Bibliophilia discussion

What makes a book your favourite book? Do you have one or many?

Some of my favourite books so far include:

-First Impressions: A Novel
-The Host
-Sister
-The Passage
-The Thirteenth TaleMiss -Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Feel free to post you favourite shelf if you have one!

My favorite book is The Unwanteds

ɘⓛⓛⓘⓝɒⓋ❤*Їи a щоґld шнёґє нёaят$ lїvє wrote: "My favorite book is The Unwanteds"

Hi, welcome to the group.

What is The Unwanteds about?

Thank you!
Well its about these kids(The Unwanteds)They are about to go to the death farm. But this guy named Mr.Today saves them from their death.

ɘⓛⓛⓘⓝɒⓋ❤*Їи a щоґld шнёґє нёaят$ lїvє wrote: "Thank you!
Well its about these kids(The Unwanteds)They are about to go to the death farm. But this guy named Mr.Today saves them from their death."

Oh gosh. Why are they going to a death farm?

They are going to the death farm because they are Unwanteds (They have 1 or more infractions.)

ɘⓛⓛⓘⓝɒⓋ❤*Їи a щоґld шнёґє нёaят$ lїvє wrote: "They are going to the death farm because they are Unwanteds (They have 1 or more infractions.)"

That's not nice.

I've just had a look and it's a series right? Is the series complete or is the Author still writing them?

The author is still writing book 6th she said it will come out on September so I'm waiting for book 6th.

ɘⓛⓛⓘⓝɒⓋ❤*Їи a щоґld шнёґє нёaят$ lїvє wrote: "The author is still writing book 6th she said it will come out on September so I'm waiting for book 6th."

Exciting! Did book 5 end on a massive cliff hanger?

I'm on book 2. I looked at the library but I couldn't find the book so I'm going there again to look.

ɘⓛⓛⓘⓝɒⓋ❤*Їи a щоґld шнёґє нёaят$ lїvє wrote: "I'm on book 2. I looked at the library but I couldn't find the book so I'm going there again to look."

Oh I see. Lest you do not have to wait for the next one to come out!

My favourite books are probably Brainjack, Maggot Moon, Out of My Mind, A Whole Nother Story, and Proxy. I have a lot more that I like, but if I put all the books I liked, there wouldn't be enough space. :p

Ⓙüηε wrote: "My favourite books are probably Brainjack, Maggot Moon, Out of My Mind, A Whole Nother Story, and Proxy. I have a lot mo..."

They sound very interesting. I agree, there defiantly wouldn't be enough space for all our favorite books.

There are probably ten or a dozen books I could describe as my favourite. If I had to pick one I would say The Cairo Trilogy.

Andrew wrote: "There are probably ten or a dozen books I could describe as my favourite. If I had to pick one I would say The Cairo Trilogy."

What is that about?

It's about a family in Cairo from 1919 to 1944. One of the sons is killed inThe riots against the English. One of the grandsons becomes a Communist and another a Muslim Brother. They both get interned. The magnificent old patriarch dies just before the end and his disappointing intellectual youngest son loses faith in everything. At the same time the old order is collapsing.

It's magnificent.

That sounds really interesting. I may have to look into it a bit more. The story actually reminds me of something else, but I can't put my finger on it...

It could easily remind you of Buddenbrooks or the Forsyte Saga. Mahfouz knew them both.

You can get it in three separate volumes. The first is called Palace Walk.

Andrew wrote: "It could easily remind you of Buddenbrooks or the Forsyte Saga. Mahfouz knew them both.

You can get it in three separate volumes. The first is called Palace Walk.

"

I don't think its them. I will have to have a think a let you know what the story reminds me off. It is going to bug me until I remember now.

Oh gosh I have a few but the ones that have stuck with me are:
The Gormenghast Trilogy
The Three Musketeers
and the Willard Price adventure series as a child :D

The Three Musketeers! Classic!

What is The Hormenghast Trilogy about? Goodreads doesn't give much away.

Oh my gosh - Gormenghast!It goes from the birth of Titus Groan and follows his family (the ruling family) but mainly a kitchen boy named Steerpike who puts himself in a lot of different situations to work his way up through the strict class/society regulations through the connections he makes and the way he manipulates those who come into contact with him. It's very well done through the description of the earldom itself as an imposing, claustrophobic yet majestic place and the reflections through the people who live in & around it.

Gosh I'm terrible at explaining things but I just love it so much!!

You sound very passionate about it. How did you find out about the book? I've never heard of it.

Oh gosh, I can't actually remember how I got it - it just seems I've always had it (though that can't be true as the edition I have was only printed in '97 so it's only been out for 18 years - I'll blame it on a parent!)

Yes parents get the blame for everything! Haha

It is nice that you cannot remember having that book. It surely must be a keeper!

Oh it really is - even when I thought I'd lost it for good! It's a pity it got so battered really but I'll still keep it for posterity - even if it is a bit too fragile to read now.

But those are the best kind of books! Put some tape around it, I'm sure it would be fine. Hehe

Noooo, no tape. it will be fine if I just read the substitute that I bought that looks exactly the same but in better condition ;)

Hayley wrote: "Noooo, no tape. it will be fine if I just read the substitute that I bought that looks exactly the same but in better condition ;)"

Aww a substitute! How sweet. At least you can still read it. Do you read it every year?

No, I have too many other books to read the 1st time round to do that, it's rather a large book (trilogy in one book). I just like to pick it up when I feel the need to read it again. I usually like to save it for my weekend reading when I'm not going anywhere :)

Oh I see. I didn't know it was such a big story. It is nice to have a comfort book. I don't think I have one yet. Just a few favourites here and there.

I have many, but a few especially that I re-read quite often. They are;

Dracula - Bram Stoker
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
1984 - George Orwell
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
The Trial - Franz Kafka
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (actually anything by this man, I LOVE)
The Catcher in the rye - JD Salinger (though I don't love it as much as I did when I was a teenager ;))

These are in constant rotation on my to read list. Hehe, there were more than I thought when I started the list :)

(also, on a lighter note, I have re-read Marian Keyes "Watermelon" many, many times... something about that book, if I'm down, just gets me!)

Watermelon? What is that about?

The Trail sounds familiar, I don't know why though.

Watermelon is about a woman (Claire) who gives birth to her first baby and right after her husband leaves her. So, heartbroken, she goes home to Ireland to live with her family and put herself back together while y'know, learning to mom. There's a new guy and some romance in there too :) It's funny and charming.

I think The Trial is probably familiar because it's used as a pop cultural reference a lot. Or I think at least.

Oh Watermelon sounds sad. Do you know why it is called Watermelon.

I am going to Google The Trial.

Annabella wrote: "Oh Watermelon sounds sad. Do you know why it is called Watermelon.

I am going to Google The Trial."

It's sad and it isn't, because the characters are so likeable and it all gets funny and lovely. Like the start is sad, as she's trying to cope, but it turns around pretty quickly.

It's called the Watermelon because when she's in her last pregnant she wears a green dress or something and her husband tells her she looks like a watermelon. :)

Hum, I might give it a go. It sounds interesting.

That does sound like a sad book. Honestly, I like when books are sad enough to make me cry... I don't know why.

Probably because you connect with the characters. Now that makes a good book.

There are so many good books out there! My current favourites are:

Hyperion series. SciFi epic with so many new worlds and ideas. Love it!

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I love immersing myself in new worlds and alternative realities and have read the series three times. I'm always so sad when it ends and want to start all over again.

The Martian because it's a realistic tale of survival in space, but so well written and full of dry(and black)humour.

The Night Circus because the language and the images are 'deliciously luscious' and it's such an unusual story. I'd love to write English prose like this.

I can't stop crying every time I read Pigeon English - but I also love it so much I've reread it a number of times. It's a sign of a book that you feel attached enough to cry over the characters.

Annerlee wrote: "There are so many good books out there! My current favourites are:

Hyperion series. SciFi epic with so many new worlds and ideas. Love it!

The Dark Tower series by Stephe..."

I actually couldn't get into the night circus. I LOVED the descriptive writing, but I need a fasted paced story.

I got bored of the Night Circus on the very first page, yet somehow I stuck through 1200 pages of The Count of Monte Cristo and read every bit (even the interminable description of the count's stint in prison) and loved it. Words move in mysterious ways.

Yes they do. I have some books that I didn't even finish, yet they end up being peoples favourite books.

Taysha wrote: "I got bored of the Night Circus on the very first page, yet somehow I stuck through 1200 pages of The Count of Monte Cristo and read every bit ..."

Funny, I was just the opposite - I savoured the Night Circus and really enjoyed a slow read... but didn't get past the first chapter of the Count of Monte Cristo. I had no patience for it - which is fairly unusual for me. How weird is that!

It must me my everlasting bias against contemporary fiction that does it. Honestly, if The Count of Monte Cristo had been written this year instead of the 19th century, I would probably have dismissed it as trash.

Taysha wrote: "It must me my everlasting bias against contemporary fiction that does it. Honestly, if The Count of Monte Cristo had been written this year instead of the 19th century, I would probably have dismis..."

Lol "dismissed it as trash" That made me giggle. What is your cut off for 'trash'?

Books that seem to go nowhere fast and don't suggest some grand literary purpose or meaning. The Count of Monte Cristo was excusable in its slowness because the novel as a whole was immensely satisfying and presented philosophies about life, love, revenge, and human nature which can reasonably be said to hold the potential to change the reader's entire outlook.

I guess the best way to summarize what separates a good book from trash is whether or not it will be memorable years after having reading it and whether or not it has some meaning or impact on the reader and their life after the cover is closed and it's put back on the shelf. I don't think either of those conditions is ever fulfilled in modern fiction.

Taysha wrote: "I guess the best way to summarize what separates a good book from trash is whether or not it will be memorable years after having reading it and whether or not it has some meaning or impact on the reader and their life after the cover is closed and it's put back on the shelf. I don't think either of those conditions is ever fulfilled in modern fiction. "

Which is sad because I can think fo a few 'modern fiction' books which I believe to fill this criteria. But then I also believe that each person has different tastes (heck, some people think Ian McEwan is a great author yet I can't stand his work). Once upon a time the works we'd consider 'classics' now were just seen as chapters in weekly papers. Not everyone liked them or thought they were good enough to last.

12 publishers turned down the 1st Harry Potter book and when it was first published only a hundred or so copies were printed, obviously thats eries quickly turned but the first people to read it obviously didn't think much of it.

I think throwing away all modern literature could be seen as a bit harsh as you obviously haven't read much of what has come out recently.... maybe you're just picking up the wrong books, but I really hope you find some of the good ones. Obviously I can't see your book list to see what sort you're into - so can't make any recommendations, but don't give up - even the classics were modern once upon a time :)

Taysha wrote: "It must me my everlasting bias against contemporary fiction that does it. Honestly, if The Count of Monte Cristo had been written this year instead of the 19th century, I would probably have dismis..."

Lol, I actually used to be a lot like that. So I hear ya! :)

I still struggle with a lot of modern works (or rather the writing of many of them) but largely I've gotten over my bias, and/or learned to appreciate a lot of them in their own context.

I suppose reading a lot of not-modern 'trash' helped me get out of my little "classic bubble"