The most thought provoking and memorable was Finnegans Wake without doubt, but I really don't know that I could call it my favourite.
I think that We are Legion, We are Bob - The first of Dennis E Taylor's Bobiverse books would probably fit the bill. It was certainly the most readable that I have known for a long while.
The bobiverse books are so fun
I can't decide between Octavia Butler's trilogy: Lilith's brood and Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary I started reading books again only a few months ago, after decades of not really reading anymore. I used to be an obsessive reader back in the day. It's great to have picked this habit back up.
The Stand by Stephen King was so fun to read. I thought the Kid was the scariest part of the book for sure! Then I watched the 90’s movie of it on YouTube and it’s pretty good.
The only fiction I read this year was Hyperion/Fall off Hyperion and the Old Man's War series. One was amazing (as it always has been on my multiple reads), and one was pretty ok.
I've just begun The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and I can't put it down!
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy was by far the best fiction and best book overall that I read this year. I couldn't bring myself to read anything else for a few weeks after finishing it, because it was so much to digest. Legit one of the best fiction books I've ever read, and it's not even a category or time period I like reading about.
I really enjoyed “A Day of Fallen Night,” Samantha Shannon’s follow-up to “The Priory of the Orange Tree.” Both are fantasy novels that follow female protagonists on opposite ends of her world, and they are really fun!
I also read some romance novels with zero expectations, and ended up absolutely loving them. “The Kiss Quotient” by Helen Hoang genuinely surprised me in the best way. It’s about an autistic woman who hires an escort to help her understand physical affection (and of course, falls in love along the way).
Another “romance” book that really surprised me in a good way was “You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty” by Akwaeke Emezi. It follows a young, queer Nigerian-American artist from NYC to Jamaica and has some major twists! I really loved reading these multi-dimensional characters in a genre that isn’t known for it’s progressiveness.
Piranesi by Susannah Clarke. She writes so simply and yet so beautifully.
The Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy, by Nora Roberts, was a fairly solid YA/fantasy series.
I currently can only read free books (open for recommendations, although I think I wrung the classics dry for all their worth), but I found a book in one of those mobile libraries that does actually have me hooked: The Innocent by Harlan Coben.
It's not even close to being the best book I ever read. But it's well written enough and well plotted enough to keep me hooked. Probably my biggest gripe is the author's description of the women is how attractive they are. Even when he's describing the protagonists' wife, he only describes how much the main character thinks she's hot. Not a complete turn-off, but still a gripe. 😅
