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Ahhh.... favorite books...

 

The Little House on the Prairie series have been my favorite since the age of 7. :D

Harry Potter is delightful.

Wuthering Heights.

Anything by Barbara Kingsolver I will stay up late to read.

Favorite nonfiction is the science book "A Short History of Nearly Everything"

 

Twilight. *hides*

 

I'm glad I read "A tale of two cities", but it sorta made me want to jump off a bridge.

Edited by staceyobu
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Adult books for me, or kids books for the kids?

 

Me? I love sci-fi/fantasy. My absolute favorite author is Piers Anthony and my second is David Eddings. I have read those authors again and again. But I will never, never read Lord of the Rings again. Ack!

 

The kids? There were different favorites for different reading stages.

 

Great ones: Things People Do. Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series. Red Sails to Capri. Walk the World's Rim.

 

Horrid ones: The Giving Tree. Little House series. Doctor Doolittle. Mountain Born.

 

Those are the ones off the top of my head.

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Me? I love sci-fi/fantasy. My absolute favorite author is Piers Anthony and my second is David Eddings. I have read those authors again and again. But I will never, never read Lord of the Rings again. Ack!

 

The last time I went through something really rough in life, I went back to Polgara and Belgarath and by the time I was done with the series, I felt well enough to get back into the battle. :)

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My favorites, I have read all of these at least 5-10 times

 

Good Omens

LOTR

Persuasion

Harry Potter

Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy

To Kill a Mockingbird

Left Hand of Darkness and other books by Ursula Le Guin

The Penelopiad

A Room With a View

 

Books that are wonderful books, but do not give me the greatest pleasure to actually read. I have read some of them more than once, but most of them just once:

The Idiot

Le Mis

Atonement

The Great Gatsby

Mrs Dalloway

Revolutionary Road

A Passage to India

any books by Edith Wharton

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The Great Divorce is one of the few books I enjoy reading over and over and over. I'm generally not much of a repeater when it comes to books or movies, but there are a few exceptions, including certain books of the Bible. The Oxford Book of English Verse, the old edition edited by Quiller-Couch, may be my favorite book that I own. I do not like the current edition.

 

A few books that I deeply enjoyed while reading but haven't repeated are The Great Gatsby, Wind in the Willows, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (until he got to be about high school age, then I found this book a terrible chore), The Iliad, Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, and The Closing of the American Mind. I'll probably read those last three again sometime soon.

 

There are others, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I like a lot of political books too, but I'm not going to get into those here. Suffice to say that I love Thomas Sowell's work.

 

ETA: The Law. That's a repeater for me.

Edited by Parker Martin
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Gone With the Wind

Rhett Butler's People

The Thornbirds (I know)

The Godfather

All of Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles. I got hooked after Riders came out in the mid 80's. (She's basically an English version of Jackie Collins but in a horsey/dog setting)

To Kill a Mockingbird

Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle In Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet

The Melendy Series by Elizabeth Enright

Anything by Larry McMurtry - Lonesome Dove and that series, Terms of Endearment and that series and even The Last Picture Show and that series.

 

I love to read those over and over again. Either I get into a book or I don't.

Edited by pdalley
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It's the LOTR or Frank Herbert's Dune. I learn something new everytime I reread either.

 

:iagree:

 

They are my favorites.

 

I also read Jane Austen over and over. Any of them depending on my mood, Persuasion is my favorite and Northanger Abbey is my least favorite.

 

“If I understand you rightly, you had formed a surmise of such horror as I have hardly words to – Dear Miss Morland, consider the dreadful nature of the suspicions you have entertained. What have you been judging from? Remember the country and the age in which we live. Remember that we are English, that we are Christians. Consult your own understanding, your own sense of the probable, your own observation of what is passing around you. Does our education prepare us for such atrocities? Do our laws connive at them? Could they be perpetrated without being known, in a country like this, where social and literary intercourse is on such a footing, where every man is surrounded by a neighbourhood of voluntary spies, and where roads and newspapers lay everything open? Dearest Miss Morland, what ideas have you been admitting?”

 

I would have committed sabaku at this. I don't think I could receive that sort of dressing down from a Mr. Tilney that I quite liked and continued breathing. I cannot read it without cringing. :lol:

 

 

To Kill a Mockingbird is another favorite.

 

 

 

Good Omens

 

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I do NOT like My Cousin Rachel by the same.

 

I always liked Lucy Maude Montgomery and her books, one can never decide whether one wants to be Anne or Emily. :)

 

I love Kurt Vonnagut

Edited by Sis
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I've enjoyed so many....but the one that stands out as magical to me is Anne of Green Gables. The language, the dialogue, the emotions....the writing is superb and I love reading it.

 

...this one and "Chronicles from Avonlea" as well as "He shall thunder in the sky." This book truly had it all. And it was suspenseful as well as humorous.

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Beauty by Robin McKinley

 

 

So happy to see another Robin McKinley fan. I love them all (am crazy about Pegasus and can't wait for the other half), but the one I reread the most is The Blue Sword. (The desert! a handsome king! magic! horses! I fell in love with this book when I was 12 and never fell back out.)

 

I also do a regular reread of Robert Jordan's WoT series. Yep. I'm one of those people. :D

 

Every year I also read through LOTR and the Count of Monte Cristo. And everything by Jane Austen. (Yep, I'm one of those people too. :thumbup:)

 

For soul-reads, it's the Bible and Leap Over a Wall, and when I'm in That Mood, it's Marriage Builder and Shepherding a Child's Heart (depending on who I'm in That Mood AT).

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Good Omens

Fluke

Stupidest Angel - A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror

 

The last two (Fluke and Angel) are by Christopher Moore and require an Adults only tag.

 

Angel may be the funniest book I have ever read. I laughed so hard I could not breathe. I read *highly edited* sections to my girls when they were teenagers and allowed dd20 to read it after she turned 18.

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The ones that I have read so many times the covers have fallen off:

 

LOTR

Chronicles of Narnia

Stephen R Donaldson's Mordant's Need

 

Other authors I have reread:

 

David Eddings

Stephen R Lawhead

Madeleine L'Engle

Melanie Rawn

 

Um, yeah, I'm kind of a sci-fi/fantasy freak.

 

Wow. Eddings, L'Engle and Rawn. Three of my very favorite authors (add JRRT and Lewis, wow). Do you suppose The Captal's Tower will ever be written?!? I like Ray Feist and Tad Williams too (or used to like Williams, he's probably too racy for me now). Oh and Jennifer Roberson's Cheysuli series.

 

My favorite book, though, is Island of the World by Michael D O'Brien. I read it earlier this year and it blew me away. (not SF/F)

Edited by ladydusk
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Aaaargh, so many.... I suppose if I were on a desert island, and the Bible wasn't one of the options....

 

Shusaku Endo, Silence

Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter

Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory

Homer, The Iliad

Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Patrick O'Brian, the Aubrey/Maturin books

Anthony Trollope, the Barsetshire Chronicles

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Count of Monte Cristo

Watership Down

The Stand (and some other Stephen King)

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Sword of Truth Series (Legend of the Seeker)

anything Mercedes Lackey

almost anything Dean Koontz

The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword

 

I read the Wheel of Time series years ago before realizing that the last book wasn't available. I own all except the last one and I'll have to reread them all soon so I can complete the series.

 

I could see The Hunger Games falling into this category for me now.

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Favorites that get re-read periodically:

 

The Cazalet Chronicle (4 book series) - Elizabeth Jane Howard

September - Rosamunde Pilcher

The Shell Seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher

Outlander series, particularly the first book - Diana Gabaldon

Maeve Binchy's earlier books

K.M. Peyton's Pennington series (love love love these from my teen years)

 

and of course the Trixie Belden series! :D

 

I need more reading hours in my day!

 

ETA: I totally forgot to list another favorite -- the Flambards series by K.M. Peyton. Can't believe I overlooked that one!

Edited by TrixieB
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Wow. Eddings, L'Engle and Rawn. Three of my very favorite authors (add JRRT and Lewis, wow). Do you suppose The Captal's Tower will ever be written?!? I like Ray Feist and Tad Williams too (or used to like Williams, he's probably too racy for me now). Oh and Jennifer Roberson's Cheysuli series.

 

My favorite book, though, is Island of the World by Michael D O'Brien. I read it earlier this year and it blew me away. (not SF/F)

 

Yeah, I bought the first two Exile books years ago and am still waiting. I have this terrible compulsion though - I refuse to begin reading and then wait for the next book. I MUST read them all in a row. So I also have 12 Robert Jordan books collecting dust while I wait. Good thing I have a life to keep me busy :tongue_smilie:

 

I haven't read any of the other authors you mentioned. I have Raymond Feist Fairie Tale but haven't read it yet. I should look into those.

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Favorites that get re-read periodically:

 

The Cazalet Chronicle (4 book series) - Elizabeth Jane Howard

September - Rosamunde Pilcher

The Shell Seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher

Outlander series, particularly the first book - Diana Gabaldon

Maeve Binchy's earlier books

K.M. Peyton's Pennington series (love love love these from my teen years)

 

and of course the Trixie Belden series! :D

 

I need more reading hours in my day!

 

Which Trixie Belden is your favorite? I loved them as a kid and I saved a bunch of them. My favorite was #12 The Mystery of the Blinking Eye. I still have the prophesy/poem memorized.

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Yeah, I bought the first two Exile books years ago and am still waiting. I have this terrible compulsion though - I refuse to begin reading and then wait for the next book. I MUST read them all in a row. So I also have 12 Robert Jordan books collecting dust while I wait. Good thing I have a life to keep me busy :tongue_smilie:

 

I haven't read any of the other authors you mentioned. I have Raymond Feist Fairie Tale but haven't read it yet. I should look into those.

 

That compulsion is probably very good! My brothers have been reading the WOT books for decades, and I've never read one believing (as happened) that he would never finish! I didn't think Rawn was quite so untrustworthy having read her dragon books. I don't know if the Exiles story can be finished in one book, though. It's pretty involved.

 

Anyway, I haven't read Fairie Tale, only his Magician series and some of the following books (and there are some more in the series too.) Based on your recommendation, I reserved the first of the Donaldson books from the library. Because I don't have stacks of purchased books to read ... :lol:

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Which Trixie Belden is your favorite? I loved them as a kid and I saved a bunch of them. My favorite was #12 The Mystery of the Blinking Eye. I still have the prophesy/poem memorized.

Oooh, that is a hard question! I would have to say that #1 The Secret of the Mansion is my favorite. Next is #7 The Mysterious Code. I think it's time to open up the storage box and re-read the series!

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I am a BIG TIME reader, but RARELY read a book twice. In fact, I can only think of 1 book that I'll continue to read over and over. It's called Eighth Moon, by Bette Bao Lord, about her life growing up in China under Mao.

 

The first time I read it I was probably 11 or 12, and the story lives with me. It gave me a deep appreciation for freedom, and a realization that not everyone lives with the ability to make their own choices. I had my oldest read it in middle school, and the youngest will do the same when studying this period in history.

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Jane Eyre

 

.

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

All time Fav. I have never found a movie that truly captures it. They either make Jane to pretty or Rochester to handsome.

 

My favorite author who is still writing is Richard Russo. My favorite of his books is Nobody's Fool, but I am waiting as he may yet write something that is even more amazing then spending time with Sully.

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Favorites that get re-read periodically:

 

The Cazalet Chronicle (4 book series) - Elizabeth Jane Howard

September - Rosamunde Pilcher

The Shell Seekers - Rosamunde Pilcher

Outlander series, particularly the first book - Diana Gabaldon

Maeve Binchy's earlier books

K.M. Peyton's Pennington series (love love love these from my teen years)

 

and of course the Trixie Belden series! :D

 

I need more reading hours in my day!

 

ETA: I totally forgot to list another favorite -- the Flambards series by K.M. Peyton. Can't believe I overlooked that one!

 

Do you live in the UK? I love the Cazalet's and Rosumunde Pilcher too. About 10 years ago I went to the village in Cornwall that she was staying in while writing the Shell Seekers, it brought it to life.

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:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

All time Fav. I have never found a movie that truly captures it. They either make Jane to pretty or Rochester to handsome.

 

I agree that the actors are frequently too good looking. Who can believe Timothy Dalton when he talks about how unhandsome he is? Crazy.

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I am a BIG TIME reader, but RARELY read a book twice. In fact, I can only think of 1 book that I'll continue to read over and over. It's called Eighth Moon, by Bette Bao Lord, about her life growing up in China under Mao.

 

The first time I read it I was probably 11 or 12, and the story lives with me. It gave me a deep appreciation for freedom, and a realization that not everyone lives with the ability to make their own choices. I had my oldest read it in middle school, and the youngest will do the same when studying this period in history.

 

Whoa -- I have that book on my nightstand. If you've read it several times, I'd better get to it!

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My favorites are mostly based on the authors. These are the ones I re-read over and over again...

 

Tolkien, Harry Potter

 

John LeCarre - Smiley's People, Tinker,Tailor,Soldier,Spy, etc. - British Cold War spy novels

 

Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series

 

Bernard Cornwell's Winter King series - a more realistic take on the King Arthur story

 

And, almost anything in the dystopian/sci-fi/fantasy range... A Brave New World, We the Living, Handmaid's Tale, 1984, We, The Giver series, Green Angel, Hunger Games

 

 

OH! While we are talking about great books.... DD and I just read a wonderful new fantasy/teen book that just came out this year called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. If you loved Harry Potter, I would think that you would really like this one. :D

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OH! While we are talking about great books.... DD and I just read a wonderful new fantasy/teen book that just came out this year called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. If you loved Harry Potter, I would think that you would really like this one. :D

 

Oh, did you like that one? I have been eyeing it on my Nook, but it had mixed reviews. Guess I will buy it now!

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Oh, did you like that one? I have been eyeing it on my Nook, but it had mixed reviews. Guess I will buy it now!

 

I did like it quite a bit (couldn't put it down kind of thing). Honestly, I picked it up just based on the cover and title not knowing what it was about, but the story was really different and the pictures are bizarre and interesting. Will you be able to see the photographs from the book on your nook? I thought they really added to the story.

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