Your favorite book, and the best book you've read

[Queen Michael]

I'd like to ask you something. Which book is the best one you've read? And which one is your favorite? Yeah, I'm differentiating between the two things.

For instance, my favorite book is Beijing Doll by Chun Sue. (The Anna Gustafsson Chen translation, not the Howard Goldblatt one.) I've got some very fond memories of that book. But the objectively best book I've read is In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.

If you don't get what the difference is, then look at it this way: I'm pretty indifferent to drama movies, and would rather watch an action movie. But if I were to watch Tranformers 2 and then watch Deep End of the Ocean, I'd still agree that DEOTO is a better-made flick.

Oh, and don't diss anybody else's choices. If somebody says she loves The Catcher in the Rye there's no need for you to start explaining why you consider it overrated crap. This thread is for celebrating literature, not dissing it.

 

[Fox12]

Well, I may as well get this over with, since anyone whose seen me post already knows my answer.

Spoiler

That answers both questions, I think, but it's too obvious, and frankly I'm finally sick of talking about that series (even if it's still my favorite).

Honestly, I get what you mean, but it's hard for me to differentiate the two since I'm a snooty writer, and all of my favorite books are actually pretty literary. So I guess I'll just choose my favorite literary book and my favorite "pop" book.

My favorite book is probably Lord of the Flies. I picked it up for a dollar at the thrift store, and I didn't really expect much. It was just one of those books I was "expected" to read. Boy were my expectations blown, best dollar spent in my life. That book was GENIUS. It was set in the real world, but it rides the razors edge between fantasy and reality just enough to create this dark, supernatural atmosphere. Politics, religion, human nature, it's all there. It took me forever to read the damn thing because I would go back and re-read chapters I had just finished. I've never done that before or since. The language was beautiful, and the story was great. I don't know what I expected, but I wasn't expecting the best book of all time.

As for my favorite pop book, probably Harry Potter. Objectively, it's pretty bad. The first books are hard for me to read now, because the prose are so awful. That said, Harry Potter is what got me into reading in the first place, and those are the books that made me want to be a writer. They were also there during some hard spots in my life, so they hold a special place in my heart. After a short lifetime of following the series, the last book left me emotionally destroyed, like fucking a flaming tiger in the eye of a tornado. I read the last book nonstop for two days. I don't think I'll ever experience that again (even with Berserk). I still love the deeply complex characters, and it's nice to flip through the pages from time to time to remember why I got into writing in the first place. It's like going back in time and seeing an old friend.

 

[Asclepion]

Well, I may as well get this over with, since anyone whose seen me post already knows my answer.

Spoiler

That answers both questions, I think, but it's too obvious, and frankly I'm finally sick of talking about that series (even if it's still my favorite).

It's not bad to be passionate about something. Anyone who's seen ME post already knows my answer:

Spoiler

That answers both questions. Far and away the most compelling science fiction I have experienced.

So, likewise, I'll talk about other books here. Choosing either is going to be almost impossible, so I'll just go with what comes to mind. The Lord of the Rings basically created the fantasy genre as it currently exists, as well as being one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century.

For a book I personally enjoyed, Saturn's Children by Charles Stross.
Wall-E + Mission Impossible + Hentai.

 

[Eleuthera]

My favourite book is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
The best book I ever read is probably To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, though a few other works including P&P are up there with it.

 

[R.K. Meades]

My favourites are in a constant state of flux. Last year, the best book to find its way onto my bedside table was definitely The Crying of Lot 49, by Thomas Pynchon. I dust it off every couple of years. The next best would be Danuta Borchardt's translation of Ferdydurke, and Douglas Parmée's translation of Les Liaisons dangereuses.

The question of an 'objectively best book' is one that I prefer not to engage with at this juncture.

 

[Cowabungaa]

My favourite and best books are both ties of the same novels; Frank Herbert's Dune and John Steinbeck's The Wayward Bus.

And both for the same reason too. They equally completely sucked me in, managed to paint a world and its inhabitants so vividly that I completely forgot everything else around me.

 

[Little Fish]

My favourite book is "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch. I love everything about it the characters, the setting. I really like the humour between characters and the way main character can basically bullshit his way through everything thrown at him and for the most part come out on top. The two books that follow don't really stand up with the first though which is a shame, I still like them though.

 

[Queen Michael]

My favourite book is "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch. I love everything about it the characters, the setting. I really like the humour between characters and the way main character can basically bullshit his way through everything thrown at him and for the most part come out on top. The two books that follow don't really stand up with the first though which is a shame, I still like them though.

Yeah, but which one is the best-written book you've read?

 

[Mutant1988]

Any Terry Pratchett Discworld book aside from Pyramids and Small Gods, the weakest books in the series as far as I'm concerned.

On both categories. He's a fantastic writer writing fantastic books. And yes, I have to have my answer extend to the entire series, because I can't pick any one book that I consider superior to all else.

I'm also a huge fan of the Deverry books by Katherine Kerr. Definitely worth checking out.

 

[HaWkE_N7]

Favourite book: The Lord of the Rings (counting each book as part of one whole). LOTRs is not the best book I've ever read is down to Tolkien's writing sometimes being a little complicated.

Best book: This has to come to tie between (again counting both as one larger whole narrative) His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman and the Mortal Engines Quartet by Philip Reeve.

 

[Little Fish]

My favourite book is "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch. I love everything about it the characters, the setting. I really like the humour between characters and the way main character can basically bullshit his way through everything thrown at him and for the most part come out on top. The two books that follow don't really stand up with the first though which is a shame, I still like them though.

Yeah, but which one is the best-written book you've read?

I don't think I can say honestly I've read a number of good books but I think I lack the skills to say which one was better put together.

 

[Dornedas]

For my favourite book I'm going to cheat.
It's technically not the book I like to read the most.
But if there was a fire in my room right now and my PC and my favourite plushie have already been saved.
This would be the book I would save first.
It's a book with folklore stories from the Rhineland. And it's from 1920.
I'm a big fan of old books that are written in old German scripture. At least the ones I can read. And there is just something special in holding a book that is older than everyone I know.

Now the answer for best is slightly more difficult.
Since I'm German most books I read are translations and I'm pretty sure a lot gets lost during the translation process.
But with that in mind I settle for one of the few English books I own.
Atlas Shrugged ... HA! Got you there.Before I call a book that is ~47% monologue well written I need to forget other books exist.

Actually it's the Book Of MormAHAHAHAHAHA. This is a perfect example how translation can destroy a book (I guess).
I admit That I don't know if the English version is well written. But in my German version every time the word I or someting along the lines was mentioned they immediately followed with the name of the current "narrator". And I, Dornedas, am sure that you agree with me, Dornedas, that this is pre-school level.

And after waffling about bad books it's time to announce what I, Dornedas, believe is the best book.
For this I, Dornedas, really choose an English book.
Starship Troopers
I, Dornedas, can't really explain why. It's just I,Dornedas, read it and think "damn this is well written". Which I, Dornedas, am sure totally is the highest praise this book ever got.

Oh and side question:
Is it allowed to write "I, Dornedas, am"? From a grammatical standpoint? It just feels wrong.

 

[catalyst8]

Favourite book:
Beowulf, which coincidentally is our national epic.

Best book is a very difficult if not impossible choice:
1984 for the message it delivers,
Frankenstein as the best love story,
or something by Kurt Vonnegut for his beautiful analyses of the pathos of the human condition.

For the book with the best compositional style it's impossible to say.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Do yourself a favour and look into The First Law by Joe Abercrombie. It's medieval fantasy in a world grimmer than anything GRR Martin has written, and is indescribably great. I can't even pick one of them as 'the best' because they're ALL amazing.

 

[The Wykydtron]

This where I think i'll might cheat and cite some Visual Novels, the benefits of being both games and books XD

I'm reading Umineko No Naku Kuro Ni which i'm told is a Kinetic Novel since there is literally no gameplay, it's paragraphs instead of textboxes under characters, still images and voice acting. It's a mystery thing where it's about a human trying to deny a witch in a murder mystery mansion setting. She does impossible murders, he tries to explain them with human methods. It doesn't sound that thrilling but fuck it's good. Beatrice's voice acting alone can carry it. The witch cackles are so perfect... Battler's catchphrase pulling double duty as both a positive and negative phrase is great too.

"Heh. That's no good, no good at all Beatrice!"

"AHHH, it's no good, no good at all! T_T"

It's more catchy in Japanese but still.

Don't watch the anime adaptation though, it doesn't do the novel justice. Shame because the Higurashi No Naku Kuro Ni anime was great and the two are spiritual siblings.

Also Devil on the G-String which is the best Visual Novel i've ever read, it beats Grisaia no Kaijitsu which I thought would never be beaten. You people who think "why couldn't it just be a book, it would work just as well" about VNs in general, play this. It makes PERFECT use of the fact that it's a Visual Novel to pull some damn good plot twists. It would straight up not work as a proper game or a proper book.

I'll add one book in though, I don't read anywhere near as much as I used to but I do like The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Despite it being essentially a about a Gary Stu doing very Gary Stu things 24/7 in a fantasy land, I like how he writes it. I mean Kvothe is less of an OP MC if you look at how and why he does things the way he does. He never has a reason to make a crazy difficult to maintain reputation for himself, he just takes it as something that must be done without even thinking about it, Overcompensating for a perceived victim complex maybe?

The second book does throw him into the most overpowered thing ever though, no question. It's fun to read though.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

The Descent by Jeff Long
Flood by Richard Doyle.
Imajica by Clive Barker.

All three are really long novels and fun.

 

[snappydog]

Favourite: Either The Silmarillion or American Psycho, for obviously completely different reasons. Or a book called The Raw Shark Texts that very few people seem to have heard of. Or Neverwhere, or anything by Neil Gaiman really. God, I like a lot of books.
Best: Er... hard one. Cloud Atlas comes to mind for some reason, as does House of Leaves, but I suspect that's just because they both do interesting things with the medium. I think His Dark Materials probably ranks up there for me. It just has everything I could want, and I go back and re-read the series on a fairly regular basis. But maybe I just think it's one of the best because I definitely do like it a lot and rank it among my favourites.. maybe a better indicator would be the best book I didn't really enjoy? In that case, how about Ulysses? I could totally see why it's sparked so much interest and criticism, but I can't really say I'd consider it a book I liked reading all that much. At the time, anyway. Maybe I should go back and read it...

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

The Descent by Jeff Long
Flood by Richard Doyle.
Imajica by Clive Barker.

All three are really long novels and fun.

I consider Imajica a magic book. When I read it, I would read several chapters and then put it down to do something else. After a moment I would look down and realize I had it in my hands again and I'd finished another chapter or 3.

Well, damn. After looking over my bookshelves, I realized I can't narrow it down to just one or two. So I'll wimp out and give my short lists.

For fiction:
Lord of the Rings as a set.
The Great and Secret Show and Everville. Pair of novels by Clive Barker.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett. While I love the Dicsworld series, I absolutely adore this book.
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Again, I take them as a set.
The Redemption of Anthalus by David Eddings. Popcorn for the mind, but wonderful fun.

For non-fiction:
Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch. An insightful look at the opening of the Civil Rights movement in America.
The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking. Making physics understandable to even an idiot like me!
From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman.
1491 by Charles C. Mann. A magnificent view into the pre-colonial Americas.
Angel in the Whirlwind by Benson Bobrick. Perhaps the best condensed American Revolutionary text I've ever found.
And pretty much anything by either David McCullough or James M. McPherson. They are just amazing writers and storytellers.

 

[Hawki]

Both favorite and best would be Brave New World.

 

[Queen Michael]

Do yourself a favour and look into The First Law by Joe Abercrombie. It's medieval fantasy in a world grimmer than anything GRR Martin has written, and is indescribably great. I can't even pick one of them as 'the best' because they're ALL amazing.

Friend, I'm thankful for the advice, but I've got a signed copy of The Blade Itself on the fantasy shelf of my bookshelf. I may not be a huge fantasy enthusiast, but quality is quality.