Angels & Demons question

I don't know how anyone can answer this question honestly. We don't even know what great books are still to come in the future so it is pretty impossible to know right now. I have favorites yes, but I do not have one single favorite and I'm sure that more books will continue to amaze me.

I have read Hsin Hsin Ming by Sosan interpreted by Osho and I love it so deeply that every time I go near it I feel joy. I like it because it has all the answers of my questions.
And I can't forget The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho because it has all the element to make me stand up in any circumstances.

When I turn the last page and feel my precious love has just left me forever..., but only until another one walks in to my life!

I think once you get past the first 100 or so pages, one of the best books I have ever read was Dune. The story of the Harkonnen's (I may have spelled that wrong), the Fremen and the spice trade, and how all of it was interwoven was amazing. Frank Herbert is truly an incredible story teller. Once you get past the history portion of the book, and into the "meat" of the story, it is almost impossible to put down. I may have to read it again as I read it a couple of decades ago when I was an early teen on the trains in Japan.



The other book I have read that I think is definitely one of the best is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It has all the eerie, fog steeped, lone manor house by the sea atmosphere as Wuthering Heights creates out on the moors of England . The main characters are even eerie and fog steeped especially Maximillian with his brooding and dark nature.. And the young wife, haunted by the notorious Rebecca trying to find her way as the head of the household is poignant. Everywhere she turns there are remnants of Rebecca, literally as they find her boat and her body and assume that she went down in a storm. Rebecca is clearly still in charge of Manderly. The end of the novel is perfectly written.

I think it`s not about Favoritism, I think it`s more to do with what book has impacted your life, that one book that you read at a time in your life,where the written word or story has had a profound effect on your thinking at that moment in your life.I have that moment only once with a book and it has never left me and that was the .
I read it at a time when I was in a cross roads of my life and needed to question were my roots lay in life.
this book taught me how to look at the question differently and in doing that I found my answers I was seeking.

I thing that The Gargoyle is the best book I have read. It is my favorite of all time so far. It had a lot of darkness in it but there was also love and light, and the stories within the stories were amazing. I downloaded it from Amazon the second time I read it because I can't bear to write in a book and there were so many poignant lines and Kindle allows you to highlight so.....I guess I love it enough to have two copies, one hardcover and one kindle.

A book I've read twice and will read again is Maryanne Wiggins Evidence of Things Unseen. Delightful prose and extraordinary story. Try it....

The best book I've read is Chasing Justice by Dan Hunter. It's a tale f revenge and intrigue. It's as good as the count of monte Cristo. http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Justice...

And then there were none, Agatha Christie for its really surprising ending
The Harry Potter Series, because made me laugh, cried a lived.
La Sombra del Viento, Carlos Ruiz Safón, because was beautifull written

It is really difficult to pick just one. My best 5 picks in no particular order are:
1.Kane and Abel
2.God Father
3.Atlas Shrugged
4.The Day of the Jackal
5.The da vinci code.

Has to be 'To Kill a Mockingbird'....definitely has stood up to the test of time

Trying to pin myself down to one book is a nigh on impossibility. I have read countless good books over too many years for one to jump out above all others. However if the criteria for a good book is one that stays with the reader, changes their thinking, impacts on their future learning and belief system then the list grows shorter. It maybe the criteria is re-readability and of course The Lord of The Rings would fit that bill, but in my case so would War and Peace and Anna Karenina. It might be that as writers and aspiring authors we might feel a book that inspires our muse would fit the category of favourite book, but of course many books could claim to have wetted my creative juices. However, one book which certainly threw me in the direction of portraying the Devil as an ambiguous anti-hero in Mr Charalambus and The One Soul was The Master and Margarita by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. As a novel it is an absolute joy, beautifully written, profound, amusing and truly moving. I loved it when I read some years ago and love it still.

The Lord of the Rings. I read it every year. It's such a beautiful story.

Man! Tough question!! But I think I loved Tuesdays with Morrie and the entire Harry Potter series. Both books answer so many questions. The theme to both of them are spectacular and magic is hardly why you read HP

Three Men in a Boat Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog)by Jerome K Jerome is brilliant. I keep it in my handbag so that if I have to hang around waiting anywhere I have it handy. I could read it to the end and then start at the beginning and be entertained every time. I can start on any page and think it fresh.

There are so many books that I have enjoyed that it's hard to pick but Beach Music by Pat Conroy is one of my all time favorites :)

In no particular order :)

Red Tent - Anita Diamant
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Great Gasby - F Scott Fitzgerald

1. Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

2. Nirmala by Prem Chand

The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monserrat. I've read it several times. Set during the second World War it is about the battle of the Atlantic. May sound dry to some but it really humanized that part of the war for me. The author was amazing in his ability to make you care for the souls who survived as well as those who did not.

I think the best book that I have read to date is The Count of Monte Cristo. The characters and the plots are very complex and interacting. The way everything falls into place is amazing and it was such a great book to read, the action was almost nonstop and where there was a break in that the emotional turmoil of the main characters was explored. It was an amazing book and I would recommend it to anyone! The only thing is you may have to read twice to fully comprehend how everything interacts.

It's so difficult to select just one. Here are 10 that I love (in no particular order)
1: Famous Last Words - Timothy Findley
2: The Talisman - Stephen King & Peter Straub
3: At Swim, Two Boys - Jamie O'Neill
4: The Mountain and the Valley - Ernest Buckler
5: The King Must Die - Mary Renault
6: A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
7: To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
8: Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9: Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald
10: And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

The list could go on but these are, to me, must-reads. Enjoy :)

a many splendored thing by han suyin, les miserables by victor hugo, east of eden by john steinbeck...

Dubliners by James Joyce. It's 14 of the greatest short stories ever written (including "The Dead", which I consider the best piece of literature of all time) and it maps out the human experience better than any other work.

It is hard to choose the best book I have read but 5 Point someone-Chetan Bhagat, Angels & Demons-Dan Brown, Cain & Abel-Jeffery Archery were some of the best. Once you pick up this books, its hard to put it down.And yes Harry Potter is entirely a different word.

"Of Mice and Men" by Steinbeck, poignant to say the least, has truly touched my heart in a way no other book has since then.

Well. of all the books so far read, Alchemist has always been a favorite. There is not beating to it. It's completely different and mostly motivational.

Without a doubt, without hesitation: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

This book sparked my life-long love affair with the written word. Samuel Clemmens was a master story-teller. I a don't think that he told any story better than this one.

The emotional climax of the book during Huck's dilemma on whether or not to help Jim escape is without equal in my opinion. In that one scene, not only does Clemmens condemn slavery, but also spotlights the hypocricy of a regilion that hid behind scripture to perpetuate such an evil. At the same time he fially shares Huck's true character. The kid known for wanting nothing more than a care-free lifstyle, becomes a man with a backbone straighter and stronger than any cathedral's column.

It is a masterpiece of writing that I would put up against all other authors.

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman...Not a serie, fun as hell and creative in a way I like. On the series approach, I would say Harry Potter (LOTR movies are better than the books, Games of Throne (so far) and anything written by China Mieville !

Three books
The Shipping News
A beautiful and poignant story about hope set in a beautiful landscape. The movie is excellent as well.

Gods Men by Pearl. S. Buck (sadly out of print now).
Starting in the Boxer Revolution in China and moving on to America. An epic and very well written book about morality and success - thought provoking (PS. Not a religious book!)

Quiet Flows the Don
This book is like a good friend. Every time I read it, it feels comforting. Strange as it's set during WWI and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia - but the characters and the description of Russia in the early 1900's is amazing and riveting.

City of glass by Cassandra Clare

To Kill a Mockingbird - totally changed my perception of race and what it means to be human.

Its a realy difficult question because a good reader likes all his books because thats the thing about reading a book....it just cannot be explained.But my true appreciation for classics started when I read To Kill A Mockingbird

I have to agree with Rares. I have multiple favorites. However, the one book that stands out is Cathederal by Nelson DeMille. The timing was incredible, right around 9/11. The characterizations and story line were riveting and totally believeable.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS because it is beautiful and, excepting only those presented by parenting, it sensibly and sensitively probes the most fundamental questions of human existence.

I think one of the best book i have read is THE ANGELS AND THE DEMONS, Dan Brown, in it you see the Topsy turfy of the powers that be.......

Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey is my personal favorite--probably the best American novel of the 20th Century, in my flawed and limited opinion.
Moby Dick may be the best American novel of all, but I'm so damn fond of The Sound and the Fury...

Game of Thrones and Symbol by Dan Brown

I agree with Karlene, it is hard to pick just one. My recent ones, I lived very much Steve Jobs biography by Isaacson and Fall of Giants.

Easy, The Count of Monte Cristo. If you've seen the movie you CAN'T say you've read the book. It misses out on so many great parts, not to mention characters. Completely different story.
Love and hate coexist in this superb prose, mixing emotional irrational feelings with logic, wit, and genius.
In men I most value integrity and courage, which Dantes is innately full of.

Well, tough question....

I would have to say Vanity Fair, by Thackeray. The setting, the characters, the era, the social and coustums critique - fab! I have read this book in a total of about 8 times, and it never gets tiring.

For me the best book would have to be Stephen Kings The Stand. The setting, characters, the way it was written.
One of the few books I've reread many times.

Mr. Emerson's Wife by Amy Belding Brown. If you want to take a trip to Concord, MA and sink into the history there of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his wife Lydia, Thoreau, and even the Alcotts and Margaret Fuller, this is your read. It's a true escape into 19th-century historical love, death, philosophy, feminism, and family.

http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Emersons-Wif...

To Kill a Mockingbird... is the best book I read it. When I wonted more from that book (it is hard to believe you can get it more..) I took CD version from library and what a joy...
To hear it in beautiful southern accent it was sublime. Every sentence, every coma, every period is on right place with right reason.

The Catcher in the Rye - because it just made me feel good, and it got me in good mood while reading it;
The Name of the Rose - a masterpiece, mix of history, literature, great dialog, excitement and breathtaking ending.

Impossible to narrow it down to one. There are books that have wrapped me up so tightly that I lived every minute. The Ninth Buddha by Daniel Easterman and Every Dead Thing by John Connolly are just 2 of them.

It is difficult to name one best book. I have read lots of books at early age of 9 years as my father was a teacher and very widely read. He read history books, Hindu religion and lots of novels. I have followed his foot steps. My husband is also well read. One of the good authors is Ayn Rand loved her books. Every book is different and it changes a little of you in everyday life.

1. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
2. Catch 22
3. Johnno
4. The Lord of the Rings trilogy
5. Stranger in a Strange Land

Asking a reader to pick his favourite book is like asking a mother to pick her favourite child.

To date I think 'The Book Thief', it will stay in my
memory for a long time, when you read so much it is difficult to choose just one book.