What are your favorite books of all time?

[spacefem]

Faludi's Backlash definitely ranks up there. I'm a child of the 80s so I can relate to everything she talked about, but even if you're not, you can still see similar trends every few years today. If you're going to be a feminist, or talk to a feminist, or think about feminism, you have to read Backlash.

And this'll sound dumb but I love Contact by Carl Sagan. They did a bad job making that into a movie, the book is incredible, it makes you think so much about humanity. The book really uses alien contact as a metaphor about how we connect with one another. I'd highly recommend that everyone read it.

[AniyuWolf]

Anthem by Ayn Rand definitely ranks up there pretty high. It's all political and whatnot, and it's really short but it's sooooo good. It's one of those books for literary masochists like me. Ya know, the ones that make you think about life and the big, big picture. It makes you feel small [I LOVE that in a book.]

Also, The Giver. I've always loved that book, and I only ever get reactions on either end. I guess it's a love/hate kind of book, but I adore it.

[Pieass]

48 Shades Of Brown
The Earthsea Quartet
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Many, many more

[No I'm Not]

Anything by Eddings. Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice... I also love Roald Dahl and lately I've been getting into Sara Douglass.

Kylie Chan is the bomb with a capital B! Also Jim Butcher's Dresden Files are really easy reading. I spend a month going in and out of the city on public transport just about every week, after I found a bookstore that stocked them (thank the Lordy for White Dwarf!)

His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman, haven't read that in a while, though. Really sad about all the controversy about the books. Also the movie, while it didn't suck as bad as I'd heard it did, was rather disappointing. Oh wells.

An old favourite is 12 Angels From Hell by David Wilkerson, such a sad book, but good.

My favourite non-fantasy book besides my guilty pleasure Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
/bookwormy ramble. I'm slowly broadening my horizons.

[Le_Pingouin]

Everything Fyodor Dostoevsky has ever written, but especially the short story "White Nights" and <i>The Brothers Karamazov</i>.

I also adore <i>Natasha's Dance</i> by Orlando Figes, <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> by Charles Dickens, <i>The Great Gatsby</i> by F. Scott Fitzgerald,

Aaaand <i>Absurdistan</i> and <i>The Russian Debutante's Handbook</i> by Gary Shteyngart.

Hell, I'll throw <i>Anna Karenina</i> by Leo Tolstoy in there, too.

[Obsessive Compulsive Emu]

Sunshine by Robin McKinley. I really like her other books, but this is nothing like them and that is wonderful, it has so much more depth to it and it's amazing. Gives me shivers every time I read it.

[darkliquid]

Gridlinked, The Skinner, The Line of Polity, Cowl, Brass Man, The Voyage of the Sable Keech and Polity Agent by Neal Asher
The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
The Bridge by Janine Ellen Young
The Turing Option by Marvin Minsky and Harry Harrison
The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov
The Dune series by Frank Herbert, and later by his son Brain Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
The Hitch-hikers Guide To The Galaxy series, The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul and Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council by China Mieville
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind
And finally, the most awesome series of books I have ever read in my life:
Neverness, Broken God, The Wilds and War In Heaven by David Zindell - these books are profound. A book - a story, has never meant this much to me as these books have. If its possible to love a story, I love the one told throughout these books.

[DruidX]

<i>Calahan's Key</i> by Spider Robinson. It's the first book by spider robinson I ever read, and I loved it so much, I read it in one day, then the next day I went back and read it again. It's so funny.

<i>The Broken God</i> by David Zindell. This is the first book in </i>A Requiem for Homom Sapiens</i>. Like Dark said, it's highly profound and the most vivid and emotionally stirring book I've ever read. I would encourage everyone to get their hands on a copy.

[sarcasm]

I'm a huge Gregory Maguire fan, and I think <i>Wicked</i> is completely and totally fantastic (and the plot is a whole lot more mature than the musical). I respect anyone that can successfully intertwine fairytale with political metaphor

A very important book to me is <i>Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit</i>, by Jeanette Winterson. It's the most beautiful book, not just about sexuality and religion, but about acceptance, identity, family, and making decisions that sometimes go against convention. If ever you're struggling reconciling your beliefs and feelings with those of your family, this book is the place to go.

Another of my favourites is <i>The Crimson Petal and the White</i>, by Michel Faber. It's set in the man's world of Victorian England, but focuses on the women that are woven throughout a man's life, creating the very fabric of it. Ending's a little frustrating for some people, but I personally think it fits the book. Definetely recommended.

[Isis]

The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged) by Alexandre Dumas
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Memory-Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Kushiel's Dart etc. by Jacqueline Carey
Wizard's First Rule etc. (except Pillars of Creation) by Terry Goodkind
A Game of Thrones etc. by George R. R. Martin
Reflections in the Nile etc. by Suzanne J. Frank
The Vampire Lestat etc. by Anne Rice

I like pretty much all books, except Hemingway. I'll read any author once.

[GoddessofNight]

I like almost every book I pick up. Even if I didn't like it while reading it, it will eventually grow on me.

I absolutely hated Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, when I read it in school, but now I adore it. And for some reason, I loved Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

My all-time favorite book, however, is The Giver. It just never gets old no matter how many times I read it. And I realize it's an elementary school level book, and that's when I read it, but I still love, love, love it.

[Eravial]

I love books. I wish I had more time to just read.

Ender's Game; Orson Scott Card
Lord of the Rings; J.R.R. Tolkien
Deception Point, and pretty much all Dan Brown books
Slaughterhouse Five, Welcome to the Monkey House; Kurt Vonnegut
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series; Douglas Adams
Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain; Michael Crichton
1984, Animal Farm; George Orwell
All Quiet on the Western Front; Erich Maria Remarque
The Kite Runner; Khaled Hosseini
Candide; Voltaire
The Great Gatsby; F. Scott Fitzgerald
Me Talk Pretty One Day; David Sedaris
etc.

[SparklyStar]

As of right now (Nov. 12, 2006), my favorite books are:
Catch-22] by Joseph Heller
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Lorax by Dr. Suess (I'm not even joking, I love this one)

[Veggie]

Like many people have said, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Also, Slaugher House Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury.

[Fuzzbucket]

Yes, other HHGTTG Fans!

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams (and its sequels, although not as good)
Hovercar Racer by Matthew Riley - my top favourite book ever
Glorious Appearing by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
Belgariad, Mallorean, Belgarath and Polgara by David Eddings (they're all the same series, all good)
The Tamuli and Elenium by David Eddings
Eragon/Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Showdown by Ted Dekker
The Trial by Robert Whitlow

And any wrestler biographies.

EDIT: And yes, for the first time evr, a book I studied in Engllish Lit makes the list.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

[cob]

The DragonCrown War Cycle (the four following books) - by Michael A. Stackpole
1) The Dark Glory War
2) Fortress Draconis
3) When Dragons Rage
4) The Grand Crusade

Bag of Bones - by Stephen King

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

The Icarus Hunt - Timothy Zahn

Bleachers - John Grisham

[Chococat]

The Time Traveler's Wife is my favorite book of all time. Others that rank pretty close to the top are Lord of the Flies, Speaker for the Dead, the Harry Potter books, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Dear Millie, 1984, Glass Menagerie, The Mystery of the Cupboard, and Abarat.

[Tastaria]

Anything by Kafka or Neil Gaiman.
I dislike the majority of science fiction and fantasy, romance and most modern mystery, although I love Sherlock with a passion.
I love Icelandic sagas and the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy. Also books on language and poetry.

[monk]

i read to much to have favorites but i recommend Glory Road and Starship Troopers(the movie totally sucked by comparison) by Robert A. Heinlen they both made me understand the military more than almost anything i have read and anything by Asimov just for fun.

[Neko]

ANYTHING by Mercedes Lackey
Coldfire Trilogy: Black Sun Rising, When True Night Falls, Crown of Shadows by C.S. Friedman
Snow Queen Cycle: Snow Queen, World's End, Summer Queen, Tangled Up in Blue by Joan Vinge
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
Ring & Spiral by Koji Suzuki

And many many many other non-mainstream books.

[lizpoona]

The entire Hitchiker's series

The Time Machine by HG Wells

The Little Prince (the only book I have EVER read twice)

The book of Revelation in the Bible.

And there was this other one written by a german author and I can't remember the title for the life of me, but I was in love with it.

The Shape of You and The Shape of Me by Dr. Seuss

The Alchemist


someday i'll compile of list of all the books i've ever read that left a mark on my memory.

[viatre]

The Black Jewels Trilogy, Anne Bishop
Kushiel's Dart (and so forth), Jacqueline Carey



These books are just so amazing. I love them so much...

[Spike]

Please don't kill the freshman.

Most anything by Douglas Coupland

[metawidget]

Like Pierce, <i>Hitchhiker's Guide</i> and <i>Earthsea</i>. Also, Dawkins' <i>The Selfish Gene</i>, Ingram's <i>The Science of Everyday Life</i>, and Russell's <i>The Sparrow</i> and <i>Children of God</i>.

[SakuraSong]

I only like romance novels now. It's so addicting, it ought to be unhealthy.