Best book you've ever read

Drakares

My two favs are A Song of Ice and Fire. George RR Martin has an amazing style of writing - then A brief history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. Daemon by Daniel Suarez was also really nice to read.

So what is the best book you have ever read?

I am going to Denmark for 2 weeks in a week for a chill on the beach holiday and will buy some books the others suggest! I like all genres

wretcheddomain

The Q'uran

KungPao

Bouncing Back by Alan Partridge.

Needless to say, he had the last laugh.

Rightwing

Man Utd: A Look back at the great season of 2013/2014.

super_furry

Lux the Poet by Martin Millar.

dodderangler

Rightwing wrote: »

Man Utd: A Look back at the great season of 2013/2014.

Jesus get over it. Had one bad fcukin season.

osarusan

I don't really like the idea of rating books, or anything for that matter, on a scale of 1 to 10 or anything like that. So I'm just going to mention some of the books that I often think about, even if it's been a long time since I last read them.

The Pickwick papers by Charles Dickens.

The grapes of wrath by John Steinbeck.

100 years of solitude by Gabrielle Garcia Marquez.

Disgrace by J M Coetzee.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

And an Irish one which made a real impression on me:

That they may face the rising sun by John McGathern.


I'm not sure if any of them are beach holiday reading though, some of them are massive and they're all quite serious.

Spunge

The Stranger by Albert Camus

catallus

+1 for Disgrace

Something Happened by Joseph Heller is my favourite American novel.

kylith

House of Leaves. I really can't recommend it enough.

Hotfail.com

Tales of the Dying Earth, it's a fantasy book by Jack Vance (you might like it seeing as he's one of GRRM's inspirations)

Afroshack

Let the great world spin by Colum mccann

New York trilogy by Paul auster (three relatively short books)

A thousand splendid suns

American psycho (you might get a few odd looks reading that on a beach)

JohnnyChimpo

War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
The Magus by John Fowles
+1 for House of Leaves

cloud493

The Bible. I read that thing front to back, back to front.

Ballfro

A Thousand Splendid Suns

She's Come Undone

Brooklyn - a simple yet beautiful story

The Secret Scripture

wretcheddomain

cloud493 wrote: »

The Bible. I read that thing front to back, back to front.

I only read it from front to back, but yet I still found it backwards.

irishgeo

A brief history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson

MRnotlob606

communist manifesto

Dercola

Drakares wrote: »

My two favs are A Song of Ice and Fire. George RR Martin has an amazing style of writing - then A brief history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. Daemon by Daniel Suarez was also really nice to read.

So what is the best book you have ever read?

I am going to Denmark for 2 weeks in a week for a chill on the beach holiday and will buy some books the others suggest! I like all genres

If you like A Song of Ice and Fire so much, maybe check out the Malazan Book of the Fallen series? Its a tough read, but by god its rewarding!

Sephiroth_dude

Neil gaimen neverwhere

FTA69

Game of Thrones series - worse than heroin

The Communist Manifesto - everything fell into place.

A History of the Irish Working Class - applied the above to an Irish context.

Guerrilla Days in Ireland - by my hero Tom Barry

Labour in Irish History - James Connolly

My Life - Autobiography of my other hero Fidel Castro.

Pillars of the Earth - ripping yarn about building a cathedral in the English Middle Ages.

takamichinoku

Don't even know how to gauge books like that but I'll try....


I liked almost all the Haruki Murakami I read but the slower pacing a more simple plot of Norwegian Wood really struck a chord with me when I read it. Extremely meditative experience.

Catcher in the Rye was one that was pretty much nothing like I had been led to expect, really wish I was able to get my hands on it at a younger age (I knew of it but couldn't remember its name too, which was bloody frustrating). Prolly got to revisit it soon but my memories of it are aging incredibly well.

The Trial was ****ing brilliant when I was 17 but I never want to go near it or most that existential stuff again, got plenty of my own going on, thank you very much.

Jimmy Corrigan: the Smartest Kid on Earth is nowhere near perfect but the growth in Ware's skill throughout the sections is crazy and I just adore that guy's scattered inventiveness, some profoundly sad moments.

The Road's just fantastic, all minimal and cold but with a really warm centre and so well written and god why the **** haven't I read more Cormac McCarthy?!


Kid's books: I read all the Harry Potters and was pretty big into the launches of new books and all, but I never thought they were amazing or anything. Enjoyed His Dark Materials at the time but nowadays I mostly just like that such a bat**** insane book series managed to get as far as having a hollywood adaptation. So yeah... I guess that leave Roald Dahl and the Happy Prince. Never had anyone too enthusiastic about books around me and the house only had Enid Blyton ****e.



In regards to short stories: the first Carver book, the Metamorphosis, the Death of Ivan Ilyich, Dubliners and, especially, John Cheever's collection (the Swimmer's the obvious standout, the film's great too actually!). Should really try to read more short stories, I like them more usually and my attention span can actually handle them!



RE: Non-fiction, hard to beat the scope and effectiveness of the Story of Art... I read a fair bit of non-fiction and it's hard enough to think of ones that stand out especially, but it does.



RE: Textbooks! The shockingly well structured approach of the C Programming Language stands out a good bit.

cletus van damme

hard to rate books but the one that blew me away the most on first reading was

Saddam-Hussein-The-Politics-Revenge by Said K. Aburish

totally opened my eyes to saddam, the west and the middle east.

osarusan

catallus wrote: »

+1 for Disgrace

If you haven't already, spare some time for Waiting for the Barbarians. Another extraordinary Coetzee novel.

takamichinoku wrote: »

Catcher in the Rye

Oh god oh god oh god how did I forget this one?

I was lying on my bed posting earlier, and I knew there was one more on my bookshelf that I was missing, but couldn't recall it.

Thanks Taka, but my gratitude is tempered by your admiration for Murakami.

pharmaton

There have been different books for different times. Most recently I've been digesting Viktor Frankl's work because his first had such an impact on my life, it changed me completely. I think that's the marker of a good book for me.

Birneybau

I guess 1984 by George Orwell. It changes all the time but that book is a landmark work.

LizzieJones

Drakares wrote: »

My two favs are A Song of Ice and Fire. George RR Martin has an amazing style of writing - then A brief history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. Daemon by Daniel Suarez was also really nice to read.

So what is the best book you have ever read?

I am going to Denmark for 2 weeks in a week for a chill on the beach holiday and will buy some books the others suggest! I like all genres

I once read a book called Chicken Every Sunday. It was written decades ago but I got a kick out of reading it. Tough to find a copy nowadays. I've been looking to replace it in my book collection since my old copy was lost many years ago.

boobar

Won't win any Booker prizes...

But I really enjoyed all the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child.

Great way to unwind.

Sir Arthur Daley

Diesel In-line Fuel-injection Pumps: Bosch Technical Instruction by Robert Bosch.

FortuneChip

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandra Dumas
I've read it four or five times now, and I've always enjoyed it. Edmund Dantes is one of my favourite characters of all time.

A Secret History - Donna Tarte
An absolute belter! I read this once every couple of years. A modern Greek tragedy that rivals the classics.

diomed

LizzieJones wrote: »

I once read a book called Chicken Every Sunday. It was written decades ago but I got a kick out of reading it. Tough to find a copy nowadays. I've been looking to replace it in my book collection since my old copy was lost many years ago.

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/chicken-every-sunday/author/rosemary-taylor/page-1/
You can buy it for about €7 incl. shipping.

eisenberg1

Not the "best book I ever read" but if you like Bryson, try "McCarthy's Bar" by Pete McCarthy, very funny and an ideal holiday read,
another very good one is "I know this much us True", Wally Lamb.

astonaidan

Name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss would be one that I enjoyed from start to finish

barneysplash

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy is a great book.

I have not read the Game of Thrones books, but a similar epic fantasy series
is the "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan. It starts with a book called
"The eye of the World". This series is widely regarded as the successor to The Lord of The Rings.

jetsonx

eisenberg1 wrote: »

Not the "best book I ever read" but if you like Bryson, try "McCarthy's Bar" by Pete McCarthy, very funny and an ideal holiday read,

+1

A brilliantly written book.

Definitely, of the funniest travel books about Ireland in the last 15 years.

Dr.MickKiller

Anne and Barry, great plot twist

jam

who would have guessed it.

Colliewollie

The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Brilliant, brilliant book shedding light on the whole history of Middle Earth. . Perfect for LOTR maniacs like myself! !

ToddyDoody

Ultimate Gay Sex by Michael Thomas Ford

Davarus Walrus

2666 by Roberto Balano is the best book I've read.

It's a mad, disgusting and lovely book written by a man who knew he was dying. It shows a wonder for what life means; while having utter contempt for grotesque capitalism, socialism, and the futility of self-regarding liberalism. It also involves Mexican breakfasts, the 1st World War, serial killers, American journalists, and an overwhelming belief that mystery is important to the human spirit. It despises cheap rationalism.

It's a great book.

Right Turn Clyde

My favourite work of fiction is Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov.

For non-fiction I'd probably go for American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

I've also just read Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf for the first time and it was everything I wanted it to be. I actually jumped out of bed at one stage, laughing to myself because of how brilliant the words sounded in my head. RIP Seamus.

Dirty Dingus McGee

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.A beautiful book the writing is incredible.

MagicMarker

Right Turn Clyde wrote: »

For non-fiction I'd probably go for American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

+1 on this, superb book.

AngeGal

boobar wrote: »

Won't win any Booker prizes...

But I really enjoyed all the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child.

Great way to unwind.

Agree, like a perfect chillout movie that doesn't overly work the brain! If you liked the Reacher books suspect you would also like Mitch Rapp books by Vince Flynn.

On topic, Imperium by Robert Harris is a captivating masterpiece.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I too don't like to rank books and would have no one favourite but would recommend a few I read recently.

Jerusalem by Simon Segal Montefiore

The Discoverers by Daniel J Boorstin

Or

A History of the world by Andrew Marr

Davarus Walrus

AngeGal wrote: »

Agree, like a perfect chillout movie that doesn't overly work the brain! If you liked the Reacher books suspect you would also like Mitch Rapp books by Vince Flynn.

On topic, Imperium by Robert Harris is a captivating masterpiece.

Robert Harris is a great thriller writer. The Cicero series is amazing.

edgecutter

Rightwing wrote: »

Man Utd: A Look back at the great season of 2013/2014.

They Dared To Dream: How Rodgers' Liverpool Went So Close

One of the best endings I have ever read.

huey1975

American Tabloid. James Ellroy

is mise spartacus

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson

Pablodreamsofnew

It's hard to pick just one but if I have to it's

Goodnight Mister Tom- by Michelle Magorian

It's about a boy named William Beech who is sent to the country to live with a stranger Thomas Oakley who is a widower and lives in little village of Weirwold.
It's during World War 2 and it was very common for children in the city to be sent down to the country to 'foster parents' until the War was over.

William Beech has been physically and emotionally abused by his mother and is a terrible state when he arrives at Mr Toms house.

This book made me weep and I'm not normally the sort that cries whilst reading a book. It really puts your faith back in humanity.

I don't want to give anything away but although the War is a living nightmare for mostly everyone, it is a blessing for this young boy.

I have read it many times. I pick it up every couple of years and read it again.

Read it! I think I might just read it again.

Duck's hoop

takamichinoku wrote: »

The Road's just fantastic, all minimal and cold but with a really warm centre and so well written and god why the **** haven't I read more Cormac McCarthy?.

McCarthy is a superbly erudite author. So much to learn from his books. But I didn't see any of the 'warm centre' you mention.

Like his other stuff I thought it was refreshingly bereft of redemption.

My favourite of all time; 'Blood Meridian' - a masterpiece!

Eramen

The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

An enthralling yet often depressing account of Solzhenitsyn's life in the extreme socialist dystopia of the USSR under Stalin and post-Stalin. He spent much of this time doing hard labour in the dreaded Gulag because of his background and his writings. Not a political book per se, but moreso a writing detailing the frail, imperfect nature of human existence, though never forgetting the capacity of man to achieve the truly miraculous, despite the faults and insecurities that he may find within himself.


“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956

“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn