10 Books for a Deserted Island

Image by John Slater - available on Getty Images UK 90864536

Thanks to the lovely ">Danielle and her own interactions on the blogosphere, I came across ">The Broke and the Bookish. (B&B) B&B do a top ten Tuesday which I find a great way of focusing ideas for a blog. I’m going to go back through their lists and do my own top tens, maybe not always on a Tuesday though. The first one I want to unpack is what books I would take with to a deserted island.

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1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. J.R.R. Tolkien. How could I not? Ever since I was introduced to it by S, it is one book I always have a copy of somewhere. When I first came to the UK it was the one thing I had to leave behind because of the weight limit on suitcases. It was, however, one of the first books I brought when I got back from the Middle East and was in need of something to read.

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2. The Children’s Book. A.S. Byatt. This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. The prose, the imagery, the locations. I stumbled across this book almost completely by accident. I was waiting for a friend to arrive for our coffee date, I passed a W.H. Smith and saw their by the Times for a pound, get the weekly book for £2.99. Almost one of the best deals I’ve ever made.

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3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Steig Larsson. I know. Everyone seems to have read this book. There have been two movies made of it. It doesn’t matter. The attention to detail in this series is amazing! The whole construction of this book is much more solid than anything I have ever read. Perhaps this says more about my reading habits than it does about the books, but they are an experience.

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4. Battleaxe. Sara Douglass. This book started off one of my most amazing friendships. Sadly, Sara passed away late last year. 

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5. The Swan Thieves. Elizabeth Kostova. This book made me wish I could draw and paint. Kostova brought out ideas in me I had never had before. 

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6. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Susanna Clarke. Such skill has gone into the writing of this book. Clarke is so funny with her twists and turns, and the footnotes that give you more of the story are fantastic. All the added stories within the story. 

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7. The Three Musketeers. Alexander Dumas. Truth, Honour, Loyalty. What more needs to be said. 

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8. Little Women. Louisa May Alcott. I always wanted to be Jo.

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9. Gone with the Wind. Margaret Mitchell. Such grandiosity. I loved Scarlett from the opening line. I borrowed this book without any optimism that I would enjoy it, or even finish reading it. I had no expectations on it at all. Turns out to have been one of the best books I’ve ever read.

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10. My Name is Red. Orhan Pamuk. A hard but amazing read.