7 Answers

I taught myself to read. I was terribly dyslexic growing up. In 8th grade, the first book I ever real (I read the whole series) was Alanna The Lioness... By Tamara Pierce. It will always be my favorite because I was captivated enough by it to push myself to read it.

The best book I have read, difficult to say, but I would be willing to put the books into some categories: Best history book, The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Pulitzer Prize winning book about the Manhattan District Project that concluded with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The best mystery/comedy book, Fletch - also made into a movie. For any want-a-be writers out there who need to study dialog, that is the book to emulate. Cider House Rules is the book to study if you want to learn descriptive writing. Best Movie-Western Book is a tie between True Grit and Shane. Best World War II military book is by Pulitzer Prize winner Ernie Pyle called, Here is Your War. Best book about the USO is called, Don't Shoot, It's Only Me! by Bob Hope. Best love story is by George Burns and is called, George and Gracie, a Love Story. After Gracie Allen died, a piece of George did too, and he turned his pain into a book. Best book about the amazing story about the British in WWII is called, The War Magician. Best story about a hit man is called, Hit Man by Lawrence Block. Best story about the game of chess or pool, The Queen's Gambit and *The Hustler, both by Walter Tevis. Best comedy book about WWII, Catch 22. Best book about the Korean War? MASH by Richard Hooker. Best science fiction? Now that's a toughie because there have been so many, but my favorite would be either 2001, A Space Odyssey by A.C. Clarke, or The Man Who Fell To Earth, also by Walter Tevis. Best WWI novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. Best Mark Twain book? Yankee in King Arthurs Court. Best book about the American Civil War, Gone With the Wind. Best Book about the Gilded Age, The Autobiography of Mark Twain. Best book about the American Revolution, The Patriots. The best history book about the early history of Illinois? History of IL: 1800-1850, by Thomas Ford, the 8th Governor of Illinois. Best book about President Reagan? The Diary of Ronald Reagan, written each day while president of the US, by Ronald Reagan. Best book about animals? All Creatures Great and Small, a book by James Herriot, vet. As I said, in every genre of book, I have a favorite. Right now I am reading a monograph called, The Mormon Question: Constitutionality and Polygamy which explains how the issue of polygamy diminished state's sovereignty in all areas. The last monograph I read was called, The Color of Whiteness, about being white, and how that changed with the influx of immigrants during the 19th century and how it all applied to the idea of constitutional self governing. That book made me realize that the founding fathers idea of whiteness what not what people in the latter half of the 19th century thought of whiteness and the ability to be a good citizen. Lots of great books on the list. Hope some of you will have read them. In some cases, the books were so good they made it into movies. Oh forgot my favorite book of the early 20th century, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, another Pulitzer Prize winning effort.

In short, if it is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, monograph, or newspaper collection, then it is probably a good read.

To kill a mockingbird watched the movie Gregory Peck was a genius I then read the Book and is my favorite Book!

The one I hear within my heart, and that I receive in my mind, this is my favorite book, the living book, the one the Bible guided me to. :)