Too many favorites?

Books are important to me, I love them, the smell of freshly opened pages, the heft of the book in my hand, the quick flick of the page, and the reluctance to put one down. I also love having their physical presence in my home, to look around at all the different places books have found to stay, different sizes of bookshelves, small piles on the dining room table, three or four on my nightstand, a row of cookbooks on my kitchen counter. So when I was filling out my profile, I wandered through my home and made a quick list of my very favorite books, the ones I return to, that I am drawn to, to re-read and find fresh new things as well as beloved characters and well known adventures. And to save space (I was thinking ahead here!) I wrote down some of my favorite authors, ones I have handfuls to rows of books on, ones I look for first when I enter the hallowed walls of the library or the bookstore.

I put in my list (ok, it was kinda long - more than 15...ok more than 25) and I saved my profile. And they didn't all fit! I realize some of the names are long - All Quiet on the Western Front, that's a lot of characters...but but but, I didn't think I could have TOO many favorites. I suppose I could limit it to Genres, but that seems to take the meat out of my list. *sigh* Or I could limit it to my very very favorites, but the list really wouldn't drop down that much...

So I left in the books themselves, and cut out the authors and decided to put it here, for all to see. Because it's not like I'm liable to forget. I have the luxury of going to the shelf and pulling down any of my beloved books, or running my finger along their spines in search of the perfect book.

Of all the books I've read and all the authors I've followed, here is the ultimate list of favorites. For today.

Anthony, Asimov, Bradbury, Card, Eddings, Heinlein, Kurtz, Oates, Rowling, Weis & Hickman

See, that doesn't seem so long, does it?