Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Brown paper packages tied up with string

So I was recently talking with this nice girl, who I will call the Princess of Power. Having seen the number of books on my shelves, she asked me what my favorite book was.

I was not sure how to answer that question, and I guess I am still not sure. Is my favorite book the one that has made the most impact on my life, and the way I think? Is my favorite book the one that I have read the most times? Is it the one that I most frequently share with others? I don't know. But here are some contenders.

* the scriptures, obviously, especially the Book of Mormon
* The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
* Inside Terrorism, by Bruce Hoffman
* Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld, edited by Hart Seely
* Tropical Gangsters: One Man's Experience With Development And Decadence In Deepest Africa, by Robert Klitgaard
* One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
* Prayers from the Ark, by Carmen Bernos de Gasztold, translated by Rumer Godden
* The 13 Clocks, by James Thurber
* Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams
* The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead, by Max Brooks
* Labyrinths, by Jorge Luis Borges
* Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card
* Kim, by Rudyard Kipling
* Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson

It's nowhere near a complete list, but I do love all of these books. I have read them all multiple times, they have all insinuated themselves into my neural net in some way, and I am happy to endorse them for your reading pleasure.

So, imaginary readers, what are your favorites? How do you choose? And what did I forget?

Incidentally, after our conversation, she gave me A Tale of Two Cities for Christmas, because it is one of her favorites. I've started reading it, and so far-- the best of times. But I hear it takes a wicked turn.

--BIG JACK LE PEN

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Catch 22 is my favorite book. I've only read it once, though I'm somewhat of a 'once is enough' guy. Favorite because it's funny in a way that makes a mockery of things that don't make any sense (particularly war). Between the purple toenails and need for a perfect bombing pattern (for the newspapers back home) the book is completely awesome.

the House of Payne said...

It's a great book, and one I am always telling writers to read. My favorite part is the names of the characters, like Major Major Major.

Alice said...

it was nice running into you at LTUE. Glad to hear you're still writing. Thanks for visiting our writingsnippets podcast. You're entered in the contest to win Lisa Mangum's book! I love Tale of Two Cities. It's on my top ten list of fav. books.