In this morning’s edition of the Shelf-Awareness newsletter there was a review of the new book, My Ideal Bookshelf by Thessaly La Force, editor, illus. by Jane Mount (Little, Brown, $24.99 hardcover, 9780316200905, November 13, 2012).
I thought it was a unique concept. The review, in part, stated, “Every reader will, at some point, face the dreaded question: “What’s your favorite book?” For the serious reader, the answer is often not nearly as simple or singular as the question. We love many titles equally, though for different reasons. Books educate, entertain and move us. Reading helps us to learn who we are as individuals and as a species.
In My Ideal Bookshelf, Thessaly La Force asks a variety of authors and other celebrities a somewhat less restrictive question: If you had to fill a small shelf with the books that represent you, which titles would you choose? Accompanied by Jane Mount’s charmingly colorful drawings of each participant’s shelf, the essays are alphabetized by each participant’s last name–in true librarian- or bookseller-approved fashion.
La Force selected a diverse group of participants. In addition to popular authors such as Stephanie Meyer, Malcolm Gladwell and James Patterson, she solicited responses from skateboarder Tony Hawk, French Laundry chef Thomas Keller and New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones.” …
I started wondering, “What books would be on MY ideal bookshelf?”
I would have to include a few of the epics that I loved as a teenager and that really provoked my interest in ancient history so there is no doubt that The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aenied, Beowulf and The Epic of Gilgamesh would make my shelf.
I also love fables and fairy tales so The Canterbury Tales and The Brother’s Grimm Fairy Tales would be on the list. I once owned a dark blue leather bound version of The Brother’s Grimm Fairy Tales. It was complete with gilded edges. I wore it out reading it so much.
F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s The Great Gatsby makes the shelf too. The 1920 - 1930 era in American History is my favorite to study and that book is an ideal novel for someone like me.
A few sports books have to make the shelf too. I would probably include the autobiographical Pete Rose: My Story and Throwing Heat: Nolan Ryan. They are two of my favorite all-time baseball players.
Naturally, my Bible goes on the shelf. It’s not just a book, it’s the book. You only have to watch that movie, The Book of Eli, to see how critical that book is above all others.
Then, just for good measure and because everyone needs a few laughs, I’d add some Lewis Grizzard. I don’t know which one but I’d probably settle on “Shoot Low Boys, They’re Riding Shetland Ponies” because it’s hilarious and makes me think of my Dad.
That’s 12 books. Is that a “small” bookshelf? It is by my standards.
What books would you put on your “small” bookshelf of ideal books?
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I’d have to put ‘On the Road’ on mine. To this day the only book that’s ever made me cry. No book has ever made me change the way I look at the world quite as much as that book. Shoutout also to ‘Travels with Lizbeth’ which is equally as good travel literature.
I have a feeling I’m going to end up with a new to-read list a million miles long after people add their favorite books. I’m off to look up “On The Road” right now.
I read ‘On the road’ recently, it made a huge impact, so beautifully written
Interesting question. It would be hard to choose a bookshelf of only 12 books. I would definitely have to include Great Expectations on the shelf. From there it would be tough to narrow it down to one or two selections from the many different genres that I read from.
You are by no means limited to 12 books; I simply decided to stop at 12 since it sounded like a good round number to me. The question was originally a “small” shelf but it was not clarified as to how small a small shelf is supposed to be. Great Expectations is a wonderful book. I’ll always love the eccentricity of Miss Havisham.
What a fantastic post, so happy I came across your blog!
I will probably think about this question for hours – but off the top of my head, I’d base my answer on the books I’m constantly trying to get my other friends to read – the Alchemist, Power of One, On the Road, Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, The Bean Trees, and We Shall Know our Velocity. Then I’d probably through a cook book in there (anything by Nigel Slater), and finally a writing book I couldn’t survive without – the Art of Fiction (John Gardner)!
You are the second person to mention On The Road. I haven’t read it but I do know it was on Marilyn Monroe’s bookshelf (I posted that a few days ago). Now I feel like I’m missing out so I’ll have to check it out. As far as cookbooks, I’d have to add The Joy of Cooking. It’s practically my cooking Bible.
Jack Kerouac’s Beat generation masterpiece. Required reading of anyone who’s ever travelled anywhere or anyone in their twenties who feels lost in life.
I know it was on Marilyn Monroe’s bookshelf when she died. I’ve heard a lot about it but have never gotten around to reading it. Now I feel the pressure to check it out and I certainly will.
Great post (and selections)!
Here’s what would be on my ideal bookshelf: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings (collected in one volume–I know, cheating), The Alchemist, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Getting Things Done, The Foundation Trilogy (collected in one volume–yup, still cheating), Ender’s Game, Dune, Les Miserables, The Inimitable Jeeves, and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
You’ve just listed a few of my favorite books! I thought about the LOTR books (it’s ok to cheat) but passed them over in favor of the other epics. Edith Hamilton’s Mythology is also one of my favorite books. My copy is so old and worn out but that just makes it even better.
Hamilton’s Mythology is definitely underrated nowadays. Do most people even grow up reading/knowing anything about Greek/Roman or Norse Mythology?
Not as much as they should. I remember taking an Ancient World Humanities class a few years ago and well over half the class didn’t know the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece or Jason and Medea, nor could they identify the Greek Gods with their Roman counterparts. I felt bad for them, they are missing out on some great stories.
If nothing else, everyone should read The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell in connection with Hamilton’s Mythology. That would give the reader not just an appreciation for mythology, but would help them better appreciate everything else they’ve already read.
The reason myths resound is that they are universal no matter their origin.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll look that up and read through it; I love anything that goes along with mythology.
The Bible first. ALWAYS. The Best of Issac Asimov, Odd Thomas, Ender’s Game, A Tale of Three Kings, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Mere Christianity, and The Weight of Glory.
Great post!
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a great story. I do love that one. Admittedly I’ve never read Odd Thomas, Ender’s Game or A Tale of Three Kings. I’ll check them out.
Ender’s Game blew me away and A Tale of Three Kings changed my life. There is so much wisdom in it and yet it is so simple. I love your blog! I’m glad I found you.
I’m glad you found me too. I love having people stop in and talk books with me. I looked both of those up and added them to my GoodReads To-Read list. Hopefully I can check them both out soon.
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Tough question! I would say The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson would definitely be on there. I could end up with a very long shelf though as there are so many other books I would want to add to it!
I agree. It took me a few hours to compile my list because there are some classics I love like Great Expectations and Wuthering Heights but then there are 2012 releases which I have loved like Jigsaw Soul and Some Are Sicker Than Others. Then there are books like The Art of War and Baseball Codes that are important to me because they speak to a part of my personality and hobbies. So how do you choose? I’d be easier question if it asked, “What books would be on your wall-size bookcase?”
I’ll second ‘The Secret History’ brilliant!
I would only have two books on my bookshelf-’Charles Dickens: The Complete Collection’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
Wow. I could never settle on only two books; although, if I had to pick one author to have the entire collection of then Charles Dickens would be a great choice.
Interesting post! and congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
My bookshelf of 12 would be:
1. ESV Study Bible
2. Island of the Lost by Joan Druett
3. Miracles on the Water by Tom Nagorski
4. On a Sea of Glass by Tad Fitch, J. Kent Layton and Bill Wormstedt
5. Titanic Valour by Inger Sheil
6. Goodbye, Goodluck by Susanne Stormer
7. Titanic Hero by Arthur Rostron
8. Titanic and Other Ships by Charles Lightoller
9. The Odyssey of C. H. Lightoller by Patrick Stenson
10. Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
11. In His Steps by Charles Sheldon
12. A Sherlock Holmes Collection by Arthur Conan Doyle
It would be a little hard to narrow it down to just 12 like you were able to, but I’d throw in a few L. M. Montgomery books too.
It was certainly a challenge to narrow it down to 12. I tried to pick the ones that spoke the most to my personal interest and hobbies so that people could get an idea of the kind of person I am based on what I read. That helped me pick the 12 I picked. If I chose them simply based on books I loved I would have to have a whole bookcase because I could never fit them on one shelf.
Wonderful post! And congrats on getting Freshly Pressed–I was too this morning, so we’re going through the mind trip together (have you enjoyed watching the stats climb? Because I, like a nerd, can’t stop hitting the “refresh” button). My post this week was about this notion too, of the “special” shelf and about my favorite book of all time. Take a look, it sounds to me like we’re already in conversation! http://somethingtoreadforthetrain.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/the-favorite/
I actually read your post and “liked” it this morning. I thought, “It appears I had a book-y twin on this mindset” because they are very similar topics. It’s hard to choose just one book. I was impressed by your ability to do that. I smiled when I saw that your book was a children’s book because on my shelf I still have a big book of children’s fables that my grandparents bought me when I was really little. The cover is falling off, the pages are stained, it’s old and worn but I love it and will never part with it.
A book that I’ve read a few times now is “Disgrace” by the South African writer J.M. Coetzee. He has a beautiful spare writing style. His semi-fictionalised autobiography “Boyhood:scenes from a provincial life” is also a compelling read. Apart from those, the other book that I think I “love” is Conrad Black’s biography of Richard Nixon. Like or loath author or subject, this is a fantastically well written book. You learn little details such as Nixon’s love of a blazing fire in the oval office even in the oppressive heat of August. To counteract the heat of the fire, they turned on the air conditioning.
I’ll have to check out that biography of Nixon. I love American History and Biographies so it sounds like it would be an interesting read. Thanks for the suggestions.
Disgrace is the frickin’ mackdaddy, yo.
I moved recently and had to ACTUALLY choose my ideal bookshelf. On it?
-Ulysses (James Joyce)
-Les memoires d’une jeune fille rangée (Simone de Beauvoir)
-The Joke (Milan Kundera)
-Les fleurs du mal (Baudelaire)
-Red Army (Izaak Babel)
-Doktor Zhivago (Boris Pasternak)
I have since added Wyndham Lewis’ Tarr and a first edition of Lawrence Durrell’s Poems (1963). While it was really hard to choose, I found that space constraints made me consider why I wanted to include a particular book.
When we moved last year I had to downsize my collection too. It was one of the hardest things about packing and moving but I donated the books which made leaving them a little easier. You kept a great shelf. I love Doctor Zhivago and Ulysses, those are two really amazing books.
Thank you! I love planning what to add to it and I live in a great city for used and interesting books. Edward Gorey is next!
I’ve been reading a lot of self-published authors this year and I’ve come across some really fantastic new books. Self-published authors has been my trend for this year.
I’m still hostage to the publishers I’m afraid. I am new to NRF and the lovely things available in French, so I am focussing on that for the moment.
If you’re after something written in French (or just by a Frenchman, translated into English) you need to have a collection of Guy de Maupassant’s short stories. I’ve been recommending him to everyone I know – Maupassant est magnifique.
He’s definitely next on my list; thanks for the suggestion! Short stories are a great way to familiarize with an unknown writer. The first bit of Borges I read was “Labyrinths”…
Oi how did you read ‘Ulysses’? I’ve tried to start it a few times then gave it away, found it absolutely unreadable, I must be thick
I was just stubborn enough to keep going! Then after a bit, I found that I really liked it and didn’t want to stop. You can get versions with annotations as well that make it a bit easier.
Great post! I’m not sure on my 12 favorites but the four that most definitely would be on my bookshelf are…
The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 by Geoffry C. Ward and Ken Burns
The Complete Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights
The Holy Bible, King James Version (preferred)
The Complete Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer has come up a few times. I would say that anything by Mark Twain would be a great choice. I love him.
The hundred year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson. Pulls off the almost impossible trick of a prose style that’s almost child-like in its simplicity but which does that whole iceberg theory thing Hemingway used to talk about over breakfast before hitting the rum.
Literature’s great and all, but most of the highbrow stuff we reserve for studying started life as populist stuff – Madame Bovary was a sex n shopping novel. Sadly this means that in a century’s time we might have to consider Helen Fielding and Jilly Cooper’s respective works as literature…
Except for Ulysses – I maintain Joyce was trolling his audience by writing something utterly without meaning and seeing what people read into it.
I sure hope that in a century people are not looking back on some of the garbage of today (e.g. Fifty Shades of Grey) as great classic literature. It’s a terrifying thought to think that is the type of literary legacy our generation might leave behind.
Speaking of, and apologies for the shameless plug, I wrote something about 50 Shades..
http://froodianpseudoanalysis.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/punch-me-in-the-face/
check it out…
Imagine a future in which the highest aspiration is to someday get around to reading the Twilight saga.
Besides, say what you will about your William Faulkners and your Dostoyevskys – did anyone of them find anachronistic feminist symbolism in Da Vinci’s Last Supper? No they didn’t. Dan Brown wins.
I don’t believe in the existence of emoticons, so I’d be grateful if you just imagine some kind of smiling, winking thing tongue firmly lodged within cheek. Style of thing. Cheers…
I have no objections to you plugging your own blog. I’ll check it out. Speaking of William Faulkner, he happens to be one of my favorite authors. Say what you will about As I Lay Dying but I am convinced that book remains the greatest Southern Gothic novel ever written.
I really liked Jonas J book
any space one.
Likewise, apologies for the split infinitive
So many to choose from. Not easy thats for sure. I really love all the books of Murakami.
Other writers I dig is; Oscar wilde. George Orwell.Ahhh The list gets looong. If I could choose I book it would be Kafka on The shore Of Murakami or IQ84:)
Funny that you mention Oscar Wilde because when we unpacked a few months ago I came across an Oscar Wilde book (my apologies for not remembering what title and being too lazy to go and look it up right now) in a box of books. I apparently bought it years ago and never got around to reading it. I have quite a few books like that. You know you have an addiction when you buy new books before you’ve even had a chance to read the old ones.
I’ll make sure I pick that one up. Thanks!
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I started writing my list in the comments here until I realised how quickly it would get out of hand…and only 12 books? How is that fair? Maybe 120 would be easier to cull down to.
Here’s my list:
http://chriswhitewrites.com/2012/11/11/my-ideal-bookshelf/
Lol. I’ve heard that a few times today. The question was simply to imagine that you had a “small” shelf and I stopped at 12 books because I figured a dozen books would be “small” but by no means is there a hard and fast rule that you had to stop at 12. It is easy to keep going. I could have easily filled an “ideal bookcase” that takes up an entire wall.
My bookshelf would definitely have:
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
Love, Anger, Madness by Marie Vieux-Chauvet
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
The Good Solider by Ford Madox Ford
I’m sure there are many more but those are what I can think of right now.
Ooh The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is a great choice! I would probably have to squeeze that in there too so I guess my shelf gets expanded to 13 books.
A Farewell to Arms, The Lord of the Rings, The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, A Reverence for Wood, Starship Troopers, A Brief History of Time, Tom Sawyer, 1984. I’ve had these books since high school, the army, single life, and now married and a parent.
That is a fabulous list! I love every single one of them. Job well done!
This is an interesting concept, I have based my selections based on books I read a long time ago and have reread and still enjoyed.
The 5 books I would have on my bookshelf without question would be -
Jean M Auel – Clan of the Cave Bear
Emmett Grogan – Ringolevio: A life played for keeps
Emily Bronte – Wuthering Heights
Alice Walker – The Color Purple
Lee Harper – To Kill a Mockingbird
1, 3, and 5 I know and love. I’ve actually never read Ringolevio or The Color Purple though I have heard of them both. I read the Clan of the Cave Bear a long time ago and still love it. It’s a great book.
James Joyce’s Dubliners would make it on mine – for the sheer depth he manages to plumb in such economy of prose.
Some Bradbury would have to be on there–probably Dandelion Wine and definitely Jane Eyre
Oh definitely Jane Eyre. That’s such a great book. I remember that was one of the first classic books I ever read just for fun.
Love it
. The Awakening by Chopin is fascinating to me–slightly disturbing but intriguing anyway!
I’ve never read that one. I’ll have to check it out and add it to my list.
The Artists Way, Reading Like a Writer, Cry of The Peacock by Gina B. Nahai, The Great Gatsby, Amelia Bedilia, Alice in Wonderland, The Diary of Anne Frank, in our own words: extraordinary speeches of the american century. There are a bunch more but I might be here all night..
Lol. That’s how I felt when I started writing and why I stopped at twelve. I would have included Alice in Wonderland because I used to love that story but once I found out about the speculation of pedophilia by Lewis Carroll it left me feeling uncomfortable. The Great Gatsby made my list too though, I absolutely love that story!
I still have a lot of reading to do, but for now I would have… The Outsiders, Tuck Everlasting, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Percy Jackson series, Harry Potter, Skeleton Creek series (the only books to truly scare me,) and To Kill a Mockingbird. Great Post! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
To Kill a Mockingbird has been on a few lists today. I’m happy to see that because it really is a great book. Believe it or not I’ve only read it once. I’m actually a bit ashamed to say that. I think I need to dig that one out and read it again.
Thanks! It feels really great to be Freshly Pressed. It really does.
I am so glad I found you
Your blog is awesome! I would probably pick Unspoken by Sarah Reese Brennan, The Diviners by Libba Bray, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Where the Red Fern Grows, Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Pride and Prejudice…
Again, I am so happy I found out about your blog ^^
Another vote for To Kill a Mockingbird! That has been a popular choice today. I would have to agree, I loved that book even though I have actually only read it one time. Where the Red Fern Grows was one of my favorite books as a child even though it broke my heart. It still makes me cry.
I loved the Red Fern Grows because it was one of those books that made me an emotional wreck… Books about dogs are always the saddest books for me.
I would agree with that too. I think Where The Red Fern Grows was probably the first book to ever make me cry. It’s funny because I tear up as soon as I start to think about that book.
I rarely ever cry when reading a book. I can get angry or fustrated but I will rarely ever cry. It is kind of funny. Yes, Where the Red Fern Grows is one of the only books that ever made me cry.
1.The Hobbit and LOTR
2. Harry Potter
3.The Scarlet Letter
4. Brave New World
5. Stranger in a Strange Land
6. Wuthering Heights
7. A Wrinkle in Time
8. Silent Spring
9. The Fever series by Karen Moning
10. Light in August
A Wrinkle in Time! I had actually forgotten about that book but I remember reading that when I was a kid and loving it. I probably read that book at least 10 times when I was kid. LOTR was actually mentioned earlier too and I agreed I would have included it except that I chose the other epics and wanted a variation of books. Definitely wonderful stories though. Great choices.
1) Gone With the Wind. 2) Thank you Jeeves. 3) Tom Sawyer. 4) The Tryst Betrayed 5) One of the Enid Blyton’s 6) Rebecca 7) Andre Agassi’s Open 8) The Road less travelled 9) Sense and Sensibility 10) A Thousand Splendid Suns 11) The Bookseller of Kabul 12) Three cups of tea.
Gone With the Wind would be on my second shelf. I was named for Ashley Wilkes so that book has a special place in my heart.
And people often tell me that I behave like Scarlett when I try my level best to be like Melanie
. Ashley nice name.
I would have a hard time leaving off Tuesdays With Morrie. It is a book that I have reread so many times and continue to get new lessons from. Amazing what age and a different perspective can do.
Unbelievably I’ve never read that book. My husband has a copy of it and it’s on my shelf but I’ve never read it. I need to pick it up and read through it.
Definitely yesterday only I bought Tuesdays with Morrie. Will read it soon.
Excuse me for asking but may I write a post like this for my blog? I totally understand if you do not want me to
Of course you can.
Please feel free and happy blogging!
Oh, thank you so much
You’re welcome! I’ll be sure to check it out once you get it posted.
Okay ^^ Thanks again
I would have these:
1. The God of small things by Arundhati Roy
2. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
3. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
4. The Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
6. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
7. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The rest 5 will be unread books, because I cannot have all the read books on the shelf
You’re the first to mention Gulliver’s Travels but that is a great choice. I love the Lilliputians and I love literary references that expand my vocabulary.
great choices!
Thanks Sula
Oh I have so many books in my bookshelf, yet I either don’t or not finish them. It’s pretty weird for me to have a bookshelf, but I don’t read the books completely.
I have a few books like that. They don’t even have to be bad book, there are a few good books that for some reason I never read 100%. I usually will go back at some point and re-read them to the end though.
Yeah, me too. I go back to the books I haven’t finished and I just continue from where I stopped, just to finish the book. Weird, right?
Well, considering I do it too I wouldn’t call it weird. I would consider it good time management thanks to an excellent memory.
Seems weird to my friends, I do that. But I can’t believe how the page number gets stuck in my head for a year, while I can’t get all my lessons get STUCK in my head permanently -_-
guess what….just bought a bookshelf.
Definitely Rowling’s Harry Potter series (no, I can’t choose just one) and The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe would start the shelf. I grew up reading both, and they have heavily influenced my writing style. I’m a firm believer that on should build a foundation in classic literature, so one of my all time favourites, Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky), and all of Dickens’ work would certainly be on the shelf, as well. I’m a Steinbeck fan, so I’d put Travels with Charley on there, along with Potzsch’s The Hangman’s Daughter.
I cannot believe that I didn’t think of Edgar Allen Poe! I’m actually a bit ashamed of myself for leaving him off my shelf. I remember falling in love with his writings when I was about 12. I met a man who could recite The Raven, in it’s entirety, from memory. It impressed me and I started looking into Poe after that. The Cask of Amontillado is my favorite Poe story.
That’s an excellent one; however, my favourite has to be (and again, it’s hard to pick just one) The Tell-Tale Heart. I remember it was the first story I ever read by him. It was for school. I remember sitting in class and reading it, then being scared to fall asleep for a week haha. I also love The Masque of the Red Death and Hop-Frog. Okay, all are my favourites haha. He is such an amazing author, and he certainly has influenced me so much in my writing. I could go on and on about Poe all day, but I’ll stop geeking out for now.
My husband and I went on our first official date to an old historical theatre in town which was showing “The Raven” for Halloween. Little did we know it was a weird version of it that involved Talking Birds, Old Magicians and a very young Tommy Lee Jones. It was not at all what we expected but very funny.
Couldn’t agree more with your collection of books. Though in my little bookshelf i would add Bulgakov’s the master and margarita, Hemingway’s A farewell to arms and Agota Kristof’s three novels!
Yes, Hemingway definitely deserves a place on the shelf. After all the comments I’m thinking I need to expand to 14 books to include Hemingway and Poe.
There are so many but these are musts – The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, El Laberinto de Soledad by Octavio Paz, and any collection of poems by Pablo Neruda.
Would you believe I’ve never read The Three Musketeers? I’ve been exposed to so many variations of the story through movies that I’ve never actually picked up and read the book. I guess that’s one more book I need to add to my reading list.
I’ve easily read it 10-15 times. I get to the middle and I get anxious because I only have half left!
10-15 times? Ok, now I have to read it!
For vacations? For intellectual stimulation? Too tough to pick one all-time list. I say look to Nick Hornby in High Fidelity and have several “top fives”.
I had the same questions when I first saw the question in the Shelf-Awareness newsletter. Ultimately I decided to build my list around the books that would give someone a glimpse into my personality if they were able to get to know me only by that one shelf. I chose the Epics, the Fables, 1920 American Fiction, the Bible, Sports and Humor. That’s essentially me on a shelf.
Good for you for doing that. I just couldn’t narrow it down I don’t think!
In no particular order:
1. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
2. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. A good dictionary
4. T.S. Eliot’s Selected Poems (one must have some poetry)
5. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
I would agree with your entire list. You chose some really wonderful books. Great choices, and I loved that you included a dictionary.
A very new way of style, I like your post friend.
Thanks!
On my small bookshelf – ones that shaped me.
Gift from the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindberg
Witness by Whittaker Chambers
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway
To Kill a Mocking Bird, Harper Lee
Strength to Love, Dr Martin Luther King
The Bible
Steps to Christ, Ellen G White
Moveable Feat, Hemingway
My Family and other Animals, Gerald Durrell
Strangers in a Strange Land, Heinlein
So many – but that’s the choice
That’s a great list. It makes me smile to see some of the same books showing up over and over again. Old Man and the Sea and To Kill a Mockingbird have been popular and I love that. It’s really great to see how certain books can affect so many people and stay so memorable.
My favorite book is the phone book….that way, there’s no bruises left. just kidding. I could read Damage by Josephine Hart once a year and it’s just as good as the last time.
LOL. Good answer! I’ve never read Damage but I’ll look it up. Thanks.
I don’t even know where to start with a list of favourite books, there are so many amazing books out there, but the one book I read from cover to cover, immediately after finishing reading it cover to cover (yes, straight through twice!), and I have read several times since is “The bone people” by Keri Hulme.
Another book I’ve never read. Thanks for the suggestion! If it’s that good I’ll definitely have to take a chance on it.
I’m going to try not to over think this and just put down the ones which come to mind first.
Small Dreams of a Scorpion – Spike Milligan
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
The Wasp Factory – Ian Banks
The Alexander Quartet – Lawrence Durrell
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
How to be Good – Nick Hornby
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulkes
The Collector – John Fowles
The God of Small things – Arundhati Roy
Sons and Lovers – DH Lawrence
I like how you said it’s so difficult to choose a favourite book. I was 9 when I first picked up Harry Potter but my love of reading came well before that. I feel like I’m still searching for my favourite book. .. At the moment I actually read a lot of borderline ‘chick lit’ as I have connected with many authors on twitter etc…. I would have to have a hard think about this
Even though I have a degree in English/Philosophy I feel I never read ‘smart’ books… Love this and might add ‘My Ideal Bookshelf’ to my Christmas list. x
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you know…this is what ive always wanted…a list of good books…chosen by somebody else….all i have to do is read them…..aah..the living is easy…!
Lol! Between my post and all the comments you should have enough books to last at least a year or so. Happy Reading!
My ideal bookshelf would never end…it would go on and on for miles haha great post, congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Thanks! It’s so exciting for me. I’ve been on WordPress for over two years and never reached FP and then suddenly I’ve been FP’d twice in two weeks. Once was for a guest post for my friend Andrew (PortraitsOfAddiction.com) and now on here. I still can’t believe it!
I know what you mean about the ideal bookshelf going on forever and ever. Mine could too. Easily.
A friend of mine bought me “Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You” for my birthday when we were in 7th grade. I have adored him ever since. I’m glad I’m not the only one who remembers him.
Oh my gosh, that one is hilarious too! Plus, “Don’t Bend Over in the Garden Granny, You Know Them Tater’s Got Eyes.” LOL. Sometimes the titles are as funny as the stories. When I was little my Dad used to read parts of his books to me by candlelight whenever our power went out which, in the area we lived, happened a lot.
I think I might have to read this book. It sounds a very interesting read. As for my bookshelf, I’m not sure what I would choose. Saying that though, Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree would have to go on there, and Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson would as well. I do enjoy my classics, but I’m still reading loads today (including other genres), so I think if I had to make my bookshelf, it would have to be when I was really old haha.
Ha! I totally know what you mean. It would be easier to answer a question like, “What books would be on your ideal ‘classics’ bookshelf?” And then go genre by genre. It’s too hard to combine them all together.
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My ideal bookshelf would include the following:
*A man by Oriana Fallaci
*Travelling light by Katrina Kittle
*Asylum by Patrick McGrath
*Harry Potter Saga
*Letter to a child never born by Oriana Fallaci
*Morning in Jenin by Susan Abulawa
*The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
*The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
What about yours?
The Kite Runner is a fabulous choice! That’s a great book.
My ideal bookshelf would have all the authors come back to life in their prime and read their books aloud to me (yes sitting on my bookshelf). Just picture it: Oscar Wilde reading “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Sylvia Plath reciting from “Colossus”, Lewis Carroll reading “Alice in Wonderland”, Jesus reading the Bible (and pointing out all the misinterpretations), John Steinbeck reading “The Grapes of Wrath”, Rimbaud reading “A Season in Hell” (oh crap, i got to learn French), Proust reading anything (oh, help, I really got to learn French), and of course, Shakespheare doing his thing!
That would be fantastic! You should create a holographic author thing-y that allows that to happen! Guaranteed to be a bestseller.
What a compelling idea! I have no idea where to start, really, since my house is still littered with books I have no realistic way to shelve as it is … Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, would definitely be there, along with Songs for the Missing by Stuart O’Nan, Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, and Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, just for a start. Oh, and It by Stephen King … this is a really eclectic list!
Ooooh yes Mystic River! I love that book! I just got Dennis Lehane’s brand new release “Live By Night” and can’t wait to start it. Actually, I did start it and got about 25 pages into it before I got backlogged on indie author books I agreed to review. I’m determined to finish Live By Night by the end of the year though. It sounds so good!
I loved ‘Middlesex’! ‘The Virgin Suicides’ is on my list. Reading his latest, ‘The Marriage Plot’ but I can’t get into it which is disappointing.
Nice to see the Bible on the list! A no-brainer, right!
Absolutely! There’s no doubt that book belongs front and center on the shelf.
I admit I scrolled past many of these to add my own very favourite at the bottom, so I don’t know if it’s been mentioned – Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Hilarious.
No, that hasn’t been mentioned yet. I’ve actually never heard of it but since you said it’s hilarious I’ll definitely check it out. I love humor books!
Interesting question! Mine would include The Little Prince, The Sun Also Rises, Night Circus, most Agatha Christie, blue/orange Nancy Drews, The Selected Works of TS Spivet, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and probably many that I’m not thinking of right now. Thanks for provoking interesting thought and discussion.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn has come up a few times, so has The Little Prince and The Sun Also Rises. I love seeing the same book titles over and over again. It makes me smile to see how the same books have impacted so many people and left such strong impressions. Thanks for replying to the discussion. I love the conversation this post has generated.
http://michellebelle925.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/changin-my-mind/
Some great books
Thanks for sharing your link.
Over the years, I’ve had to slash my favourite novels because of space.
Here’s my top 12 Favourite Books:
Tuesdays With Morrie ~ Mitch Albom
Generation X ~ Douglas Coupland
Fifth Business ~ Robertson Davies
Geek Love ~ Katherine Dunn
The Great Gatsby ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Curious Incident With The Dog In The Night-Time ~ Mark Haddon
Life Of Pi ~ Yann Martel
Angela’s Ashes ~ Frank McCourt
Coming Through Slaughter ~ Michael Ondatje
Nineteen Eighty Four ~ George Orwell
Slaughterhouse 5 ~ Kurt Vonnegut
An Illustrated Short History Of Progress ~ Ronald Wright
I would say that you chose some fantastic books to stay on your shelves. The Great Gatsby remains one of my all-time favorite books no matter how many times I’ve read it. It’s a wonderful story. Someone mentioned Tuesdays with Morrie earlier. It’s been on my shelf for years but unbelievably I’ve never read it. I intend to remedy that soon.
If I’d ever have to narrow my library down to 12 books, I’d go mad!
But my list would probably be this:
By Umberto Eco:
1) How To Travel With A Salmon
2) Foucault’s Pendulum
3) The Name of The Rose
By Wayne Gisslen:
4) Professional Baking
5) Professional Cooking
6) A Brief History Of Time – by Stephen Hawking
7) The Silmarillion – by JRR Tolkien
8) By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept – by Paulo Coelho
9) The Old Man and The Sea – by Ernest Hemingway
10) Memories of My Melancholy Whores – by by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
11) Relativity – by Albert Einstein
12) Oh The Places You’ll Go – by Dr Seuss
I love your #12. There is always something so comforting about holding onto a favorite children’s book. Mine is The BFG by Roald Dahl. I can’t seem to get enough of that book.
A few Portuguese ones to start with: the António Lobo Antunes’ chronicles, Blindness and Baltasar & Blimunda by José Saramago and Os Bichos by Miguel Torga. Also: Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto, The Little Prince, The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde (yeah, I know it’s a children’s book), To a God Unknown by Steinbeck and Atonement by Ian McEwan. Finally, my ideal bookshelf must contain the poetry of Alberto Caeiro, Philip Larkin, Brecht, Adélia Prado, Vinícius de Moraes and the love poems of Neruda.
A Winters Tale by Mark Halprin , most anything by Tom Robbins – Jitterbug Perfume if I had to pick one, The Kiterunner, and Alice Monroe.
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I’m so glad someone said how hard it is to pick a fav of all novels. I have a tie between two – Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. But then falls everything else: The Collective Works of The Bard, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Henry Louis Gates’ The Classic Slave Narrative, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Elie Wiesel’s Night, The Collective Works of Emily Dickerson, The Collective Works of Langston Hughes. And yes, the Bible is a book, but to me it’s in a class by itself.
I agree with you about the Bible. I would most likely set it on a display by itself and then fill an ideal bookshelf with other books but I knew if I didn’t mention it a friend, or a few friends, would have to comment on how I left the Bible off my list so I included it. I would definitely agree with you about Jane Eyre. That’s a beautiful book and one of my favorites.
Congrats on being FP’d. I was thinking how hard it would be to narrow down a shortlist of books but then immediately some of my all time favourite reads came to mind. I notice as well that many people choose classics, but I am just a light hearted pleasure reader so – LOTR and the Hobbit. The Dragonlance Chronicles (the original 3, not the many spin offs) – the first fantasy books I read as a child and the first to make me cry. The first few Pern books, Anne McCaffrey. A small selection of Terry Pratchett. Some Greek mythology. OK – my small shelf would be fairly large.
I also avoided the classics for the most part. While I do love them and they are wonderful stories I preferred to list books that would give someone a glimpse into my personality instead of books I like to read. If I based my shelf off the books I liked to read then my shelf would go on forever. LOTR is a great book series. The movies are wonderful but the books are so much better and more detailed. I actually haven’t read The Hobbit but I want to read it before the film is released.
I hate the “If you’re on a desert island…” question. My bookshelf though is slightly more freeing. I would include the Harry Potter series, The Iliad and the Odyssey, a Betty Crocker cookbook, Wicked, Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men and Out of Oz. And Love Songs of a Dominatrix (have to have something to spice up the night!)
I hate that question too. It’s impossible to answer but a bookshelf does make it slightly more bearable. I chose to stop at 12 books because I consider 12 a small shelf but the description of the book didn’t actually state a number so I suppose it could be 5 or 25 depending on your perspective. I’ve never read the Harry Potter books or Love Songs of a Dominatrix (funny title!) but I would certainly agree with every other book you listed. I absolutely loved Wicked and Son of a Witch. I am most definitely a fan of Gregory Maguire.
You inspired me to come up with my own “bookshelf”. Thanks for posting this!
You are welcome! Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to share a link to your bookshelf so I can check it out.
Shakespeare’s plays.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Dante’s Divine Comedy.
The Song of Roland.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
Guy de Maupassant’s short stories.
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder.
And then I would also put my Kindle, with hundreds of other books.
Oh yes, Dante’s Divine Comedy! That is a great choice and, surprisingly, one that no one else has mentioned.
It appears as though you have found a loophole. Congrats!
A clever response to include your Kindle.
Great post! I think twelve is the perfect number for an ideal bookshelf. I’d fill mine with works by J.D. Salinger (namely Franny and Zooey) and Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated), as well as Great House by Nicole Krauss, which is my favorite read lately. You can tell a lot about a person based on the books they love. Thanks for sharing yours!
Best, e.v.
I’ve never read Great House by Nicole Krauss. I always enjoy reading the books that other people describe as their favorites so I’ll add yours to my list.
I read it twice in one year; I found it so haunting that I had to read it again. Hope you enjoy it, let me know how you like it when you get around to reading it.
Best, e.v.
My shelf would have to start with, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
That has actually been a very popular choice and it is a book I have never read. I am starting to feel like I’m really missing out on something great.
I can’t have a small bookshelf, because I simply have way too many favorites, and so therefore I need huge bookshelf’s. But let’s try and do one shelf.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time, Mark Haddon(I believe it’s my fav MH book)
Life of Pie, Yann Martel
The Book of Negros, Lawrence Hill
The Parabolist, Nicholas Rudock
The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven, Kevin & Alex Malarkey
Playing the Enemy, John Carlin
A Time to Kill, John Grisham
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The Complete Novels, Sir Authur Conan Doyle
Lee Child & James Rollins-I can’t pick a favorite
The Bible-I have several, I can’t pick my favorite
Did I keep it small enough? Great post!
You listed 11 books and I believe that would be considered small by most standards. I’m so glad to see that someone included A Time to Kill because that’s a wonderful book. It’s sad in parts but it’s really so good! To Kill a Mockingbird has also been a popular choice and rightfully so. As far as Lee Child, I read one book by Child a few years ago (my apologies for not remembering the title) and I liked it. I really should get back around to checking out more of them.
gatsby and canterbury tales make my shelf too! along with the grapes of wrath, fall on your knees, a couple key graphic novels, carine roitfeld’s irreverence, savage beauty..
On mine, have limited it to twelve for a challenge:
The Little Prince, Little Women, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Virgin Suicides, The Secret History, Sherlock Holmes (complete), Rebecca, Scoop, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, The Pursuit of Love, The HP series, Devil Wears Prada (for the inane chick lit). Hmm, I’m sentimental, I’d add more children’s books.
Little Women nearly made my list. I love that story. It’s funny to me to see how I identify with different girls as I grow older. I used to identify with Jo but the older I get the more that changes.
I’m a bit of a Jo, spontaneous and a bit of an oddball though less self assured than she is. I see parts of myself in Meg w/ the wanting to fit in w/ the rich kids and being domestic. Jo was never my favourite, though, I didn’t like how she treated Amy, I loved Amy and Beth. Hmm, I might blog about my thoughts on ‘Little Women’.
I loved Amy and Beth too, especially as I grew up and lost some of the young tomboyish tendencies I had as a kid. If you do write your thoughts on “Little Women” please link back to it here so we can check it out.
What an excellent idea, this question requires more pondering then I am able to do in the last few moments of my pre-allocated computer time
Ponder away! Then come back and post a link to your blog post telling us all about your ideal bookshelf.
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http://philofelinist.wordpress.com have put my thoughts on ‘little women’ on my blog.
Thanks, Lilee. I’ve posted my thoughts on ‘Little Women’ and have copied the blog url in the post but not sure how to link posts.
Great! I was just hoping you would post the link in the comments here so I could check it out. I saw the link and am going to go over there now.
A very challenging question – ideal seems very definitive. My choices certainly cross a few genres. Here’s a shot at it, in no particular order.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
I, Jedi by Michael Stackpole
Black Order by James Rollins
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I’ve read and can agree with 3 out of the 5 you have listed. I’ve never read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (unbelievable, right?) or I, Jedi. is I, Jedi Star Wars related? It seems obvious but you never know for sure.
Yes, I, Jedi is a Star Wars book. I’m a huge Star Wars geek! You’ve read James Rollins?
A little bit. I’m not really a sci-fi fan (aside from Star Wars, who doesn’t love those?) so I haven’t read too much of Rollins. I read Ice Hunt though, that was a good book.
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My favorite book is The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I sobbed …
Gosh…now you have me wondering what books I’d put on my shelf… That question makes me as anxious as “What’s your favorite song or movie?” How does one limit themselves to one in any of these categories? Hmmm…. I’ve got a lot of thinking to do!
Having to choose one single “favorite” is impossible! There are too many subcategories and genres to choose one ultimate favorite. This question is to fill a “small” bookshelf of favorites and “small” is subjective. To me, small was 12 but to someone else small could be 25. I guess it depends on the size of the room holding the shelf.
Well…it’s a cool idea. I shall hae to see if I can manage.
First, it’s so hard to narrow it down! I LOVE to read! and I love books from many different genres. So I’ll try my best.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee
2. The Giver-Lois Lowry (I have had to buy a second copy of this book because I wore the first one out, I had had it since high school.)
3. I’d have to have atleast one Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers. They are so interesting and full of all kinds of different information on pretty much any subject.
4. I’m a sucker for Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series. I’m a big fan of greek mythology, it has always fascinated me.
5. John Steinback- Of mice and men.
6. I don’t remember who wrote it but its called Killing Mr. Griffin.
7. The great gatsby
8. I’d have to have some cozy mysteries of some sort, Tamar Meyers, Leslie Meier, Monica Ferris are all great.
Also, any bookshelf would not be complete to me without some cookbooks on it. I love to cook.
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