Whats Your Favorite Book?

NotTroy said:

For anyone interested in epic fantasy the absolute best series ever written has got to be the Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin. The books are works of pure genius. The characters are the most well developed I have ever encountered in any novel and you can never trust the typical archtypes that most fantasy books are made up of. The action and political intrigue are by far the most realistic ever put in a fantasy novel. However, since this is a Christian board I must warn anyone who might be interested in picking them up that these novels are dark and might offend some Christians.

As far as the Dark Tower novels, from what I understand of the new introduction in the rerelease of the first novel, the series is completely finished now and he is just staggering the release of the books.

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I'm sorry, but I must disagree as vehemently as possible. The first book was long. The second book was longer, and less happened. I couldn't get past the first couple of chapters of the third book without wanting to throw it out a window. If there is a patron saint of fantasy fiction, he will strike George R.R. Martin down as quickly as possible to keep this endless nothingness from continuing.

Problems? Well, let's see...who's the main character? Just when you've started to figure it out, the main character gets killed. Then another one does. And another...Who is this series about, exactly? And why should we care? Yes, there are politics, the cutthroat (literally), cynical nasty kind that we read enough of in the daily news. Realistic? Maybe, if you consider 1984 to be an optimistic outlook. And let's not go on about the endless digressions into sheer pointlessness, where plot points meander all over the place until they've gotten so lost they can't get back to the main track of the story.

Song of Fire and Ice is a series that should be held up as an example of what NOT to write. It's just awful, awful stuff.

Now, if you want a REAL awesome fantasy series, read the Belgariad by David Eddings. Some people read Lord of the Rings once a year, every year. This is the series I read over and over again, because it's just that good. It's a heroic fantasy in the tradition of all the great epics (and I'm talking the old epics, Beowulf, Roland, Arthur, Sigfried, etc.) with dynamic characters, detailed cultures, and a sense of humour, something which Martin's series is totally devoid of.

Other favorite books? Well, naturally, the Bible. I also 'enjoyed' The Death of Right and Wrong by Tammy Bruce. 'Enjoyed' isn't the correct word, but it was a very moving book.

Of course, there's the Odyssey by Homer; the first and greatest fantasy adventure tale. I'm currently studying Homeric Greek so I can read this (and the Iliad) in the original language.

I also love Harry Turtledove's 'Great War' series, an alternate history in which the South won the Civil War. The series progresses from the prologue (How Few Remain, set in 1882) through the Great War (WWI), and now up to 1941 and the start of WWII. Historical detail galore; Turtledove has written the alternate history masterpiece.

I have a few favourites as well, probably topping the list would be three by favourite authour Milan Kundera:

Immortality.
Unbearable Lightness of Being.
Identity.
Slowness.
Ignorance.

Then:

Tolstoy: Anna Karenina.

Robert Musil: The Man Without Qualities and The Confusions of Young Törless.

Hermann Broch: The Sleepwalkers.

And pretty much all of Edgar Allan Poe.

Yeah that isnt really a good topic for me. I have so many different books that I love. Its virtually impossible to say all of them on here.

Most of Francine Rivers are great. Frank Perettis books are good. Stephen Lawhead. Tolkien. Many many more are great as well.

But if I had to choose one, well that would be 'Atonement Child' by Francine Rivers. Fantastic book.

I think that I could go on for about another ten pages with this thread. But ill be nice and not bore you all to death.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky
Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis

The Hobbit, LOTR, and Silmarillion - Tolkien
Tales of the Otori: Book 1: Across the Nightingale Floor - Lian Hearn
The Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas
America Unbound The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy - Ivo Daalder & James Lindsay

My faves are:

The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, and Well of Lost Plots - all by Jasper Fforde

-consider them a mix of Douglas Adams, Monty Python, and Lewis Carroll - must reads for all literaphiles!

The Dark Tower by Stephen King

Anything Warhammer 40K. I don't play it, but the novels and stories involved in it are so interesting.

The Ship Who Sang is interesting, but I haven't gotten very far in the series.

My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara.

Beautiful Joe, A Dog's Own Story by Marshall Saunders.

All books by James Herriot, such as: All Things Bright and Beautiful; All Creatures Great and Small; All Things Wise and Wonderful; The Lord God Made Them All.

All books by Rev. James Stalker (1800's Scotland) such as: The Life of Christ; The Life of St. Paul; The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ; Imago Christi, The Example of Jesus Christ; The Teaching of Jesus Concerning Himself; The Seven Deadly Sins; The Seven Cardinal Virtues.

ShetlandRose

I think I'll have to Inlcude The Fellowship of the Ring and The Hobbit among my favorites.

My favorite book is Princess Diaries because it tells us how hard a life of being both a princess and a normal girl.

I have many favorites (I actually may have already posted one and forgotten ) I LOVE "Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn!

The purpose driven life, I'm still only on day 20-something, but wow, it's already changing my life!

Prestense By Lori Wick

Yeah Safely Home is a fantastic book.

'Rumours of another world' by Phillip Yancey is another book I love.
'Jesus Freaks' 1 and 2, by DC Talk
'The Neverending Story' by Michael Ende
'The Immortal' by Angela Elwell Hunt
'A Wind in the Door'
'A Swiftly Tilting Planet'
'A Wrinkle in Time' by Madeleine L'engle
Any of George MacDonalds books.
'Gehenna' by Paul Thigpen

i would probably say Steven Kings IT

I have two favorites actually:

I Kissed Dating Good-Bye by Joshua Harris
The Ten Offenses by Pat Robertson

My fave book is "the sin eater " by Francine rivers. it is so wonderful lol.

There are too many great books.

fiction:
"Confederacy of Dunces"
"Humbolts Gift"
"Angle of Repose"
History:
"The Image" by Boorstin
"Radicalism of the American Revolution"
"Constantines Sword"
Christianity:
"Soul Survivor" by Yancy
"Parables As Subversive Speech"
"War: Four Christian Views"
Poliltics:
"Lies and the Lying LIars that tell them"
"Big Lies"
"THe Lies of George Bush"
Science:
"Consciousness Explained"
"Darwin's Dangerous Idea"
"The Blank Slate"
"Summer of The Gods" <--- This one you have to read.
Fantasy:
Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
The Harry Potter Series.

To narrow my list, I'm only mentioning books I've read 3 times or more ...

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (fantasy)
Cetaganda, or anything else by Lois M. Bujold (sci-fi)
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (drama/philosophy)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (sci-fi)
Inside Out by Larry Crabb (Christian, non-fiction)
Galatians by Paul (scripture)