# What is your favorite book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348 "2003-01-13T19:15:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/1 "2003-01-13T19:15:30Z")
I’m trying to compile a list of books to read. So I thought I would ask the Teeming Millions what their favorites reads are 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/2 "2003-01-13T20:21:49Z")
_Bored of the Rings_, by the editors of the Harvard Lampoon. Especially timely for a re-read. This is my 100th post! (wish it had been a better one!) ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/3 "2003-01-13T20:30:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spiff \* > \*\*_Bored of the Rings_, by the editors of the Harvard Lampoon. \*\* Hey! I’m actually reading that right now! I forget who the author is, but **RiverGod** is my current favorite book. Ancient Egypt, action, romance, mysticism, what could be better! Some other great books: **Dragonlance** -Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman: The first 6 books are outstanding. **Why People Believe Strange Things** -Shermer **Watchers** -Dean R. Koontz **The Cases That Haunt Us** -John Douglas **When The Air Hits Your Brain** -I can’t remember the author ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/4 "2003-01-13T20:53:51Z")
No question. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle. I have totally lost count of the number of times I’ve read this book in the last 34 years. Whenever my heart needs a lift, I re-read it. Second favorite: The Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart. “A novel of an ancient China that never was.” Fantasy, Chinese folklore, and humor abound. Great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/5 "2003-01-13T22:13:11Z")
I agree, **Meatros**! I really enjoyed those Dragonlance books. I also like the **Onion** compilations, found at any bookstore. Funny stuff. Dave Marsh’s **Heart of Rock and Soul: the 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made** is full of great information, even if the author is an annoying, self-righteous git. An even better Rock & Roll book is Greil Marcus’s **Mystery Train**. My favorite serious literary novel is Dickens’s **A Tale of Two Cities**. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/6 "2003-01-13T22:59:59Z")
_Jane Eyre_ by Charlotte Bronte. I also love _…And Ladies of The Club_ by Helen Hoover Santmeyer. Eech. I’m such a fluffy-pink girly type! Twiddle ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/7 "2003-01-14T00:56:27Z")
**The Bell Jar** by Sylvia Plath **Our Dumb Century** by _The Onion_ people. Both quite excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/8 "2003-01-14T01:02:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AlbertRose \* > \*\*I agree, **Meatros**! I really enjoyed those Dragonlance books. \*\* I’ve read their recent books, and don’t get me wrong-they are good and all, but they don’t match the sheer emotion that I got from reading the original 6 (especially the last 3). But then again, it could be because I’m a twin and my brother’s an evil dick-phlem. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/9 "2003-01-14T02:05:22Z")
**Le Petit Prince** (The Little Prince, in English). I have read the original French version more times than I can count! I even carry a copy of it around in my school bag to read when I have nothing else to do! Best book in the world! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/10 "2003-01-14T02:26:02Z")
_Ulysses_, by James Joyce. An annual occupation. When I have a little less time to kill: _God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater_, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/11 "2003-01-14T02:51:25Z")
A Prayer For Owen Meany - John Irving Steel Beach - John Varley Just to name a couple. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/12 "2003-01-14T02:52:35Z")
**Mod note:** In one sense this could be taken as a poll but by subject it’s so purely “bookish” I think it would be more appropriate for **Cafe Society**. Moving it on over… TVeblen, IMHO mod ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/13 "2003-01-14T03:18:04Z")
**TRINITY** by Leon Uris – set in Ireland, **Trinity** is an historical novel with one of the most vivid characters, Conor Larkin, in English literature. The first 150-200 pages of this long narrative are necessary but not particularly engrossing. But it is well worth the wait. Slowly the reader is seduced. Other friends of mine have been captured by its spell too. It was the subject of our conversation for weeks and we were constantly trying to cast the movie. You may never look at the conflict in Ireland in quite the same way again. But it is about much more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/14 "2003-01-14T03:21:09Z")
As I Lay Dying ~William Faulkner But I could easily bang out a Top Ten without batting an eye… ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/15 "2003-01-14T03:29:06Z")
**Earth Abides** by George R. Stewart. **1984** is up there also. ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/16 "2003-01-14T03:42:50Z")
I like “Moby Dick”, by Melville. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/17 "2003-01-14T03:49:23Z")
**archergal** , Bridge of Birds would be on my Top 10 list too. It’s just about perfect. How does any reader pick **one** favorite book? What’s the criteria? If it’s “a deadly strain of mildew is destroying all the paper in the world and you can have a bottle of the stuff that kills the mildew but there’s only enough for one book, what book would that be?”, then I’d probably save **The Dollmaker** by Harriett Simpson Arnow. Because I **know** that someone else would save the rest of my favorites (like **The Stand** and the **GRR Martin** fantasy series and **Joe Lansdale** ’s stuff and **David Martin** ’s books and we could maybe work out a lending situation kind of thing. Sorry. Cheated. Bwaaahaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaa. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/18 "2003-01-14T05:14:54Z")
_The Lost World_, by A. C. Doyle _The Things They Carried_, by Tim O’Brien ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/19 "2003-01-14T05:17:28Z")
Favorite??!!?? Whew, to hard to choose. (sheesh, ask me which of my children is my favorite why don’t you 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-book/148348/20 "2003-01-14T05:41:24Z")
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