I know, I know. It’s like choosing which of your children
you love more. Right? Or which of your small circle of amazing friends is your
very best friend. But this is a
question I am asked often. My friends know I read a lot so they ask for
recommendations. It’s all well and good when they ask ‘Read anything good
lately?’. There’s always something fresh in my mind and I’m never short of
ideas (if any – I offer far too many!). However, when you get down to the best
book ever written, or top five favourite books of all time, it gets a little
more complicated.
Do you mean the book that had the biggest impact on me (The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time)? The one I could read over and
over and never tire of (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Catching Fire –
see I can’t even choose one there!)? The bravest, most ambitious novel I ever
read (The Time-Traveler’s Wife)? The most enjoyable read (Sick Puppy)? My
favourite classic (Pride and Prejudice)? The one that moved me the most
(Sister), scared me the most (Bag of Bones)? The possibilities are endless!
If I had to make a list out of those and order them into my
top five, where would I start? The Time-Traveler’s Wife was incredible but I
wouldn’t want to read it again. Pride and Prejudice is just gorgeous so surely
that would be number one. But I have already read Catching Fire twice in the
last two years (once was only a few weeks ago) and I could easily pick it up
again today and start over – so does that make it number one on my list?
OK let’s give it a go:
- Pride and Prejudice
- Catching Fire
- Sick Puppy
- Bag of Bones
- Sister
It pains me to leave The Curious Incident off that list. It
was a perspective-altering, eye-opening read. It was brave, ambitious and
accessible to all. But it just doesn’t make the cut. Though ask me again in a few weeks and maybe it will have. Maybe Sick Puppy or Bag of Bones will have jumped up the list. Maybe Sister will have dropped off it. And I haven't even mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird which I think is one of the greatest novels ever written.
In that list, I have a classic novel, a young adult story, a
comical but adult tale, a creepy ghost story and a murder mystery. Does your favourite
book say something about you and who you are? Do you tell people that Wuthering
Heights is your favourite book when secretly it’s Bridget Jones’s Diary? Or
were you blown away by Cloud Atlas but don’t want to seem like a snob so say
One Day was your favourite?
Over to you, book-lovers. Own up! What, in your opinion, is the best book ever
written?