In Which I List My Top 4 Fav Books

So the other day on Adam Heine's blog he mentioned his current top 5 books. Which were pretty awesome, I have to say.

I also keep a list of my top books, though for me, I can really only keep a top 4, because after that things devolve pretty quickly into chaos (especially with Harry Potter 3 and 5 both in the running).

But my top 4? Yeah, they're pretty static and have been for years.

I base this list more or less on a few things. How many times I've reread the books (because, yes, I am a person who rereads my favorite books), how many times I plan to/want to reread them again in the near future, and a vague notion of how they make me feel when I'm done reading them or while I'm reading them (short answer, extremely happy)

So, for your viewing pleasure and in no particular order, here is Sarah Ahiers's list of her favorite 4 books OF ALL TIME:


Stephen King's THE STAND

From Goodreads:

This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.

And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.
For starters, I clearly love the apocalypse, and a plague pocy is in my top 3 pocy's of choice (zombpoc naturally being number one, followed by the inexplicable loss of technology poc at number 2)

Not only do I love this book, I also love the made for TV movie as well, which I own on DVD. I love me some Mr. King, and to me, this is his best work. I will read about Stu and Larry and Nick and Tom (M O O N, that spells Moon!) any day of the week.


Jean Auel's THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR

From Goodreads:

A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind. To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly--she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority. He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge

I don't know if you know this about me, but i really love ancient history. So a fiction book with Neanderthals? Yeah. I'm there.

I've read this book so many times. I've read all of the sequels (except for the most recent one, yet) multiple times as well, but this is the best one, hands down.

I love to read about Ayla learning how to use the sling in secret, learning about herbs and plants and winning over her entire family, even though she's so completely different than the rest of them. Even the villains in this are not without compassion, and it's hard to hate them when they're just people too, though people very different from Ayla, and therefore us.

And every time i get to the end, I leave heartbroken, wishing things could be different and I want to open to page one and begin reading it all over again.

Man. I wish I was reading this book Right Now.


Marion Zimmer Bradley's THE MISTS OF AVALON

From Wikipedia:

The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine a priestess fighting to save her matriarchal celtic culture in a country where patriarchal Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The epic is focused on the lives of Gwenhwyfar, Viviane, Morgause, Igraine and other women who are often marginalized in Arthurian retellings. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are supporting rather than main characters.
The Mists of Avalon is in stark contrast to other retellings of the Arthurian tales, which consistently paint Morgaine as a distant, one-dimensional evil witch or sorceress, with no real explanation given (or required) for her antipathy. In this case Morgaine is cast as a strong woman who has unique gifts and responsibilities at a time of enormous political and spiritual upheaval as she is called upon to defend her indigenous matriarchal heritage against impossible odds

Another thing you may not know about me is that I LOVE Arthurian mythology. I took a crap load of classes on it in college (and in the most awesome one of all, we got to read this book as part of the syllabus. BONUS!)

I love this retelling. Because, again, there are no villains, just people. And though some of the people, even the heroes, make terrible and heartbreaking decisions, you can't fault them for it.

Another one where we own the made for TV miniseries, though it really barely touches the awesomeness of the book (mostly, it just has a nicely cast group of attractive men playing Arthur, Lancelot and the knights. MMMM)


Monica Hughes INVITATION TO THE GAME

From Goodreads:

It's the future, and most jobs are done by machines. Now that school is over, Lisse and her friends are consigned to a bleak neighborhood for the permanently unemployed. Then they receive an invitation to the Game, which transports them to a paradise. Is it a dream or a computer simulation? Each time they play the Game, the new world seems more and more real...

Remember when you were in school and they used to have book fairs? Which was more or less bringing a bookstore to your school library so you could buy books? I bought this book at a middle school book fair and have read it so many times I've literally worn out two copies and am now on a third. I'd classify this as MG sci-fi dystopian. It's not straight up dystopian because it has an awesome and uplifting ending.
I totally need to read this again ASAP.



So there we have it! My top 4 books.

How about you?

Tell me your favorite books and why - maybe I'll add some of them to my TBR list.
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