Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers answer. Everyone is welcome to join! All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! It’s super fun and a great way to meet other bloggers.

Today’s top ten is “Top Ten Books  I'd Want On A Deserted Island” O_o To pick just ten was torturous, but I think this would be my final answer. They're the longest of the long (for the most part). 

1.  The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu – Why, you ask? Because it’s the longest book EVER.  I think the first time I read it, it took me six months to make it half way.  It's stupidly long.  If I’m stuck on an island I’m going to need a book that lasts or insanity will take me.  At over a thousand pages this is definitely a lasting book AND it’s entertaining. (At least to me.)

2. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – For two reasons: one: it’s nearly as long as The Tale of Genji and two I’ve never read it.  Yes, I know, that's like a crime in some book circles.  I'm getting there, honest.  And besides all that this will fulfill (hopefully) the sappy romance requirements of necessary books. 

3. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saaverda – Another super long book and it’s something I should have definitely read by now (and haven’t). I should probably have the original Spanish one too one because it's my heritage that I've been ignoring and two it will make reading it longer because my translating takes time. (I’m so bad at it. Lol.)

4. North and South  by John Jakes – This fulfills the history requirement of being stranded. ^_^ I love civil war set books, and while I haven’t read any in a while; this one is one of the best ones out there. (If I was't stranded I might had chosen The Blue and the Gray for this but it's super short in comparison.)

5. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey – I love this series and the first book is probably one of the most epic books I’ve read. I strive to write as entertaining as this and hope one day to accomplish that.  This is my favorite of all first person narratives. (And it’s ridiculously long for a YA-New adult book: Warning: Sexual content and violence.)

6. One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights) by Anon. Translated by Richard Francis Burton – Who doesn’t love a good story? And this is a collection of stories told over 1001 nights so technically I could read one a night and it last forever.  I've never read the tales of Aladdin or the Djinn so I figure if I'm stuck somewhere I really should catch up on the origins of those stories.

7. The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm – Because I need my childhood with me.  Since I’m stranded without TV the written version of these stories works just as good. And tell me who doesn't love Cinderella, Snow White or Briar Rose? There the best fairy tales out there. (To my delusional mind anyway.)

8. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien – The book I have is all three books in one binding. I guess it’s slightly cheating, but it’s still only one book according to my copy. Thankfully as I dont think I would have like the suspense of having to buy the next books the first time I read these.  And who doesn’t take Tolkien along for entertainment on long retreats?

9. Shogun by James Clavell – I’ve only read it once.  But I remember it taking my entire junior year of high school (an hour or two a day) of reading to get through it. It's supposed to be the third book of the series, but I read it, mostly just fine, as a stand alone. Certainly deserted island worthy. 

10. Dune by Frank Herbert – The shortest book on the list page wise, but in writing style it might as well be Tolkien if you’re not paying attention. “Fear is the mind killer” Certainly a appropriate mindset if one is stranded somewhere with no hope of rescue. That certainly makes this deserted island worthy to me.

What do you think? Some great books right? ^_~ What are your picks?