Although I talk about my top 3 favorite books of all time on my About page, I thought it might be interesting to talk about this whole favorite book thing. There has never been a more difficult question for a reader ... we often try to delay answering it because there are so many different ways to slice your favorite books. Favorite fiction, favorite non-fiction, favorite YA, and so on. For many of us, it's really difficult to narrow the favorites down to just a few. It almost feels like an intimate act to state your favorites to someone. It gives them a look into your soul or something. I always try to remind myself that my favorite books of all time are MY favorites ... I'm not saying other books aren't amazing or even 'better' in that snobby, readerly way that some people talk about books. I always wonder if people are honest when they say their favorite book is a famous classic like Moby Dick or Ulysses ... it seems to me that sometimes a favorites list becomes more of a contest of who has read the 'best' books instead of what books were truly your favorites. Not that you shouldn't love a famous classic ... one of my favorites is certainly a classic. But, I truly love it and it's in my favorites for a very real reason.
Let's talk about my own favorite books ...
Two of these novels have been on my list for YEARS. I read and fell in love with Little Women when I was a little girl and read it with my mom for the first time. It's been on my favorite books list since then. I was introduced to Beach Music in the late 1990s when my dad recommended it to me. I devoured it and have gone back to re-read it a number of times (which is rare for me since I rarely re-read). It just grabbed me and didn't let go. I still think about it on a regular basis - the characters, the storytelling, the themes. It's one of those go-to books that I recommend to almost anyone. And finally, the newer book on my list ... A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Wow. My review over at Goodreads will give you a sense of all my feelings about this one. But, it just blew.me.away! I am still reeling from that novel and I read it in April of 2015. It immediately FLEW to the top of my favorite books list. It's not a book that's for everyone but it is one of those books that I will never forget, that made me feel things that no other book has. It's just amazing.
Now it is your turn ...
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