafras said:

If you like gritty American crime drama give Ellroy James' books a go.

Think you mean James Ellroy   He's good, but no Dutch !
                                           

Haha!
Yes indeed. James Ellroy.
All that eggnog's gone to my head.

Shhirley that should be Nog'sEggs

Wolfetone

I've just finished 'Ready player one' which is coming out as a film in March. If you like dystopian tales with lot's of eighties references, this is for you.

RaymondLin

Before I die.

A book about a teenage girl who finds out she has cancer and makes a list of to do before she dies.  It is heart warming, sad, funny and tragic.  It made me laugh and cry.  In terms of literature it won't win any awards but somehow as a grown man I could relate and imagine from the perspective of the main protagonist. 

I didn't get that from reading Lord of the Rings.