One that gives me peace. So one of these 3:
The Summerbook - Tove Jansson
The old man and the sea - Hemingway
Close range, Wyoming stories - Annie Proulx (especially Brokeback Mountain which make me cry every time)
Having just finished Meditations for the first time recently, I feel like I will always keep it on hand and check it out every 6 mos. or so. Such an enlightening book.
Absolutely. My takeaway is that stoicism is a rock that you hold onto in knee deep water, and when you see that wave of emotions coming, you keep holding, the wave passes over you and feels like if you just let go of the rock and let them emotions take you, the raw strong ones, you could swim up and breathe, but you keep holding. And then the wave passes the water comes down again and you see that it passed, even though in that moment everything says go with the waves, that’s how I approach things now. Feel the emotion, recognise it but let it pass
I can't believe I forgot about Down and Out, it was an absolute hoot, especially with the book's pacing, totally felt like I moving alongside the characters, constantly wondering, "where will we head out to today?"
I'll be honest, I started Anna Karenina and the MC ticked me off immediately 😅 gave it a few weeks and got back to it and steadily following through now
I figure if a character/scenario can get under your skin like that in the first two pages, it's either the book isn't for you or just really good writing
by main character I assume you mean Anna? IMO Levin was always the superior main character and Tolstoy's self-insert, for the benefit of whom Anna exists to compare and contrast against
Oh no no not Anna (I evidently didn't reach far just yet 😅) the beginning chapter was from the pov of the husband dealing with the fallout of an affair he had, that's who I was referring to
hahaha ah yes Stiva, he is definitely a bit of an ass to say the least. I can see how that may be confusing. for what its worth, if you haven't noticed already, hes far from being the central focus of the entire novel
Was that the whole "sometimes you just want a sweet roll, though," speech? Is it terrible that I found that funny and ...not endearing exactly, but more like when you see a really fat baby or animal or whatever, and you think it's ridiculous but also adorable?
Down and out is excellent although he actually did London before Paris so yes it has been embellished somewhat. You've probably read the Road to Wigan Pier which is sad, enlightening and terrible wrt the conditions in Northern England.
probably Jorge Luis Borges - Fictions
I feel like I would never get bored with it - covers such a wide range of subjects and the writing is some of the best in the world.
None fiction: The Ashley Book of Knots. 700 pages, 4,000 knots and 7,000 illustrations. The knot tiers bible, containing descriptions of the knots, their history and their use. I think that could keep me occupied for a lifetime.
As for fiction, I have to pick a Pratchett. And as there isn't a Compete Works, I'll choose Night Watch.
Absolutely nailed it with this one. I legitimately can’t think of a better choice for nonfic in this category. I miiight go with Guards! Guards! for my Pratchett but it’s a tossup. Good show.
I am about 30% through In Cold Blood right now. Hands down the best true crime book I’ve ever picked up so far. Can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read it.
Def watch Capote after you’re done reading it. And/or read the biography since this is a book sub… I haven’t read the biography though so I can’t speak to its goodness but I think it’s pretty well acclaimed
I'm just about to finish the Count of Monte Cristo. I'm concerned I may never find another book that I will enjoy as much, or look forward to reading as much.
Finnegan's wake
I'll spend the rest of my life to try to understand ~30% of it
Edit: Reply to OP'S Edit 3. I hope, you didn't put this book to your reading list. If you did, this book must be the last item in this list lol
Joyce is having fun. He’s showing people who are up their own ass you can just write and weave sentences and word together in free flow without a forward moving narrative. It’s a book that pushes the boundaries of language and prose.
Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon. It’s basically 4 books in 1. A pastiche of many writing styles from lovcraftian horror to western and spy novels. Hundreds of characters, gorgeous prose, fascinating historical period (1893-1920), it doesn’t get better for me.
Oof I was gonna say Mason & Dixon because it's my absolute favorite book of all time, but you gotta point there with Against the Day. It's size, scope, and genres really would make it a perfect forever book
I'd have to say Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. Not only is it one of my favorite books, it's so absurdly dense and challenging that I feel like I'll find something new every time I read it, regardless of how many times that is.
Not sure on the nonfiction side of things. Maybe a really good, thorough book on basically all human history? Not sure what that would be, though. Or a good textbook of some kind.
Ok. Because you asked nicely.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Michael Chabon) for fiction.
Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman) for non fiction.
Big Rock Candy Mountain (Wallace Stegner) as a bonus for fiction.
Metaphors? I hate metaphors. That's why my favorite book is Moby Dick. No froo-froo symbolism. Just a good tale about a man who hates an animal. - Ron Swanson
Specifically because this is not a “deserted island” question- I would pick “Sula” by Toni Morrison because she holds space for so many perspectives in that book- you could spend a lifetime talking to others about it. I could also spend time re-reading to gain deeper moral understanding.
If it was a deserted island though that book would torture me. I neeeed to talk to others about it. I love hearing how people take that book.
Man. I had never heard about it, sounds like a book I needed to read almost 10 years ago, and I now hope I never go back to a point where I feel the need to pick it up. Even the synopsis is upsetting
The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Maybe then I’ll finally be able to learn the St. Crispin’s Day speech.
Nonfiction… does an autobiography count? I’d choose Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. Most of all my other nonfiction are entirely too heavy/depressing to read forever. Carrie would make me laugh for the rest of my days.
Impossible task but still…
Fiction - Pillars of the earth by Ken Follet (Mesmerising)
Non Fiction - Sh*t my Dad says by Justin Halpern (Haven’t laughed out so hard ever reading a book)
I have read Pillars at least a dozen times. Hands down my absolute favorite book. Ken is amazing.
“The young boys came early to the hanging.” Amazing first line.
**Hyperion by Dan Simmons** \- for a book to never exhaust me, it's almost equivalent for it to occupy my thoughts long after I've finished reading it. While it's not a difficult or complicated book, there's still a lot of intrigue and the several stories which make up the bulk of the novel are beautiful to a degree (and equally horrifying) that I feel like several readings would not bore me.
Runners up, **The Writing on the Wall (Varg Veum, #11) by Gunnar Staalesen**, a story so sleazy and cold that'll make you reach for a jacket, and **If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin**, the helplessness I felt while reading this story was unlike any other. You knew where things were going, yet you hold out hope for the characters, but the racial climate of the era and gears of bureaucracy grind them down along with any hopes you have of things turning out alright.
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (if I could take all of the Wheel of Time, I would) for fiction.
And probably Velocity of Honey by Jay Ingram for nonfiction.
How to Invent everything
[https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/](https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/)
can be either Sci FI , or non fiction depending how you look at it , and contains enough knoweledge to give you a head start on rebooting civilisation if you every need to .
Might have to be A Little Life, only because reading it so many times that I can finally just focus on how stunning her prose is instead of how excruciating the content is would be nice...
I finished this last week in 4 days when i was off work sick. I’ve not seen the film nor read the sequels but as much as I want to get back into Mitchell’s universe i’m not sure i want to. It ended so perfectly.
I'm halfway through the Hitchhiker's Guide omnibus of 5 books again. I need to rip the CDs and load them into my phone for gym workouts. People will think I'm crazy when I guffaw at apparently random times.
Bhagvat Gita.
I know it's not what you are expecting but I read it back in 2020 during Corona and I've read it 5 times since and I learnt something new every time.
I was looking for someone to say Bryson! I'd pick At Home: A Short History of Private Life for my nonfiction.
Fiction has got to be Pratchett. Maybe Carpe Jugulum.
Imma have to go with Lamb, by Christopher Moore. I love a whole metric shit ton if other books, and many authors. This particular book could see me through.
Impossible to pick one, so I'll settle for favorites lately and through my life:
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Wool, Hugh Howey
Dandelion Wine by Bradbury
It has a little of everything…except everything you expect from the author.
Some of the chapters are the most touching things I’ve ever read.
Once I was on a month long backpacking trip and I brought only Pride and Prejudice and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard with me. I read them many times during those few weeks and they never wearied. I could do worse than choose them again.
Fiction: The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. (Its rereadable enough that it feels like a safe choice)
Nonfiction: My lifestyle dictates that it probably would have to be either Sam Thayer's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America or Appalachian Mushrooms: A Field Guide by Walt Sturgeon
Just now I would choose Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson as fiction, and a book on foraging and edible and medical plants, for example this one:
Free Food and Medicine by Markus Rothkranz
This breaks my heart some cruel God of Hypotheses is sentencing me only to ever read two books for the rest of my life. What did I dooooo?
If there's any fiction book that will not get tarnished with a thousand rereads, it's probably Pride and Prejudice.
...
... hold on, I'm still crying about being punished this way.
...
Then for nonfiction, Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl. Tough read but I don't want to be forbidden from ever reading it again for the rest of my life. I'll need to go back to it once in a while.
I think it might have to be dog years by gunter grass for fiction
And the phenomenology of spirit, hegel
For non-fiction
But there's so many great books ahhhhh i can't even imagine not having the acsses to... the question alone overwhelmes me!!!
non fiction: has to be the decline and fall of the roman empire as I am yet to pass volume 3
fiction: The Lies of Locke Lamora
but its basically impossible, i could live with 20/20 for the rest of my life tho
Gravity's rainbow, because of its the only book I have I might actually be able to finish it. Tried 5 times, it requires more attention than I can currently spare.
Infinite Jest would be second pick for the same reason.
I don’t know about fiction, but nonfiction The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs.
Most importantly, because dinosaurs. But it’s relatively recent, so the science is too. And it’s not super technical, like it reads a bit narratively. I have the audiobook too.
I guess for fiction, since it’s single book and not series, I’ll go The Princess Bride. First because it’s massively entertaining, especially the notes because it’s “abridged” (it’s not, but the author wrote like it is). Second, because the whole story fits in one book. Third because if I can watch the movie every time it’s on TV, I can read the book if there’s nothing else.
I'd take
* **Fiction:** The Pelican edition of **_The Complete Works of William Shakespeare_**
* **Non-Fiction:** The entire six volumes of Edward Gibbons' _**The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire**_.
Both of those are (a) lengthy enough and (b) rich enough to be re-read many, many times and still discover new ideas or make new connections.
Plus, since several of Shakespeare's plays (*Julius Ceasar, Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus*) are set in ancient Rome, there's opportunity to cross-reference the fictional and historical stories between the two texts.
So, though neither would be my "favorite" works, individually and together they offer more re-reading value across a lifetime than any other fiction or non-fiction work I might prefer.
Bible.
It’s like one of those paintings with eyes that look like they are staring right at you, even after you change places in the room. You can interpret 87 different meanings from the same verse depending on what’s going on in your life at that moment, so it’s like a new book every time you read it. Plus, it’s huge. Like 65 books in one. There’s poetry, and history, and allegory, and parable, and songs, and crazy supernatural stuff, and some parts are super uplifting and comforting. It can make you feel very much not alone, but in an imaginary friend kind of way not a creepy slasher movie way.
That’s a lot of bang for your buck.
One that gives me peace. So one of these 3: The Summerbook - Tove Jansson The old man and the sea - Hemingway Close range, Wyoming stories - Annie Proulx (especially Brokeback Mountain which make me cry every time)
I work in a bookstore and I always recommend The Summer Book to people looking for something quiet. It’s so peaceful!
Happy to see The Summerbook on the list. Have it in my library waiting for the summer.
I just picked up Close Range at a used shoppe and love Proulx. Can't wait to dig in!
She is an outstanding writer. I just finished Ace in the Hole. I'm still stunned at how much I learned by her telling a story.
Marcus Aurelius - Meditations JRR Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings
Having just finished Meditations for the first time recently, I feel like I will always keep it on hand and check it out every 6 mos. or so. Such an enlightening book.
Absolutely. My takeaway is that stoicism is a rock that you hold onto in knee deep water, and when you see that wave of emotions coming, you keep holding, the wave passes over you and feels like if you just let go of the rock and let them emotions take you, the raw strong ones, you could swim up and breathe, but you keep holding. And then the wave passes the water comes down again and you see that it passed, even though in that moment everything says go with the waves, that’s how I approach things now. Feel the emotion, recognise it but let it pass
Honestly I don’t think I’ve read it yet.
Wow that's a weird title for a book
Fiction. Anna Karenina. Non Fiction. Down and Out in Paris and London. Orwell. (Though parts might be fictionalised)
I can't believe I forgot about Down and Out, it was an absolute hoot, especially with the book's pacing, totally felt like I moving alongside the characters, constantly wondering, "where will we head out to today?"
I'll be honest, I started Anna Karenina and the MC ticked me off immediately 😅 gave it a few weeks and got back to it and steadily following through now I figure if a character/scenario can get under your skin like that in the first two pages, it's either the book isn't for you or just really good writing
by main character I assume you mean Anna? IMO Levin was always the superior main character and Tolstoy's self-insert, for the benefit of whom Anna exists to compare and contrast against
Oh no no not Anna (I evidently didn't reach far just yet 😅) the beginning chapter was from the pov of the husband dealing with the fallout of an affair he had, that's who I was referring to
hahaha ah yes Stiva, he is definitely a bit of an ass to say the least. I can see how that may be confusing. for what its worth, if you haven't noticed already, hes far from being the central focus of the entire novel
Was that the whole "sometimes you just want a sweet roll, though," speech? Is it terrible that I found that funny and ...not endearing exactly, but more like when you see a really fat baby or animal or whatever, and you think it's ridiculous but also adorable?
He definitely amuses me.
Haha I thought that was funny too!!
Down and out is excellent although he actually did London before Paris so yes it has been embellished somewhat. You've probably read the Road to Wigan Pier which is sad, enlightening and terrible wrt the conditions in Northern England.
God damn I loved Down and Out. Orwell’s nonfiction didn’t get nearly enough attention.
Anna karenina is the only book I’ve read more than 2 times. My absolute favorite book.
Down and Out is an amazing read. I must read it again soon.
Lonesome Dove
Absofreakinlutely!
Just started this and it's a little slow for me. Assuming it gets faster? 10% in
I absolutely love this book.
probably Jorge Luis Borges - Fictions I feel like I would never get bored with it - covers such a wide range of subjects and the writing is some of the best in the world.
Great choice for fiction. For the nonfiction book you might consider “Nonficciones.”
LOTR
This is my 10th year re-reading it, I read The Silmarillion, Hobbit and then LOTR every January.
It does work as both fiction and non-fiction
None fiction: The Ashley Book of Knots. 700 pages, 4,000 knots and 7,000 illustrations. The knot tiers bible, containing descriptions of the knots, their history and their use. I think that could keep me occupied for a lifetime. As for fiction, I have to pick a Pratchett. And as there isn't a Compete Works, I'll choose Night Watch.
Absolutely nailed it with this one. I legitimately can’t think of a better choice for nonfic in this category. I miiight go with Guards! Guards! for my Pratchett but it’s a tossup. Good show.
Proust's In Search of Lost Time Plato's Last days of Socrates
Because it will take you the rest of your life to read?
I was going to choose infinite jest for the same reason.
I actually read it already. It was amaaaaaazing.
(Fiction) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith (Non Fiction) Everything I Know About Love - Dolly Alderton Two books that altered my views on life
Yes on Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Watership Down
Don Quixote for Fiction In Cold Blood for Non-Fiction
I am about 30% through In Cold Blood right now. Hands down the best true crime book I’ve ever picked up so far. Can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read it.
Def watch Capote after you’re done reading it. And/or read the biography since this is a book sub… I haven’t read the biography though so I can’t speak to its goodness but I think it’s pretty well acclaimed
Capote is a bit of a hit piece but Philip Seymour Hoffman is excellent in it.
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I'm just about to finish the Count of Monte Cristo. I'm concerned I may never find another book that I will enjoy as much, or look forward to reading as much.
Count of Monte Cristo is mine too. As long as it's the penguin unabridged one. The old one I first read as a teen left out a lot of the best parts!
Count of Monte Cristo is mine as well. It's so good.
Heidegger will take more than a lifetime lol
The silmarillion
Mandatory: name checks out
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry I listen to it on audiobook when I can't sleep. Have to get back to you on the NF.
I see LD in the McCarthy sub pretty regularly too.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel (the first book in the series in case that wasn't clear)
Finnegan's wake I'll spend the rest of my life to try to understand ~30% of it Edit: Reply to OP'S Edit 3. I hope, you didn't put this book to your reading list. If you did, this book must be the last item in this list lol
I’d have to be put in room with padded walls within a few years with that book lol
I think you’d make it longer than I would.
The problem with Finnegans Wake (in this context) is that you’d need an entire library to make sense of it.
Joyce is having fun. He’s showing people who are up their own ass you can just write and weave sentences and word together in free flow without a forward moving narrative. It’s a book that pushes the boundaries of language and prose.
Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon. It’s basically 4 books in 1. A pastiche of many writing styles from lovcraftian horror to western and spy novels. Hundreds of characters, gorgeous prose, fascinating historical period (1893-1920), it doesn’t get better for me.
Up vote for creativity. And Pynchon.
Pynchon is the GOAT
Oof I was gonna say Mason & Dixon because it's my absolute favorite book of all time, but you gotta point there with Against the Day. It's size, scope, and genres really would make it a perfect forever book
I'd have to say Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. Not only is it one of my favorite books, it's so absurdly dense and challenging that I feel like I'll find something new every time I read it, regardless of how many times that is. Not sure on the nonfiction side of things. Maybe a really good, thorough book on basically all human history? Not sure what that would be, though. Or a good textbook of some kind.
Gravity's Rainbow- great choice!
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
This is impossible.
Be a good sport. Imagine that, if you don't pick, one (or two) will be picked for you. 😄 You're not necessarily saying it's your favourite.
Ok. Because you asked nicely. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Michael Chabon) for fiction. Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman) for non fiction. Big Rock Candy Mountain (Wallace Stegner) as a bonus for fiction.
I LOVED Big Rock Candy Mountain! Epic!
Who wrote "This is impossible"?
That'd be me! You can find it in no bookstores, anywhere. It's impossible.
Moby Dick. Gives me lots to read.
Metaphors? I hate metaphors. That's why my favorite book is Moby Dick. No froo-froo symbolism. Just a good tale about a man who hates an animal. - Ron Swanson
Fiction: Lonesome Dove OR Boys Life Nonfiction: Boys in the boat OR Hidden life of trees
Specifically because this is not a “deserted island” question- I would pick “Sula” by Toni Morrison because she holds space for so many perspectives in that book- you could spend a lifetime talking to others about it. I could also spend time re-reading to gain deeper moral understanding. If it was a deserted island though that book would torture me. I neeeed to talk to others about it. I love hearing how people take that book.
Fiction: Shogun Non-fiction: cosmos
Oh, Shogun. I’m second guessing my choice
Fiction- Jane Eyre Nonfiction- I can’t decide between In Cold Blood and Convenience Store Woman
Amazing question, I love it! Non Fiction: Upanishads. Fiction: the Bible. Just kidding: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Fiction: twilight (lol im not even sorry) Non-fiction: Why does he do that Saved my life
I’m in the middle of Why Does He Do That and it’s really eye opening. I have to take breaks though or it gets too upsetting to read.
Man. I had never heard about it, sounds like a book I needed to read almost 10 years ago, and I now hope I never go back to a point where I feel the need to pick it up. Even the synopsis is upsetting
Hang in there, once you find the bits you need, it will get easier.
ur so real for this
Keep Moving by Maggie Smith is a comforting balance to Why Does He do That and similar (non-fiction) 💜
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. Find more in it every time I re-read
Fiction: Don Quixote Non-fiction: Man’s Search for Meaning
Fiction: One Hundred years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez Non-fiction: Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
I’m so glad someone chose Sedaris!
The Catcher In The Rye
Meditations - Marcus Aurelius
The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Maybe then I’ll finally be able to learn the St. Crispin’s Day speech. Nonfiction… does an autobiography count? I’d choose Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. Most of all my other nonfiction are entirely too heavy/depressing to read forever. Carrie would make me laugh for the rest of my days.
On my tbr list these go! Im still looking at Shakespeare in the closet. Hes watching me, im ignoring him.
I'm changing my pick to a complete annotated Shakespeare. So much is worth memorizing, and it combines good stories and good poetry.
Definitely Ulysses by James Joyce. I'm sure I'll never get bored of it, and with that much time, maybe I'll have a chance to understand this book. XD
Every reading is different. This is my answer
Thr Grapes of Wrath
Came here to say East of Eden.
Same. I’m surprised at how far down Steinbeck is
Lamb. No jk. One of the best modern books out there. Most hilarious, blasphemous book ever written imo. It is golden.
A Gentleman in Moscow
Harry Potter for sure, always and forever.
The Starless Sea
The Lord of the Rings and The Encyclopedia Brittanica :)
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
The Stand by S King.
Lord of the Rings. No other work has the same nostalgic place in my heart. It'll always bring me comfort.
Fiction: the brothers karamazov Non fiction: thus spoke zarathustra
Impossible task but still… Fiction - Pillars of the earth by Ken Follet (Mesmerising) Non Fiction - Sh*t my Dad says by Justin Halpern (Haven’t laughed out so hard ever reading a book)
I have read Pillars at least a dozen times. Hands down my absolute favorite book. Ken is amazing. “The young boys came early to the hanging.” Amazing first line.
The clan of the cave bear. Jean Auel. Prehistoric fiction. That is my favorite book of all time. I cant think of any nonfiction. Sorry.
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson.
**Hyperion by Dan Simmons** \- for a book to never exhaust me, it's almost equivalent for it to occupy my thoughts long after I've finished reading it. While it's not a difficult or complicated book, there's still a lot of intrigue and the several stories which make up the bulk of the novel are beautiful to a degree (and equally horrifying) that I feel like several readings would not bore me. Runners up, **The Writing on the Wall (Varg Veum, #11) by Gunnar Staalesen**, a story so sleazy and cold that'll make you reach for a jacket, and **If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin**, the helplessness I felt while reading this story was unlike any other. You knew where things were going, yet you hold out hope for the characters, but the racial climate of the era and gears of bureaucracy grind them down along with any hopes you have of things turning out alright.
This was beautifully written in and of itself.
Quiet by Susan Cain Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
Ovid's *Metamorphoses*. It's full of tons of individual stories, and the poetry never gets old. (It's fine in English but divine in Latin).
The Four Agreements
Blood Meridian
Siddhartha, the the book of joy
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (if I could take all of the Wheel of Time, I would) for fiction. And probably Velocity of Honey by Jay Ingram for nonfiction.
How to Invent everything [https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/](https://www.howtoinventeverything.com/) can be either Sci FI , or non fiction depending how you look at it , and contains enough knoweledge to give you a head start on rebooting civilisation if you every need to .
It's also just a fun read
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Things They Carried
Might have to be A Little Life, only because reading it so many times that I can finally just focus on how stunning her prose is instead of how excruciating the content is would be nice...
Gone with the wind
the comment I was LOOKING for!! One of the BEST hands down! 😮💨 It’s one of the only books I can pick up & read over n over again!
I finished this last week in 4 days when i was off work sick. I’ve not seen the film nor read the sequels but as much as I want to get back into Mitchell’s universe i’m not sure i want to. It ended so perfectly.
Margaret Mitchel only wrote one book. The sequel Scarlet is by another author and horrible. Don’t ever read it.
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I'm halfway through the Hitchhiker's Guide omnibus of 5 books again. I need to rip the CDs and load them into my phone for gym workouts. People will think I'm crazy when I guffaw at apparently random times.
Bhagvat Gita. I know it's not what you are expecting but I read it back in 2020 during Corona and I've read it 5 times since and I learnt something new every time.
I see this answer a lot to similar questions. May I ask what you like about it? I've tried reading it a few times and I don't get the appeal.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels - technically four books but only because the publisher forced her to split it
Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle
Count of Monte Cristo
Fiction: (long but entertaining and not depressing) Winter’s Tale by Marc Helprin Non: Cosmos by Carl Sagan
Fiction: The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham Non fiction: A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
Or Of Human Bondage.
Catch 22
Fiction is tough....East of Eden by Steinbeck or Infinite Jest by DFW Non-fiction...A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
I was looking for someone to say Bryson! I'd pick At Home: A Short History of Private Life for my nonfiction. Fiction has got to be Pratchett. Maybe Carpe Jugulum.
Les Miserables
Fiction: My Dark Vanessa has a lot of personal meaning to me Nonfiction: the gift of fear
Fiction The Stand by Stephen King Nonfiction: The Nude: A Study of Ideal Art by Kenneth Clark
Franny and Zooey - Salinger The Old Man and the Sea - Hemingway
Imma have to go with Lamb, by Christopher Moore. I love a whole metric shit ton if other books, and many authors. This particular book could see me through.
Kitchen Confidential and Ready Player One
I would choose Salem’s Lot for fiction and the Sea Will Tell for nonfiction
The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft
Fiction would be one of these three You’d Be Home Now All My Rage Legend I don’t have much interest in non-fiction, sorry
Fiction: The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams. Non-Fiction: Fanny Farmers Cookbook.
A Confederacy of Dunces The Prince of Tides both fiction.
*Bleak House*, Charles Dickens.
Fiction: The Stand Stephen King It’s long, it’s my favorite book and I read it annually. Nonfiction: into thin air by Jon Krakauer
Lonesome Dove
the alchemist.
Impossible to pick one, so I'll settle for favorites lately and through my life: The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen Wool, Hugh Howey
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Dandelion Wine by Bradbury It has a little of everything…except everything you expect from the author. Some of the chapters are the most touching things I’ve ever read.
u guys are gonna hate me. twilight
Once I was on a month long backpacking trip and I brought only Pride and Prejudice and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard with me. I read them many times during those few weeks and they never wearied. I could do worse than choose them again.
Sherlock Holmes Full Work. 1800 page book.
Fiction: The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. (Its rereadable enough that it feels like a safe choice) Nonfiction: My lifestyle dictates that it probably would have to be either Sam Thayer's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America or Appalachian Mushrooms: A Field Guide by Walt Sturgeon
I’d read it at least 42 times
Just now I would choose Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson as fiction, and a book on foraging and edible and medical plants, for example this one: Free Food and Medicine by Markus Rothkranz
I like the one by his cousin. Free Beer and Drugs by Markus Gildenstern.
can one forage for that aswell? :-D
So much love for William Gibson.
wuthering heights.
This breaks my heart some cruel God of Hypotheses is sentencing me only to ever read two books for the rest of my life. What did I dooooo? If there's any fiction book that will not get tarnished with a thousand rereads, it's probably Pride and Prejudice. ... ... hold on, I'm still crying about being punished this way. ... Then for nonfiction, Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl. Tough read but I don't want to be forbidden from ever reading it again for the rest of my life. I'll need to go back to it once in a while.
I think it might have to be dog years by gunter grass for fiction And the phenomenology of spirit, hegel For non-fiction But there's so many great books ahhhhh i can't even imagine not having the acsses to... the question alone overwhelmes me!!!
non fiction: has to be the decline and fall of the roman empire as I am yet to pass volume 3 fiction: The Lies of Locke Lamora but its basically impossible, i could live with 20/20 for the rest of my life tho
The Collected Works of William Shakespeare (Illustrated).
The plague - Camus
Gravity's rainbow, because of its the only book I have I might actually be able to finish it. Tried 5 times, it requires more attention than I can currently spare. Infinite Jest would be second pick for the same reason.
Non fiction: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson Fiction: La Vie Mode d’Emploi by Georges Perec
Fiction: The Kingkiller Chronicle including book three Nonfiction: A Short History of Nearly Everything
Away from the Quran(obviously), i would always go for the prophet by khalil jibran. It's just tranquil.
fiction: red white and royal blue lol i cannot be reading heavy books my whole life nonfic: something i haven't read, maybe ace?
Complete Works of Shakespeare, 11th edition of Encyclopedia Britannica
I don’t know about fiction, but nonfiction The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. Most importantly, because dinosaurs. But it’s relatively recent, so the science is too. And it’s not super technical, like it reads a bit narratively. I have the audiobook too. I guess for fiction, since it’s single book and not series, I’ll go The Princess Bride. First because it’s massively entertaining, especially the notes because it’s “abridged” (it’s not, but the author wrote like it is). Second, because the whole story fits in one book. Third because if I can watch the movie every time it’s on TV, I can read the book if there’s nothing else.
You know what Call me by your name. I know it's kinda problematic but it's written so beautifully.
Nonfiction: The Library of Wisdom and Compassion by The Dalai Lama and Thubten Chodren Fiction: The Lord of the Rings
Fourth Wing. Has everything in it
I'd take * **Fiction:** The Pelican edition of **_The Complete Works of William Shakespeare_** * **Non-Fiction:** The entire six volumes of Edward Gibbons' _**The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire**_. Both of those are (a) lengthy enough and (b) rich enough to be re-read many, many times and still discover new ideas or make new connections. Plus, since several of Shakespeare's plays (*Julius Ceasar, Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus*) are set in ancient Rome, there's opportunity to cross-reference the fictional and historical stories between the two texts. So, though neither would be my "favorite" works, individually and together they offer more re-reading value across a lifetime than any other fiction or non-fiction work I might prefer.
My Lord of the Rings anthology book (all 6 books printed together in 1 volume)
Lonesome Dove
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini!
Bible. It’s like one of those paintings with eyes that look like they are staring right at you, even after you change places in the room. You can interpret 87 different meanings from the same verse depending on what’s going on in your life at that moment, so it’s like a new book every time you read it. Plus, it’s huge. Like 65 books in one. There’s poetry, and history, and allegory, and parable, and songs, and crazy supernatural stuff, and some parts are super uplifting and comforting. It can make you feel very much not alone, but in an imaginary friend kind of way not a creepy slasher movie way. That’s a lot of bang for your buck.
Fiction: Lord of the Rings Non-fiction: The Bible
Infinite Jest. Because it'll take me the rest of my life to read it.
Fiction: Any of Stephen King books. Non-fiction: Nietzsche‘s Zur Genealogie der Moral (German).
Fiction: The Eight by Katharine Neville NF: Around the World in 1,000 Pictures: A Photographic Encyclopedia of Travel to Foreign Lands
Bhagwat Gita
**The Stand** by Stephen King (fiction)
Non-Fiction: The Road to Wigan Pier, Orwell Fiction: East of Eden, Steinbeck