The Next Best Book Club discussion

I’m looking to add some more books to my “to read” list! I’d like to branch out and read some books that I’m not used to! What’s your favorites?

Books I read in high school that have remained favorites (and I've read them multiple times)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Crime and Punishment
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Pride and Prejudice (though Sense and Sensibility is really my favorite Austen work)

Thank you for sharing! “To kill a mocking bird” is still one of my favorites!

Books I read in middle school that made me an addicted reader!

Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Hobbit
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
David Copperfield

Choosing a favorite book, or a favorite top five, is tough because the list is genre, mood and situation dependant. Acknowledging that my top books today may not be my favorites in a week, I'll share this list of five (I know you only asked for a favorite, but...) :

1- (non fiction) Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
2- (historical fiction) Remarkable Creatures or Girl with a Pearl Earring (I really enjoy Tracy Chevalier's historical fiction)
3- (classic fiction) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
4- (dystopian fiction) The Handmaid's Tale (I'm not a fan of any of the adaptations whether film or series)
5- (cross genre) Stones from the River

Gosh, there are so many more..

Hmmm... such a tough request for a book lover! Goodness, there are so many.

In no particular order:

Blindness by Jose Saramago
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Each Vagabond by Name Margo Orlando Littell
Everything I Found on the Beach Cynan Jones
Death of an Ordinary Man Glen Duncan
A Shelter of Others Charles Dodd White
Threats Amelia Gray
My Only Wife Jac Jemc
The Country of Ice Cream Star Sandra Newman
North and Central Bob Hartley
The Good and the Ghastly: A Novel James Boice
Above All Men Eric Shonkwiler
Even Though I Don't Miss You Chelsea Martin
Marigold Troy James Weaver
Fallen Land Taylor Brown
Mesilla Robert James Russell
Fram Steve Himmer
Immobility Brian Evenson
The Alligators of Abraham Robert Kloss
Jesus' Son Denis Johnson
Zazen Vanessa Veselka
alt.punk Lavinia Ludlow
Termite Parade Joshua Mohr
I Curse the River of Time Per Petterson
The Book M. Clifford
Banned for Life Duke Haney
The Secret History Donna Tart

That's for starters : )

Catch-22
The Goldfinch by Tartt
Dark Tower series from Stephen King
Under the Dome and the stand from ibid.
Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
The Monkey Wrench Gang--Edward Abbey
The Cider House Rules--John Irving

Still Life with Woodpecker is one of my favorites!!!!!

Connie wrote: "Choosing a favorite book, or a favorite top five, is tough because the list is genre, mood and situation dependant. Acknowledging that my top books today may not be my favorites in a week, I'll sha..."

Connie wrote: "Choosing a favorite book, or a favorite top five, is tough because the list is genre, mood and situation dependant. Acknowledging that my top books today may not be my favorites in a week, I'll sha..."

My favorites:
Girl with a Pearl Earring, Stones From the River, All the Light We Cannot See, March by Geraldine Brooks, and my forever favorite:
To Kill a Mockingbird. Interesting lists--can't wait to check out some of the titles.

The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran

A book I always go back to for comfort is: The Shell Seekers by Rosamund Pilcher. Probably my #1. I also loved:
The Descendents (It was made into a movie.)
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
White Oleander by Janet Fitch (an Oprah pick)

That would have to be The Book Thief......or The Good Earth....or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series.....Marriage of Opposites......or The Good Luck Club....too hard to choose one!

Tough one... I would say Order of the Phoenix or The Shining.

I would say... Leïlan or Pride and Prejudice

Very hard to choose some titles ... but let's see:

-> Maybe Someday - Colleen Hoover
-> The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion
-> Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
-> This Charming Man - Marian Keyes

Currently...
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts or
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

The Bible
The Art of Biblical Narrative by Robert Alter
I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression by Terrence Real
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

I feel like there have been some forgotten gems, book that burned inside me for years after I read them, but have not faded out of my memory. Will post again if I do.

Here are books on my favorites list:
The Nightingale
Unbroken
The Pillars of the Earth
Kane and Abel
The Invention of Wings
The Count of Monte Cristo
Rebecca

A Prayer for Owen Meany
Ahab's Wife, or the Star Gazer
The Red Tent

The Wanderer - Sharon Creech

I read this book in third grade and have loved it ever since. I have read it multiple times over the years and I love it!!!!

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Took my breath away!

Deborah wrote: "The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Took my breath away!"

One of my favourites too.Only read it recently and wishing I could find another book as good

What's my favorite book (singular) of all time I find impossible to answer because different genres equal different favorites. It's funny I've given lots of thought to this for movies, but not books:

The Lord of the Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkien
The Black Sheep - Honoré de Balzac
For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone + whole series - JK Rowling
Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
Killing Floor (and other Jack Reacher novels) - Lee Child
The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Earthsea Trilogy - Ursula K. Le Guin
The BFG - Roald Dahl
Dune - Frank Herbert

Favorite book of all time
The Secret History
It seems I never get tired of it

And I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series and I just remember why I love it so much

Killer Takes All, Erica Spindler

I like books with a lot of suspense that keep me guessing.

But I liked To Kill A Mocking Bird too. I can still remember it.

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
Watchers - Dean Koontz
The Wolf and The Dove - Kathleen Woodiwiss
Watership Down - Richard Adams
The Killer (aka The Hunter) - Tom Wood (the entire series is a favorite)
Rainbow Six - Tom Clancy
Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb
Term Limits - Vince Flynn
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
The Charm School - Nelson DeMille
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson
The Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills

Pride and prejudice
The wolf and the dove
My Sisters Grave
Follow the River
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hacker Series
Neighbor from Hell
Bridgerton Series



Currently reading the Outlander series and on book #2... so far this wouldn’t be a reread for me!

If you want to try something very different, At Swim Two Birds by Flann O'Brien is a worth a look. My current favourite book is The Best of Myles by the same author. It's a collection of columns he wrote in The Irish Times about seventy years ago. They are some of the funniest and most stylish writing I've ever read, covering a huge range of topics. They are mainly made-up nonsense, but such clever made-up nonsense.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

And also, Life of Pi by Yann Martel

From high school I hated reading because of a learning disability and a librarian suggested I read plays. Boy did that help. I read all the time. These two started me off
The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams
The Effects of Gamma Rays on man-in-the-moon Marigolds
By Paul Zindel

Also anything by JRR Tolkien

My favorite 2 new books are:
The Reckoning by John Grisham

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Sheri Konopko

The Great Gatsby

I just read Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Pulitzer Prize 1921, i think. I love literary books about social mores that pull me into a world different from my current era. Set in New York City in the 1870s, it harks back to a time which seems the opposite of ours - a time when one understood but didn't express it, and a time when one sacrificed oneself to maintain the values and beliefs of one's social set. I was surprised at the ending, yet not too surprised. Loved the book.

Jan wrote: "Catch-22
The Goldfinch by Tartt
Dark Tower series from Stephen King
Under the Dome and the stand from ibid.
Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
The Monkey Wrench Gang--Edward Abbey
The Cider ..."

Yeah, I think I have to agree with Catch-22. It literally hurt to laugh while reading that one.

One of my all-time fav's as well. It's beautifully written.

Samantha wrote: "I’m looking to add some more books to my “to read” list! I’d like to branch out and read some books that I’m not used to! What’s your favorites?"

I still love "And Ladies of the Club" by Helen Hover Santmyer and have read it whenever I felt the need for home, or closeness of friends, or just to get lost in another, kindlier time.

Just read some previous posts back to October and now have a new reading list. Thanks everyone...in particular I look forward to reading Where the Crawdads Sing and Age of Innocence. PS-Happy 2020.

I love both crime and rom com books, but the book I have read the most number of times has to be The Runaway by Martina Cole. First read it 20 years ago and have never read anything quite like it since. Definitely recommend it x

I don’t have one favorite book, so I’ll share with you some of my favorite books:
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
The Places I’ve Cried in Public by Holly Bourne
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The last 2 books are turned into a movie, and I highly recommend to read the books instead.))

Hello Everyone!

I also don't have a specific favorite! I have many.

Shards of a Shattered Mirror Book I: Cryptic
Pride and Prejudice
Harry Potter Series Box Set
Divergent
The Secret
Joe Dispenza books

and many more I cannot remember! :-)

Hi All - Lots of great books posted in this list that I concur with. A few I have read recently and enjoyed are:
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

If I had to choose one book, it would be 'The Princess Bride' (William Goldman)...I had the benefit of being "that one guy" and reading it before I saw the movie, so my brain was the proverbial blank canvas and Goldman's masterpiece had brilliant colors. Genuine sorrow hit me hard when the book was over.

Hey Everyone!

Just like so many of you, It's hard to pick just one title! I do have 5 or so titles that I suggest regularly to people.

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten.
The Five People You Meet In Heaven.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Store.
If you give a Mouse a Cookie.
Eyes of the Dragon.
Raise the Titanic.

silly auto correct! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone, not Store!