What is my favorite book? What makes a book my favorite book? For a long time I said Chosen by a Horse by Susan Richards was my favorite book. Then it changed to The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I love both of these books for various reasons, but I think my favorite book would have to be Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Do I think it's the best book ever? Maybe not. What makes it my favorite though?
Well, first let's look at Chosen by a Horse. I was in seventh or eighth grade when my family was on a little trip to Colorado and I finished the book(s?) I had brought with me. It was one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. I can't remember if I finished the series at this point or not. If I didn't, I had the rest of the books back home. Anyways, I needed a new book to read. My mom and I ran into Target to look for a book and as I was walking around looking at the books I saw a book with a horse on the cover. Of course I picked it up. The horse kind of reminded me of I horse I knew -- Bella (who had possibly been put down at this point). I skimmed the blurb and bought it. I fell in love. I lent it out to so many people to read. Admittedly I love the horse part of the story a lot better than everything else going on in Susan's life. I also realized in recent years I used to picture her as a lot older in the book than she actually was. I also pictured her very differently to what she looks like even though her picture is on the back of the book. Opps. Strangely as well, up until the last time or two I read this book, I finished it at about two in the morning when I couldn't sleep and balled my eyes out. I'm not sure how many times I've read this book.
Next, The Fault in Our Stars. So, yes, I wanted to read this book after the trailer for the movie came out. I don't really remember everything about me wanting to read it, but I remember one of my best friends at the time asked me about any books I wanted to read when he was out shopping with his mom and grandma for Christmas. I told him The Fault in Our Stars. I really wasn't sure if I would love it, but it wasn't going to be my money wasted on the book if I didn't! Not long after I unwrapped a present from his grandma and it was The Fault in Our Starts! Surprise, surprise! It wasn't until midway in January that I read it. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep (I have sleep issues), so I picked it up and started reading. I spent the whole day reading this book. It was literally all I did. Maybe not literally, but it was the only worth-while thing. And just to put it out there, this was not a good day for me at all. This book made it better (or should I say "okay"?). I instantly fell in love with this book. Every time I go through a hard time, I grab this book. I've only had it five years, but I cannot tell you how many times I have read it. This book is also the first book I've somewhat analyzed the characters and the story -- and by "first book" I mean outside of school; a book I read for fun. It might be because that's what they do in the book. I'm not sure what it is, but I've spent so much time thinking about these characters. I love them, but I also don't think I would actually like being their friend. That being said, I feel like my best friend is a combination of Hazel and Gus in a couple of ways.
Now Black Beauty. I don't remember when I got this book, when I first read it, how many times I have read it, or if I saw the movie before reading it (I think I did see the movie before reading it; I have had the movie for a long time). I couldn't even tell you which of these three books I've read the most. I know I've had Black Beauty longest, but that might not mean anything. I love Chosen by a Horse and The Fault in Our Stars, but I picked up Chosen by a Horse a year and a half ago when a horse I've known for a very long time had to be put down and I just couldn't finish it. I didn't want to read everything that wasn't Lay Me Down's story. There have been a few times lately I feel like I should grab The Fault in Our Stars, but I just can't. In fairness, a few months ago I started reading Black Beauty and didn't finish, but I also had no time for reading outside of school work for a long time and I didn't really want to pick up in the middle of the story so I just put it back on my book shelf. If I had the time I would have finished it.
I still haven't really talked about Black Beauty even though I'm saying it's my favorite book. I mean, I love the story. I don't see anything wrong with it. It's easy to read. I love the history behind it. I love that she wrote it to make people aware of the abuse horses were getting and wanted to stop it. One reason I started reading a couple months ago was because I was wondering why it isn't studied in school. I mean just in my last class I had to reread a novel and short story I read in another class (and I do not like that novel), and I had three classes that talked about Thomas Hardy. Why? And who cares about Jane Austen? Why spend your time reading all of her books? (Sorry, I had a really bad teacher who talked about Jane Austen all the time and said nothing about her or even tried to convince us that she's worth our time. I read the SparkNotes for all of her novels and they are all the same. I read Pride and Prejudice several summers ago and I just didn't get it. Maybe I'll pick it up or another one of her books again and try, but I also don't see a reason to.)
Anyways, Black Beauty is a book I love. I have loved it for a long time. It's also a book I feel like I can still pick up and read. Maybe I can still read it because I don't read it very often. I know for the first few years I read The Fault in Our Stars at least every January. Just because I can't read The Fault in Our Stars or Chosen by a Horse a lot anymore because I've read them so much, does that mean they can't be my favorites? Or does that make them my favorites?
I don't know. Are favorites even a good thing? Why say "this is the one I love above everything else" when you can say "these are all super great and I love them so much"? When is picking your number one favorite really necessary anyways?
What's your favorite book? What do you think about my favorite books? What do you think of "favorites?"