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And I greatly appreciated your adjective 'favorite'. The Shrike Send a noteboard - 22/01/2024 07:37:31 PM

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I did stipulate favorite as opposed to best. I thought a lot about it and decided I didn't want to have to include brilliant books I would likely never read again or exclude books that gave me enormous pleasure to read but that weren't necessarily fine literature.

Books we love will resonate with us in a way that they won't resonate with others. For instance, The Bear and the Nightingale trilogy takes place in Rus' under the yoke of the Tartars and its a fantasy series about warring Russian spirits. A fantasy series in which Christianity is on its way to becoming dominant, but the Old Russian gods and spirits still live amongst the Russians. I absolutely love the premise because I love the idea of pre-Christian Russia. We come to books with different perspective due to different histories and as such, what is my favorite will not be someone else's favorite. And that is great because my enjoyment of books is not (one notable exception) dependent upon a book being enjoyed by others. Having said all that, when Joe loves a book that I love, my enjoyment of that book is greatly increased as I can discuss that book with my favorite person.

Favorite is a great way to rank books because it make it personal.

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The million dollar question. This one, I can do. - 21/01/2024 01:40:13 AM 140 Views
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I interpreted this to mean best books we've read - 22/01/2024 02:59:20 PM 125 Views
Sure - 22/01/2024 03:13:38 PM 119 Views
Re: I interpreted this to mean best books we've read - 22/01/2024 03:17:15 PM 118 Views
And I greatly appreciated your adjective 'favorite'. - 22/01/2024 07:37:31 PM 109 Views
I need to split fiction and non-fiction - 22/01/2024 02:02:41 AM 142 Views
Re: I need to split fiction and non-fiction - 22/01/2024 03:20:03 PM 107 Views
And I just have to ask ... The Godfather the book??? - 22/01/2024 02:07:12 AM 120 Views
Yeah you’re right. I shouldn’t have included it. *NM* - 22/01/2024 02:12:09 AM 60 Views
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Speaking of Shogun... - 23/01/2024 12:43:04 PM 113 Views
Re: Speaking of Shogun... - 23/01/2024 08:51:01 PM 106 Views
Re: Speaking of Shogun... - 23/01/2024 09:39:50 PM 109 Views
The new red band trailer came out for it. Looks phenomenal. - 24/01/2024 02:42:52 PM 114 Views
Re: The new red band trailer came out for it. Looks phenomenal. - 24/01/2024 03:22:20 PM 110 Views
Yeah, ok - 22/01/2024 02:08:53 PM 106 Views
At the moment these - 22/01/2024 05:59:14 PM 155 Views
The Red and the Black? Interesting... - 23/01/2024 05:24:57 PM 108 Views
Julien, of course. - 24/01/2024 10:02:43 PM 150 Views
Mine, at the moment - 23/01/2024 05:44:20 PM 128 Views
All y'all are cheating by listing a series as one of your favorite books. - 25/01/2024 04:38:56 AM 122 Views
As I create my own list, I see I've made a mistake in my derision of the use of series. *NM* - 25/01/2024 05:04:43 AM 54 Views
*NM* - 25/01/2024 05:51:55 AM 51 Views
FALSE! - 25/01/2024 02:48:27 PM 114 Views
Re: FALSE! - 25/01/2024 04:20:08 PM 110 Views
It's bait for Joe to make a 'batin Joke - 25/01/2024 05:28:12 PM 108 Views
Bait no more, my friend. It has been released! - 25/01/2024 08:20:54 PM 112 Views
OMFG! This was so difficult. - 25/01/2024 08:20:05 PM 123 Views
Sir! - 25/01/2024 08:30:18 PM 120 Views
I'll go with that was my plan all along. - 25/01/2024 08:32:54 PM 108 Views
Pffft - 25/01/2024 08:43:30 PM 111 Views
Also, I'll do what I want. *smug* *NM* - 25/01/2024 08:33:44 PM 66 Views
F. Paul Wilson! - 25/01/2024 08:31:44 PM 118 Views
Ain't no guilt here. - 25/01/2024 08:35:47 PM 105 Views
I see you listed 4 of my favorite non-fiction, so I will forgive your listing WoT - 26/01/2024 12:11:04 AM 103 Views
Ain't no guilt here! - 26/01/2024 08:32:54 AM 104 Views
So many Novik fans! I think you've tipped me over onto reading Temeraire. *NM* - 26/01/2024 06:59:57 AM 58 Views
You won't regret it! *NM* - 26/01/2024 08:23:52 AM 53 Views
Literate Dog's posts have compelled me to also list series - 27/01/2024 03:36:48 PM 128 Views
I will always love WOT - 28/01/2024 05:40:58 PM 123 Views

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