The Most Recent Attempt at my "Favorite Books" List

I have always had a hard time with answering the "What is your favorite....?" question. Whether it's books, movies, songs, bands etc, I get instantly overwhelmed with ideas at the mere mention of this question. I attribute this to two factors. One, the general concept that the moment I finish something, my mind goes instantly to the next thing(book, movie, concert...) that I am excited to start, so I don't think I give things time to firmly cement in my memory. Two, I have just read so many darn books, seen so many movies and heard so much music that I love, that it all blends together and inspires the knee-jerk and, to be completely honest - cop-out, answer of "I don't think I can choose just ONE...". After being asked my favorite books about 12.7 times in the past few weeks, I've finally decided to man up and actually think about it. So, without further ado(because I know how much this matters to the world, I feel terrible about withholding it for so long), I present the Most Recent Attempt at my Favorite Books list:

In no particular order....

Gone With the Wind

I think this a book that you either love or hate. I know many people who consider it bigoted and racist(despite being set in an era quite possibly best known for bigotry and racism being not just legal, but accepted and commonplace...), while others praise it's unguarded portrayal of that time. Still others think of it in the category of 20th century American classics, while others have called it the first "trashy romance novel". I, for one, could care less where it's categorized...I fell in love with it the first time I read it(somewhere around 7th or 8th grade) and it will always be a favorite.

Beneath a Marble Sky
After a few years of honestly not reading enough(quite frankly, not very much at all), this book renewed my love for and interest in historical fiction. It is about a time period that I really know nothing about, and I was sucked right in. I'm pretty sure I read this in one night!

The Red Tent
This is another one that was quite debated and I think either loved or hated. Like the previous title, it is a time period that I know very little about so I loved the way I could use my imagination. Plus, I know very little(and care even less) about the Biblical accuracy of it, so I think I was able to enjoy it more than many.

Harry Potter Boxset
I started reading these when I was volunteering at an environmental education camp in Portland, Oregon, after hearing endless chatter from 6th graders. Little did I know that I would devour the first 4 books in about as many weeks. Major kudos to J.K. Rowling for not only creating a world that would get kids reading, but one that crossed age boundaries from elementary school kids all the way to their grandparents!

The Kite Runner
The more I think about this, the more I'm sensing a theme of enjoying things about places and times I know little about...could be a sign! Anyway, I read this book a few years ago and ended up skipping 2 classes one day because I had found a sunny spot on the school lawn to read for a few minutes, and before I knew it was halfway into the book and had missed the whole afternoon of classes. It was also the first book that had made me cry in a long time....

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time
This is my most recent addition to the list, having just finished it a few weeks ago. I had owned it for quite a while, because I had heard great things about it, but for some reason never seemed drawn to it. Boy was I wrong. This story had me wanting to drive to Bozeman the morning after I finished it and beg for a job(not too big of a stretch, I only live 75 miles from Bozeman...)


I'm sure I'll think of more...I guess there'll have to be a "Favorite Books, Vol. 2".