Book Review Archive

Favorite Books

I have a confession to make. I dragged my feet when it came to setting up this page (to the perpetual consternation of my webmaster). It's not that I couldn't list my favorite books easily enough, but I wanted to explain a little of what makes a book a favorite of mine, and that's where it got tricky.

It's so damned subjective, isn't it?

Sure, sure, reviewing is a lesson in subjectivity. I know that. More on that can be found on my About My Reviews page. The peak of that mountain of subjectivity is the classification least seen...

Favorite

According to Dictionary.com, the definition (in relation to its use here) of the word favorite is:

Yup. That's what it is. Simple. Cut and dried. Easy-peasy.

Yeah, right. And what, exactly, separates books I like or love from books I consider my favorites?

I can tell you what doesn't - far easier, maybe, than I can tell you what does. It doesn't have to be a perfect book in all facets. It doesn't even have to be a 5-star read. If you're familiar with my ratings and reviews, you may have noticed that some 5-star books are rated that way because I acknowledged the mastery in the writing, even if the book didn't leave me with a lot of warm fuzzies. And some 4-star books had stories I loved but which had some technical problems. It's a fluid scale, believe me.

Favorites, though, are those books that go beyond that scale; books that hit all my happy reader buttons. They did more than just made me feel when I was reading, they swept me away on Feeling River and carried me straight into downtown Feeling City.

• Maybe it was a comedy, and I laughed so hard I drew bemused stares from family and friends; or
• Maybe it was a drama, and the emotions it evoked ripped the heart out of my chest or slammed a fist into my gut; or
• If it was a horror, chances are it scared the crap out of me; or
• If it was a romance, it made my heart believe.

In short, my favorite books did exactly what they were supposed to do, and did it more intensely than almost every other book has done it. Of course, my personal reading preferences play a part. I'm far less likely to have a favorite among genres I don't normally prefer. That goes without saying.

So these are my favorites. They may be books I rated five stars, they may not. Some I wouldn't dream of re-reading (I like to avoid having my heart ripped out, even if I have the ultimate respect for the books that have done so), Some I've read five times in the past three years (*cough*Shelley Laurenston*cough*).

I certainly don't presume that you'll like them as much as I do, what with the subjectivity and all. For me, though, they're my...

~*~

...So, what do YOU think?

Have you read any of these books?
If so, please add a comment to let me know what you thought.
I'm always looking for input from other readers like you.

Thanks!