The 'Desert-Island' Book
#ReadersNotebook: the book that ‘if we could only read one book over & over again for the rest of our lives, which one would we choose?’
Recently in one of my bookclubs we were asked what our desert island book is… the book that ‘if we could only read one book over & over again for the rest of our lives, which one would we choose?’
This made me think of Laura Sackton’s recent discussion on her bookstagram of “books that are endless”, re: the ‘best books of the 21st century’ challenge & how that is exactly the way to think about the desert island book question as well: a book that you can reread infinitely…
A “book that is endless” in the truest sense of the word. As Laura says, “…books that I could reread forever—literally forever—and never come to the end of. I could read these books every year for the rest of my life and never, ever be done with them. They are that layered. They are that endless.”
These were the answer/s & my longlist of potential answers to this question that I more or less have settled on in this moment…:
Preferred answer…
• THE COMPLETE WORKS OF HELEN OYEYEMI
…but this book doesn’t technically exist [→ however see this complete list of all of Oyeyemi’s published works (that I’m aware of) & links to my reviews for the ones I’ve reviewed so far] so…
Real answer…
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS by JRR Tolkien
…because it offers a beautiful world to escape into, lovable, admirable, & vulnerable characters, the writing & the language is absolutely exquisite, the philosophy is humble & profound, & while the adventure factor is real, the pace is slow allowing you to truly immerse yourself in the story. I have read & reread this book a truly countless number of times & somehow every time I read it it still feels a little bit like the first time.
My review for THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.
More about why I love JRR Tolkien’s writing.
My complete list of books read & tbr by & about Tolkien.
My long-list books…
includes books that I have reread multiple times & know that I will continue to reread them for the foreseeable future…
• LOTE by Shola von Reinhold
• THE BONE PEOPLE by Keri Hulme
Read my review for THE BONE PEOPLE here.
• WOMEN WHO RUN WITH THE WOLVES by Clarissa Pinkola-Estés
• SOLAR STORMS by Linda Hogan
Read my review for SOLAR STORMS here.
• THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova
& I cannot believe this one hasn’t been adapted to the screen yet…
• THE LUMINARIES by Eleanor Catton
& yes I do recommend the 2020 tv miniseries adaptation.
• THE NAME OF THE ROSE by Umberto Eco
Read my review for THE NAME OF THE ROSE here & yes I do recommend the 1986 film adaptation.
• THE INHERITANCE TRILOGY by NK Jemisin
…all of these books imo can easily be considered endlessly rereadable. <3
Caveat…
I know most folks for this question will choose a book that they have always wanted to read or say they’ll read but because it’s just sooo long & there are sooo many other books to read, they haven’t gotten around to it yet—but if they were stuck on a desert island with it they’d definitely read it (as opposed to just using it for fire fuel… 😅)
So here are a couple of books that are just *that long* but if I was stuck on a desert island with just one book I would certainly finally read them…
• JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL by Susanna Clarke
• THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas
• HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z. Danielewski
• THE BOOKS OF EARTHSEA (illustrated omnibus edition) by Ursula K LeGuin
…but for now I just feel like there are so many other books to read?
(The only thing that got me to read War & Peace was a 2023 year-long readalong but even then I ended up DNFing it… I just could not find a way to care about any of the characters or the plot at all, sadly… even though the writing & the philosophy *were* both very intriguing…)
Bonus. . .
In a 2024 interview with Ruchira Sharma Helen Oyeyemi said her “desert island book” is THE GOOD SOLDIER ŠVEJK (pronounced “Shake”) by Jaroslav Hašek (1921).
I’m going to be looking out for more of my favorite authors’ answers to the “desert island book” question for sure now. . .