I'm not someone who reads books over and over again with once usually being enough. I have read trainspotting a few times though, and agree that it's amazing. Actually my all time favorite would probably be this though:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...pL._SS500_.jpg

I'm currently on my fourth read through it, and it's still completely entertaining. It actually makes me laugh out loud on quite a few occasions, which is not common at all for me to do while reading. Amazing and inspiring story too. Incredible book all around.

I always seem to go back to 2 books, Generation-X by Douglas Copeland and The Wasp factory by Iain Banks.

I'd love to see a movie made of The Wasp Factory.

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I was just reflecting on this book the other day.

As far as the story goes, you couldn't really imagine a more ****ed-up one. And the writing is vivid and uncompromising. But it ends with an unexpected pang of sweetness or something akin to nostalgia.

It's excellent.

I really, really like that book too. I've read pretty much all of Cormier's books, I think.

One of my favorites as well, tied with David Copperfield!
My favorite book of all time is actually the collected short stories of Mark Twain. As for a novel, I'd have to go with Les Misérables. I have only read one translation so far though..

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. He's my favorite author anyway, but I just love this book...it's sweet, and I think it's great in books and movies when you really can notice a change in someone taking place, and in this book, both main characters help change each other for the better. Good read.

I think I changed my mind on my favorite book, Trainspotting may have changed my life, but this

http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n9/n47744.jpg

has to be the best written book of all time

I just got done reading Artie Lange's book Too Fat To Fish. That dude went through some crazy stuff to get where he is now. Before that, I reread Chuck Palakniuk's Fight Club. That's another great book alot of you have probably read.

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Probably this. But, this would be a fairly close second:

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George Orwell is a magnificent writer.

My favorite book is definitely Watership Down by the always-phenomenal Richard Adams.

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It's easily one of the most well-written books I've ever read, with a phenomenally told story and a world that was created with the finest craftsmanship possible. Whenever a discussion is held on books I recommend it.

I really enjoyed Watership Down as well. I felt the movie was pretty well-done also, though it was a bit of a mess if you hadn't read the book first.
I just checked out Plague Dogs yesterday; so far the characters seem more generically anthropomorphic, without the complex language and culture that made Watership Down so entertaining, but we'll see how it goes.

I like Go Ask Alice. The character really annoyed me at first because she's so..ditzy it seems.
My favourite books are Impulse by Ellen Hopkins and Killing Mr Griffin by Lois Duncan.

Impulse is a really good look into how these three main characters feel, being in a mental hospital. Quite sad though at the end, and terribly confusing at parts when you have to flip to the beginning of the chapter to know who the speaker is for that section. You get used to it after a while. Love Hopkins' style, it makes reading just that little more fun.

Killing Mr Griffin surprised me just so much! I won't spoil anything for people who haven't read it yet, but that is a really great book.

I could say many more..but that list may be long. So I'll end it now. :)

For as huge of a John Irving fan as I am, I have no idea why I've never been able to get through The Hotel New Hampshire. It's not a bad book by any means, just one that's always been easy for me to put down for long periods of time every time I've hunkered down to read it. The Cider House Rules has been my favorite book for a long time now.

Really? Cider House Rules was great, but Hotel New Hampshire..I don't know, just something about it. Probably my third fave after A Widow for One Year. You should try again, it really is a great book

I'm in a library as I type this, and I've written down several peoples suggestions. Just about to go find those books.
So thank you everyone :D

I didn't see any Max Barry discussion here...phenomenal writer, and he's modern to boot!
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I'm not going to sit here and type an essay over whether or not his books are classics (in fact, I've only read 2 of them) but I enjoy him a lot and his blog is great, too.
Max Barry | he writes things
Check 'im out sometime.

I have a LOT of favourite books, but I think one my top favourites would be Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice.

That's funny you say that. Last year I picked up a few of Ian Rankin's books and loved the way he wrote.
I think Scotland has some pretty cool writers. :)

I really liked that book too, even with all the hooray regarding it's accuracy. It was extremely well written.
In this category, I have to suggesty Nikki Sixx's The Heroin Diaries.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/binar...ic_phases6.jpg

LOVE that series. One of my favourite characters, by far!

I don't think I know enough Scottish things to know whether I get them or not. I know Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond. I know what's in a Scotch egg ... but those are British. So.

Examples? :D

Well Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond mightn't mean much to the average guy. But here it's played at the end of the night, at say an 18th, 21st, any kind of big celebration really. And the way things are with football, people don't really get what it's like to stay in my area (hamilton-ish way (football rivalry is different everywhere)) it's difficult to describe. I'm going to think of a few examples over time.

Well I have read Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid before starting my college and I have decided that I wanted to major in "Godel Escher Bach". The important thing is to understand about working at right out of college. Well it covers almost topics and it helped me a lot in choosing courses.

Didn't find a thread for favourite plays so I'll just post it here: The Importance of Being Earnest.

As for actual book, Catch-22.

Oh my gosh! Finally someone else has listed Go Ask Alice as their favorite book! Ever since I read it, years ago, I have always said that is my favorite book! Regardless of the numerous good books I read and love, that one always sticks out in my mind! I think it is an amazing story.
As for recent books that I have read and love, I would say The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Little Bee were up there with some amazing reads. Both very different plots than a lot of the typical storylines you get. I have yet to finish the Dragon Tattoo series, but I definitely want to read the other two after finishing the first one!

Starmaker by Olaf Stapledon.

Wow. Expanded my mind, man. I'm serious. Really makes you look at the bigger picture.

You know that Go Ask Alice is fake, right?

Nobodies posted her for a while so I doubt if this thread is particular active still, but I'll post anyway.

My favourite books are The Godfather - Mario Puzo, and The Bourne Trilogy by Robert Ludlum. I really like allot of Ludlum's thrillers, but I find that I can't read them back to back, because there all a bit similar. But still there excellent in phases.

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long treatise on Gnostic Christianity which is somewhat like my Bible

Excuse my ignorance Il Duce, but can I ask what Gnostic Christianity is?

we just subscribe to a God of chaos rather than a benevolent loving entity, always watching out for us

instead of blindly following dogma, we chose to dissect the religious text seeking knowledge, and even believe that the Gnostic Gospels, expunged by the Nicene Creed from the Bible, to hold truth of Jesus' life

in any event, i'm moving away from Christ as the central figure, and more into pure Gnosticism

The Kite Runner.

Call me juvenile. I don't care.

I'm not a huge ready of novels, but 1984 is simply brilliant as many of you probably already realise.

this is a runner-up:-

http://www.morphizm.com/images/featu...ys_rainbow.jpg