Summer Reading Special: A Desert Island Book List
One of my favorite movies is Castaway, with Tom Hanks. I may have a twisted imagination, but I often have daydreams of being the lone survivor of an ocean plane crash. I could easily spend hours living in these survivor fantasies. I picture myself keeping a level head in the chaos; amidst all the terrifying death I survive the impact and escape the sinking cabin. Fear and anguish threaten to consume me when I realize I am all alone. From the safety of an inflated life raft, I pluck items from the water around me: bottles of water, cans of soda, maybe some fruit and packaged foods that found their way free from the convenience cart. I sort through the floating luggage for items I can use: sunscreen, medication, and clothing. But my golden treasure is when I come along a book that I can save. I truly believe that I could keep my sanity alone on a desert island for years, if I had books.
So that then sets me to wondering: what books would help keep me sane? If I could only have five, and I could have my druthers, which five would I pick? (With the assumption, of course, that I already have the survival skills necessary to live on a desert island). In making my picks, I must take into account several considerations:
Should I avoid picking novels that may be part of a series? Even though a novel may be one in a series, it may still be worthy of the list. On the other hand, a novel may be fantastic but leave me frustrated if I cannot continue the series…due to being on a desert island and all.
I need to pick novels that I would enjoy reading multiple times. There have been hundreds of books that I have read and enjoyed, but not actually want to read again. With a limited library to choose from, it is important to be able to love the characters enough to want to revisit them multiple times.
Choosing a book that leaves me feeling angry or lonely would be detrimental to my mental health. That’s not to say the books I pick need to have fluffy-cotton-candy-happily-ever-after endings. I will want my five books to be quality, and to be captivating.
So taking all of that into consideration, the five books I would like to salvage from the plane’s wreckage are:
Cold Mountain
by Charles Frazier
Before Nicole Kidman played her on the big screen, Charles Frazier spun the story of Ada Monroe’s life, love, and loss into a spell that had me enchanted from begining to end. I include this book in my desert island book list because of the strength to survive demonstrated by Ada throughout the novel.
North and South
by John Jakes
Although this is the first of a trilogy, this novel continues to have a tremendous impact on who I am. John Jakes creates characters I connect with on multiple levels; the bond formed between friends early in life and later pushed to the breaking point is painful to experience right along with them; the passion that all sides feel for their beliefs is remarkable, even when it makes me sick. I include this book in my desert island book list because of the connection to the best and worst of humanity.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
by Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire rocked the literary world when he took one of the most despised characters in movie history and gave her a voice, a story, a life no one knew about. I include this book in my desert island book list because of the unlikely and passionate friendship Elphaba is able to form, filling me with hope and warm fuzzies.
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Fingersmith
by Sarah Waters
Angsty passions burn deep in Sarah Waters’s writing. In this three-part Dickensian novel, Susan Trinder’s teenage life as one of many thieves and con artists living in the slums of London is turned upside down when she thinks she is taking a job to set her up for good. I include this book in my desert island book list to provide twisted adventure.
The
Lost Symbol
by Dan Brown
Professor Robert Langdon has traveled the world solving mysterious murders and threats involving cryptic religious iconography. The Lost Symbol is the third in Dan Brown’s Langdon series, but each novel can stand alone. I include this particular one in my desert island book list because it digs into the mythos behind Freemasonry, a topic I find fascinating.
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Rachel Storey
