Book recommendations

[bethanwy]

His Dark Materials,
The Old Kingdom Series,
The first five Vampire Chronicles, as I agree with Ronni about them becoming less good as Anne Rice became more and more religious.
The Alex Rider Series,
The Time Traveller's Wife,
A Series of Unfortunate Events,
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
Memoirs of a Geisha,
The Fushigi Yugi series and its prequel, Genbu Kaiden
I, Lucifer
And Fight Club.

5? That's like 67...

[Angel to follow]

HDM
Twilight and co
Looking glass wars and co
Noughts and Crosses and co
Touch the dark and the other cassie palmers

[boojumlol]

I don't suppose I could do five from each genre, could I? No? Oh well.

1. A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf
2. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
3. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - William Blake
4. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
5. The Lady's Not for Burning - Christoper Fry

I don't have a top five favourite books, not really. I could list five favourite dystopian novels, but anything more specific and I'm sunk. Unfortunately, writing on HDM has given it bad associations, for me. They would once have been on the list, no question.

[Aletheia Dolorosa]

I don't have a top five favourite books, not really. I could list five favourite dystopian novels, but anything more specific and I'm sunk. Unfortunately, writing on HDM has given it bad associations, for me. They would once have been on the list, no question.

What you need to do is get very specific. I could make lists of 'top five books with introverted, self-conscious heroines (with whom I identify)' or 'top five reinterpretations of the Arthurian cycle, as it appears in Morte Darthur' or 'top five books where a band of misfits save the world' or 'top five books with characters I dislike but still like for some reason' or...you get the idea.

[~Lirael]

In no patciular order...

- His Dark Materials
- The Name of the Wind
- The Sight
- Martin the Warrior
- A Killing Frost

Possibly Watership Down... I need to re-read it!

[ashtonfarell]

My favorite book of all time is "The Prince of Tides" by Pat Conroy.
He writes beautifully and has a wonderful talent for bringing the characters to life.

[Angel to follow]

I'm loving the Anita Blake series at the moment by Laurell K Hamilton!

Is everyone aware of the visual bookshelf app on facebook? You can add books, review them, recommend to a friend and see what other friends are currently reading. I've found many a great book by looking at my friends reading lists. If you haven't already got it you should check it out.

[intotheworld]

I've decided that I've greatly revised my list over time, and so I will share my update:


I refuse to order these books in preference, so please don't consider them in any order.

I'm using a list to avoid the following looking messy.

I. The Pigeon Wants a Puppy

I love the Pigeon series of books because, the author, Mo Willems demonstrates an amazing understanding of early childhood reasoning, learning, and interest. "The Pigeon" books are also amazing in that they appeal to adults, even those who are not parents. Mo Willems does an excellent job developing the Pigeon character without being repetitive to the extent an adult wants to poke their own eyes out.

2. His Dark Materials

I can't provide a short summary for explanation.

3. Don't Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking

I currently have more understanding of the topics addressed in this book than the information it provides, but this book is been amazing for explaining thought process to those without much prior understanding of flaws of interpretation.

4. Bridge to Terabithia

This requires a fairly long explanation, but my summary is that I feel Katherine Paterson does an amazing job at handling the concept of death and acknowledging the abilities of children. I also feel that Katherine Paterson does an amazing job in dealing with beliefs different than her own personal stance.

5. How Children Fail (Classics in Child Development)

While much of the information is outdated the book, the book is excellent for the time in which it was first published and has enough information (even that which is wrong) that is significantly different from other educational perspectives of the time it was originally published.

[brieana90]

My top ten favorite books are Harry Potter and His Dark Materials.

So, top three stand alone books are The Book Thief, Looking for Alaska, and 1984.
Maybe. Not set in stone.

[Mockingbird]

The times they are a changin'. Only two books (I think) survived my original list of four years ago. I'd be curious to see this list again in a few more years. I believe with reasonable certainty that my love affair with Proust and James, at least, will last a lifetime.

• Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
  The Golden Bowl/The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
  
  The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
  The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
  The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
  The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Nay, just one! Anyone else care to dig up ye olde listes and compare? So many have been here for so long...

How to choose, how to choose...

I think my MOST favorite book will always be To Kill A Mockingbird, it's nearly flawless in artistry for what it is, perfectly self-contained and earnest.

Other favorites:
-The Things They Carried
-White Teeth
-The Cider House Rules
-The Virgin Suicides
-Anil's Ghost
-The collected works of Jane Austen, minus Emma

-The Lord of the Rings
-His Dark Materials

By the by, this is the wrong place for it but I want to thank Jaya and Bethan and all the gang for keeping this place up even though I'm so rarely here anymore. It's a great record of our history and our becoming.