Someone asked me not long ago to name my favorite book….and I stood there, like a deer in the headlights, stunned, shocked and unresponsive, for like twenty minutes, while I opened and closed my mouth several times and uttered “Ummmm.”
Now, I’m going to digress for a
moment so please bear with me. Stephen King, in his book Dream Catcher,
compared the brain/mind of one of his characters with a large, dusty,
kinda/sorta warehouse/attic filled with boxes and file cabinets of memories. I
have taken this concept (because I loved it) and now have neat rows (in my
brain) of memories in file cabinets with the drawers labeled so I pulled open
the drawer titled books and….well, there were so many…we’re not talking
hundreds, we’re talking thousands…how can I possibly choose?
For number of times I’ve read
the same book? Well, that’s a toss up between The Kadin by Bertrice Small,
Paint the Wind by Cathy Cash Spellman (and don’t I always cry in the same
place? Every time?), and The Stand by Stephen King (all of which have been read
at least ten times). Reading the same book over and over again, however, does
not make it my favorite book. It’s one I love, one I choose to read again, one
that I will never give up (except for Paint the Wind, which I loaned to someone
and never got back), but not necessarily my favorite.
Is it one I’ve recommended to
others? Well, I recommend books all the time so that didn’t help with my
answer.
The poor person who asked me the
question will probably never ask me another question again because I could not
answer her (and still can’t). How can I? There are just too many to choose
from! Can you name yours?
As always, happy reading!
Marie
You want me to choose one? Only one? There can be only one may work for The Highlander but it's impossible for books. :-)
ReplyDeleteJudy,
ReplyDeleteYou referenced one of my favorite television series! Adrian Paul! *sigh* Need I say more?
Marie
Hi Marie,
ReplyDeleteThat is a tough question, but the more recent reads-last ten years anyway-that came tomind are Envy by Sandra Brown (my idol:)and A Carpenter's Lady by Barbara Delinski. Before I even reallized they were romances, I fell in love with them and wished they wouldn't end. Sometimes, I'd even purposefully put the book down, so I new I could pick it up and read more.
I love Sandra Brown (Big fan! Huge! Everything she's written from her early stuff to now). Also a big fan of Barbara Delinski. And so many others so it IS a tough question. And unfair. How can one possibly choose one's favorite book from all the delightful reading encounters out there? And those still to come?
ReplyDeletePeople used to ask me this very question back when I was a teenager and I have never changed my answer. Basically, it keeps me from having to choose now that I read so many awesome romances. But to this day I answer JO'S BOYS by Lousia May Alcott. Most people haven't heard of the novel so that ends the conversation; however, it is the third in a trilogy that started with LITTLE WOMEN, LITTLE MEN,and then JO'S BOYS. One of Jo's Boy's was a "bad apple" and she took him in and he grew up to be a man that was to me a romance hero. Of course, I didn't know about romance back then, but it just goes to show it was in my blood :-)
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Alexis, I hadn't heard of or just don't remember Jo's Boys. I had also loved Little Women and Little Men was a runner-up. If I went back to my childhood favorites, I'd have a definite list as I re-read and re-read my favorites. Now, I rearely re-read-then I'd never put a dent in my floor-pile of books!
ReplyDelete