# My Monday question: One Book Only!



## Leif GS Notae (May 14, 2012)

I posted this on my Facebook account to see what the comments would be. I figured I can post it here too since you all are passionate readers and this would be a very difficult question to answer (we all have our favorites, but how hard is it to pick just one).

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Question time on this Monday: You have all your books taken away from you except for one from your collection and one from a friends collection. You both can freely read each others books, but that's it. Those are the books you have for the rest of your life.

1) What book would you choose?
2) What book do you HOPE they choose?

I'd be interested in seeing what book you or your friend would choose, and whether or not it's a fantasy novel.


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## Kelise (May 14, 2012)

Well, mine would be 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' by Scott Lynch, and my partner wants to know if the boxset of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson counts - as you do buy it as one. And now he's saying 'Da Vinvi Code' to annoy me. Or Order of the Phoenix (though that's not a joke).

Or my friend Lana would take 'The Name of the Wind' by Patrick Rothfuss, I'm guessing.


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## Chilari (May 15, 2012)

Ooh good question. I think I'd keep Terry Pratchett's _Snuff_, partly because it's awesome and nuanced and explores a vastly different culture really well _and_ features my favourite Discworld character (my PC is called Vimes), but also partly because it's signed. My other half doesn't have a fiction book collection (he's not a big reader), and my best friend doesn't buy books, she uses libraries, so I'm going to have to go with my Mum as my book buddy on this. I would hope the book she keeps is _Gentlemen and Players_ by Joanne Harris, but that's not her favourite Joanne Harris book and in any case I think she'd be more likely to keep _The Story of England _by Michael Wood, which is a non-fiction I would be quite happy to read too.

It would, however, be a wrench to have my brand new Xenophon's Oeconomicus and Memorabilia (Loeb edition) taken from me. And for that matter Herodotus' Histories, probably the book I have spent the most amount of time with in the last five years. But if I only get one book, Herodotus is useless without the context of my academic books to give me perspective and understanding, so fiction it is, and Snuff is at the top of that list.


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## Steerpike (May 15, 2012)

I'd probably take _Lolita_, by Vladimir Nabokov.

I would hope my friend chose _The Brothers Karamazov_, by Fyodor Dostoevsky.


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## Aravelle (May 15, 2012)

Easy. I'd pick The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. As for my bestie... they'd probably pick something by Dianna Wynn Jones, though I'd hope they pick something from Gaiman. @[email protected]


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## Ailith (May 15, 2012)

I would pick C.S. Lewis' _Till We Have Faces_, and I hope that my friend would bring something by Walker Percy. 


> Easy. I'd pick The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. As for my bestie... they'd probably pick something by Dianna Wynn Jones, though I'd hope they pick something from Gaiman. @[email protected]


I'm reading _The Last Unicorn_ now! I like it a lot so far


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## Telcontar (May 15, 2012)

I think I would pick _The Silmarillion_ and strongly urge (read: blackmail) my friend into taking _The Phoenix Guards_.


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## Ankari (May 16, 2012)

One of my favorite books is _Deadhouse Gates_ by Steven Erickson.

I would hope my friend brings _The Dragon Reborn_ but it was one of the first novels that bound my heart to fantasy.


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## Aravelle (May 17, 2012)

Ohhhh I'm glad. It's lovely isn't it? <3


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## Argentum (May 18, 2012)

Actually, as boring as it is, I'd probably take the Bible. Not only is it a colossal read, but every time I read it, something is new and my understanding changes. If I was stuck with one book for the rest of my life, I'd really like one that would always be different with every read.

I'd hope my friend would have the Hobbit or some old classic like the Phantom of the Opera. Or the entire works of Shakespear/Edgar Allan Poe.


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## Steerpike (May 18, 2012)

As an alternative approach to the above, I might just take _The Sword of Truth_. Faced with the prospect of spending out the last of my days with that book, I'd either develop an ingenious method to get off the island and back to civilization, or else an ingenuous way to bring about my own death in a relatively short period of time. Either would be preferably to reading the book...


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## Ailith (May 18, 2012)

Steerpike said:


> As an alternative approach to the above, I might just take _The Sword of Truth_. Faced with the prospect of spending out the last of my days with that book, I'd either develop an ingenious method to get off the island and back to civilization, or else an ingenuous way to bring about my own death in a relatively short period of time. Either would be preferably to reading the book...


*chortle*

You could also take the Dwight Schrute approach: "_Physician's Desk Reference_... hollowed out. Inside: waterproof matches, iodine tablets, beet seeds, protein bars, NASA blanket and, in case I get bored, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_. No! _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_."


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## Steerpike (May 18, 2012)

Ailith said:


> *chortle*
> 
> You could also take the Dwight Schrute approach: "_Physician's Desk Reference_... hollowed out. Inside: waterproof matches, iodine tablets, beet seeds, protein bars, NASA blanket and, in case I get bored, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_. No! _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_."



LOL. That's hilarious. I can picture Dwight saying that.


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## Vilkas The Mighty Wolf (May 19, 2012)

Well, I'll probaly take _"Sword in the Storm"_ by _David Gemmell_, and I hope (really hope) my friend will take _"Ender's Game"_ by Orson Scott Card

I enjoyed them both and both of them have good and interesting stories


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## Devor (May 25, 2012)

I'd want a blank journal with a pen so I could write.  I'd want my friend to bring the _Complete Encyclopedia of Classic Literature_.


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