Wednesday, May 20, 2009

"She is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain." - Louisa May Alcott

My dear best friend asked me awhile ago for a list of my 10 favorite books. I told her that was a horrible thing to ask of me, and then proceeded to forget about it. She asked me again recently, though, so I feel like I have to give her an answer.

I'm stumped. Favorite book? Yes. But 10? There are so many great books out there! 10 widens the range of possibilities, but then crushes it by limiting it. I simply don't know what to do.

8 comments:

chelleybutton said...

is she asking just to perplex you, or is she trying to decide what to read herself? b/c if it's the latter, i don't think you need to worry so much; just give her some you recommend :)

Celeste said...

Oh, heavens. Now I have to narrow my list down to ten, too. I don't know that I can do that.

lucy said...

it's probably a little of both.
and good luck celeste. i've been working on this for a week or two.

Celeste said...

Okay, here goes (but it's not a laminated list)

The Bible is #1, but I'm not including it on the list because it's more than just a book. So now, my top 10 favorites (which doesn't necessarily mean best written):

Your God is Too Safe (Buchanan)
The Outsiders (Hinton)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)
The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis)
Gone With the Wind (Mitchell)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Robinson)
The Hiding Place (ten Boom)
Daring to Draw Near (White)
The Little House books (Wilder)
Lizzie and Harold (Winthrop)

Celeste said...

Honorable mention goes to

Because of Winn-Dixie (DiCamillo)
The Princess Bride (Goldman/Morgenstern)
The Testament (Grisham)
The Know-It-All (Jacobs)
The Screwtape Letters (Lewis)
Love Comes Softly (Oke)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien)

Celeste said...

Yes, there are a lot of children's books on those lists, but Roald Dahl said, "A really good children's book will be read and re-read much more than any adult novel will." He's right, so I included them, because they really are among my favorites.

Celeste said...

And then there are the books I can't get through without crying my eyes out:

Little Women (Alcott)
Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery)
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Robinson)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Rowling)

Celeste said...

ok, I'm done for now.