In celebration of #Fridayreads on Twitter, I wanted to share with you some of the books that are near and dear to my heart. I’ve read each book more than once and I keep a copy in my library to revisit now and again. The books in this list are in no particular order because I found it impossible to narrow down which one is my most favorite. If I ended up on an island somewhere and if I was told to bring only three books – I would argue that I need to bring them all with me!

The Life of Pi ‘I’ve never forgotten him. Dare I say I miss him? I do. I miss him. I still see him in my dreams. They are nightmares mostly, but nightmares tinged with love. Such is the strangeness of the human heart. I still cannot understand how he could abandon me so unceremoniously, without any sort of goodbye, without looking back even once. The pain is like an axe that chops my heart.‘

Ishmael

‘In fact, of course, there is no secret knowledge; no one knows anything that can’t be found on a shelf in the public library.’

The Prophet

‘Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.’

Gone With The Wind

‘Perhaps – I want the old days back again and they’ll never come back, and I am haunted by the memory of them and of the world falling about my ears.‘

An Invisible Thread

‘It’s something I call an invisible thread. It is, as the old Chinese proverb tells us, something that connects two people who are destined to meet, regardless of time and place and circumstance. Some legends call it the red string of fate; others, the thread of destiny.‘

The Kite Runner

‘there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. When you kill a man, you steal a life… you steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a ather. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness… there is no act more wretched than stealing.‘

The DA Vinci Code

‘Authors, he thought. Even the sane ones are nuts.’

The Alchemist

‘Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.’

Journalistas

Sherlock Holmes

‘You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.’

The Secret Life of Bees

‘Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here.’

Wuthering Heights

‘Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy.’

To Kill a Mockingbird

‘Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts.’

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

‘There were things I wanted to tell him. But I knew they would hurt him. So I buried them, and let them hurt me.’

The Art of Racing in The Rain

‘To live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how I would like to live. To feel the joy of life, as Eve felt the joy of life. To separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day. To say I am alive, I am wonderful, I am. I am. That is something to aspire to.’

The Tiger’s Wife

‘Wash the bones, bring the body, leave the heart behind.’

The Buddha in the Attic

‘You will see: women are weak, but mothers are strong.’

Well, there you have it. Seventeen books that have inspired me and continue to do so. Share your book recommendations with me on Twiiter or post a comment.