A few weeks ago, contributing editor Bob Gray wrote a column about the books he'd pack to be stranded with on a desert island. Unbelievably, he chose only five, and challenged me to do the same. (Bob writes about readers' responses to his question below.)
I can't do it. The easy way out is to start with the religious text of your choice. But... oh, my. I went through my collection (not library--according to Harlan Ellison, your library consists of the books you haven't yet read), got up to five, saw Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. I've read it twice and want to read this mesmerizing novel again. Then, anything by Ron Carlson, a writer whose prose rewards many a rereading (Five Skies, the Idaho Rockies, gentle melancholy and tough men; Return to Oakpine, the importance of home, work and friendships forged in high school). And Ernest Gaines: the brilliant A Lesson Before Dying.
Marooned with all Robert B. Parker's Spenser books--what an opportunity to read them in sequence, delighting in favorite passages. Connie Willis or Sheri Tepper (Grass) for science fiction; both for grand ideas, Willis for wit (To Say Nothing of the Dog). For spiritual sustenance, Barbara Brown Taylor (Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith; An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith--perfect for being deserted, since getting lost is a holy art to Taylor--God does some of his best work with people who are seriously lost.)
Michael Dirda: any collection of his essays will do (Book by Book; Bound to Please; Classics for Pleasure). He writes so well about books it's almost as good as reading them (sometimes better). He's a library in and of himself.
Must stop now. --Marilyn Dahl, editor, Shelf Awareness for Readers
P.S.: John Donne. Mary Wesley. Flannery O'Connor. Henning Mankell....