When asked the dreaded desert island question (What’s the one book you would bring with you when stranded on a desert island) I always complain and drag my feet. How could anyone pick only one? But the reality is that if I had to pick just on book to take with me it would be easy, just not fun or enlightening. That’s because I’m generally a practical person.
If I had to pick just one, of course it would be a survival guide with bountiful instructions on how to survive in the wilderness (see SAS survival handbook: how to survive in the wild, in any climate, on land or at sea by John Wiseman). Seriously, with no current knowledge on survival or even experience camping, why would I pick anything else? However, that’s not a particularly useful or entertaining answer, because what we really want to discover through this question is reading preference and favorite books.
So, instead here are TWO of my favorite books that I would take with me on a desert island (because yes, I still can’t pick just one). One is for the brain and one is for the heart, which I’ll elaborate on below.
The Fifth Season by N K Jemisin
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is my pick for a desert island book for so many reasons. First, it’s one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels. We also featured it in our blog post “Escapist Reads: Fantasy edition”. It’s hard to pin down what this book is but, in essence, it’s about a woman looking for her child, journeying across an apocalyptic world that is rife with cataclysmic events and unstable magic. It’s incredibly atmospheric and really makes you feel like you’re in a different world, which is another reason why it’s a perfect desert island book. It’s pretty long and also comes in a bind-up of the entire 3-book series––which, if you’re in the mood for cheating, you could probably make the case to consider as a single book. Finally, I picked this book for my brain because everything from the writing style to the world-building is intensely complex and keeps the mind working. It’s a book you could read over and over and still find new ideas to ponder and elements to love.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
The only problem with picking The Fifth Season as my desert island book is that it is not a happy book. It is rather dark and bleak, even though there are times of lightness. If you’re alone on a desert island, you probably are going to want something to lift your spirits, which is why I had to pick a second book and why I picked The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. This book is about a case worker who goes to stay at and investigate a home for unusual (magical) children, where his experiences upend his expectations and life values. It is whimsical, uplifting and emotional and has a strong “found family” theme. This book I picked for my heart because I know reading it will always make me happy.
More in the series
- The Best of Roald Dahl by Roald Dahl (stories for adults by author popular with children) – read the post by Julie Rossano
- The Arcades Project by Walter Benjamin (1927-40, unfinished work of cultural criticism) – read the post by Nick Allred
- The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek (1921-1923, satirical dark comedy) – read the post by Judit Ward