Choosing Favorites

My Nook came to the rescue last week.  I was desperate to read the favorite item essays in the NYPL’s new book Know The Past, Find The Future.  Although the book was free for the first 25,000 lucky readers that picked one up in NYC a few weeks, the only way for me to get one was to wait for someone to pass it on.  I had a feeling it was going to be a long wait since we don’t even get the NY Times in Wilson.  

THEN I saw the fine print:  available for free download on your Kindle or Nook - Yes!  I was in business in ten minutes - the instant gratification of technology quelling my desperation.

As I read through the beautiful essays and scrutinized the photos I started to feel a little stressed out.  How did these people choose ONE item as a favorite from all the treasures in the collection?  I suppose curators put together lists that helped narrow down the choices but picking only one favorite seemed daunting.  

What would you choose if you had to pick a favorite book?  Do you know what it would be right away or does the thought stress you out?

Oprah has a section in her magazine that asks celebrities to share their favorite books and it always makes me smile because they choose the most pretentious titles, books that might appear on a Harvard professor's bedside table but, really, who do they think they’re fooling?  It’s hard to believe that after a night on the red carpet they crawl into bed with a copy of Anna Karenina or A Tale of Two Cities, I certainly don’t.   On the other hand, no one want to be defined by the paperback they picked up at the airport so I understand the need for a little taste inflation.

So, to rephrase the question, what would you choose if you honestly had to pick a favorite book?

First of all, I can’t even remember a fraction of the books I’ve read (I can’t even remember what I’m doing today without a sticky note).
I love them when I read them, but then I move on to the next one and forget about them.  I am not a re-reader, with the exception of children’s books and reading in my classroom and I try not to keep too many books in the house (and barn).  So looking a the bookshelf only takes me back a few years.

Thanks to the Internet I could probably research and compile a list of favorites but choosing just one seems unreasonable for a few reasons:

• Books become favorites because they fit who we are at that time, in a particular emotional space and at a developmental level. (Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert)
• Books become favorites because they are beautifully written and inspiring. (Strength in What Remains by Tracey Kidder, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee)
• Books become favorites because they are so fun to read that you can’t put them down  (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson)
• Books become favorites because they remind you of your childhood (Anne of Green Gables, LM Montgomery)
• Books become favorite because they remind you of you children (Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling)
• Books become favorite because they help you learn how to do something (The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Shelia Lukins).
• Books become favorites because they are comforting (All Creatures Great and Small, by James Harriot & The Mitford Series by Jan Karon)
• Books become favorites because they allow you to go back in time and experience history (The Help by Kathryn Stockett, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, The Watson’s Go To Birmingham by Christoper)

Obviously, it’s a good thing The New York Public Library didn’t ask me to choose.  

I went out in search of “Favorite Book Projects” and found a fun photo project from the Moline Library in Illinois, taken by Todd Mizener .  The books and people run the gamut:  young, old, serious, fun, light, intense, long, short, you name it and they picked it (many of my favorites from above were included!)  The collection of powerful photos represent ways that books help us  grow, learn, feel, connect and enjoy life. It inspired me to take my student’s pictures with their favorite books to display in the classroom and inspire next year’s readers.

I love to look and read about favorite books, just don’t ask me to pick one.