It seems we asked the almost unanswerable over on our Social Media pages a fortnight ago when the Poll Question “If you could only choose one book to read for the rest of your lifetime?” was asked of you all.
We had over 350 replies but of those almost 100 of you refused to choose, with one respondent informing me I’d be shot if I asked them that again and many others claiming it was akin to asking which was their favourite child.
Believe me when I tell you I understand your dilemma and we have stretched the remit to include the many replies that named a Trilogy, or Serial rather than a single title and we have produced a list of your chosen ‘forever’ reads from your replies. I hope your favourite is listed among these titles.
The Bible
We have a large number of the faithful among our respondents and that is reflected in the number one choice for the one book you could read for the rest of your life..
LotR Trilogy – J.R.R Tolkien
What better than hundreds of pages of adventure to keep you entertained for the foreseeable future?.
Harry Potter Complete – J.K. Rowling
Another wonderful choice; subtle nuances and amazing attention to detail ensures that there is something new to be found each and every time you reread J.K’s brilliant wizarding series.
The Book Thief – Marcus Zusak
I was very pleased to see this in so many people’s replies. A wonderful tale of a girl growing up in war torn Nazi Germany, uplifting in places, utterly heartbreaking in others and narrated so beautifully by Death himself.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
If you want to be kept busy for a significant length of time then there’s no better an author than The Bard himself.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare US
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare UK
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy’s epically enormous tome makes a sensible choice for those of us who want to feel challenged for time.
Neverending Story – Michael Ende, Ralph Manheim
Ohh Ha Ha very funny.
Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë’s timeless tale of love, loyalty, morality, social classes and gender inequality is a well deserved eighth.
The Dark Tower – Stephen King
King’s fantasy epic isn’t strictly a single book but it may be the only entry that is written as a natural roundel.
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Described as a ‘novel of manners’ Pride and Prejudice is a timeless tale of love, loyalty and family responsibilities.
11. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith
12. Hitchhiker’s Guide – Douglas Adams
13. The Prophet – Kahlil Gibran
14. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
15. The Qu’ran
16. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
17. TKaMB – Harper Lee
18. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
19. The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
20. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
And after the featured top 20, here we take the list to the top 50 books:
Dickenson’s Poems – Emily Dickinson
Dombey and Son – Charles Dickens
House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski
Hopscotch – Julio Cortázar
Anne of Green Gables – Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
Dune – Frank Herbert
Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen
Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
Broken Wings – Kahlil Gibran
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Illusions – Richard Bach
Forever Amber – Kathleen Winsor
The Hobbit – J.R.R Tolkien
The Last Samurai – Helen Dewitt
Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell
Dicken’s Complete Works – Charles Dickens
The Green Mile – Stephen King
11/22/63 – Stephen King
The Promise – Ann Weisgarber
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Book of Mormon
Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
Zahir – Paulo Coelho
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
The Stand – Stephen King
Where she Went – Gayle Forman
Chelsea Girls – Eileen Myles
The Ascent of Man – Richard Dawkins
I read through that list and with practically every single title mentioned I though “oooh yes that one”, then saw the next and changed my mind.
Thank goodness this was only a hypothetical question and we still have more books than we can ever hope to read available to us.
No if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to give my shelves a cuddle!
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I wish I’d seen the question! I’d have said I didn’t have an answer to the question but, reading the list and seeing the series that were chosen, I’d chose The Black Jewels Trilogy (and associated books) by Anne Bishop. I reread them about once a year already so it’s not that big a stretch!