The most influential book I have come across is The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. Perhaps it was introduced to be by the greatest 7th grade teacher (United States grade system-a.k.a. middle school). Perhaps it was the way she took the time to explore the fire of the author when he conveyed the message. Perhaps it was the way the sun hit the glass window and illuminated her beautiful, long, blonde hair...ha ha ha.

I think most of us remember the very "first" things. And my very first crush was my 7th grade teacher (but I assure you that I am no pervert). The way the main character swung from one extreme emotion to the next; I felt the book was a direct reflection of my troubled soon to be teenage years. "Everyone's a phony." I had the rage. I had this sickening feeling that my life would be over by the time I reached 17 years of age. I had a premonition that the entire world would be on flame by the year 1999. Boy is my face red now.

Adolescent is a strange time during one's life time. One builds, and rebuilds one's self image in order to find out how one fits into this society. I think this book explained the course of adolescent's journey and that's why I have the fondest memory for this book.

Christopher

It's hard for me to pick a single favourite book, but I'll list a few ones off the top of my head that I really liked:

The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien) - one fo the best fantasy adventures ever - and a great precursor to the LOTR series

A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance (Haruki Murakami) - very surreal story set (for the most part) in Hokkaido. A fine example of post-modern literature.

Learning to Bow (Bruce S. Feiler) - A fine insight of a teacher's experiences in Japan while teaching English at a junior high school. Although by now it seems a bit dated (the book was published in the early 90's), a lot of what the writer observed still holds true in some ways today.

I read about 6-9 books a year, and my favorite would have to be Where the Red Fern Grows by someone Wilson. I forgot the first name, sorry!
I read it a few years ago, so it may not be my favorite if I read it again, but it's my favorite book for now

I kinda hate reading books. Exept for coding books, or how to books, I dont read books, exept for school, which I hate doing. So do what you want, but just keep me away from them books of evil.

The Catcher in the rye is my favorite book just like BuffaloHELP (Bless your heart if this is really your REAL name ). I read it when I was 16 maybe 17 when I was angsty and mad about something. I just related to the main character Holden Caulfield because I found myself being sick of all the things in my life then.

It was written in the 50's by JD Salinger but I'm surprised he wasn't stingy about using profanity and bad language. I thought the 50's was more strict and conservative.

ANYTHING by Chuck Palahniuk. He's written "Fight Club," "Survivor" and countless other amazing books that should be read by anyone and everyone.

"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski. Its the most creative, abstract piece of literature I've come across to date.

Those are good starts. There are so many books out there that are just amazing though.

OMGOMGOMG. Fight Club was great. I watched the movie, and then saw the book, so it was a little easier to picture all the things in the book, but it was basically the same thing, word for word. I absolutely loved Fight Club, and I really don't quite know why...

I read a lot.. But it changes every so often. Sometimes I read lots, sometimes I surf the net lots (like now), sometimes I write lots and so on.. I have a lot of favourite books, and I'm one of those annoying people who refuse to see the movie until they've read the book. Some of my favourites:

Darksong series, Obernewtyn series - Isobelle Carmody
Killing me Softly - Nikki French
Sherlock Holmes stories ( ) - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
P & P, Emma, Mansfield Park - Jane Austen

My two most favourite authors are Colin Forbes and Tom Clancy.

I have read and re-read most of the books by these authors and can re-read the books time and again.

Colin Forbe's character Tweed--the Head of the British SIS-- and Marler---the world's most famous marksman--are my favourite characters.
Forbe's thrillers have a unique quality to them.

I admire Jack Ryan, Clark and Chavez in Clancy's fiction.