What makes a book a "favourite"?

[Inkheart]

I've read mountains of books of all genres yet if anyone asks me what my favourite book is, I stumble around my brain looking for an answer. The truth is I don't know what "your favourite book" actually means. Is it something that is written well, that changed your life, broadened your mind, something that resonated with you? I'm sure all of these could be the answer but I have experienced all these myself through reading yet I still can't tell you what my favourite book is!

I would appreciate it if everyone could tell my WHY their favourite book is so. Please enlighten me.

 

[Miss Shelf]

You're giving me a headache!

I never really thought about what made my favorite book (and I don't have just one) my favorite book. I suppose my favorite books are the ones that, as you said, resonate with me on different levels. For instance, P. J. O'Rourke's Holidays in Hell and any of Bill Bryson's books are favorites because they made me laugh so hard. It's relatively easy to make a reader laugh, but there are different kinds of laughs-and I don't like the nasty laughs (nasty things are said to or about a character and you laugh in spite of yourself).

 

[Anamnesis]

I do have a favorite author (Stephen King) but not a favorite book. Like many of you, I read a lot so I can't really pinpoint one particular favorite. I can tell you one thing that makes a book a favorite: the desire to read it more than once. If I want to read a book again for pleasure, as opposed to seeing if it gets better after another chance, then I know that it's going to be a favorite of mine.

 

[TerishD]

Reply

To be a book that I consider worth telling others to read, it must:

1) Have a clear plot that is developed throughout.

2) Have characters (MORE THAN ONE) with enough depth to carry the story throughout.

3) Allow me to see the world around the events (a BIG problem with modern novels and the philosophy of focusing only on one character).

4) Allow the story to flow in a natural style and not depend upon characters being knocked unconscious or other method of jumping the story to another critical event.

In general, I have to be able to move along with the characters (MORE THAN ONE) feeling that I am a present INDEPENDENT observer (not locked to seeing things through the eyes of the protagonist) who is able to feel the build of emotions until the final scene. Anything less, and I simply set the book down and grab another.

 

[pontalba]

Boy, thats really a hard question. Thre are so many ingredients that go in that gumbo, that its, its, its................well..first of all I think it depends on what time of life and circumstance the reader is inhabiting at the time of reading. I've had different 'favorites' thoroughout my life. Some stick and some fall by the wayside.

One of my all time favorites has to be Jane Eyre, and I cannot fully explain why. I was 10ish when I read it the first time. Its one of those books I can go back to every few years like an old friend and pick a page and start reading. Old Friends. Maybe the fact that I read it so young, is a factor.

One major factor for me is the connection I am able to establish with at least one character. If I dislike each and every character, thats grounds for not finishing. Another factor could be the place in history of the setting, we all have our favorite historical period.

Too many ingredients.

 

[Peder]

My own truly favorite books are those that have spoken convincingly to me about existence and have helped me sort out my place in it.
And then my other favorite books are those that have given me pleasure of one sort or another.
Simple, yet complicated.
Peder

 

[pink shadow]

Is it something that is written well, that changed your life, broadened your mind, something that resonated with you? I'm sure all of these could be the answer but I have experienced all these myself through reading yet I still can't tell you what my favourite book is!

I think your answer is right there: Some books are well-written, some lifechanging, some broadens your mind and some resonate with you and they're all good books, but the great books are those that cover more than one of those aspects, if not all. And that is obviously a very subjective selection process and not something that can be decided by Harold Bloom.

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

I think a favourite book is one that you love so much that you feel a bit sad when it's over, one that you can't help but read multiple times, and one that you can't help but think and ponder over while you are going about your day-to-day life. The urge to recommend it to anyone who even mentions the word "book" is also high up on the list

 

[steffee]

I think a favourite book is one that you love so much that you feel a bit sad when it's over, one that you can't help but read multiple times, and one that you can't help but think and ponder over while you are going about your day-to-day life. The urge to recommend it to anyone who even mentions the word "book" is also high up on the list

What she said!

 

[zen]

i have way too many favourite books, couldn't pick one to save my life.. well, ok, maybe i could in that case... but i think MonkeyCatcher has it...

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

I don't really have a specific favorite book, but all of my favorites have detailed characters who I can sympathize with and who control the story. The fault with most novels I dislike is that the author is using two-dimensional characters as puppets, and they seem more like his or her place-holders than real people.
I also like lots of emotion...usually, there are two plotlines: a romance plot and another conflict.

 

[nomadic myth]

For me, choosing one favorite book is about as useless an idea as choosing a favorite brand of water. I need great books, but most great books are the same in my opinion. My favorite books hit me somewhere deep inside.

Some of my favorites are:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I can reread this every few years and take something new from it.

Demian
It really made me want to become the me that is the most me.

A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder
Both of these children's novels by Ricard Peck made me laugh, smile, and just plain feel good.

Of course I have many more favorites, but certainly not just one. There are also tons of books that I think should be read, and need to be read, but do not come anywhere close to being a favorite.

 

[jaynebosco]

I think a favourite book is one that you love so much that you feel a bit sad when it's over, one that you can't help but read multiple times, and one that you can't help but think and ponder over while you are going about your day-to-day life. The urge to recommend it to anyone who even mentions the word "book" is also high up on the list

Well said I also think a favourite book is something that, even if you haven't read in some while, you will think about and wonder about the themes you read; it also makes you appreciate life in its fullness. The author should make the book feel like home and make you want to curl up on a rainy day with a cup of tea (or whatever you like) and read it from end to end. You also absorb the characters and their actions and makes you think about your own actions.

 

[SFG75]

What makes a favorite?-I'd have to say that it would have to be a book where you could argue until the end of the world about some of the characters, as well as why certain events took place. The writing style matter as well. The more complex, the better.

 

[Inkheart]

I don't think I've ever read the same book twice.
I really enjoyed Crime And Punishment and Pride and Prejudice. Sometimes, everyday things remind me of a feeling or scene from those books and I relive the feeling in my head.

 

[denny]

If I sit down and read it in one sitting - then, it's a favorite!

 

[TerishD]

Reply

If I can sit down and read a book in one sitting, its a miracle. That is why I am generally reading three books at a time. I hope to be able to read a chapter, but probably will sit the book down and when I again think that I might have some moments to read there is hopefully one nearby (may or may not be the same) to grab (cannot waste time going and looking, because something else will erupt soon enough). I consider the fact that I can pick up a novel, flip to the right page, and pick up the story a sign that I am not yet as senile as my children try to imply.