Top Ten Tuesday #2

It's Top Ten Tuesday time!  Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.  This week's topic is the top ten books I'd want on a deserted island.  At first, I thought practically.  Maybe I should choose some survival guides or books having to do with survival, such as Robinson Crusoe or The Swiss Family Robinson.  And then I thought, "Forget that.  If I'm stranded on a deserted island, I'm as good as dead."  So I think the books I'd want to have with me are my favorites - the books that I have read over and over a thousand times without them ever getting old.  Of course I have more than ten books that fit that criteria, but I picked the ones I think are the very best of them all.

Top Ten Books I'd Want on a Deserted Island

• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - A gothic novel with just the right amount of romance, suspense and brooding.  I've loved this novel since the first time I read it.
• Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen - Classic romance.  Elizabeth Bennett is one of the best female characters of all time, and Mr. Darcy is pretty amazing too.  Their love story is timeless and never gets old.
• The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer - Funny, witty, sarcastic.  The banter is just fantastic.  It's a gothic romantic comedy.
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - If I had to, I mean if I was forced, to choose only one book and not ten, this is what I'd pick.  I'd even venture to say it's my all-time favorite book.  Epic fantasy, a reluctant hero, the pure-hearted best friend.  I love it all.
• The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - Ok, I realize it's cheating to say the whole series, but can you blame me?
• The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery - I love the Anne of Green Gable series, but this book of Montgomery's is my favorite.
• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy - Sir Percy Blakeny is the best master-of-disguise ever.  And the suppressed passion between him and his wife gives me goosebumps.
• Austenland by Shannon Hale - Who hasn't dreamed of being a part of Jane Austen's world and being wooed by your very own Mr. Darcy?
• Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones - Adventure, magic, humor, romance.  The characters are both infuriating and lovable.  And I wish I had a door like Howl's that could lead me anywhere I wanted with a simple turn of a knob.
• A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle - L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time series is great, but for some reason, I think this one's the best of all.  Perhaps it's because Charles Wallace is a much more minor character (he's great in small doses only).  Maybe it's because the Ecthroi make for a better villain than the brain in Camazotz.  But I think mostly it's because of the awesomeness that is Progo the cherubim.