{"id":3555,"date":"2020-12-10T15:08:22","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T15:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=3555"},"modified":"2020-12-10T15:08:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T15:08:22","slug":"desert-island-jenny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/desert-island-jenny\/","title":{"rendered":"Books for a Desert Island: Jenny’s Picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cover<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

\"\"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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Fifth <\/a>Season<\/a>\u00a0by N K Jemisin<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>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”<\/a>. 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\u2013\u2013which, 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.<\/p>\n

Th<\/a>e House <\/a>in the Cerulean Sea<\/a>\u00a0by TJ Klune<\/p>\n

\"\"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.<\/p>\n

More in the series<\/p>\n