Among my comfort food reads are “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte, and “Ballet Shoes” by Noel Streitfeild (which I can pick up and start at any point, I’ve read it so much.)

As for the second category, although I’m not sure I’d call it the best I’ve ever read (among the best, sure. But the best is pushing it) is “Monkey Beach” by Eden Robinson. Absolutely fabulous book.

(And I thought the virtual pie was quite tasty!)

Happy 700th! Huzzah! And happy early Blogiversary!

Ohhh, book questions! So hard, so early in the am. I may come back in a few hours w/ totally different responses!

a) your absolute favorite read (one that you come back to time after time — the literary equivalent of comfort food) – either the entire Anne of Green Gables series, or, strangely, Connie Willis’s ‘Doomsday Book’ – strangely, as while it’s an amazing book, it’s also horribly depressing. I’m not sure how being depressed by a book then makes me feel less depressed in life, but it works every time.

b)the best you’ve ever read This is the hardest one, but I can’t not answer it – I’m not sure there’s any one best book. I adore Alice Hoffman’s ‘Here On Earth’ and got it and some of her others for various friends over the years. But I also did the same w/ Carol Goodman’s ‘Lake of Dead Languages’ (which also made me start to relearn Latin!). ‘Threads’ by Nell Gavin is yet another that was just haunting, but the author hasn’t written anything else!

c) the most important book you think was ever written (a work that changed the way you view the world) Might as well do the trifecta! My answer for this one is a bit odd, even for me – I’m going w/ Michael Shaara’s ‘The Killer Angels.’ I first read it in high school, and it’s honestly the first book about war that really got to me – it does an amazing job of making you see how war affects the soldiers in it. It was a bit late for me to see this, but it did. My senior yearbook quote was from the book, and I ended up writing all of my college app essays on the battle of Gettysburg. I’ve gone through 3 copies of the book!

Happy blogiversary! What a great questionaire (and a great way to get new book titles to read!). Here are some favorites (avoiding, for some reason, my beloved classics, like “Emma”, all of the “Anne” books, and the Odyssey!) My absolute fav book of all time might be “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”. It was the first book I read and cried when I finished it because it was over. I got so invested in the characters, I just wanted to keep reading along with their lives. More recently, I read and re-read, and re-re-read Audrey Niffinger’s “Time Traveller’s Wife”. It’s a gorgeous book (and I usually hate anything that is even remotely sci-fi). And lastly, my most favorite new read is “Rule of Four” by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Tomason. Nothing makes being nerdy so sexy as this book. It’s great.
And of course, I love the fibery goodness.

a) your absolute favorite read (one that you come back to time after time — the literary equivalent of comfort food)

There are so many books I haven’t read, that I don’t generally go back and re-read books. However, there is one short book that I’ve found worth doing so:

There’s No Such Place as Far Away – by Richard Bach

b) the best you’ve ever read (a book that was such a masterpiece that you immediately went to check out the author’s other works and that you bought for your best reading buddy so you could have someone to talk with about it)

I’ve never been one for favorites, though you know I really enjoyed Tad William’s Tailchaser’s Song (I’m currently reading his latest book, Shadowplay).

So, I’ll change the question and list the authors who have inspired me to devour everything they’ve produced:

Douglas Adams
Jasper Fforde (thanks to you for this one)
C.S. Friedman
Katharine Kerr
Jane Lindskold
JT Petty (I read you the first Clemency Pogue book)
J.K. Rowling
Jonathon Stroud – (I loved the Bartemeus Trilogy)
Tad Williams

And depending on the next book (Verdigris Deep, due May 4th, Frances Hardinge might have made it onto this list, also thanks to your recommendation.

Now if you had asked me what the best book in the world was when I was, say, three years old, the answer would have been undeniably The Pokey Little Puppy. There’s life lessons there, about tardiness or something, and maybe about mother’s unconditional love.

c) the most important book you think was ever written (a work that changed the way you view the world)?

The first book that I can say changed the way I viewed the world was John Irving’s The Cider House Rules. Before that book, my Catholic upbringing had me thinking about the topic of abortion solely from the oversimplified point of view of the fetus. Irving made me think about it from other angles and stripped away the righteous sense of simplicity.

You said that you were looking for something to read, and asking for recommendations. I don’t know yet for myself, but I’ve been recommended by Oswyn to read The Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan. It’s from the children’s section, so I feel safe recommending it to you before I’ve had a chance to read it myself. Oswyn just finished book two and loved it, though can’t stand the idea of having to wait for the third one.

Ohh Books :
a) your absolute favorite read (one that you come back to time after time — the literary equivalent of comfort food) – Is it bad that I read recipe books? I adore food science books and I nibble my way through them it seems. Harrold McGee’s On Food and Cooking is a ragged favorite. Incidentally, I also take great delight in the Harry Potter series as well as the Lord of the Rings series.

b) the best you’ve ever read – Hard to say. Really. I’ve got such a mind block right now it’s not even funny.

c) the most important book you think was ever written (a work that changed the way you view the world)? For me, these have typically been political commentary books or self help books – the self help favorites are: The Present and Millionare Next Door. There was another one that focused on simple living, but I honestly can’t remember the title, though I still carry a copy. A more whimsical book may be the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Happy Blogiversary!

These are so much harder to answer than I thought at first glance…

(a) I can’t find an answer for this one. As a kid I re-read things (including the Anne books, as noted by others above) so many times that my mom would say she thought that I’d eventually read the print right off the paper. As an adult, though, I don’t go back to books nearly as much. I think I am worried that I might run out of time to read all the things I want to.

(b) The best book (well, series, actually) that I’ve read in recent memory is the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. Six minutely detailed books set in 16th Century Scotland, England, France, North Africa, and Russia wouldn’t seem like an obvious choice — especially given that the first two books are a bit of a slog — but this series ended up absolutely captivating me. I literally finished the sixth book and picked up the first one to read it again. But going back to (a), I decided I really ought to move on to other books instead.

(c) I can’t narrow this one past two books, and, while I am not sure how they would stand up as canonical “important” books, they absolutely changed the way I saw the world. The first was “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, which I read at least a decade before it was an Oprah book. It opened up this middle class, white, northern girl’s eyes to a world of poverty and racism that I had never conceived of. The second is “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie, who has such a unique writing style that I have always joked that I had to learn how to read all over again to understand him. Like “The Bluest Eye,” this book opened up a world I knew nothing about — the era of the partition of India and Pakistan.

Wow. Long post. Sorry.

Chris helps direct some folks here in this post.

Wow, great questions! For me, there are so many books I love that it’s hard to pick. However, books that I keep around and do reread every few years: top of the list is Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose. There’s something about that book–I get something new from it each time I read it. Recently joining him on the shelf is David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas. And oldies-but-goodies that I adore are Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Pride and Prejudice.

More current books that I have loved include Sandra Cisneros’ Caramelo, Elizabeth Hand’s Saffron and Brimstone, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Moon. A very diverse and worthwhile bunch.

Congratulations on your blogiversary! And wow – that’s a lot of posts. 🙂

Hmm, one of my favorite books of all time is To Say Nothing of the Dog, or How We Found the Bishop’s Birdstump at Last by Connie Willis. It is very funny and very clever – and you should persist through the first 100 pages, even if you’re very confused. You’re in the narrator’s headspace, and he is very confused. 🙂 Willis’ book Bellwether is another excellent read (plus it’s really quick).

Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors. If you haven’t read any de Lint, I recommend starting with Someplace to be Flying – you can read an excerpt at the link above, if you’re interested.

While I can’t exactly comply with your list requirements, I can give you some suggestions.
For pick up anytime, anywhere in the middle of the books, The Chronicles of Narnia (CS Lewis), Harry Potter (JK Rowling) and The Belgariad/The Mallorean (David and Leigh Eddings) qualify.

Some mystery authors that I have really enjoyed include: Donna Andrews, Diane Mott Davidson, Monica Ferris, Even Marshall, JoAnna Carl, Joanne Fluke, Tamar Myers, Tim Myers, Laura Childs, Sarah Graves (who is quite a nice person as well), Patricia Sprinkle.

Some other children’s authors: Eion Colfer, Cornelia Funke, Rick Riordan.

Some in fantasy: Katherine Kurtz, Mercedes Lackey.

Novels and inspirational: Andrew M Greeley, Earlene Fowler, Jennifer Chiaverini, Rene Gutteridge, Jan Karon, Philip Gulley, Julie Kenner, Alton Gansky.

My comfort book is Ann Tarr’s ‘Household gods’ I’ve reread that alot.
My best is ‘Watership Downs” love those bunnies!
My life changing book is the Bible, Gotta the creator of all things!

Wow! Congrats on your blogaversary and your 700th post. Great idea for a contest; I’m getting some good book recommendations here. I’m a big Young Adult fan, so most of my faves come from that section of the bookstore.

a) My comfort books are all things Jane Austen and C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books (usually re-read them once a year) and his space trilogy.
b) Favorite of all time–that’s hard, I love so many books. But I’d probably have to say the Narnia books. Another fave is Holly Black’s Tithe.
c) Life changing books? The Bible (really and truly, not just saying that), Jan Silvious’s book Foolproofing Your Life, John Eldredge’s The Sacred Romance. Thanks for the thought-provoking question.

Favorite books – Anne of Green Gables series, The Chronicles of Narnia series. Anything by Carl Hiaasen.

Best books? Can’t narrow this down. I read a wide variety of things.

Most important book – The Killer Angels. All about Gettysburg and war strategy.

Congratulations! I think my favorite book is Rebecca by Daphne DuMaruier. I read it first when I was a teenager and have read it over and over many times. I love the characters, the brooding setting and the evil housekeeper.

The best book I ever read is a toss up. The Hours by Michael Cunningham or The Cape Ann by Faith Sullivan. I loved both of them.

The most important book I ever read has to be To Kill a Mockingbird. So much to tell us about relationships and how to live with people who aren’t the same as us.

Happy blogiversary! My absolute favorite read hands down is To Kill A Mockingbird. The ones for comfort food are knitting related and a good true crime book – anything by Ann Rule, also biographies of Frida Kahlo. The best you’ve ever read? boy, that’s a lot of pressure to write THE best…I would have to say Toni Morrison made me want to read more of her..and Bebee Moore Campbell – Brewster Place. Life changing book? A coffee table book of AZ – it made me want to move out there and then I did for a few years. Great idea for a contest..I’m actually taking some suggesstions for myself 😉

Happy blogiversary. I can’t really say that I have a favourite book but the one book that I deliberately reread is Marghanita Laski’s Litle Boy Lost. That reminds me – I haven’t read it for a few years, I should put it on my to read pile.

I’ll have to say William Faulkner (I’m am so a geek). I read Barn Burning by him and was drawn to his style and storytelling. The most reread by him???? As I Lay Dying. Fabulous. A book that changed me, Crazy Horse by Maria Sandoz. The horror of the treatment of the Indians made me sob. I won’t even go into Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown.

If you read fantasy, the Robin Hobb series (Farseer, Liveship Traders, Tawny Man) are can’t-put-down books. They made me stay up well past my bedtime many times.

The huge George Martin series (Game of Thrones) also is an incredible read — great characters and passion and writing.

Ohh Gladys is so right – Robin Hobb is my favorite fantasy writer – the assassin/fool series is amazing.

1)Books I read over and over: since I can panic about not having enough time to read everything I want to read, children’s and YA books are the only ones I can read more than once or twice. Love “The Old Woman Who Named Things” and “The Dreamer” by Cynthia Rylant, Catwings series by Ursula Le Guin, anything by Joan Bauer.

2)Best book — I loved the Great Gatsby and had to read everything else by Fitzgerald. Same with Edith Wharton. Those bittersweet 20s novels really got to me. But I adore “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” by Winnifred Watson (Persephone books) which is such a wonderful cozy hopeful story about a spinster who suddenly, truly lives and is so funny while doing it! I’m not explaining it well, but I hope you will check it out. I think I had told you about the YA novel Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to start over from the beginning again.

Hmm, well the first two questions I’ll just combine. Number one? Archangel by Sharon Shinn. A book that (I remember this clearly) I started at about 11:30 on a Saturday night and read straight through for three hours because I simply could not put it down. And I managed to resist the urge to reread it all over again for three whole WEEKS! And have read it a total of 14 times since May 3, 1997. Naturally, I’ve read all of her books many times since then (84 times, in fact).

I second the praise for Dorothy Dunnett–she writes the most amazing, unparalleled historical fiction I’ve ever read. Elaborate, complex, multi-layered, full of intrigue, surprises, and amazing historical accuracy. Not for the faint of heart, and to call them “challenging” is an understatement, but oh, so worth it.

Who else? (It’s almost easier to talk about authors than specific titles.) Sean Russell rarely gets mentioned, but I adore his “World Without End/Sea Without a Shore” duology. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s Liaden series is amazingly fun “space opera”-ish kind of reading, but really well done. Patricia Kennealy-Morrison’s “Keltiad” series–especially the Copper Crown, and the Arthur trilogy–is fantastic. Robin McKinley. Diana Wynne Jones, who writes YA, really, but is so much fun. Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books are hilarious. I love Connie Willis’s “Bellwether” and “To Say Nothing about the Dog,” too. And I still deeply regret that so much of Susan Dexter’s work is unavailable and out of print.

I’m not contributing to #3, though. “Important” isn’t nearly as much fun as “entertaining!”

Hey, congrats on 700 posts! And two years; I’m coming up on my first.

Anyway, books.

comfort read: The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, especially the first two trilogies: Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and the White Dragon, and the Harper Hall trilogy: DragonSong, Dragonsinger, and DragonDrums.

As for brilliant but overlooked? The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green, by Joshua Braff. I’ve been raving about this for almost two solid months now; truly one of the best books I’ve ever read. And I read a LOT.

My absolute favorite read is “the Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison.
The best I read was “a Time to Kill” by John Grisham, I began a fan after that one.
I haven’t written anything yet…

My comfort read sits by my bedside: Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Whenever I’m feeling sad I open it to whatever page and start reading. (It’s really a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.)

My must read authors that I recommend to friends are Charles DeLint, F.Scott Fitzgerald and Robin McKinley. Oh and Balzac.

I don’t think I could say the most important book. I do recall that the first time I ever read a book that alternated characters perspectives really changed how I read books and I’m sure affected the way I viewed the world.***CV

A-B can be answered by me with Ellis Peters “The Brother Cadfael ” series.
Book one is “morbid taste for bones”
http://www.amazon.ca/Cadfael-01-Morbid-Taste-Bon/dp/0751517496/ref=sr_1_10/701-0997570-0942749?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174132970&sr=1-10

There was even a BBC TV series staring Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael. ooooh is was sood good too.

P.S. “Happy, Happy, Happy Blogerversary toooo yooouuu! ….and many moooore”

(also, my bank account wants me to yell at you for the giant amazon order I just placed thanks to this post! 😛 )

🙂

Happy Blogiversary! I’m sorry I missed your contest – tax season sucks :o(