“What’s your favorite book?”

While we were driving around yesterday laughing about poo and things, as guys do (or in my case, as three guys and a girl in the same car do because there are more guys than girls) it was asked of me what my favorite book was.

How exactly does someone like me answer that question? How do I even gauge how to pick a favorite book?

My automatic response is to say The Lord of the Rings, but it’s exactly that, an automatic response. It was the first epic fantasy I ever read. It was classic and beautiful and expansive and ignited so many great loves of mine that I couldn’t think of picking anything else for a long, long while. 

But it’s not the only great epic fantasy I’ve read, nor is it *gasp* the best in terms of expansive imagination.  It’s very, very classic, and as a classic it is definitely the best, but I don’t think it’s the best fantasy. 

Take His Dark Materials, for example. Fantasy shot with a tad of gritty steam punk science fiction. Or The Wheel of Time, playing on the classic, but expanding it so ridiculously that it no longer feels classic. Or take it one step into the weirdly twisted folk tales and read Deathless by Catherynne Vallente. Or even Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. 

Dune? Anyone? John Carter of Mars? Ender’s Game? The Dragonriders of Pern? Or maybe you like the older ones, like those by Jules Vern or Grimm or Oscar Wilde? 

Snorri Sturluson wrote a pretty damn good one called Beowulf. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Homer wrote some good stories too. 

I guess the answer is that I can’t have just one favorite. There’s just no way. I read too much and I pick books that I hope I’ll fall in love with, so I love ev…excuse me…. almost every book I’ve ever read (Twilight was my second least favorite, but the first book of the Sookie Stackhouse series was the worst book I ever read. I didn’t think it was possible for a book to make me feel like it was killing my brain cells, but that book did it). 

This doesn’t go for just science fiction and fantasy stories either. I don’t read a lot of regular fiction, but what I have read has been in the greater majority, supremely good. Emma and Pride and Prejudice are two that pop into my head, also The Pillars of the Earth was extremely, extremely good, as was The Tokaido Road, and of course, Sherlock Holmes. I also read One Day before I saw the movie and I loved it.

I don’t have a favorite book. I have many, many favorites that tend to change all the time.
I’m okay with that.