Someone asked me tonight to name my 5 favorite books to read of all time, excluding The Bible. Not the 5 best books of all time, but my favorites. The ones that I can read over and over, can pick up at any time, and start anywhere in the book and enjoy them.
I have only thought about this for a couple of hours, but let's give it a whirl...
1. "A Wrinkle in Time" Madeleine L'Engle
I read this book for the first time in the 4th grade. And many times over the years. I still have that original copy, as well as a couple of others. I was young enough to think it was possible that three witches could transport a person through time and get them back before bed time. I thought the teen aged main character was strong, different and had a hard time fitting in with her peers, but was intuitive and daring at the same time. The descriptions of the characters were detailed and thorough and several years ago, when a movie version came out, I was naturally disappointed. The other books written later about the same family were also favorites. I wanted to know what kind of adults these children became and was not disappointed. One summer, I ordered every book written by this author from an online retailer and read them all, in the order she had written them, just to try to understand her thoughts.
2. "The Catcher in the Rye" J.D. Salinger
I read this book in the 9th grade Honors English class. Ms. Bryson was my teacher and I remember her telling us to read beyond the language ( off-color language) and hear what he was saying. And I did, and I heard him say that he felt like he had no control over his life. A helplessness, a hopelessness, a longing to grow up and start living...sounds like a lot of people I know!
3. "Pride and Prejudice" Jane Austen
What can I say? I love the language, the descriptions, the characters and mostly, Mr. Darcy. I want to live in Pemberley, I want to giggle at Mr. Collins, and exchange cutting eyes with Jane. I have read all of her books, several times and think "Persuasion" is also a favorite.
4. "To Kill A Mockingbird" Harper Lee
Predictable? Maybe, as I do love a book by a southern author. Humid nights, when the air is so thick, you can set your glass of ice tea on the edge of your wrought iron chair and it will never fall. The smell of fresh cut grass and honeysuckle wafting in the window of your car as you drive home from church. The endless sound of crickets chirping as you sit on the patio watching the stars blink through the leaves of an over hanging tree.
My sister gave me a signed copy of the book last year...sweet bliss!
I would like to meet Harper Lee and tell her that I think she wrote the perfect book and thank her for letting us into her world.
5. " 'Salems Lot" Stephen King
This was the first book I read by him and I will confess that the visual of the little boy vampire scratching at my window, waiting to be let in, floating around out there...was enough to make me create a cross out of popsicle sticks and keep it by my bed. I don't think I have ever slept in a room with the blinds open since then. I have read every one of his books, have them all in matching red leather on my bookshelf. This book introduced me to the whole scary book genre and for that, I am thankful. I have read books that have kept me out of basements, our of cemetaries and other places where I have no business. I am suspicious of dolls coming to life, of things that go bump in the night and the dark. Nothing like scaring yourself a little now and then!
Okay, that is it for today's list...a list that could change with the next book I read...I have posted a link to my Shelfari bookshelf, so check it out!
Read on, gentle reader, read on into the night!
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