What is your favorite book?
Any book lover will probably agree with me when I say that answering this question is like asking me to tell you which is my favorite child. Still, I feel like a failure when I am unable to answer the question! After being hit with this question last weekend by a friend and reader of Alison's Book Marks, I felt I had to delve into the answer.
Why do people ask me this question?
Is this a test? My first thought is always that the person is testing me to find out how "serious" a reader I really am. I have learned that sometimes people will follow up the "What is Your Favorite Book" question with the "Have You Read..." questions. The tone of the follow up questions will give me a pretty good idea of whether or not I'm being judged. Unfortunately, I am too often judged by other people. Don't be a book snob! Don't judge another book lover! The bottom line is, no person could possibly read every book available to us, no matter how wonderful they are. I can barely read all of the books that are on my own shelf! And, if I was a dedicated trashy romance novel reader, I would be no less a book lover than someone who loved historical fiction. By the way, it has taken me well over a year of blogging to realize that I am not a failure if I haven't read the latest "it" book. 
Do they want to chat about books, and figure this is a good place to start? I love talking about books, especially my favorite books, but strangely enough, sometimes I have more to say about books I don't love. Some our best book club discussions have been about a book which provoked a different response from each of us. I may turn the question back on my interrogator just to find out what their intentions are. I do love chatting about books, though!
Do they want to get a feel for what books I love so they know whether or not we have the same taste in books? If this is the case, one book may not necessarily give someone a broad enough picture on what my book taste is. Also, while two people may both love The Book Thief, those same two people might feel differently about The Shadow of the Wind. 
Do they want to know what kind of blog I have? Again, one book may not necessarily give someone an idea of what you might find at Alison's Book Marks. I have an eclectic blog, to say the least, but it represents my bookshelf. This summer I have completely indulged myself by reading a lot of Young Adult fiction, and catching up on the Stephanie Plum series. With the cooler weather, you will probably see more adult titles, CIA-type mysteries, another classic or two, and some heavier topics. So, even my blog changes from season to season, depending on my own mood. Completely indulgent, I know!Answer the Question, Alison! Talk to Us!
Can I use a lifeline? 
If pressured, I could probably come up with my top 3 books broken out by genre. I don't think I would 
have any problem telling you that Little Women, Pride and Prejudice and To Kill A Mockingbird are three of my top classics, and The Hunger Games, Shiver, and The Book Thief are my favorite in YA fiction. It's not that there isn't a modern adult novel I love as much as Little Women, but I love them in a different way. Don't make me break out the food analogies!
Who is Your Favorite Author? Same goes for authors. Even though Pat Conroy is my favorite contemporary author, I have a certain love for Jane Austen, as I do for Maggie Steifvater. Sure, I would love to have dinner with all three, but I would never put their books on the same shelf. Come to think of it, how could I rank an author like Pat Conroy, whose books I've read number in the teens, to an author like Stig Larsson, who, sadly, only wrote three books? Markus Zusak wrote The Book Thief, a book that has become a part of me, yet I have not read any of his other books. Can I even include him in my list of favorite authors, simply because he wrote one of my favorite books?
What's The "Go To" Book?
Before I give someone a book recommendation, I usually ask a lot of questions first: Are you looking for something epic or something light? Something brainless or something thought-provoking? Are you going away on vacation or are you going to curl up next to the fireplace at home? Do you want something the whole family can read and discuss? Are you looking for heart-pounding or laugh out loud funny? Different moods call for different books!
When my friend (and blog reader) was seeing the difficulty I was having naming my favorite book, he re-phrased the question. He asked me to give him my "go to" book. Again, I felt like a blogger-failure for not having that one book that everyone and anyone would love. Maybe I think books are too personal, and as much as I love to a reader to his favorite book, it's a lot of pressure. Even a book like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a tough book to recommend, because some of the content may be too violent for some readers, yet it's an amazing book that I still see all over the place.
In the end, I told him to read The Book Thief. I felt like it's a book anyone, regardless of mood, age, or gender, will love. As I said above, after I read this book, it became a part of me. I can only hope he loves it as much as I do.What do you Recommend?
After reviewing what I've written so far, I have to laugh, because I have yet to mention some of my most-recommended authors! I guess just because I feel something special for a book, it may not mean that it's meant for everyone. I often recommend Janet Evanovich, Sarah Addison Allen, Richard Russo and Elin Hildenbrand. Yet, none of their books have even come up yet! My mind is a conundrum.
What Is My Favorite Book?
After much deliberation, even soul-searching, I came up with an answer to the original question: What Is My Favorite Book? My favorite book of all time. It is a book I will never, ever review. It's one that I have read several times, and is due for another reading this winter. I have done it. I have answered the question.
My favorite book is: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I've done it. Now you tell me....What is your favorite book?
As the book lover among your friends, do you have a "go to" book?
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12 comments:
I honestly think most people who hear we have book blogs don't realize how many books we read. I mean, do you have trouble coming up with other favorite things, like favorite restaurant or favorite dessert or favorite movie? Many people just think in favorites. I do. It's very easy for me to say exactly what my favorite book has been for the last 8 years: Possession by AS Byatt. None of the books I've read since book blogging can compare to the personal connection I found to that book. More difficult for me would be to pick a favorite author. Actually, impossible. And then when people ask me for recommendations - oh I hate that!! Then I have to probe them for what they're looking for, and taylor my recommendations to that. Gah!
East of Eden...great book. I don't know what I'd pick as my all-time favorite...it'd take some thinking through!
Asking a reader to pick a favorite book is like asking a mother to pick a favorite child! I'm not sure what my favorite book would be, but I'd probably say To Kill a Mockingbird or Little Women. Can you believe I've never read East of Eden?
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My first comment never posted...so sad. I realy loved this post. As a newcomer to the blogosphere, I've found that writing about the books I love can be rather difficult, not to mention trying to keep up. It's nice to hear from you, a seasoned book blogger, the normalcy of frustration that can accompany not getting to the book that comes out tomorrow. I suddenly felt that reading, something I've loved to do since I could, was becoming a chore. I had to take a step back and think about my objective; what was it that I was giving and getting. I wanted to offer my perspective on the books I enjoyed and found treasures in. You mentioned the Larson Trilogy, which I borrowed from a friend that shared similar fiction tastes; I didn't like it one bit. Initially, I thought that I lacked something, because I couldn't find a person that didn't enjoy them. I realized that it wasn't the type of reading I really enjoyed. I think that's what I love most about book blogging. Writing about a subject that you're passionate about can really shed light onto pieces of your personality/likes and dislikes, that you may have never taken the time to think about previously. Hopefully, by blogging, you'll meet people along the way that share those interests, which will allow great discussion about what you so love. I certainly can't imagine choosing one book. I have several favorites: my favorite childhood book, then young adult and so on. I certainly adore Nicole Krauss because of her use of language. My go-to book is almost always The History of Love, but I realize that not everyone can endure the laughter and the tears that so often accompany such an endeavor. Top five? Most certainly, but one? Well, I'd have to think that one out. I'm glad you shared The Book Thief; I'm in quite the queue at the library for the title at the moment. Again, great post; good insight! Happy blogging!
@Amanda - I haven't read Possession - thank you! Do you think it's more difficult to choose a favorite book because we're bloggers and read more book than the average person? I first read East of Eden before blogging, and I wonder if I would have connected to it like I did had I read it for the first time now. You're right, though, I don't think in terms of favorites. Whenever my son comes home with a "favorite" questionnaire to fill out, I'm always stumped.
@Ronnica - See? Great book, not your favorite too, but reading is such a personal experience, no two people "see" the same book when reading. I love that.
@Kathy - To Kill a Mockingbird and Little Women are for SURE some of my favorites of all time as well. It was hard to pick just one! I'm still questioning my choice...
@BookwormMeetsBookworm - Thank you for adding your perspective. I love and agree with everything you said! Each person reads the same book differently. Even when I have read the same book at different times of my life - like Anna Karenina - my perspective is different, my life is different, thus my reading of the book was different.
It's not always easy being a blogger, but don't let blogging take the fun out of reading for you. I always said, once it starts to feel like a job, I'm out. I'm not there yet, but I have had to take a step back a few times. I indulged this summer completely. Sure, I'm behind on my review books because of it, but you know what? I can't help it. I'm human. I can only read so many books, and I'm not a particularly fast reader. All I can tell you, is learn to say no. You don't have to accept every pitch, you don't have to read every "it" book. In fact, I like discovering the great books that no one is talking about. Enjoy it!
What a great post! Honestly I'm not even going to TRY to answer - it would take me too long. But three cheers for East of Eden - that is a FANTASTIC book!
Haha, this is a great post... I can totally relate!!! For right now I'm saying my favorite is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn but it changes frequently. Before I used to say Wuthering Heights, but neither of these are ones I would recommend to people who aren't already big readers.
@Heather J - wimp! :)
@Jenny - DOH! Of course A Tree Grows in Brooklyn!!! I can't believe I didn't mention it, because it's up there in my all time favorites list! I have to hang my head in shame...I have never read Wuthering Heights. I could, and will, do a post on all the books I haven't read!
Great post! Tough question but I think breaking them down into genre and then old author favorites vs debut authors would be easiest. My most currently read debut author favorite would be Nightshade by Andrea Cremer. My old favorite go-to guy would be Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files.
Thanks for sharing. Now I have some new great books to check out!
~Alyssa
Teens Read & Write
I don't think I have a favorite book. I so many different things about the books I read.
Kudos for picking just one.
I love this post, although it's pretty easy for me to choose a favorite. It's The Book Thief, hands down. I can name my top 5, but I can't put them in order, and I can definitely choose favorite book when I was a kid, teen, etc. I don't think of myself as being a particularly decisive person, but I'm looking pretty good right now! :-)
Recommendations? I'm with you. I have to start asking tons of questions about what they're looking for. I think I usually choose winners though! Or else I just know very kind people who would never tell me that the book I recommended sucked.
The rest of your questions definitely go through my head when this conversation comes up.
East of Eden? I got it at a library book sale but haven't read it yet. You've got me very curious now!
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