For a while now, I have wanted to update my top ten list of books—actually a list of thirteen because ten is too few. This time, my list includes more than thirty books, some by the same author. I could narrow it down to ten, but I don’t want to and I didn’t even try. So, this isn’t really a top ten. It’s not even a top thirty. More, it’s a list of the books I talk about the most. They’re the books I own multiple copies of, the books I buy for others. The books I insist my friends read. The books I recommend more than any others.
I hit on this particular theme while exploring ways to narrow the selection for this post. The next step was to step into my home library and peruse the shelves. I already knew some of the titles I’d be featuring, or some of the authors I’d like to include, but I have so many books (around 2000) that I wanted to bop along the shelves and see what was there. This is one of the reasons I keep a home library. I love visiting with my books. I’ll pause by a series or an author and reminisce for a while. Recall why this book or that series are favourites.
When I got to a book or an author I wanted to include in this post, I pulled the book out. I didn’t set a limit, I just pulled books from A-Z. I counted them when I got to the end, and when I discovered I had twenty-eight authors, I went back for two more books, deciding an even thirty sounded good.
I then divided the books into groups of ten, figuring I’d split the list into three.
I’ll be sharing the list alphabetically by author. Although I love some of these books just a little more than the rest, assume they all clock in at number one. They’re all amazing, fantastic, memorable reads, none more or less deserving than another, regardless of genre, author, or literary merit. They’re the books I adore.
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