Best book you've ever read...

[WriterDan]

Okay, so I've been in a rut lately of finding books to read that just don't grab me.  So much of what I have recently found has either been incredibly boring, poorly written, or a half-and-half blend of the two.  So,for anyone that cares to say so, I'd like to know what the best book that you've ever read is.  I mean hands down, bar none, absolute most fantastical book you've ever read.  No restrictions whatsoever -- seriously, any kind of book.  But, in your opinion, I want the best.  Give em to me.

Mine:  The Darkness that Comes Before -- R. Scott Bakker

[The Jade Knight]

Le petit prince

[Archon]

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

[MsFish]

I'll second Archon's.  Mistborn was indeed one of the best books I've ever read. 


I'll add Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn, and Taming the Star Runner by S.E. Hinton.  They're very different books, but some of my VERY favorites.

[Spriggan]

humm, interesting, do you consider the best book you've ever read the book that wowed you the most when you read it years ago even though it may not stand up as well now-a-days (because my tastes tend to change slightly from month to month) or do you only say it has to be something you've read in your current mindset?

If it's #1 it would be either the Dragonlance Trilogy by Weiss and Hickman (when I was 13ish), Magician series by Fiest (when I was 16) or Wizard's First Rule by Goodkind (18), though I'd also add Wizard's Second Rule was the worst book I've ever read and I'm comparing that against textbooks.

If it's #2 it would half to be Information Architecture for Designers by Van Dijck (a few days ago).  I don't read a lot of books, and I also don't like to ever have a "best" or "favorite" book, movie, song because there are so many factors that one could choose for a best (best what?  Paper used? color scheme?) so I never bother thinking in these terms anymore.  There's "I like" and "really like" or "impressed me" and that's about it.

[The Jade Knight]

I didn't think Wizard's Second Rule was that bad.

[Spriggan]

Excuse me if I don't find pointless explicit sexual torture as a good read.

[The Jade Knight]

I didn't say I thought it was that good, either.

But, compared to some of the Warhammer novels…

[Spriggan]

I think the thing missing from these resent posts is "I've read" meaning it's all opinion based of what you personally have read.  I read Wizard's second rule (well most of it, I couldn't finish) back in 97 and the only fiction I've been able to read since then has been Elantris and Mistborn, the book was so bad (to me) that it ruined not only a whole genera but my desire to actually read for entertainment.

[dreamking47]

Mine:  The Darkness that Comes Before -- R. Scott Bakker

Have you tried Steven Erikson's Malazan books -- the first is Gardens of the Moon?  It's another edgy, different take on epic fantasy.

I don't think of books in terms of "best," more in terms of how well they do what they set out to do.  How could I compare the OED (not that I've read it all!) to a children's book like Gray's Grimbold's Other World to a humor book like The Onion's Our Dumb Century to a fantasy like Beagle's The Last Unicorn to a non-fiction like Johnson's Interface Culture to a postmodern fable such as Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler to essays like Birkerts's Gutenberg Elegies to a classic like Bulgakov's Master and Margarita to collections of short stories such as those by Borges to...

Well, you see the problem.  If you can list a few more examples of books you've liked, though, maybe I can suggest more that may be similar.

MattD

[dawncawley]

Best fantasy this year, or last year for that matter, would be Mistborn. I loved it, and am anxiously awaiting the second installment.

But, if I had to say favorite book ever, I don't think I could.... the one that got me hooked on novels, would be Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Don't laugh.... I still find myself going back to that, and the sequel Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley, every now and again like a favorite old pair of slippers.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

[Nessa]

This may not be your cup of tea, but my favorite book of all time is In Pursuit of the Green Lion by Judith Merkle Riley, my second favorite being the first in the triology, A Vision of Light. The third FINALLY came out this week and I'm heading to the store today to get myself a copy (which means you'll soon be seeing a review of it here on TWG--probably of the triology).

It's historical fiction, with some romace (without being graphic or sappy), and mystical elements. I just love her writing style. And the characters are wonderful.

[Aen Elderberry]

The "Best" seems to change depending on what's on my mind.  A few weeks ago it might have been

Ben Hur  by Lew Wallace (though I read it when I was 14 it still comes to mind often)

but today it's

Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

[Sigyn]

If I could only keep one work of fiction that I own, it would have to be Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. My sister read this to me when I was five, and I've loved it ever since.