In a poll I posted to help us all get to know each other I asked the question:
If you could only ever read one book forever, what book would you choose?
Now many of you did say you’d rather not live, and though I’m sure many others felt torn between that option and having to chose, they did choose. Thanks to my fellow blogger friend Aurora who reminded me to share these wonderful choices with all of you, I have compiled the following montage.
There can only be one, one book to rule them all!
Part One of Three:
The number one answer given un-specifically to edition 8 times (12 total)
The Bible
This version is the most read and highly reviewed.
Earnest Hemingway: The Complete Short Stories
Anything by Philip Roth
Well that leaves it pretty open, so here is one of Philip Roths most well read and a best reviewed books.
Nemisis
Smart choice 🙂 but didn’t specify which, as it turns out Spanish is the most popular one. Great way to learn a new language, or get smarter at your own.
by Robert R. Mc Cammon
This book is one of five that got 2 or more votes, looks like I may need to read it 🙂
by Florence Scovel Shinn
Another smart choice.
Absalom Absalom
by William Faulkner
I’ve been wanting to read this book
The General – William Booth
I had to guess at this one a little but I found this book:
The Authoritative Life of General William Booth
Ship of Brides
by JoJo Moyes
by C.S. Lewis
I would go for the complete Chronicles of Narnia set (I think that counts)
The Biggest fattest book I can get my hands on:
The World Record for longest novel is
“Zettels Traum” is the longest recorded book every published in one edition 1536 pages… but it’s German so I gotta pick an English one as well.
Tales & Poems
by A. A. Milne
A charming choice!
by Miguel de Cervantes
One of five to get multiple votes.
Bellydance for Beginners…
This is the all I could find, or the closest…
I’d continue to write my own books, so that I’d always have something new
War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
A great choice, a good way to insure I’d get through it 🙂
A Prayer For Owen Meany
by John Irving
After reading about this book I am very interested in reading it myself 🙂
*
Letters to a Young Poet
by Rainer Maria Rilke
*
Deadly Messengers
by Susan May
The Art of Happiness
by Dalai Lama
Very wise choice, but I think Pharrell would be infinitely stuck in my head 😀
The Lord of The Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien
This book got 3 votes, one of only 5 to get multiple votes.
I can certainly attest to why, these are phenomenal books!
I just LOVE all the variety!
Some make sense, some are strange, some are very intriguing…
What do you think of these choices?
Find out more tomorrow in Pt. 2
Cafe Book Bean 
Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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Awesome! Someone else has read Swans Song. I have read it twice over the years and thinking of reading it again.
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I love LOTR, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the Bible. This was a great post! XD
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Surprised nobody picked dictionaries or encyclopedias. Interesting post! Thank you
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They did number 3 I think, and there are two others I’ll mention in pt. 2 and 3 🙂 but yeah only 3 total still considering the stats that a lot.
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Yes, the Spanish dictionary.
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I have Florence Scovel Shinn’s book on my bedside table. 😉 xoxoM
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I missed the poll. Just wondering if Norton’s Anthology of English Literature was on anyone’s list. The second edition is large, but the first edition is humongous.
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It’s ongoing, you can access it at the end of this post, and I’m doing 2 more posts 🙂
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I said tea because you can have more than one a day……but we both know coffee is my medicine! And picking ones favourite novel is like asking a mum to pick their favourite child. The answer is the second child. Because I’m the number 2! Just saying….cheers,H
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Your post reminds me to take out and read the copies of Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, lying buried deep in my big pile of unread books for the last three years.
As for my absolute favourite, I’d go with The Mahabharata as my choice. That epic, those characters, and the philosophy of Geeta!
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Sorry I missed the poll. The Bible is a given, either NRSV or ESV translation. However, if i could be allowed one book besides that, it would be the Complete Short Stories of Flannery O’Connor
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It’s not too late to vote, I’m still doing part 2 and 3 🙂
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NOOOOO! Literary hell.
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A good selection. When I said I Larousse I wasn’t referring to a language dictionary. Though that would be interesting. I n French larousse has two sections, one for all words’ definition and one for history, art, geography. It’s like a small one-volume encyclopedia. I don’t know the equivalent in english. Webster maybe? 🙂
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That’s really awesome. No, webster is just dictionary.
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Ok. Next time you’re in a bookshop (which is probably twice a week) check out if they have an english version of the Larousse I described. I have several of those in French, every since I was a kid. They are fascinating. 🙂
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They sound so.
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Zettel’s Traum has been recently translated into English as Bottom’s Dream. It is still about 1500 pages in English too.
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