Thursday Thirteen- Literary Edition

Thirteen Books I Love- off the top of my head, in no particular order. For the purpose of narrowing it down, I decided to eliminate short story collections and series books, (ie, Chronicles of Narnia), not because of lack of love, but because 13 is a small number. It should be noted that this was an INCREDIBLY HARD list to make, because I love so many books.

1. The Bible- (let's just go ahead and get that out of the way, because, well, duh!), especially the Phillips translation.
2. The Time Traveler's Wife- fantastically creative science fictiony romance. Can't imagine anyone not liking this book, though it's really complex.
3. Life of Pi- spiritually seeking boy ends up trapped on a lifeboat with a Tiger. Or does he?'
4. White Teeth- one of my all time favorites! Another really complicated book to follow, but so funny and creative. About two British families and their interconnections, but not in a quaint sort of way.
5. With God in the Crucible: Preaching Costly Discipleship- a collection of sermons and lectures given by Peter Storey between 1966 and 1993. Peter Storey was a United Methodist Bishop in South Africa, and this book is incredibly inspirational, interesting and informative.
6. A Wrinkle in Time- or anything by Madeleine L'Engle. She rocks. Intertwining fantasy and science and spirituality is her particular genius.
7. Pride and Prejudice- call me a nerd, but I still love it.
8. Moll Flanders- the first time I read this, I laughed out loud, literally. A cautionary tale by a not too convincingly repentant bad girl.
9. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- and the rest of the series! Douglas Adams makes me laugh until I cry.
10. Cheaper by the Dozen- not the dumb Steve Martin thing, but the true story of an efficiency expert, his brilliant wife, and their 12 children. Gosselins Shmosselins.
11. Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia- a book I love, and also a shout out here to my darling husband, who reads this for fun almost every night.
12. My Sister's Keeper- Jodi Picoult is gifted and prolific, and I still like this the best of anything I've read by her. All about a family and the heartbreaking choices they have to make about their seriously ill child.
13. Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl- LOVE Roald Dahl. Love his whimsical yet twisted sensibilities and vivid imagination. This autobiographical account of his early days explains a LOT.