Lists

While playing with blog tools I decided to add a list. It seemed natural to start with a favorite books list. So I did.

'Favorite' is definitely not the same as 'best'. I think all of my favorites are pretty darned good, but some wouldn't come close to making a 'best' list. My favorites list has all to do with personal affinity. Literary merit is secondary.

I decided to come up with a list strictly out of my head, without looking at my bookshelf or browsing around for reminders of some great ones I might have forgotten about. I thought it would be fun to do that afterward and see how much the list changes after a day, or a week, or a month.

I included the whole Harry Potter series as one. I loved all of them. They were great fun to read, so I felt they belonged on the list. I decided I could count it as one since it was all one story. And that thought just reminded me that The Lord of The Rings trilogy probably belongs on the list, too. So that's the first change, probably. And sorry, Wendell Berry or Jonathan Safran Foer, but I think one of you is going to be bumped.

I will probably add a couple of other book lists, too. It seems like an amusing pastime while watching television, or working. Maybe a 'top 10 books I've always intended to read but haven't' list, or a 'top 10 books that are supposed to be great but I hated.'