Shelbyville Times-Gazette

Best Book Ever Written

Posted Wednesday, April 23, 2008, at 10:20 AM
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I was a subscriber to a little auto-delivery book service called the 100 Greatest Books Ever Written. I have, on my shelves, and mostly unread (sadly) these books. The standards are all there: War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Robinson Crusoe, the Greek tragedies, Plato, etc. But who decided these were the Greatest Books ever?

So I submit to the readership: Let us know what you think is the best book or two you have ever read and why. Please allow me to exclude from the poll The Bible and all Holy Books. These are elevated to a special stature that is determined by faith. I am interested in "fallible prose" only for the sake of this poll.

My submission. For its sentimental value and pure entertainment: Watership Down by Richard Adams. It was the only adult book that my Mother read to me and my sister; I have read it at least 20 times since. For pure literary beauty, 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a magnificent novel by a Colombian Nobel Prize winner.

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I can't pick just one, but my all time favorites include The Hobbit; To Kill a Mockingbird; Jean Auel's Earth's Children series; Travels with Charley.

-- Posted by Jacks4me on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 10:31 AM

ooo ooo, I forgot James Herriot's books about his life as a vet in England. I think I read All Things Bright and Beautiful first and Christy by Katherine Marshall.

-- Posted by Jacks4me on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 10:35 AM

My favorites are:

A Separate Peace - John Knowles

The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series - J.R. Tolkien

-- Posted by jaxspike on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 11:55 AM

Mine has to be Gone With the Wind, the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and the Lonesome Dove series.

-- Posted by craftin_mom on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 1:04 PM

Hands down for me:

Little Women, Amerika by Franz Kafka, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald but my all time favorite would be:

The Harry Potter Series, a true classic

and I am enjoying the new Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. Destined to be a classic.

and I will also have to agree with To Kill a Mockingbird, and the LOTR Series.

-- Posted by Disturbia on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 1:05 PM

My favorites are anything by the following authors - Jacqueline Susann, Vladmir Nabokov, and Kurt Vonnegut. I also really like Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemmingway.

Oh, and I love The Little Prince so much I got a tattoo of him...

-- Posted by cfrich on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 1:38 PM

No tattoos, but I love reading as well. My favs would be To Kill a Mockingbird, the James Herriott series (All Creatures Great and Small), favorite authors include Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, etc), Michael Crighton, who wrote the Jurassic Park books, Dean Koontz (you can always count on him to give you a good scare). Basically, I will read anything, as long as it is NOT one of those sappy romance/love stories.

-- Posted by SoldierMom on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 3:12 PM

Kane and Able by Jeffrey Archer (or any of his books for that matter) and The Partner by John Grisham (or any of his books) are some of my favorites. A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett is also very good.

-- Posted by jiwiii on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 3:35 PM

I tend to lean toward history and biographies. Pillar of Fire by Taylor Branch is a great book about the civil rights struggles of the sixties. The Nightmare Years by William Shirer is an intense analysis of the rise of Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany. It demonstrates what can happen when citizens of a nation become complacent and self centered and not focused on what is happening with their government.

-- Posted by volfanatic on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 3:37 PM

Huckelberry Finn or Tom Sawyer

-- Posted by michaelbell on Wed, Apr 23, 2008, at 4:08 PM

I wouldn't know where to start. I am a lover of the printed word, when there is nothing to read, I've been known to sate my addiction by reading soup can labels.

I like books that make me think -- about myself, my place in the world and the world in general. Classic authors like Hemingway, Fitzgerald and even Ayn Rand are always good for a re-read. I get something new to think about each time I read them.

Animal Farm is great for political thought. (I have found it also applies to the "new world" corporate mentality.)

My children (when they were young) loved "The Velveteen Rabbit", "Watership Down" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and so do I.

For "fun reads" I like Ann Rice and any and all mysteries, the old classics (Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes) to the modern day Koontz.

I have not read Marquez but I will look for his book.

-- Posted by amalphia on Thu, Apr 24, 2008, at 11:05 AM

"Dont Bend Over In The Garden, Granny, You Know Them Taters Got Eyes" by Lewis Grizzard.

-- Posted by seedsower on Sun, Apr 27, 2008, at 1:55 PM

My favorite epic novel is Stephen King's "The Stand" because of the numerous story lines. Also lately a wonderful book I came across is Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones".

-- Posted by grannybee on Sun, Apr 27, 2008, at 7:37 PM

Navid Monajjem MD

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