hmmm
this is a tough one.
there are favorite books that you want to reread and reread. there are favorite books that you always think back on. there are favorite books that you love even if you don't read them again, etc.

it's even tough to say what is my favorite book based on any of the reasons above. a book that i always reread, whether it's months later, years laters, even decades, is The Little Price, A Wrinkle in TIme, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Dracula, and 21 Wagons of Cotton: a Collection of One-Act Plays by Tennesee Williams, The Ogre, Wuthering Heights, Bright Lights Big City.

other favorite books, because i will never forget (and probably because i haven't had the chance to reread them) are Life of Pi, Everything is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Time Traveler's Wife. I think Gilead wil be in this list.

but aside from books, what i remember most are stories. i love short stories or passages. among my favorites are The Penal Colony, Metamorphosis, Super GoatMan, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease.

ana | May 23, 2006 7:20 PM

The best book I ever read was Angela's Ashes. That book changed my view of the world. Also, The Relic and Jaws are standouts.

michelle | May 23, 2006 9:48 PM

I'd like to add my favourite book: "Fugitive Pieces" by Anne Michaels to your list. She's a Canadian poet turned novelist and this is her first book. It's a few years old now and I've already re-visted it a few times! I highly recommend it.

Jessica | May 24, 2006 2:09 AM

Angela Carter's "Night's at the Circus" is perhaps the best novel I've read.

Also, Nathenial West's "Miss Lonely Hearts" is the only utterly flawless novel I've ever seen.

Les | May 24, 2006 12:03 PM

I know Sci-Fi is usually not considered literature but I've always been a rebel. I pick these consemate classics:

• The Humonoids by Jack Williamson


• Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke


• The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

Adria | May 25, 2006 4:33 PM

What a difficult question. I would say, for now:
Watership Down-Richard Adams
The Count of Monte Cristo-Alexandre Dumas
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell-Susanna Clarke
The Great Gatsby-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Their Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neale Hurston
Twelve Angry Men
A Raisin in the Sun-Lorraine Hansberry
Les Miserables-Victor Hugo
Any of the Lord Peter mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers
Cry, the Beloved Country-Alan Paton (this one made me cry)
A Lesson Before Dying-Earnest J. Gaines (this one also made me cry)

enygma | May 26, 2006 9:15 PM

D.H Lawrence "Sons and Lovers"

PS> to know more about literature please log on to my blog about literature or log on to http://www.abouttexts.com

Shona | May 30, 2006 6:52 AM

My favourite is Gustav Flaubert's Madame Bovary.

missy-j | September 22, 2006 9:42 PM

I've read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance more often than any other book, so that would have to be one of my favorites. I also loved A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Poisonwood Bible. I also have a list of classics that would have to be included.

char | October 8, 2006 10:16 PM