Or perhaps 'most affecting' book.
For me, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Fantastic writer; most of his work (short stories & novels) is quite fantastical (not fantasy, sort of like an off-kilter world - a few people compare him to Kafka, but I've never read Kafka, so make what you will of it) and excellent, but NW is more autobiographical and grounded firmly in reality.
Before I read that one a few years ago, it was 1984 (if you don't know the writer, you're on your own). Which is one of the classics, of course, but it's setting and storyline is naturally distancing.
5
It occurs to me I haven't read an actually fiction book in nearly a month, though I am currently reading what I regard as possibly the greatest mindscrew yet most awesome fanfiction ever. (I can only describe it as "This is Shinji Ikari's brain on Warhammer 40k." Yes, that Shinji Ikari, the one from Neon Genesis Evangelion, is going to be the f#####g Immortal Emperor of Mankind, and though you scream "MY MIND REJECTS IT" the damn story won't stop making sense.)
Of my current actual reading material, what I read most often is a tossup; it's either something from The Official History of the United States Navy in World War 2, which is, honestly, a superbly written account and perhaps the best official history I've ever seen, and full of those small anecdotes that show the author really was there or could rely on those who were, or Silent Victory: The US Submarine War Against Japan, which is definitive on the subject in many ways yet should definitely not be read alone as it's grasp of wider strategy and events is somewhat...questionable.
Of my current actual reading material, what I read most often is a tossup; it's either something from The Official History of the United States Navy in World War 2, which is, honestly, a superbly written account and perhaps the best official history I've ever seen, and full of those small anecdotes that show the author really was there or could rely on those who were, or Silent Victory: The US Submarine War Against Japan, which is definitive on the subject in many ways yet should definitely not be read alone as it's grasp of wider strategy and events is somewhat...questionable.
