What Makes a Book My Favorite

If you know anything about me by now, it should be that I love to talk about books. I don't always take the time to talk about some of my favorites, but today's the day (so buckle up!).

I'm especially curious why my favorite books are my favorite. What makes a book my favorite? I think the answer(s) differ. Not only from book to book for me, but also from person to person--I want to hear your take on this as well!

Here are a few of my favorites with an explanation of why they achieved that status.

An Old-Fashioned Girl

I've long considered this book by the amazing Louisa May Alcott one of my all-time favorites. Other than the fact that I appear to be partial to the historical fiction genre in books (and period pieces in movies) and this checks both those boxes ... I think the big thing on this one is relatability through time. Polly Milton grows up in this book. As a child, I related to her as a child. As an adult, I could relate to her as an adult. I'm so glad I took the time to reread this one because I could quite literally grow up with her. That was beautiful. Her choosing the right thing even when it's hard has always touched me so much!

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Historical fiction again, ha! I started off by loving this one simply because it was a really, really good book. I didn't expect it to be (and had been putting it off) because it was assigned for school. Sorry, Mom. I don't think I'd ever read such suspense, romance, and espionage. I could not get enough of it, and it's still near and dear to my heart. I figured out the Scarlet Pimpernel's identity when I put to my mind to it. And this is coming from the kid who never solved a single Encyclopedia Brown ... But it didn't take away from the story because he still duped me! It was probably my first exposure to split POV done so, so right.

Sense and Sensibility

I actually just read this one!! And the reason I loved it is quite simple. Elinor. is. me. I've never read a book where I was so 100% a character. So that made the story instantly more interesting. But I also loved how not straightforward it was. Had I not already known who everyone ended up with, I'm not sure I would have guessed? 'Twas very sweet and wonderful.

Fawkes

*ahem* I was surprised at myself for liking this one so much. But is it a surprise?? It's still historical. And it's still all swoony romance (though much less dramatic) with plenty of action afoot. The reason I will continue to go back to this one is the originality, lack of black and whiteness, and spiritual themes. This made some people hate the book. I thought it was brilliant, and I can't conceive how a person could create such a thing. But it's wonderful and requires a reread immediately.

There are other five-star books I've read of course. I rate an obscene amount of books five stars. But these four in particular stand out among my other excellent reads for personal reasons. Beyond that, I think their stories and purposes are somewhat timeless. I mean ... they are mostly classics after all.

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Are you willing to share any of your favorite books and why? I'm always on the lookout for another excellent book and curious as to why people love their favorites so much!