Gransnet forums

Books/book club

Win £700 worth of the best books of 2015!

(706 Posts)
CariGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 10-Nov-15 10:26:09

Yes, it's that time of year again - and may we now present this year's round up of the best reads for the festive season.

Something for everyone - and a chance for one person to win every single book featured on the page...a prize haul worth OVER £700!!

So how to enter? Simple! Tell us about your favourite book...in 140 characters or less.

All qualifying entries will be popped into our giant Santa hat and a winner will be pulled out at midday on Tuesday 8 December...to give us plenty of time to get the HUGE box of goodies over to you before the festive season begins.

MiriamRose Tue 10-Nov-15 13:09:06

My all time favourite has to be The Lord of the Rings, I have read it every 2-3 years since I was 12 (no I'm not going to work out how many times that is). Closely followed by Good Omens, the funniest book I've read in a long time.

coop7 Tue 10-Nov-15 13:10:15

I love reading horror books. My all time favourite is Golgotha Falls by Frank DeFelitta. If you like scary books read this book.

Everhopeful1 Tue 10-Nov-15 13:10:54

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee. Read it as a moody teenager and it made me realise there was a big world outside my bedroom and all I had to do was have faith & go find it!

Cambia Tue 10-Nov-15 13:13:01

My favourite book is Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. I read it a couple of years ago and it still keeps coming to mind. Having never experienced war I had not thought deeply just how terrible it was for men in the trenches etc. This book really made me think and be so grateful for the service given by normal men and women for our country.

ginnycomelately Tue 10-Nov-15 13:15:47

My all time favourite book is Rosamunde Pilchers The Shell Seekers a beautifully written evocative book about families relationships kindness compassion some drama . Just so looked forward to each chapter .a must read

marpau Tue 10-Nov-15 13:21:34

My favourite book is Lucia Lucia by Adriana Trigiani

angie95 Tue 10-Nov-15 13:21:55

My favorite book has to be The Wind in the Willows, Ratty Mole Badger, just love it, have read it soo many times xx

SueDonim Tue 10-Nov-15 13:22:24

My favourite childhood book is The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The family's struggle to survive an apocalyptic winter is heartwarming and a lesson in adversity.

I also love Susan Hill's book, Howards's End is on the Landing. It's part memoir, part thoughts on the variety of books that populate her life. It inspired me to buy no new books for myself in 2015, and to just read what is already on my shelf.

Barbie13 Tue 10-Nov-15 13:23:53

My favorite book at the moment is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. It was a wonderful read with excellent characters and a brilliant plot. I just didn't want it to end. We chose it as a book group book and it won hands down when we voted for our favorite book at the end of the year.

Luckygirl Tue 10-Nov-15 13:24:56

The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien.

I come back to this book again and again, in spite of it being set in a nunnery - and me an agnostic!

Its strength lies in the fact that it encapsulates the whole gamut of human relationships in this sheltered space and small community. And it is beautifully written.

This book is a small marvel - if you have never read it, do give it a go.

kennelly Tue 10-Nov-15 13:30:37

My favourite book, since 1961, has been and remains " pride and Prejudice".

jacpri Tue 10-Nov-15 13:33:58

Think how many holidays I will need to book to be able to read all these books!

kennelly Tue 10-Nov-15 13:34:10

My favourite book, since 1961, has been and still is "Pride and Prejudice".

Luckygirl Tue 10-Nov-15 13:34:36

The Land of Spices by Kate O'Brien.

I return to this book repeatedly, in spite of it being set in a nunnery - and me an agnostic! It encapsulates the whole of human emotion.

(This is the version after I read that we can only use 140 characters!)

Roxannediane Tue 10-Nov-15 13:36:19

My favourite book of all time has to be Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It tells the story of a nurse at the end of the Second World War who visits Scotland with her husband and accidentally falls through a time fault into the Scotland of the 1750's. The adventures and love she finds there is described so graphically by the author who is a historian that you can easily imagine you are there. The twists and turns in the story keep you interested in the plot all the way to the end and Claire's life in both centuries quite believable!
Why is it my favourite book? Because it is the first of 8 ( but she is writing the ninth) epic tomes which I have read time and again and allows me to lose myself in a different world of someone else's exciting and knowledgeable imagination.
The factual content is correct and has even enabled me to answer questions on university challenge with my newfound historical knowledge!

dirgni Tue 10-Nov-15 13:36:59

Us by David Nichols. If you're read One Day you are in for a treat when you pick up Us! It's written with such sensitivity you cannot fail to become totally engrossed and as one with the characters . It is full of pathos that draws you in and forces you to carry on reading, a book that you are certain to find difficult to put down! It's wonderfully written and so engaging, much better than One Day.

kyalami Tue 10-Nov-15 13:39:46

A Street Cat Named Bob. An uplifting true story of a cat who adopts a man when he is on his downers. It is an unlikely friendship of an adorable feline who helps him heal his life.

Cailin7 Tue 10-Nov-15 13:39:56

Pride and Prejudice if I had to pick one book. I love this book have read it so many times I know it word for word.

EastEndGranny Tue 10-Nov-15 13:40:50

I love "Goodnight Mr Tom" because of the memories it has for me. I must have read it at least six times to year 6 classes (11 year olds) as a backdrop to topic work on Briain since the 1930s. I always cried when I read the ending. I wouldn't want to spoil the story for any one but on one occasion I came to one part when news comes to Will, the evacuee, about his mother. On hearing this the class burst in to spontaneous applause. It was very special to think the class was that involved with the story. Looking down the lcomments from others it's interesting to see some of my other favourites mentioned reminding me of other books I have enjoyed.

cathisherwood Tue 10-Nov-15 13:40:51

I like the novels my Daphne du Maurier - maybe Frenchmans Creek is my favourite - tales of suspense and intrigue set in a beautiful part of the world

mbody Tue 10-Nov-15 13:42:00

So many years, so many books!!! A favourite is The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins, fast paced and very readable.

sally47 Tue 10-Nov-15 13:42:15

I first read Swallows & Amazons by Arthur Ransome when I was about 10. I lived in a city and it started me on the whole series of books he wrote about the 2 families of children where I was transported into their world of adventure far away from the crowds. I can still remember picking it out of the junior school 'library'. This was a small bookcase in the corridor and the book was a brown hardback with no cover. But the title just caught my imagination and I'm so pleased it did.

CariGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 10-Nov-15 13:46:04

Just to clarify - it's 140 CHARACTERS rather than 140 words.

Some fab entries so far by the way - we are drawing up a wish list of the ones we haven't read!

annerogers Tue 10-Nov-15 13:47:26

I usually love crime novels but I came across Lori Lansens' book The Girls and I loved it. It's the story of conjoined twins, unwanted by their mother and brought up by their midwife and her husband in a totally loving and accepting home. The girls have very different personalities and each has a particularly distinctive voice throughout the book as they tell of their lives, troubles and pleasures in a small rural community. It's so well written I challenge anyone to read this glorious book and remain unmoved, it's simply wonderful.

JillMay Tue 10-Nov-15 13:53:10

Cider with Rosie - it paints a vivid picture of gentler but not necessarily better times. I particlarly like the depiction of the Grannies. It is one of the few books which I read over and over again.