What is the best book(s) you have ever read?

[Phoenix]

Mine must be the Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov.

The plot is fantastic and it is probably the best Science fiction book I know of.

[Welshy]

Alex Rider books - just a shame there will be no more but then the author will be writing the Gregorivich series that will interlink...

Nick

[CharleyHotel]

Looming Tower -- Lawrence Wright

[Phoenix]

Can we please have reasons, and type of book please.

[CharleyHotel]

Mine was a non-fiction book: it was a good read because it took a single event and put it in perspective and also explained a lot of the motivating factors behind it/how it could be prevented.

[Seraphim]

That's cool Phoenix-I wrote a paper on Asimov's Cave's of Steel-that's a really awesome book if you haven't read it yet. I am an avid reader and have several books which I find awesome. Here are a few in no particular order

1) The Man Who Was Thursday-it was such an exciting and yet confusing mystery/intrigue-I was shocked when I read it. I should probably read it again soon since the first time I didn't quite understand the ending

2) The Black Swan/Captain Blood/The Sea Hawk-these books are brilliant swashbucklers-pretty much anything by Sabatini appeals to me strongly for its adventure, intrigue, plotting, and romance. Right now I'm re-reading his book Scaramouch

3) The Scarlet Pimpernel-for the same reason as above

4) Miracles on Tap-one of my favorite books ever, its the exciting true story of members of a volunteer organization to which I belong and the amazing work they did way back in 1920's Ireland. It was written by the organization's founder who had a surprising gift for writing.

I like books that capture my interest right from the beginning and have an exciting "tempo". When there isn't action I want there to be some kind of intrigue so I can figure out the mystery. Historical fiction usually heads my reading list. However, fact or fiction I tend to become more immersed in a book which is written in the first person or in some other way allows readers to enter the character's psyche- and I like those books best.

I have lots of other books that I love but these are some that I consider to be the "best".

[Phoenix]

R.Daneel OLivaw and Elijah Bailey!
That series was awesome.

The Books:

Caves Of Steel
The Naked Sun
Robots of Dawn
(and set 300 years later)
Robots and Empire

[Talon]

I have to say I've never been drawn into a series of books as much as I was when I read Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. The undertones are fantastic. I think it's written for young adults, but the style of writing and subject matter have too much depth to fit inside that cookie cutter category.

[SvenPhantom]

Crime and Punishment, One Day in the Live of Ivan Denisovich

[iqmal_97]

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander MCcall Smith.

I fell in love with it the first time i read it. The story contains some very interesting characters and the lessons of the book are very clear and easy to understand as well as meaningful.

[Gunny]

I enjoy supernatural horror like Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft.
The Stand is my favorite.

[Midnight Rambler]

I have to say I've never been drawn into a series of books as much as I was when I read Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. The undertones are fantastic. I think it's written for young adults, but the style of writing and subject matter have too much depth to fit inside that cookie cutter category.

Definitely, great series. Reading it at the moment actually...

My favourite series is the Oregon Files by Clive Cussler. Slightly fictional but has plenty of real world connections that make it really smooth reading.

[Dragon029]

I don't read too much, but the last series to immerse me was the Commonwealth / Void saga by Peter F. Hamilton (its about 5, 800 page novels about a world based in the far future facing grave threats - I highly recommend them, but also forewarn that Hamilton plays somewhat of a joke on the concept of religion. Also, sexuality is... more open, but still has an insignificant place in the series).

[Talon]

Best you've ever read was To Kill A Mockingbird?

[SvenPhantom]

It isn't a bad book, I liked it.

[Talon]

Bad, no, but best, far from it. It gets a lot of attention because of its message.

[CharleyHotel]

And its true author gets too little credit (*cough cough: Truman Capote)

[redcell]

I enjoy supernatural horror like Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft.
The Stand is my favorite.

Have you read the Necronomicon, then?
It's interesting. A lot of the metal bands I like draw inspiration from Lovecraft's work.

As for me, I love reading Tom Clancy's works. Cold War fiction is pretty good, and my favorite book from him is The Hunt for Red October. I've read the book twice, and saw the movie many times.

[Gunny]

Yep I sure did.The Mythos he created around Cthuhlu and the old ones is truly darkly inspired or drug induced. Don't get me wrong I read other kind of books as well.
My favorite Tom Clancy is Sum Of All Fears.I didn't like the movie though as much as the book cause they took to many liberty's with Ryan's character as well as the plot probably due to 9/11 to close for comfort I guess.
The Rainbow 6 series is good to.

[Talon]

I loved Zero Hour. Would love to get into reading some more Clancy, I haven't actually read any except Rainbow 6 and Zero Hour. Techno-thrillers are great for boredom.