What is your favourite novel, and why?

gardenoma

The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell. It puts flesh on the bones of a century in the history of england i knew very little about. Loved it, all those battles not so much but even those are told from a very personal and human perspective .

Mr Dog and I both read and enjoyed his Arthurian trilogy. It's not often that we both like the same books so much, but these were as you describe, gardenoma - putting flesh on the bones of mythical characters. The story of Arthur's rise and fall is told from the perspective of a shield bearer in his army, so they are very different from the usual tales.

grannydarkhair

DonnaB5859

The Midnight Library.
Give it a read. You won’t be disappointed

Want a bet? 😁 After reading glowing reviews I expected to read something special. I didn’t hate it but it went in the “going to the charity shop” pile. It’s definitely not a re-reader for me.

Yeah, me too, read it then it went to my local charity shop, def not one to re-read.

Wolf Hall, Bring Up The Bodies and The Mirror and the Light
By Hilary Mantel.Have read them twice so far.
I also read an old copy of The SecretGarden every now and again, it was my Mum’s book.Just lovely.

pensionpat

My favourite author is John Irving. The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules have both been made into pretty decent films, although his books are so complex that a film makes a poor second. But the book that stands out is A prayer for Owen Meany. I re-read it regularly. It is so satisfying. All the ends are sewn up, and all questions answered. The theme of the book is Love, Loss and faith, with a mixture of tragedy and comedy.

Am half way through A Prayer for Owen Meany and have just ordered The World according to Garp and Cider House Rules. It was great to find a writer who is so different. Thank you so much. Enjoying the way that characters are fully explored and this is what leads the story. Owen Meany as baby Jesus is priceless and so on.

pensionpat

My favourite author is John Irving. The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules have both been made into pretty decent films, although his books are so complex that a film makes a poor second. But the book that stands out is A prayer for Owen Meany. I re-read it regularly. It is so satisfying. All the ends are sewn up, and all questions answered. The theme of the book is Love, Loss and faith, with a mixture of tragedy and comedy.

Thank you pensionpat. Just to say that your recommendation for John Irving has set me reading a new author. I have read A Prayer For Owen Meany and loved it. I have just finished The Cider House Rules and as you can imagine it will stay with me for a long time. In case anyone is interested in watching or rewatching the film, it is on itvX for free. Just started Thw World According to Garp. So thank you so much it is great to have found such a fantastic author.

So many, so many.
I don’t seem to have read a lot of recent novels but l re-read these often,

Rebecca,
September,
Winter Solstice, both the last two by Rosamunde Pilcher
Marjorie Morningstar, Herman Wouk
Cider with Rosie
Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
The Wind in the Willows
National Velvet, Enid Bagnold
The Sea, the Sea, Iris Murdoch

I will never stop buying books!

Hellogirl1

As a child I loved Little Women. As an adult I can`t pick out a favourite, but A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini would be up there on the list.

Hellogirl1 we must have gone to the same library both are my favorites too!

Hellogirl1

As a child I loved Little Women. As an adult I can`t pick out a favourite, but A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini would be up there on the list.

Truly. That Book is a masterpiece. and Little Woman deserves its Flowers too. Both these books are Amazing in your right.

Giving a single Answer to this is quite Impossible but I have always adored the works of Jane Austen especially Pride and Prejudice. Other than that The Great Expectations is quite a Favourite of mine and also the The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh.

Probably Jane Eyre, as I studied it for my O level and again for my degree.
Though I do love Thomas Hardy, Margaret Forster and Kate Atkinson.

The Herries Chronicle - Hugh Walpole

Oreo

grannydarkhair

DonnaB5859

The Midnight Library.
Give it a read. You won’t be disappointed

Want a bet? 😁 After reading glowing reviews I expected to read something special. I didn’t hate it but it went in the “going to the charity shop” pile. It’s definitely not a re-reader for me.

Yeah, me too, read it then it went to my local charity shop, def not one to re-read.

My son, who hardly ever reads, really enjoyed it and recommended it but I can’t say I enjoyed it much. It’s perhaps a Marmite thing.

I really love the novels of Amitav Ghosh. He is an amazing Indian writer with some of the best works i have read. I especially like his The Glass Palace and the Ibis Trilogy.

My favourite book is Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. A strong-willed and intelligent woman refuses to allow the pretensions of her husband's smug English family to ruin her life. You can find more on shabdin

The Wolf Hall trilogy. I have just read the books for the second time and enjoyed them even more. I’m trying to persuade GS to give the first one a go!

Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom series. When I finished ‘War Lord’ I felt bereft that Uhtred had run his course!

Rebecca. A favourite since my early teens.

Rebecca, yes the book so much better than the films.That’s made me think about re reading mall the Du Maurier novels now.😃

Mall? All

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My favorite novel is "A Suitable Boy" because it shows the lives of four families in post-independence India and explores the themes of love, politics, and tradition.

That book is wonderful! Tears and laughter in equal measure.

To have one is so difficult but the most recent to go straight to my personal number one spot is Fresh Water For Flowers by Valerie Perrin (translated from the French original). I wept buckets but it was a book full of hope and love. When I finished it I felt bereft! I will read again in the future - always the mark of a great book for me.

Persuasion is definitely one of my favourite books. There’s something about this novel, out of all Jane Austen’s work, that just moves me. I had recently re-read it and it is still as wonderful as ever.

“It is truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife.” All human experience is there. And it’s a very good read.

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1.Train to Pakistan (1956) by Khushwant Singh:
This poignant historical novel dives into the tragic events of the Partition of India in 1947.Train to Pakistan is a stark and unsparing account of human folly and the enduring power of hope amidst a tumultuous historical backdrop.

2. The God of Small Things (1997) by Arundhati Roy:
This Booker Prize-winning masterpiece captures the turbulent childhood of Estha and Rahel, twins growing up in Kerala, India. Told in a lyrical and non-linear fashion, the narrative delves into their forbidden childhood love, the tragic death of their younger brother, and the suffocating caste and societal pressures that surround them.

3. The Hungry Tide (2005) by Amitav Ghosh:
This gripping historical novel delves into the intertwined fates of several characters during the Sundarbans mangrove forests of India and Bangladesh. Ghosh's meticulously researched narrative spans centuries, from the Portuguese colonial era to the modern threat of environmental degradation.