What's the best book you have ever read?

I've read so many books (Dad says I have read more books then he has in his whole life and he reads ALOT) I really can't decide.
I liked Warriors when I was younger (I still keep my out for Erin Hunters next books) But they've faded into the past. Know? I guess I'd say the best book I have ever read was Tears of a Dragon.

Yeah, I used to read a lot too, but I haven't been reading as much lately. I have some trouble picking a favorite, and I'd also say there's a distinction between "books I enjoy reading" and "books that are actually good". For example, books I read for school were often examples of good/great literature, but I still hated reading them. There's also plenty of books I enjoyed, but wouldn't consider anywhere near the pantheon of great books.

That said, here's a short list of books I love
American Gods-Neil Gaiman-I've re-read this a couple times, and I get something different out of it each time. I wanted to re-read it before the next season of the show comes out, but I think that's in March and idk if I'll have time. Fair warning: this is a very 18+ book with sex and violence and all that good stuff, so I would not recommend it for younger readers.

Good Omens-Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
A hysterical book about the end of the world. Funny but also makes you think at times. This is also going to be a TV show and I am so excited.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making-Cathrynn Valente (and the rest of the Fairyland series).
@BlueAfrica recommended this book to me last year, and it's honestly the first thing I read in years that's challenged the two-way tie of American Gods and Good Omens. It's a children's book, but I feel like the prose and narration has more meaning for an older reader, though the story itself is enjoyable for any age. Literally the only thing I dislike about it is the long name .

The Abhorsen series-Garth Nix
Garth Nix was one of my favorite authors as a teen, and it held up well in a recent re-reading after I discovered there were new books (a prequel of sorts and a sequel) to the original trilogy. I love the richness of the world and it has some great female characters. Don't ask me why I haven't gotten around to reading the fifth book yet.

Interesting. I kind of had this mind set every teenager loved Harry Potter, or Twilight, or Hunger Games. Whatever. Maybe they hate them. Why did you love the Neil Gaiman book?

Ooh, another Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett fan! I'm so ready for the Good Omens show! My favourite Neil Gaiman book used to be The Graveyard Book, but I just read Neverwhere last week and it may be my new favourite book.*

*It is impossible to have a favourite book, I love so many different books for different reasons and which reasons I deem more important changes every time I read a new good book. So I'm not really talking about best books, but merely the books I love that are in the front of my mind at the moment.

So, in addition to seconding all the ones @niteowl posted (except for Abhorsen, which I haven't read), some amazing books are:

Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
It's strange and rough, with dream-logic geography and brutal villains and unexpected funny bits and your everyman main character who's in over his head and yet somehow he isn't boring or annoying. Read it for the world and the characters and Neil Gaiman's writing style more than the plot, but keep an eye on the plot because even though the very end is predictable, everything up till then is very much not. Also, read How The Marquis Got His Coat Back afterwards (it's a short story set in the same world about one of the main supporting characters).

The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater
I may have stayed up who-knows-how-late last night to finish this... For some reason I was worried that this wouldn't be as good as the Raven Cycle, maybe because it seems to have less fan hype, but I needn't have worried. Like the other books of hers that I've read, it's beautiful and wild and raw, and this book in particular has such an amazing sense of place. I love the characters so much, especially for how fiercely they love their island and each other.

Homeward Bounders, by Diana Wynne Jones
I delayed reading this book because the title made me think of the movie about the lost pets, but it's an amazing book and the title really does make sense eventually. I love nearly all of her books, but this is probably my favourite. The best thing about her books is the way that nothing makes sense until, somehow, it does, and it feels like a giant logic puzzle that you know she'll solve by the end of it, and this book does that best out of all her books that I've read.

His Dark Materials (the series starting with The Golden Compass, sometimes titled Northern Lights), by Philip Pullman
This trilogy starts out with a good, book-sized problem, and then the ideas it tackles just keep getting bigger. Whether you agree with Pullman's religious (and at times semi-blasphemous) parallels or not, it's a good story with some amazingly fantastical worldbuilding that also manages to be about innocence and maturity and growing up and life and wonder at the universe. Also, there are armoured polar bears and Lee Scoresby, Texan aeronaut extraordinaire, with his literal other half, the hare Hester.

Ooh, Neverwhere is very good.

I...am well past my teenage years, haha. Never read The Hunger Games, enjoyed Harry Potter but wasn't obsessed with it, and Twilight...well okay, I'll admit I got caught up in it at first. It was only after reading that I realized (through other people on here who hated it) the issues with Edward and Bella's relationship, the writing, etc. I'm going to say teenagers differ in opinions more than you think.

Although I'm a fantasy guy I must say 1984, for how it denounced the past and the present and at the same time predicted the future.

I liked the Warrior's books back in the day - though I had a hard time staying committed to the series after it left FireStar's main story.

My favorite fiction book is "A Small Rain" by Madeleine L'Engle -

It is very much a coming of age novel, and follows the narrator - Katherine's, life journey from being a young child to growing into an adult. She has family, life, health, and love issues - and the story is honestly more than a bit tragic. But there's something that's both poetic and familiar with the way L'Engle writes and I think I actually sometimes appreciate an honest portrayal of hardship where there isn't some fairy-tale ending at the end of the story, but just the strength to continue and a glimmer of hope. I read it first as a middle-schooler and read it since then once every two or three years, I'm about due for reading it again sometime soon.

Okay, so I don't have a specific favorite book, but here's some books/series that I like/liked a lot.

The Lord of the Rings
Okay, this series basically kickstarted a whole new genre, and it's pretty awesome.

Fablehaven
This was really well done. Other books you get into and then fade out, but this one I still really like.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, and Trials of Apollo
I got almost as obsessed about these series as I did about Lord of the Rings, just a little later.

Wings of Fire
Really, I just like Darkstalker, because he's just such a well made villain. In fact, he's probably my favorite villain of all time.

These are just a few series that are my "favorites" but there's many that I really like.

alliyah wrote:I liked the Warrior's books back in the day - though I had a hard time staying committed to the series after it left FireStar's main story.

My favorite fiction book is "A Small Rain" by Madeleine L'Engle -

It is very much a coming of age novel, and follows the narrator - Katherine's, life journey from being a young child to growing into an adult. She has family, life, health, and love issues - and the story is honestly more than a bit tragic. But there's something that's both poetic and familiar with the way L'Engle writes and I think I actually sometimes appreciate an honest portrayal of hardship where there isn't some fairy-tale ending at the end of the story, but just the strength to continue and a glimmer of hope. I read it first as a middle-schooler and read it since then once every two or three years, I'm about due for reading it again sometime soon.

So you liked Warriors huh?

Yep back in elementary / early middle school. Found it less compelling in third sub-series though after they noved beyond FireStar's story.

It makes me mad how many good books there are.
They're all too amazing! Divergent and Matched and I Am Number Four and the City of Bones and Grave Mercy and Harry Potter and the Lunar Chronicles and the City of Ember...
Aaahhhh. I don't have a book right now so I keep rereading my favorites. Then my teacher yells at me
But probably the Lunar Chronicles is the best series I've read so far.
Or Divergent. I just reread it and it's SO good

It's really hard to say because I have a lot, so I'll just list all the books that resonated with me a lot.

Norwegian Wood was my Haruki Murakami novel and I admired it because it just felt nostalgic, in some way. It's hard to describe how his descriptive writing exactly is, but something was transient and environmental about it and I loved it. I still love that writing of his now. Vintage Murakami for the win.

Death Note. Being a manga this may seem low-brow, but your characters can only be as smart as you. If you want to challenge yourself and write two godlike geniuses skilfully outmaneuvering each other in the global stage, try looking to Death Note for inspiration.