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| Yikes! I own only 8 of them! |
Ask any reader what her/his favorite book is, and you’ll likely get a panicked look. That is a hard question, people.
But if someone asks me about my 10 favorite books, then I can get
all relaxed and happy and I start spooling them off. There’s so much less
pressure with a top 10 list.
… until I get to the last few titles, and then I have to really
start to think about it. Is this list balanced? Does this list represent me? (Is
it even actually meant to?) Why is there so much nonfiction? And so much testosterone?
start to think about it. Is this list balanced? Does this list represent me? (Is
it even actually meant to?) Why is there so much nonfiction? And so much testosterone?
And a person can second-guess herself until the list-making
becomes a labored thing.
becomes a labored thing.
And I’m saying no, no, no to that.
So here’s my list, not completely thought through, and not
completely perfect. And very much a changing thing. (If you ask me tomorrow,
I’d make a substitution, sure as day).
completely perfect. And very much a changing thing. (If you ask me tomorrow,
I’d make a substitution, sure as day).
In the order I thought of them:
Young Men and Fire
by Norman Maclean
by Norman Maclean
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys by Michael Collins
All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
Run by Ann Patchett
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
The Beekeeper’s
Apprentice by Laurie R. King
Apprentice by Laurie R. King
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
Anyone else a chronic list maker? If so, please list your top
10! (Or top 5. Or top 20…)
10! (Or top 5. Or top 20…)
I have a #1 – Pride & Prejudice, hands down. A top 10 would be harder, I think.
You are an unusual and amazing sort — to have an actual favorite! I am impressed. (And you've chosen a great one, too.)
woohoo, Beekeeper's Apprentice!
Young Men and Fire was a wonderful book which I loved. I'm happy it made your top 10 list. The Killer Angels would be on my top 10 list along with The Brothers Karamazov, Don Quixote, All the King's Men, and Gone with the Wind. I think I would cheat by creating a second top 10 list just for nonfiction including Team of Rivals, The Civil War (3 vols. Shelby Foote), America in the King Years (3 vols. Taylor Branch), and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Now to fill in the rest of the 10!
Donna — Great lists! Some of your favorites are on my TBR (and your votes just moved them a bit higher on the list).
It would be a long, long list…
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