Day 08 – A book everyone should read at least once

Another one of those questions I have to rail against. Didn’t you all get the memo about me trying to wean myself off ‘should’?

How to Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ would be a great one to include for this question were it not for the fact that it is still on my to-read shelf. Oh yeah.

The very idea of one text being so universally important that everyone should read it kind of boggles my mind. I don’t believe one single book could possibly be so important. Not the Bible, not Pride and Prejudice, not Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Not Ovid’s Fasti (which is pretty much the closest I get to the Bible). Not even a dictionary – I know they’re terribly important but quite frankly the really good ones are also heavy and I’m far more likely to google a word these days than to turn those ancient pages. Ditto for a thesaurus.

Now if the question was (watch me cheat) which book would I LIKE everyone to read, that becomes a different thing. [Once, as with all these questions, I beat down the impulse to say 'my book!']

Books at that point start pouring through my head, all my favourites, classics and moderns alike, books such as Room with a View by EM Forster, The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley, and Belwether by Connie Willis. Wonderful books. Melusine by Sarah Monette, The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, Half Magic by Edward Eager, Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones…

The list, quite obviously, goes on.

When it comes down to it, though, the book I can most deeply recommend, that would give genuine enjoyment to the largest number of people, is this one:

Of all the books that have given me genuine pleasure since the birth of my daughters, even after so many repeated readings that lesser books might make me bleed from the years, this one is the mostest and the best.

Other Days of the Book Meme:

Day 01 – A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)
Day 02 – A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about
Day 03 – The best book you’ve read in the last 12 months
Day 04 – Your favorite book or series ever
Day 05 – A book or series you hate
Day 06 – Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time
Day 07 – Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Day 08 – A book everyone should read at least once
Day 09 – Best scene ever
Day 10 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 – A book that disappointed you
Day 12 – A book or series of books you’ve read more than five times
Day 13 – Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 – Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 – Your “comfort” book
Day 16 – Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 – Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 – Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 – Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 – Favorite kiss
Day 21 – Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 – Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 – Most annoying character ever
Day 24 – Best quote from a novel
Day 25 – Any five books from your “to be read” stack
Day 26 – OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 – If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 – First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 – Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 – What book are you reading right now?

Tags: 30 Days of books, mem fox, picture books, reading