What is the best book you've ever read?

Question

Seriously. Why? What is it about?

Answer 1

Hard to pick out just one.Here are my favorites in no particular order.

Summer Knight, a book in the Dresden files book series.It narrates the story of Harry Dresden,chicago's only professional wizard who works as a detective.In this book he deals with the Summer and Winter Courts of the fey.Apparently they are about to go to war.An event which was triggered by the death of the Summer Knight.Queen Mab of the Winter Court hires Harry to find out the true killer.

'Bitten' and the rest of the books in the series by Kelley Armstrong.They are about Elena,the only female werewolf in the world.She was made a werewolf against her will by her boy friend.She rebels and runs away to Canada where she has been living as a normal human.However she is called back by her Pack leader when an emergency threatens the Pack.

Savage and Ascension by Kelley Armstrong.Both are available free from the author's website.They tell the story of Clayton,how he was made a werewolf,how Jeremy rescued the feral child wolf and earned Clayton's undying gratitude,and how Clayton became someone to reckon with in his Pack.Told in 1st person from Clayton's view,it is poignant and touching at times and humorous.We understand how his childhood influenced his later life.


Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini.When his best friend, a young clergyman, is killed in a mockery of a duel by an arrogant noble, just to quiet his eloquent expressions of democratic ideals, Andre-Louis Moreau vows revenge. From that point, through meteoric careers as a consummate actor and scenario writer, then as a fencing master, and finally a politician, the brilliant Moreau keeps thwarting the aims of the aristocratic Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr. However, the nobleman causes pain to Moreau as well, and the time must come when the two will meet to settle their enmity once and for all. You are not likely to guess how their confrontation finally turns out. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, this swashbuckling novel is exciting throughout, and it presents one of the most dashing heroes in fiction, a man who can fight equally well with his mind, his mouth, his pen, and his sword, a man who stirs up events wherever he goes.

The Time-Master trilogy By Louise Cooper.(review from Amazon)The books are 'The Initiate',The Outcast and The Master.It tells the story of Tarod a fascinating anti-hero, evolving throughout the series from a loyal disciple of Order to the God of Chaos that is his true heritage, with the repeated examination of his humanity thrown into the mix.


Brother Odd by Dean Koontz is the third book in his Odd Thomas series. Poor Odd has been through so much in the last couple of years. He lost Stormy, the love of his life, he's given up his job and his home to move into seclusion at a California mountainside monastery in hopes that his "gift" for seeing the dead won't be an issue up there. Instead he finds a poltergeist monk and evil spirits gathering around the young disabled children the monks (and nuns) care for. Odd knows that trouble is coming, and as usual he's the only one to recognize it.Can Odd mitigate the coming cataclysm? Of course he can, despite the arrival of murderous bone creatures and grim Death itself, for the monks include quite a contingent of reformed martial sinners, most memorably Brother Knuckles, formerly of the New Jersey Mob, and another guest, a mysterious Russian librarian from Indianapolis, who is more and different than Odd thinks he is.

The Vivero letter by Desmond Bagley.Jeremy Wheale's well-ordered life is torn apart when his brother is murdered by a mob hit man, whose bait was a family heirloom - a sixteenth-century gold tray. The trail takes Wheale from Devon to Mexico and the wild tropical rain forests of Yucatan. In dense jungle, he helps two archaeologists locate the rest of a fabled hoard of gold - treasure from Uaxuanoc, the centuries-old lost city of the Mayas. But his brother's enemies are on Wheale's trail, and with them are the Chicleros, a vicious band of convict mercenaries.

The best among the Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs is 'Son of Tarzen.' Jack,the son of Tarzan shared his father's love for apes.He was only trying to help an ape escape to Africa from his cruel trainer.However he got involved in a murder and couldn't return home.He chose to live in the jungle with the apes.Its a fascinating book.The social system among the intelligent giant apes,Korak's relationship with Miriam are all interesting stuff.Its a great coming of age book.

Dance with the devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon.The following review is taken from Amazon

Zarek was mad, bad and more than a little insane, and now everyone wants him dead. But hey, that was nothing new to this loner. Born the bastard son of a Roman nobleman and a Greek slave, Zarek had known a lifetime of abuse, torture and humiliation.

It takes a very special woman to see past that hostility and find the lost, unloved boy inside. Happily, Astrid is such a woman (or demigoddess, actually). Her empathy, patience and unconditional love make the perfect foil for Zarek's personal demons. They truly are a match made in heaven -- or should I say Mt. Olympus?

Answer 2

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I love stories about vampires anyway, but this was hands down the best book I've read. Complete escapism, I loved the characters, the setting, the way the author makes you feel as though you're right there, the whole thing. The funny part was the first time I read the story I wasn't sure if I even LIKED it until halfway through. After that I was a gonner!

Answer 3

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

It's about some divers in NJ that found a sunken German U-boat in the 1990's. It's got history, mystery, adventure, tragedy,... I could not put it down! I've given copies to a bunch of people as gifts and everybody I've ever talked to loved the book. The two main guys in the book now have their own show on the History Channel called Deep Sea Detectives.

Answer 4

Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl

He was a psychiatrist who survived the holocaust and the book describes how choices and attitudes can make a difference in even the most dire of circumstances. If you ever wondered how to deal with bad things in your life, this book is a must read.

Answer 5

'The Pornographers' by using Akiyuki Nozoka. purely undeniable stupid. or 'What Are They coaching our infants?' by using Mel and Norma Gabler. poor logic from poor human beings. or 'Nazareth Hill' by using Ramsey Campbell. i did not care one bit approximately any of the characters. yet no one has heard of those books. So the worst e book i've got study that human beings have actually heard of: 'wicked' by using Gregory Maguire. some distance too long with ineffective drivel. might have been decrease in 0.5 and nonetheless been too long.

Answer 6

The best book that I've ever read was "The Fountainhead," by Ayn Rand, a classic! It started a movement of sorts in the 40s, in the 60s and in the 80s... what a book! To me, it was the most inspirational book ever written; it illustrates the kinds of personalities we come across in our everyday lives, including demagogues and people who are just "users."

The other book that comes close is, "Above the Clouds: A Reunion of Father and Son," by Jonathan Bach, son of author Richard Bach. What a fantastic book. I recommend this book to anyone who is divorced and has children, or to children of divorced parents.

Answer 7

I can never pick just one. My 2 favorites are:
The Eight by Katherine Neville - great work of historical fiction involving modern (well 1970) times and a couple of 1800's nuns in search of a mythical chess set owned by Charlemagne, which is purported to hold the formula for a "fountain of youth" type of thing.
The second is called Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher - also kind of a historical fiction type of novel about a girls coming of age during WW1. Very good read.

Answer 8

Non-fiction the Bible.
Fiction hands down "To Kill a Mockingbird" and it is about so much. Part is the realiazation of a child that a parent is more than just a parent. It is about the races and how things were in the South back then and it makes you appreciate now. And we here in Alabama have the honor of Ms. Harper Lee living here in Monroeville.

Answer 9

Nathaniel Hawthorne's selected stories. I just love 19th century writing and ways of thought. I enjoyed the Scarlet letter, and Donatello, the whole thing. The book is a Borders Books reprint.

Answer 10

All Sidney Sheldon's books. I have read many triller and suspence books, but none influenced me so as Sidney's books did. In particular his "Nothing lasts forever", which was about three doctors, their failur and their victory. In this book, i was influenced by Sidney's keenness and his through invistigation on geographical states of different countries and medical. Another book of him that really attracted me as to call it the second best book i ever read, is "Sands of the time" which was about three nuns, their love story against church's low and their invintions.

Answer 11

I would say the best one was "The Hero in Chains", which is a short version of Le Miserables, written by Victor Hugo. As for Le Miserables itself, I read some of it too, but not from the beginning to the end.