No Shelf Control

Having a favorite book is a question that is asked often and debated just as often! For people like me, it can super hard to choose a favorite book! Here’s my thoughts on picking a favorite book and the question “What’s your favorite book?”

My thoughts on favorite books

If you’ve been reading my blog for a little while now you’ll know that I LOVE Warcross by Marie Lu, and that I usually regard this book as possibly my favorite book ever! I usually say “possibly” because while I love the book I’m rather noncommittal, and I don’t want to mark one book as my favorite when there are so many books out there! I find that choosing one favorite is so hard, but it’s still such a common thing to do.

Why I don’t like the favorite book question

Whenever I say I read a lot the first question someone usually asks is “What’s your favorite book?” I dislike this question a lot for many different reasons, but one of which is because it’s loaded! I can tell a lot about a person based on their favorite book (assuming I’ve read it 🤪) and in a way it shows someone the kind of person you are and your personality. It’s almost weird to talk about a book that is super special and personal to you because in a way, books can be just yours and no one else’s. This means by sharing your favorite book you lose some of that personal connection to the book and give it away to someone else. This doesn’t mean I don’t want you to read the book, I 100% want others to experience the book’s greatness, but it’s just weird to give it away so nonchalantly!

Reframing the favorite book question

Obviously, I don’t like the favorite book question! Here’s some ideas I’ve had about reframing the question to make it better!

Instead, we could ask what one of your favorite books is, or what your favorite book is right now. This acknowledges the fact that you may have a lot of favorites, and that they can change quickly! Honestly, I find that readers already ask other readers this question because they know it can be so hard to choose, but I still think this question should be more widely asked!

I also love to know what other people’s favorite/most-read genres are! I find that this question is more expansive, and is usually easier to answer (for me at least 😂) than what your favorite book is! I mean honestly, you could even ask what your favorite book in a specific genre is because that is so much easier to answer!

Anyways, that’s me completely overthinking the topic of favorite books! What are your thoughts on having a favorite book and asking people what their favorite books are? Happy reading!!!