Ten Books

I hesitate to mention it, but I've noticed the glimmerings of one of those FaceBook things that ask you to answer a question in detail and pass it along..you know..that "10 Things You Don't Know About Me" or something like that? This one is "Ten Books I Could Never Get Rid Of".

This one strikes at the very heart of my family. ALL of us have far more than ten books we can't give away--or at least, we never seem to be able to get down to ten apiece. Setting all that aside, what books would I keep if I had to pick ten of my collection?

Some people (in fact, even I) at first glance would start looking for books that they would read again and again, or would go back to repeatedly. The Bible, Shakespeare, Don Quixote...books that never grow old, that have a seemingly inexhaustible font of wisdom. The more I thought, however, the more I came back to the fact that I have a slightly different relationship with books. I re-read, of course. I consult. I look up facts. I read books for pleasure. But, for me, books are more than information. I like books for their feel, for their smell, for their comfort value. I can always remember the stories; I can usually call up the famous quotes or the clever descriptions. Books aren't THINGS, to be numbered and weighed against each other. Books are friends.

So, who should accompany me to a desert island? Who should I spend my waning years with? Who do I want to have hanging around my house indefinitely, kibitzing on my life and reminding me why I'm here? Oh, boy.

My circle of fictional friends is probably pretty strange. I want Louise Penny's whole village of Three Pines--even Ruth and her duck. I want Parker's Spenser and Hawk, because they entertain me endlessly with their wisecracks. I want Dick Francis' composite character--Sid Halley in all his incarnations, because each of them teaches me something. And Laurie King's people, not limited to Mary and Sherlock, because they all share a devotion to common sense. Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott, and her NY cousin, Sigrid Harald..Sigrid because she has known tragedy and has managed to overcome it. Can I sneak in Elvis Cole and Joe Pike? In their own ways, they set the bar for us all. John Lescroart's gang of policemen and lawyers out in San Francisco would be a great bunch to have around as well. And Richard Jury (so good with children) and Melrose Plant (if only for tea.) Phryne Fisher for her fabulous clothes and irrepressible sense of fun...You see? It's hard to limit the guest list  when you're planning a book party. And I haven't even started on the poets I'd like to have drinks and dinner with. Imagine the conversations!

So don't ask me to start winnowing through my lists and my shelves. As long as I have a house, my friends are welcome there. It might get a little crowded, but when you're rubbing elbows with the greats, who cares?