Women over 30- whats the best book you've ever read?

Answer 1

I have a hard time picking one as I have favorites in several genres:
1. psychological thriller--The First Deadly Sin
2.horror--The Stand
3. sci-fi--Childhood's End or Brave New Worlf
4. historical fiction--The Source, Hawaii or Cold Mountain
5. non-fiction--The Autobiography of the Artist as a Young Man
6. true crime--In Cold Blood
I can go on but I guess my favorite over all genres is To Kill a Mockingbird
Sorry I couldn't mention just one.

Answer 2

That's really tough! I am typically a nonfiction reader, yet when I think back upon the books which have really gotten into my psyche and impacted me emotionally, I must say that well-crafted and intelligently paced novels have truly been the ones most memorable. I suppose this is due to one "living" with/as the fleshed-out hero/ine and co-experiencing plot travails. (I am also at work on my first historical novel.)

I have loved so many books - and have a real case of book-lust going on, but my favorites (in order)...
1. Tess of the d'Urbervilles since girlhood.
2. Here Be Dragons by Sharon Penman - Beautiful story
3. Anne Rice's the Vampire Lestat - although I absolutely HATED the rock star portions - rubbish.
4. Jean Auel's Earth's Children series with Ayla. Fabulously interesting, though wasn't as impressed with the latest installment. Incredible settings.

Mention: The Children's Blizzard is not a novel, but reads much like one. It is an intense retelling of nature's drama playing out on unsuspecting homesteaders on the American Plains. I'm sure I'll be kicking myself later for having forgotten another favorite... but there you have it. Interesting question posed - Thank you.

Answer 3

Like most of the answers so far, it's IMPOSSIBLE to narrow down to just one. But here are some that I really love, and I hope you get the chance to read:

1. The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje. He writes lots of great stuff, I love the collection of poems called "The Cinnamon Peeler's Wife" also.
2. Brokeback Mountain, by E Annie Proulx. Makes me cry every time, but it's worth it because the lyrical depiction of the characters and their loneliness is so profound.
3. Illywhacker, by Peter Carey. He's an Australian author... read anything by him you can find. He's strange but beautiful and just just just weird. I love him.
4. The Vintner's Luck, by Elizabeth Knox. A New Zealand writer. A beautiful story. Just lovely.
5. Possession, by A.S. Byatt. Ignore how crappy the film was. this is really dense but worth the effort.
6. Blood Wedding, Gabriel Garcia Lorca. Okay, it's a play, but read it anyway. Best line ever in a play "And now my son is a handful of dead leaves.."
7. Tara Road, by Maeve Binchy. A good solid great story, and I love her Dublin. Again, everything she writes is enjoyable.
8. Towards a Poor Theatre, by Jerzy Grotowski. Because I love theatre and this is the best book ever written on it.
9. The "His Dark Materials" trilogy, by Philip Pullman. Written for kids but fantastic for all ages. The books I've been recommending to everyone for ages.
10. The Sun also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. So so sad, so beautiful.

And there's heaps that could go on this list, and it tends to change when I read something new that I love or reread something again...

I'm kind of eclectic in my tastes but these are all great stories, lyrically and poetically expressed. As you may be able to tell, I love to read...

Answer 4

These are some of my favorites: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O'Toole (funniest book I ever read and there is no other character in American Lit like Ignatius J. Reilly, self-deluded grotesque and HILARIOUS), Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger, Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Eva Luna and the stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende, for total guilty pleasure the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, I could go on and on.

Answer 5

No takers on this one so far. Not a lot of old people out in Yahoo zone. I have read many books that I loved. If I must select, I'll have to say Moby Dick. I still go back and reread parts of it when something happens to me and I find a connection to the book.

Answer 6

The Outlander Series the books about Jamie Fraser by Diana Gabaldon... oh man... hot fantasies for us +30 types....
Who will play him in the movie version????
but seriously.....

The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart a beautiful story!

Answer 7

I love Octavia E. Butler. Kindred is a great novel of the kind that I think people should be reading it 200 years from now

I also enjoyed Amy Tan's novels, all of them.

I am a true bookworm, so it's hard to narrow down. I could go on and on.....

Answer 8

I'm with teritaur
The OUTLANDER series. I read the first book in paperback so many times it broke in two, I had to buy it in hardback,
I have the whole series in hardback now.

Answer 9

she's come undone by wally lamb