That Artsy Reader Girl hosts Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly blogging meme for anyone to participate in (whether you have a blog or not). I’ve never participated in one before, but this week’s theme made we want to join in on the fun. I’m looking at this like it’s the end of the world, and I only have ten books to grab before going to the doomsday bunker. I’ve loved almost all the recent books I’ve read, but if it’s the end of the world, I want some variety – in tone, style, perspective, genre – than an all-contemporary list would give me. So, here are the ten books (edition specific) I could re-read until and after the end of time.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
I don’t like choosing one book to be my favorite, but this book will always hold the biggest piece of my bookish-heart.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
For the longest time (too long) I had only read the abridged version meant for children. That’s probably why I didn’t pick up the full-length version until a few years ago, and why I’ve never made an honest attempt to read the whole text until now. Although I’ve yet to finish, I’m in love.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
This is such a lovely book, but what makes my edition even lovelier (to me) is that it belonged to my grandfather. So forever I will carry it.
The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen
I read this book in college, and it was one of the first books I read that brought me out of my white western Maine upbringing bubble, and made me much more aware of the fact that the world is much bigger than me, myself, and I.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
If you’ve been following my blog and #bookstagram recently, you know I’ve become obsessed with Agatha Christie. Out of the three books I’ve finished so far, this one is my favorite.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
I’ll gladly enjoy this classic novel over and over again in the apocalypse bunker with other Jane Eyre lovers, and will glare back at those on the other side who think this is too cliché of a choice.
The Fireman by Joe Hill
The most recently published of all my choices, Joe Hill’s book would remind me throughout the apocalypse of the state and part of the country I grew up in, and could be sort of a how-to / cautionary guide to surviving the end of the world. Its length is also perfect – as opposed to another one of my favorites, Station Eleven – because who knows how long the apocalypse will last?!
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
This is my one exception to the “grab only ten books” rule. Since I have the boxed set, and still keep all seven books inside the box, I could easily grab the whole box in an end-of-the-world scenario (the box is thinner than Joe Hill’s tome). Plus, we all know Emma Watson would survive the apocalypse so I’d rely on her to tell me Harry Potter -related stories.
Dao de Jing: The Book of the Way by Laozi (translated by Moss Roberts)
This is really the only philosophical book I’ve read that didn’t give me an extreme headache (granted, I haven’t read that many philosophical texts) – and I would need some spiritual guidance and/or repose in an apocalypse.
Two Gothic Classics by Women: The Italian and Northanger Abbey (edited by Deborah Rogers)
Two for one – ha ha! This book was assigned in one of my favorite English courses in college, by none other than Deborah Rogers herself. The Italian was written by Ann Radcliffe, and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Jane Austen repeatedly satirized Gothic novels and Ann Radcliffe in NA, so it’s quite beneficial to a reader’s analysis and understanding to read these texts one right after the other. And, this edition gives me one extra book to read in the bunker.
Can you list ten books you would willingly re-read forever? Link up a post or leave a comment on That Artsy Reader Girl’s blog, and tell me if you’d bring any of the same books I’ve listed to the bunker (I will then take them off my list and add others so our bunker library will be more vast).