Good Books Are Like Macaroni and Cheese

I have a love-hate relationship with top ten lists. I love reading other people's lists, and I love the idea of creating my own... but when it actually comes down to it, I struggle to pick just ten. Especially books. It's like choosing a favorite kid, for crying out loud! Yet here I am, trying once again to concoct such a list, because it seems like an appropriate thing to do before the semester starts. Actually, I'm going to be unconventional with a list of Top Eleven. Somehow that extra book makes me feel better about being selective. The titles listed below are my tried-and-trues, the ones I go for when I'm tired of hunting through the library shelves and just want to curl up with something familiar.  To me these books are like macaroni and cheese - comfort food in readable form.  My hope is that you'll find something interesting here to add to your own bowl of mac n' cheese. (By the way, much as I adore them, this does NOT include picture books... because that's a little too ambitious for my taste.  We'll save that list for another day.)

1. The Princess Bride by William Goldman – Everyone has seen the movie. How many people even know the book exists? Okay, maybe everyone knows and I was just in the dark for years. Thanks for telling me, guys. Anyway, it's hilarious, possibly even funnier than the movie. You should read it. Really. It's my go-to when I need something fun and don't want to think very hard.

2. Arthur: The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland – This is the first in a trilogy. (Appreciate my sneakiness here – that's three for the price of one!) If you like medieval fiction or Arthurian legends and have not read this... well, for shame! Get thyself a copy. Beautiful prose and vivid characters.

3. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt – In a nutshell, it's about an eleven-year-old girl who finds the fountain of youth in the woods beyond her house. When I was younger, I used to read this during the first week of every August, because that's where the story begins. I've since broken the tradition, but I still read the book at least once a year.

4. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones – I was foolish enough to start the first chapter at ten o' clock in the evening. But then again, how was I supposed to know that I wouldn't be able to put it down? I ended up hunched under a blanket with a flashlight and sore elbows at two o' clock in the morning. If you like fantasy... heck, if you like to laugh and enjoy clever prose, this is for you. Spells, mobile castles, cranky fire demons, melodramatic wizards, eighteen-year-old girls disguised as old women... lots of exciting stuff, folks. PS: Hayao Miyazaki adapted the story into an equally quirky animated film.

5. Flight: Volume II edited by Kazu Kibuishi – Throwing you for a loop here. This one's the first on the list that isn't a novel. It's a comic anthology of thirty-three stories by young, unconventional artists. Volume II is lovely, displaying a diverse blend of styles and genres. The stories range from oddly poetic to downright eerie. A must-read if you like graphic novels or art in general.

6. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie – Everyone knows the story of Peter Pan. (Thank you, Disney.) I'm not sure the same number of people have read the original book, but to miss the opportunity would be a tragedy. J.M. Barrie is brilliant. You can't help laughing out loud at his wonderful, spot-on dialogue. Few authors know how to write children with so much honesty. This is one of the most enchanting stories I've ever read. (The edition featuring Scott Gustafson's illustrations makes it even better.)

7. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis – He's one of my all-time favorite authors. And The Great Divorce just might be my favorite thing he's ever written. In brief, it's about a bus ride from heaven to hell. C.S. Lewis is one of those authors who can write about eternity without sounding saccharine or preachy. The book is thoughtful, convicting, sometimes funny, and always full of joy.

8. Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender – Here you will find fifteen diverse short stories. Bender writes surreal speculative fiction that is both bizarre (a boy with keys for fingers, potato babies, a child born with an iron head) and utterly heartfelt. Her short stories are some of the best I've read in the genre.

9. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak – It's a story about World War II, and it's narrated by Death. Wait, you say, doesn't that sound terribly morbid? Well, yes... I suppose it does. Yet Zusak somehow manages to make it humorous, heartbreaking, and bittersweet. Besides, it's pretty hard not to be intrigued by a first chapter entitled “Death and Chocolate.”

10. How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn – Set in the coal mines of Wales, this story contains some of the strongest characters I have ever met. I say “met” because that's how real they are – by the second chapter, you feel like you've known Huw Morgan and his boisterous family your whole life. The book is like a wilder, grittier, Welsh version of Little House on the Prairie. Except much, much better.

11. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery – My lists change all the time, practically every time I read a new book. It takes a lot for a book to stay on the list for more than a year, let alone permanently. The Little Prince is one of the few exceptions. This title has been a favorite ever since I read it for the first time as a freshman in high school. Narrated by a pilot stranded in the desert, it's the whimsical story of a prince who leaves his tiny asteroid and journeys to earth. From the endearing dedication page to the melancholy last page, I love, love, LOVE every word of this story. Saint-Exupery knows how to write straight at the human heart.

There you have it: my current top ten eleven list.  This is my bowl of macaroni and cheese.  (Gosh, all this talk of metaphorical noodles is seriously making me hungry.  I need to stop.)  How about you? Do you have a list of your own? Like I said, this is the time of year in which I start hunting for new titles... so recommendations are welcome! Who knows, in a couple of months I might just have to revise my selections.  In the meantime, check these books out if you haven't already done so.  Happy eating!  Er, reading...