More Than One

What is your favorite book?

This is a question that will inevitably come up for any reader. It could be by family, friends, an English class, or the random person that happens to see you reading. It always seemed to me that there are far too many books out in the world to just have a favorite. The word favorite has always felt to me like such a loaded word, as though there is no middle ground. That it has to be black and white. However, there are grey areas in everything, even in the matter of books.

Rather than list a bunch of books, that I would deem my "favorite", I'm going to talk about the memorable books. The kinds of books that stay with me long after the last page. The books that when I see them in the bookstore or the library, I smile and flip to my favorite parts just to relive the story. The books that I greet like an old friend.

One book that falls under this would be, Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles. This book is the story of Alex and Brittney. Brittney is the beautiful, blond, wealthy popular diva. While Alex is the hard as nails Hispanic gang member from the wrong side of the tracks. To say the least, these two are living in opposite worlds. But in their chemistry class, as fate would have it, they end up as lab partners. I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but this a story about finding love and understanding in the last person you thought you would.

Another book would be, Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. This is a retelling of the classic story, Beauty and the Beast. Now, this book is very different from the Disney version. It follows a girl named Nyx, and she is betrothed to a monster. The monster being the evil ruler of her kingdom. Nyx is charged with the task of killing her new husband to free her people from his tyranny. As much as she knows that it's her duty to carry out this task, Nyx desperately wishes she could flee and never look back. When the dreaded wedding day arrives, which happens to be her seventh birthday, it's all Nyx can do to bring herself to the alter where the ceremony takes place. After the ceremony, Nyx is whisked away to the castle of the monster himself, she soon finds that nothing is like she thought. This story had all the best parts of the classic while still being its own book, and not the same story told over again. It's about learning to accept all of yourself, even the darkness that resides in us all.

I started out this post with a question. I've had the question asked of me many times, and usually my answer is that I don't have  favorite, I have tons. Now thinking about the question more, I think my favorite book is one that leaves me feeling as though I've just had an adventure. One that I can dive into and be as though I'm in the story. One that leaves me bittersweet that it ended but it was so good while it lasted.