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What is your Go To Book?

5K views 38 replies 28 participants last post by  Sam Durrani 
#1 ·
Do you have one book you recommend more than any other?  Does one book have a special place on the bookshelf of your heart?  Is there one book you read over and over again?

Mine is "The Driver's Seat" by Muriel Spark.  It's extremely brief, less than 150 pages, and is insanely good.  Any time I'm asked for a good book, a fun book, an intriguing book, or a blow your mind book, I recommend The Driver's Seat.  The only time I don't recommend this book is when the person is under 16 and/or is squeamish about darker material.

Here's the blurb:

"Lise leaves her home in northern Europe for a holiday, but it is not rest and relaxation that she is looking for...
Driven to distraction by an office job, she leaves everything and flies south on holiday—in search of passionate adventure, the obsessional experience and sex. Infinity and eternity attend Lise's last terrible day in the unnamed southern city that is her final destination."

Anyone else have that one book that is there go to recommendation?
 
#2 ·
Libby13 said:
Do you have one book you recommend more than any other? Does one book have a special place on the bookshelf of your heart? Is there one book you read over and over again?
Mine is Jennifer Crusie's Welcome to Temptation. Well, scratch that. Anything by Jenny Crusie. Especially if I'm feeling sort of adrift, or lonely. A Crusie novel fixes me right up. : )
 
#3 ·
Has to be Roger Zelazny's original 5-book "Amber" series, which I've re-read so many times now after discovering it in the late '70s, that I have no idea how many times I've read it. (A bit of extrapolation and simple arithmetic would have me conservatively guesstimate around 30 times, if not more.) Unfortunately, it is not enKindled (along with the vast majority of his work), but you can get both Amber series (10 novels total) in one omnibus paper edition:

 
#4 ·
I'd have to admit to having several.  I don't think I can pick just one, but two strong candidates for it would be The Hound of the Baskervilles (probably my favorite part of the Sherlock Holmes Canon) and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel (one of Robert Heinlein's "young adult" books, but it has always strongly appealed to me).
 
#7 ·
The Eight, Katherine Neville. Seriously, I can't count the times I've read this book...and now I'm thinking I'd like to read it again. The day it comes out for Kindle is the day I'll own a digital copy...I've had three copies of the paperback, one was loaned and never came home, the other I wore out :)



SO. MUCH. AWESOME. Globe-trotting adventure, intrigue, chess, parallel storylines spanning centuries...

Hmm. I think I'm going to go find it right now. Lunch-break, right? ;D But my favorite cover is still the original...

 
#8 ·
Mine is And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer. It's a wonderful picture of Ohio life and politics post-Civil War to early-mid 20th century.

I faithfully click the "I would like to read this on Kindle" button at least once a week for this one.
 
#9 ·
Mine is Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)... or Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)... or Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)... or The Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Orczy)... or Eight Cousins (Louisa May Alcott).  I've tried to gain a diverse collection of books to read - the classics are my fall-back-to books when I'm tired or bored or don't want to stress because I don't know how a book will turn out.  :)
 
#10 ·
The Lord of the Flies - amazing!
 
#14 ·
East of Eden

It is difficult to put into words what this novel has meant to me over the years. From the first time I read it in high school (one reading assignment I actually liked) to the last time I read it a few years ago, the underlying theme of forgiveness and redemption and the ability to choose have stayed with me.

I can't say I have read this book "over and over again" having read it maybe 3-4 times. I have recommended this book over the years to others. Some people have not thought as highly of it as I do but I still recommend it.

Deckard
 
#16 ·
deckard said:
East of Eden

It is difficult to put into words what this novel has meant to me over the years. From the first time I read it in high school (one reading assignment I actually liked) to the last time I read it a few years ago, the underlying theme of forgiveness and redemption and the ability to choose have stayed with me.

I can't say I have read this book "over and over again" having read it maybe 3-4 times. I have recommended this book over the years to others. Some people have not thought as highly of it as I do but I still recommend it.

Deckard
And East of Eden is on the TBR. LOTR was already on the TBR. :)
 
#18 ·
Libby13 said:
... Especially the Amber series. 30 times?! That's insane!
For me I think it's a combination of Zelazny's lyrical prose and something about the story and the main character (and narrator) that just resonates with me. *sigh* Now I'm starting to think I'm going to have to get my buddy at work to return my 2-volume hardback copy, so I can start yet again. :)
 
#20 ·
Wingpeople said:
It depends on my mood...

Certainly, To Kill a Mockingbird for all-around greatness.
Touching the Void for something that'll knock your socks off.
Desert Solitaire to lose myself in the great outdoors.
Touching the Void is certainly on my TBR!
 
#22 ·
Libby13 said:
Some of these I've read and loved - Lord of the Flies, Anne of Green Gables, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc. And some of these I'm going to add to my reading list. Especially the Amber series. 30 times?! That's insane!
I'm with you on Lord of the Flies! One of my all-time fav's.
 
#23 ·
Anything by Nora Roberts is a go-to for me...though my favorite of hers, a book I've read more times than I can count, is called Irish Rose. It's the second book in the Irish Hearts series and follows an Irish woman who comes to America and falls for a rough and tumble gambling man who owns a thoroughbred horse ranch. It's such an amazing story and the two characters in it are by far two of the best characters Nora has ever created! :)
 
#25 ·
Depends on who's asking and what they're looking for. I think it's important to find that out if you're recommending books. Then, based on what genre they're interested in reading, I'll go with my faves for that particular genre. To Kill a Mockingbird for drama, LOTR for epic fantasy, The Foundation Trillogy for sci-fi, etc..
 
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