Five Books

There are a lot of blogs that I read.  On a recent sick day I was catching up on some of these and read a post on  eatliverun about the 5 books you can't live without.  And this got me to thinking.  What are my essential books that I go to over and over and over again?

1. The Belgariad and the Mallorian by David Eddings.  This is clearly cheating because, all told, this is approximately 11 books.  And I would count Polgara in here as well.  But the fact remains that I have read these books over and over again through the years.  Probably every few months I will suddenly feel the need to immerse myself in the amazing world that Eddings created and to reacquaint myself with my old friends: Garion, Ce'Nedra, Polgara, Belgarath, Silk, Barak, Hettar, Mandorallin....Dad read these books to me when I was a child and I truly cannot wait until I can read them to my own children.  I even got Andrew hooked on this series- he is rereading them right now for the umpteenth time.
2. Sunshine by Robyn McKinley.  Now THIS is a vampire book.  There are no sparkles here.  Just a cinnamon roll queen getting thrown in the the darkest Others.  The heroine (Sunshine) is spunky and snarky (she calls herself a bitch) and discovers an unfortunate affinity for vampires after spending her entire life being blissfully normal.  The vampire has a certain level of sex appeal, but also is very clearly a predator who is just as uncomfortable with his association with Sunshine as she is.  I love everything about this book except that there is no sequel.  And probably will never be because Robyn McKinley writes with integrity and won't write a sequel unless it will be just as good as the original.  
3. Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  Yup- a nonfiction book.  And a book that has truly changed how I look at the world.  This book is the reason I started a garden and the reason I became interested in simple, local food.  Yes, I still eat McDonald's and yes our garden was woefully neglected this year, but I have grand plans for when my life is not being eaten by vet school.  Plans involving a garden and backyard chickens.  It is also a book that just makes me feel happy when I read it.
4. Arrows of the Queen/Arrow's Flight/Arrow's Fall by Mercedes Lackey.  A pure sugar series that is the epitome of escape fiction.  I am not particularly proud of this choice, but my well-worn copy of the first book in this series will likely gather many more dog ears before I need to purchase a replacement.  Because I love it.
5. Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King.  Truly, this entire series should be on my list, but the first book is my favorite.  This is the story of a young girl in the early 1900s who meets the retired Sherlock Holmes and ends up becoming his apprentice.  It sort of sounds a bit lame.  But it totally isn't.  This series is pure awesomeness wrapped in amazing.

And now it is time for some audience participation: what are your top 5 books?  Are you like me and trying to shove some extra books into your "end of the world necessities" kit?  (so help me, I WILL fight for the entire Belgariad and Mallorean).  Can you narrow it down to just 5 (ish)?  I feel some series lacking in my list even as I write this.  Specifically: The Pern Books by Anne McCaffery (especially Dragonsdawn), the Elenium and the Tamuli by David Eddings (not quite as awesome as the Belgariad and Mallorean, but running a close second), Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey (more escape fiction that plays into my own fantasy world rather nicely), Harry Potter (for obvious reasons), and probably many more.  I will stick by my top 5 though.