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Lori is tackling Top Ten Tuesday list this week and this week the list is--Top Ten Books I'd Want On A Desert Island!
I got the unenviable task of being sent to a desert island with only ten books.* I wanted to be methodical about it. I think I've come up with a good list, but I'm sure I'll come up with something even better that I should have put on the list. There are SO many good books out there! It was so hard to just choose ten because I really wanted to have a variety of reading material.
Here is what I came up with, along with a bit of rationale:
1. Gone With the Wind by Mitchell--This is my favorite book and I just couldn't imagine being stranded without Rhett and Scarlett. I've read this book at least ten times and I fall in love with it all over again every time I read it.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee--This is another favorite. I love the characters and the narrative style. Personally, I think Atticus Finch has got to be the wisest man ever. There are so many gems of wisdom that I need to copy down and live by.
3. Catch-22 by Heller--Also a favorite of mine. I'd bring this book to help keep me sane. I would know that so long as this book made sense, I was sane, which is important if you're stranded.
4. The Bible--It's a long book. It's a good book to read to learn about history, poetry, and life.
5. The Complete Whitman--It would be nice to have a bit of poetry and a bit of philosophy to enjoy and ponder. He was quite a prolific writer and it would kill some time to read his complete works.
6. The Complete Short Stories of Hemingway--I love Hemingway! He is my favorite author. Unfortunately, there is no single volume of his novels, which I'd take in a heartbeat. Since I'm not going to be a weiner and invent books, I'll bring along his complete short stories, which are all quite different from each other.
7. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath--OK, this probably isn't the BEST book to take when I'm stranded, but it would definitely keep me occupied for a while. And I just love getting into her mind (although, it's important and safest to not spend too much time there).
8. The Civil War a Narrative by Foote--I'm going to be a bit of a weiner here. This is really a boxed set of 3 different volumes. But since it comes in a box that actually holds all three volumes together, I'm packing it.
9. The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau--I'll level with you: I didn't even know this book existed until I did an Amazon search for the Complete Works of Thoreau. But since they both existed together in one single volume, I just HAD to throw in Emerson as well. So, we've got a bit more philosophy and non-fiction for me to enjoy.
I had the hardest time as I got further down the list. I mean, I was running out of slots and I had to be more selective. It's easy to throw my favorites at the top because I've got 7 open spaces. But the open spaces dwindle down and I need to make sure I pick the most varied books to bring so that I don't get bored, which is why I chose:
10. Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 1980s edition--I love to cook and my desert island has a full kitchen and a magic refrigerator and pantry that holds any and all ingredients I would want to cook with. So I picked this cookbook because it has a wide variety of recipes.
*Books that Almost Made the List (or, Books that I Would Sneak Into My Suitcase When No One Else Was Watching [because that's what I always do after I've carried my bags downstairs]):
11. The Complete Works of Shakespeare--Because all stories come from Shakespeare or the Bible.
12. East of Eden by Steinbeck--Because I loved this book so much and I can't wait to reread it.
13. The Short Novels of Steinbeck--Because I just can't wait to read more of Steinbeck.
14. David McCullough's Presidential Biography Boxed Set--Another set of 3 books held together by a common box.
15. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez--Because I can't wait to read it and I've just never gotten started yet.
16. War and Peace by Tolstoy--Because this is probably my best chance at reading it.
17. Out of Africa by Dinesen--Because I'm just starting to read it.
18. All the King's Men by Warren--Because I want to read it.
19. Treasure Island by Stevenson--Because it might give me some ideas for what to do on a desert island.
20. Swann's Way by Proust--Because this is probably the best chance I'll have at reading it and I'll have a lot of time to kill.
LOL. I love that you included a "Sneak In the Suitcase" list. :) Such a booknerd! Yay.
ReplyDelete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by the foresight that made you pick so many Complete Works and collections! ;-)
Great idea! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I would definitely bring Complete Works and collections too, if I was to be stuck somewhere for a long period of time! Awesome topic :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I mean all those thick books could probably come in handy on a island if you ended up hating them--holding down your shelter, making fire, etc. haha
ReplyDeleteHaha, I'm also bringing a lot of hefty tomes. (Well, I would, if I actually were going to a desert island.)
ReplyDeleteQuestion for Jamie and Lori—is there something wrong with Mr. Linky? I think that the Mr. Linky for today's Top Ten is connected to the one from last week (but they're supposed to be separate listings). Do you get what I mean? (Like Snickers for example hasn't posted the Desert Island list, yet she shows up in the Mr. Linky list anyway.) Is there any way we can fix that?
I thought that too BUT I think that Mr. Linky actually just links you up as a participator no matter which one you did. Snickers must have signed into it because I did Mr. Linky as a test on the first Top Ten entry and there were no names..but then when people started signing into it all the names showed up on that one. So..I think it goes by those who have participated. I don't know..I'm really just experimenting with them so I'm going to find out if that is the case. lol I had to pay 5 bucks a year to create an original Mr. Linky so I'm hoping that isn't the case. I just wanted it to be reflection of those who did the current list.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list, To Kill a Mockingbird would be a great one. I'm at the beginning of Gone With the Wind right now and I think I might need a desert island to complete it haha.
ReplyDeleteWeird! Yeah, I was wondering about that. That seems weird though; I feel like you can just do a current list option too. But I have no idea how Mr. Linky really works. In any event, at least it works in general! :D
ReplyDeleteI've been bouncing around today, following these "top 10s." I think your is the most substantive list I've seen thus far. As a Whitman disciple, I was glad to see his complete works make the list. Super kudos as well for the Thoreau and Emerson selection.
ReplyDeleteI love that you'd bring Catch 22 to help judge your sanity! Great list!
ReplyDeleteI had a hard time picking only 10.
ReplyDeleteOne Hundred Years of Solitude and McCullough's Presidential Biography Boxed Set would make my secondary list too. But only after I've been stuck there quite a while!
This is a great list, Jamie! I'm so with you on Mitchell, Whitman, and Dineson. There are many on your list I haven't read yet, but I will. :-D
ReplyDelete- Corra
The Victorian Heroine
Thanks Corra but this week was actually Lori's list! :)
ReplyDeleteMine is on: www.perpetualpageturner.blogspot.com
There are quite a few on this list (even the extended part) that I've been meaning to check out....
ReplyDeleteJust found your site and love it! I am now working on my list.... It's going to be hard to choose.
ReplyDeleteGod, that was hard.
ReplyDeleteLori, I loved Gone with the Wind as well. Although all I can remember (besides the main plot) is my crying so hard during the last 50 pages that the pages blurred and I couldn't read haha!
I still need to read Gone with the Wind!! I think Lori might disown me as a friend if I don't! :)
ReplyDeleteHere's my list! Sorry it took so long to put up.
ReplyDeletehttp://tahleenreads.blogspot.com/2010/06/top-ten-books-on-desert-island.html
I'll have to check all the other lists out! So much to do, so little time!
Julia, Gone With the Wind makes me cry as well. So beautiful and sad. But in a way hopeful.
ReplyDeleteJamie, Friendship over until you read it.
Just added my top ten! Choosing just 10 was pretty hard. But I'm surprised with my choices, made me think hard about what books would inspire me in different moods.
ReplyDeleteA couple of journals (Virginia Woolf and Anais Nin), Alexandre Dumas, and Hans Christian Anderson are among the ones I picked.
Man you weren't kidding! McCullough's Presidential Library Boxed Set?! Will the plane even take off with that in it?
ReplyDeleteGotta say, very clever. It just goes to show how much I need to expand my reading list :)
ReplyDelete