"Ummmmm....well, '1984' is a long time favorite - also 'Chrysalids' and 'Fahrenheit 451' but I haven't read any of them in years! I adored 'The Colour Purple', I know you think 'OPRAH' when you hear that title, but it is a phenomenal book! Oh - also, when I read 'To Kill A Mockingbird' I couldn't figure out why I had waited so long to read it!!"
It is difficult to come up with just one book when I love so many!
Of course, off the top of my head, I can't recall the names of most of the books I read last year (or even the books I read a few weeks ago) so I guess none of them qualify as a favorite. Imagine that, reading 51 books in 2012 and not one stands out! Can a book even be considered a favorite if you only read it once?
I am reading Atwood right now - 'Alias Grace'.* I decided to read all of Atwood's work. Eventually that is, no deadlines. Is she my favorite author? On the spot, she was the first name that came to mind! Now I change my answer to Salinger! Is that too predictable? I wish I could say Dickens, but I've only read three of his books, and I procrastinate over picking up another. The length of his stories is intimidating. It shouldn't be, since I've read George RR Martin's Game of Thrones series at least twice (five books and counting). My previous favorite author was Guy Gavriel Kay. I've read all of his books, many more than once - but so much time has passed that I am starting to forget his stories.
As I pan my bookshelves, Miriam Toews jumps out as another author that I am dedicated to. Jane Austin and Tolkien two more.
Do you have a favorite book, or a favorite author? What about a list of top picks? I'd love to hear!
ps. I set up a goodreads account, as Shannon8footsix, but I will continue to document the books that I read here, filed under the 'books' tab.
pps. There are so many lists of books I want to read. The full Indigo Colour Your Library list. All Giller Prize winners. Man Booker prize winners. I am still knocking off 20th Century must reads from this list. Of course all of Atwood and Woolf's works. The rest of Jane Austin. There are not enough hours!!! (oh, I want to read the The Hours) I might have to cut back on sleep!
ppps. I want to enlarge and frame this photo I took (above)...it makes me happy!
*Handmaid's tale is one of my favorite books.
Funny I was just about to say you should try Goodreads as a way to keep track. I love it. And you've just reminded me that I have a lot of books I should still add from before I started, more is better when it comes to their recommendations...
ReplyDeleteOh, and favourite book is definitely Lord of the Rings. I've probably read that 12 times.
Funny, "1984" and "Chrysalids" are also my all time favourite. I started reading "Fahrenheit 451" but never finished it. I also love the original "Time Machine." Another one of my all time favs is "Summer Sisters" by Judy Blume. I also love anything by Dean Koontz.
ReplyDeleteiI really like Goodreads and I'm using it to track my reading challenge for this year!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite author? Anne-Marie MacDonald (Fall on Your Knees is one of my all time favorites), Jeffrey Eugenides (Middlesex = brillilant), RIchard Yates (everything I've read so far) and last year one of my favorites was Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. It was his first book so hopefully his next will be just as great.
Favorite books include all of the above and also A Room With A View by E.M. Forster, and also By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham (there's something really beautiful about that book. Oh I could go on forever! I wish I could be a professional reader! :)
Isabel Allende will always be a favourite...love her books. Also really like Atwood and Alias Grace is a great one, although a bit slow to start. Not a big fan of her futuristic ones though, but love the stuff she wrote in the 70s.
ReplyDeleteAlso really like Kate Atkinson, enjoy John Steinbeck and Pat Conroy writes beautifully and hauntingly. Classics I like are Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte and have you read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys?
Nick Hornby is great - How to be Good made me howl. Also by him - A Long Way Down (4 strangers bump into each other on a roof top on new year's eve as they each prepare to jump. Something happens after they compare how miserable - or not - their lives are.) Another Nick H is About a Boy - you know the movie, but the book has some more characters and twists. All time pick would be a Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving. Everything comes together. Wish I'd kept a journal of all the books I've read. Many commuting hours spent with my nose in a book. Oh yeah, Atwood books are fab, but can have some ups & downs. My absolute favourite of hers is Robber Bride. A good sci-fi is Oryx & Crake.
ReplyDeleteOh! I'll have to check out Goodreads! I just finished reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet with my book club, and it was GREAT! I read it in one day, ignoring all family duties. lol
ReplyDeleteJust added you on Goodreads! I read The Handmaid's Tale in grade 11 and loved it! I keep thinking I should reread it, see what I think of it as an adult.
ReplyDeleteI recently finished “The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, and I am absolutely in love with that book. I am now in the process of reading through all of his other work. I also loved The Glass Castle by J. Walls - I would highly recommend both books!
ReplyDeleteEthan Fromme is fantastic. The Power of One is also a great read. Another favorite of mine is The Picture of Dorian Gray.
ReplyDeleteI liked Ethan Frome! A bit dreary!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Dorian Gray yet! On the list!!!
I loved Harry Potter Series!
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of A Fine Balance...off to check it out! Game of Thrones is back on TV in 2 months...sweet!
I am putting the book thief on my list!!!
ReplyDeleteI just picked up a copy of the Glass castle!!!
re-read!!!
ReplyDeleteOhhh! I love getting sucked into a book like that!
ReplyDeleteAdded it to my list!!!
Kundera was lost on me...it happens :(
ReplyDeleteI read one Horby...I want to read more!!
ReplyDeleteI picked up Oryx and Crake....and I will have to get Robber Bride...she has written over 25 books I think!
So many good recommendations G!!! Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteI have to read Fall on Your knees...I have owned a copy for at least 10 years...the women who worked in the mail room at my first job, Joan, gave it to me...
ReplyDeleteEugenides Virgin Suicides was fantastic!!!
love love love!
ReplyDeleteYah! I used to read LOTR every summer vacation...it's golden!
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