.book fun.

In the Biola University online magazine, different professors share their favorite books using the following categories, followed by a small blurb about the book.  I thought it would be fun to do this as well so I've included mine....please share yours : )

Favorite Classic: (tie) "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen and "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott - When asked which Jane Austen book they most enjoy, most people (that I have talked to at least) will reply "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility," but I prefer this less-popular work by dear Jane.  And who doesn't love spunky Jo March and her sisters?

Best Book for the Beach: "Shopoholic" series by Sophia Kinsella - These are my guilty pleasure books and please don't judge them by the recently-released movie.  Don't get me wrong, I love Isla Fisher and Hugh Dancy, but the books are 10 times more hilarious (and ridiculous) than the movie!

Book Everyone Tells Me I Should Read and Haven't: "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte - I'm pretty embarrassed to admit this being in an English Master's program and all, but I just haven't gotten around to it.  Believe me, I've got a copy, it's just a matter of sitting down and reading it.  I've heard the synopsis about a zillion times, though.  I have read the lesser-known of her novels, "Villette," and absolutely loved it! I think she might be my favorite of the Bronte sisters.

Best Book That Only Takes an Afternoon to Read: "The Trouble with Poetry" by Billy Collins - Okay, so I had to include my favorite poet and this book of poetry is a great introduction to his work.  He has a conversational, lay style while shedding new light on the small, day-to-day things.

Best Book From a Distant Land: (tie) "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" by Katherine Howe - It was hard for me to choose my favorite among all the historical fiction novels I've read, but I couldn't put down either one of these books.  "Guernsey Literary..." tells the story of a book club that is created in resistance to Nazi occupation on Guernsey Island. Books. Strong Women. 1940s WWII...can't get much better for me.  "Deliverance Dane," also fabulous. Set between the two worlds of the 1600s and 1990s Massachusetts, it tells the story of a graduate student working on her dissertation and learns about her own identity along the way.