Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new ‘top ten’ challenge is posted – anyone can join in. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I’d Want On A Deserted Island. So apart from the obvious choice – 101 Recipes for Coconuts – here are the books I’d have with me (in no particular order):
1. Winnie-the Pooh: Complete Collection of Stories and Poems by A.A. Milne – because Winnie-the-Pooh is so wise and never fails to make me laugh *please note that I am a Disney-free-zone when it comes to Winnie*
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – it makes me think big, lush and decadent thoughts… probably quite handy if all you’re doing is looking at coconuts.
3. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster – a perfect love story in every possible way.
4. Is there such a thing as The Collected Works of John Irving yet? No… Well I’m torn between The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany and Last Night at Twisted River – all John Irving at his brilliant best.
5. Of a Boy by Sonya Hartnett – the saddest story I’ve ever read. Sometimes you need a little cry.
6. The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander – if I was only allowed one cookbook, this would be it. There’s no food-porn photography but it is packed full with recipes for every ingredient you can imagine (all organised alphabetically by ingredient). If you can’t whip up a Bocconcini, Tomato and Basil Salad or a Strawberry Shortcake, at least you can think about it.
7. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver – because almost ten years after first reading this book, I still need to talk about it.
8. The dictionary – there’s always a new word to learn.
9. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll – I’ll never tire of reading Alice.
