Favorite Books

When Diahn and I get together, we very nearly always end up talking about favorite books.  It is always fun to realize what similar tastes we have, and when she recommends a book, I can feel pretty certain that I'm going to really enjoy it.

It seemed like a no-brainer that an easy blog post would be a list of favorite books.

WHAT in the world was I thinking?

There are just too many good books out there -- and every time I think my list is nearly complete, I have to hurry back and add another book that I just remembered.

Like The NeverEnding Story.  I forgot it until just now.  How in the world do you forget a book that is printed in two different colors of ink and is SO MUCH FUN?!?  Sigh.

The other thing I love, though, is to listen to books on audio.  Oh my -- When I read a book, I tend to get totally lost in the story while sitting for hours on the couch, during which time the house kind of falls down around my head.  Instead, when I LISTEN to a good book, I can get totally lost in the story while cleaning the house and keeping it from falling down.  See?  Problem solved.

Mischief managed.

Except, not EVERY book is as good on tape as it is to read.  On the other hand, some books are actually BETTER on tape, so it all balances out.  I've made notes about that in my list.

So, without further putting-it-off-just-in-case-I-remember-a-really-important-book, here goes my short list in no particular order…

1)  The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (and several other books) by J.R.R. Tolkein.  These are my favorite books of all time and they are as good to read as they are to listen to IF you are listening to the stories being read by Robert Ingles.  Dear me…what a wonderful reader he is.

2)  Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and Teaching a Stone To Talk by Annie Dillard.  I've never even tried to listen to these -- these are books to be read.  The writing is so beautiful that I will sometimes just pick a book up and open it to any spot just to read for a few minutes.  They belong on every nightstand in the house.  Seriously.

3)  Dune is an all time favorite, but I don't care at all for the sequels.

4) The No. One Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith IN AUDIO.  I can't imagine reading them.  The audio version is read by Lisette Lecat, and her voice is amazing.  She hums the m's and rolls the r's and brings Africa to life.  Smith's 44 Scotland Street series is also on my favorite list -- either to read or listen to.

5) The Harry Potter series - fun to read and to listen to.

6) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the following books in the series by Douglas Adams.  Forget the movie.  Really.  I mean we should all forget that the movie was even ever made.   EVER.

7) The Stand and The Dark Tower series by Stephen King.  The opening lines for The Gunslinger (Dark Tower I) and the closing line for the The Dark Tower (DT VII) are, well, remarkable.  And it seems to have come to a point with Stephen King that all his books fit together into one story, after all...

8)  The Dragonriders of Pern and the other Pern book by Anne McCaffrey are long standing favorites.  I got my first taste of the series in the very early 70's when a portion of the first book was released as a short story or novella.  I remember reading it in the science fiction magazine, Amazing.   Really great classic science fiction.

9) The Magicians series by Lev Grossman is a relatively new favorite, and I'm waiting hopefully for another book to be released!

10) Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell then comes to mind, speaking of magicians.

11)  Flowers for Algernon, A Tale of Two Cities, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, As I Lay Dying, The Jungle Book,  anything by Robert Heinlein…

What might I have missed?  Any ideas?