My Favorite Book?

Someone asked me not long ago to name my favorite book….and I stood there, like a deer in the headlights, stunned, shocked and unresponsive, for like twenty minutes, while I opened and closed my mouth several times and uttered “Ummmm.”

                 

Now, I’m going to digress for a moment so please bear with me. Stephen King, in his book Dream Catcher, compared the brain/mind of one of his characters with a large, dusty, kinda/sorta warehouse/attic filled with boxes and file cabinets of memories. I have taken this concept (because I loved it) and now have neat rows (in my brain) of memories in file cabinets with the drawers labeled so I pulled open the drawer titled books and….well, there were so many…we’re not talking hundreds, we’re talking thousands…how can I possibly choose?

                

For number of times I’ve read the same book? Well, that’s a toss up between The Kadin by Bertrice Small, Paint the Wind by Cathy Cash Spellman (and don’t I always cry in the same place? Every time?), and The Stand by Stephen King (all of which have been read at least ten times). Reading the same book over and over again, however, does not make it my favorite book. It’s one I love, one I choose to read again, one that I will never give up (except for Paint the Wind, which I loaned to someone and never got back), but not necessarily my favorite.

                

Is it one I’ve recommended to others? Well, I recommend books all the time so that didn’t help with my answer.

               

The poor person who asked me the question will probably never ask me another question again because I could not answer her (and still can’t). How can I? There are just too many to choose from! Can you name yours?

As always, happy reading!

Marie

Can I Bear to Part with this Book?

I’ve written before about my growing To Be Read pile overtaking my house, and although I am making a positive dent in those piles, I’ve run into another problem. What to do with the books that I've read and loved? Do I pass them along to someone who I think might like to read that particular story? Do I bag them up and donate them to Goodwill or another worthy organization? And what about previously loved book consignment shops where you build credit toward new purchases?

             

More importantly, how do I choose which to give away?

           

Oh, the heartbreak of making these decisions, but I have no choice. My shelves are full and I have no more room (and we’re not even going to mention the looks I get from my husband). I will admit, my bookshelves contain books that I bought many, many years ago. 

Some are autographed by the author. Those are definitely keepers because who can bear to part with Shanna or Flame and the Flower or Ashes in the Wind by Kathleen Woodiwiss? Or my favorite Bertrice Small, The Kadin, even though it’s been taped and glued and dog-eared within an inch of its life? The works of Victoria Alexander and Jodi Thomas gracing my shelves? I don’t think I could bear to part with them either. And my new favorite authors like Kathryne Kennedy and Jennifer Ashley?

             

How do you choose? And what do you do?

Happy Reading!

Marie