The best book I have ever read is „The Inheritance Cycle“ by Christopher Paolini. It was the first book that made me completely immerse myself in his world. I love the fantasy genre, especially when it is mixed with medieval settings, and I discovered this passion in this very book when I was in the third grade of primary school.
I got into reading at a young age. I must have been around 12 when I found my first adult book in my fathers collection. Having been brought up on Enid Blyton and the like, to find a copy of Stephen King's Skeleton Crew. A collection of short stories. That stuck with me. I read that and scared my young self so very silly. But I loved it!
I went on to read a lot of Stephen King. It introduced me to a whole new section in the library. I picked out books not from the kid's section for the first time. David Eddings and David Gemmel. Peter Hamilton and L. Ron Hubbard.
But Stephen King was my first, and when I read The Stand, I was blown away. This absolute mountain of a book which just never seemed to end. An ultimate good and evil show down, with love and sacrifice, (And for a teen boy a reasonable smidgin of sex). That became and still is my favourite read. Couldn't tell you how many times I have read it, and I really enjoyed the first TV adaptation. (Haven't got round to watching the second one. It's on my too do list! *wink*.
There are so many great books.
In the non-fiction department I might say that Janet Browne's two-volume biography of Charles Darwin might just be my favorite.
In science fiction or fantasy? My current favorite is Surface Detail by Iain Banks.
Classic fiction? Maybe Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.
I like so many books that it is very difficult to choose one.
It has been almost thirty years since I read "The Hobbit" and, for me, getting to know Tolkien's work was something wonderful, and it opened a new world in my imagination.
However, there are three books that I have a special affection for, "El invierno en Lisboa" by Antonio Muñoz Molina, "Neropolis : Roman des temps neroniens" by Hubert Monteilhet, and "The First Law" by Joe Abercrombie
All in all, if I had to choose only one book I would suffer horribly, and I would choose with great difficulty "Il nome della rosa" by Umberto Eco.