# Stranded on a Desert Island--What 10 Books Would You Have on Your Kindle?



## SimonWood (Nov 13, 2009)

I was reminded of a famous radio show in England called Desert Island Discs. Each week, a celebrity would be asked name the ten songs they'd want if they were stranded on a desert island. Changing things up, I'm interested to know what would people choose if they were stuck on an island with their Kindle and just enough time to download ten books before you lost wireless connection. Seeing as this is fantasy, you can choose titles that aren't currently on Kindle.

Mine would be :
1. THE LONG GOODBYE by Raymond Chandler
2. LOVE ON A BRANCH LINE by John Hadfield
3. STRAIGHT MAN by Richard Russo 
4. THE FOG by James Herbert 
5. PET SEMATARY by Stephen King
6. EVERYBODY DIES by Lawrence Block
7. DOUBLE INDEMNITY by James M. Cain
8. THE LOST CONTINEN by Bill Bryson
9. A CLUBBABLE WOMAN by Reginald Hill
10. A SIMPLE PLAN by Scott Smith

That's my choices. What's yours?


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

More important than books would be my solar-powered Kindle charger!    I'll have to think about the books.  Length would be more of a factor in my choice than in my usual book purchases, however.


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## HelenSmith (Mar 17, 2010)

Oh this is a good one - but it's almost impossible to get it down to ten isn't it?  The castaways on Desert Island Discs get to take with them the Bible or a religious text appropriate to that person's beliefs, and the Complete Works of Shakespeare.  Can we have those plus the ten books of our choice?  

1.	Candide by Voltaire
2.	The Talisman by Stephen King & Richard Straub
3.	New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
4.	Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
5.	Oscar & Lucinda by Peter Carey
6.	Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
7.	The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
8.	The Complete Jeeves and Wooster by P.G. Wodehouse
9.	Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
10.	Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Presumably, if we're cast away together we can read each other's books when we're done.  And maybe a box of books would mysteriously float in on the tide every now and then and we could plunder that.


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## pawsplus (Mar 31, 2009)

Assuming my Kindle was solar-powered  . . . All these books I seem to be able to read over and over and over again, never tire of, and get something new every time. 'Tis an eclectic collection!

(1) Ulysses (James Joyce)
(2) Possession (AS Byatt)
(3) Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
(4) The Crystal Cave (Mary Stewart)
(5) The Complete Plays of Shakespeare (hey, it's in one Kindle file so it counts as one book, right??)
(6) Charlotte's Web (EB White)
(7) To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
( 8 ) Howards End (EM Forster)
(9) Fly-by-Night (KM Peyton)
(10) Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad)


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

_The Great Book of Amber_ by Roger Zelazny (mwah-ha-ha-ha: 10 books in one volume by my favorite author!)
_Doorways in the Sand_ by Roger Zelazny (one short novel to balance that out just a tad)
_Guards! Guards!_ by Terry Pratchett
_Night Watch_ by Terry Pratchett
_The Phoenix Guards_ by Steven Brust
_Five Hundred Years After_ by Steven Brust
_Good Omens_ by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
_Dune_ by Frank Herbert
_SAS Survival Handbook: For Any Climate, in Any Situation_ by John Wiseman (clever of me, eh?)
_Emergency Navigation: Improvised and No-Instrument Methods for the Prudent Mariner_ by David Burch (I'm not going to stay on that island forever!)


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

My 10 favorite really, really long books:

1. _And Ladies of the Club _ by Helen Hooven Santmyer
2. _Centennial_ by James Michener
3. _Sarum_ by Edward Rutherfurd
4. _Lord of the Rings Trilogy_ by Tolkien
5. _Roots_ by Alex Haley
6. _Hawaii_ by Michener
7. _Russka_ by Rutherfurd
8. _Gone with the Wind_ by Margaret Mitchell
9. _The Foundation Trilogy_ by Asimov
10. _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ by Rowling

Those ten would keep me busy for at least a few weeks.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

I'll have to think about this one--like the Hooded Claw though, the solar powered charger would suddenly become far more important than which books I had!

And as a side note, this is exactly why I delete NOTHING from my Kindle--you never know when you'll be without wireless.  Y'all can make do with your ten books--all 260+ of mine should still be on hand.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

SAS Survival Handbook: For Any Climate, in Any Situation by John Wiseman (clever of me, eh?)
Emergency Navigation: Improvised and No-Instrument Methods for the Prudent Mariner by David Burch (I'm not going to stay on that island forever!)


I like the 2 above. But I'd need to add some kind of elementary boat building one.  And of course, a solar powered charger for both the kindle and the iPod.  And videos of actually building a boat on the Pod.


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## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

Assumptions - as these are ebooks, series are available in a single volume, nicely linked and formatted. Hey, it's a fantasy, right?

1: Dune (The original Frank Herbert hexalogy)
2: Midnight's Children
3: War and Peace (I'd finally get it finished)
4: The Lord of the Rings 
5: The Complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
6: A Song of Ice and Fire (In this fantasy assumption, Martin completes the series.)
7: Churchill's The Second World War
8: The Civil War - Shelby Foote

And now it gets really tough...

Candidates here are Ulysses, Alice in Wonderland, Principia Mathematica (Whitehead & Russell), All Quiet on the Western Front, The Divine Comedy, The Histories (Herodotus), Pillars of the Earth, and I have to at least consider Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and Lord of the Flies.

I think I'll go with The Divine Comedy and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as #s 9 and 10.

Nice thought exercise!


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## SimonWood (Nov 13, 2009)

The Hooded Claw said:


> More important than books would be my solar-powered Kindle charger!  I'll have to think about the books. Length would be more of a factor in my choice than in my usual book purchases, however.


Oh, I just found a solar charger on the island. You're golden...


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Anyone have a copy of _Lucifer's Hammer_ handy? What was the book one of the characters took with his survival gear that was kind of a primer on how all sorts of things work?


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Anyone have a copy of _Lucifer's Hammer_ handy? What was the book one of the characters took with his survival gear that was kind of a primer on how all sorts of things work?


My DTB copy of Lucifer's Hammer is AWOL. Dang! But the Ebook version is available from Baen Books here:

http://www.webscription.net/p-921-lucifers-hammer.aspx

Good value for a mere four bucks, but I'm not sure I'd take it to the desert island! I remember the book you're talking about, it was one of the books the diabetic fellow stored away, but I don't remember the title.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Works of Arthur Conan Doyle. (200+ Works) The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes, The Professor Challenger Works, The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard and more 

Taking the above would get me all of Sherlock Holmes, Brigadier Gerard, Professor Challenger, and other less-beloved works in one book, but is probably a cheat.  I'm going to assume those huge omnibus Kindle books are off limits, or this would be too easy. I've actually seen all Sherlock Holmes together in one DTB book though, so that is probably fair.  I'm going to ignore Scarlet's very practical advice to bring books on boatbuilding and navigation.

1)  Any of the gazillions of "complete Sherlock Holmes" collections.
2)  When Technology Fails (Revised & Expanded): A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency  (I'd just have to take this, even if I skipped the boat books)
3)  The Guns of August (because it is long yet interesting)
4)  Something by Mark Twain, but what to pick?!  One of the combination volumes, probably probably "Tales, Speeches, Essays and Sketches".
5)  Something by Robert Heinlein, but what to pick?!  Made worse by the fact that only a fraction of Heinlein is in ebook form yet.  If it were available in ebook, I'd choose the old "The Past Through Tomorrow" collection.
6)  Something by Larry Niven, but what, oh what?!
7)  There's no Horatio Hornblower in ebook form!  Oh the horror, the horror!!!  Not even any C.S. Forester?!
  One of the complete collections of Shakespeare, this would be my big chance to read it all!
9)  The Jeeves Collection (I'm still assuming it would be too easy to take one of the "everything by PG Wodehouse" collections.
10) Last would be a naval history book of some sort.  I'd probably go with "Six Frigates:  The History of the Founding of the US Navy"


Ooooh, this is too painful!  Maybe I'd concentrate on stowing away on the boat/plane that brought me to the island instead!


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## chipotle (Jan 1, 2010)

I'd choose a few books I can't seem to finish reading (Books #1-4), some of my all-time favorites to re-read (books #5-9), and a cookbook (#10) to torture myself while subsisting on twigs and berries.  

1. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
2. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
3. The Way We Live Now - Anthony Trollope
4. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
5. Middlemarch - George Eliot
6. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
7. East of Eden - John Steinbeck
8. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
9. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
10. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone - Deborah Madison


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## eldereno (Dec 27, 2009)

LaRita said:


> My 10 favorite really, really long books:
> 
> 1. _And Ladies of the Club _ by Helen Hooven Santmyer
> 2. _Centennial_ by James Michener
> ...


That is the first time I've seen anyone mention _and the Ladies of the Club_. I read this book when it first was published (in the late 70's) and, though it was often tough to get through her very elaborate description of surroundings and small details, I felt so depressed when I finished the book and could not spend my days any longer in these surroundings and with these people. Wish it were offered for Kindle!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

eldereno said:


> That is the first time I've seen anyone mention _and the Ladies of the Club_. I read this book when it first was published (in the late 70's) and, though it was often tough to get through her very elaborate description of surroundings and small details, I felt so depressed when I finished the book and could not spend my days any longer in these surroundings and with these people....


I purposely left any books off of my list that might be depressing to me. That's the last sort of thing I'd want to read while stranded somewhere (unless the idea is that it would be a paradise in every way other than me being stuck there).


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## J.L. Penn (Mar 17, 2010)

Hmm, I don't think I'd take much that I've read before because that could get OLD quick - mainly quick picks from my TBR pile ...

1) Seinlanguage by Jerry Seinfeld - If I'm on a deserted island, I'm going to get pretty lonely and a bit down, so I'd need some guaranteed go-to humor!
2) The Bible - I've certainly never read it cover to cover but being on a deserted island would afford me the time, and it also wouldn't be a bad time to get a little education for the soul.
3) Everyone Is Beautiful by Katherine Center - because I'm not done reading it and I'd like to know what happens
4) Tribute by Nora Roberts
5) Fresh Powder by Susanne O'Leary
6) The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie
7) Faking It by Elisa Lorello
8 ) Bitter Is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
9) Reunion by me - I've already read it like seven times for edits; what's a few more?
10) How to Survive on a Deserted Island by Tim O'Shei - Seems like it would be a worthwhile purchase. 

But if I had my druthers, I'd rather it be a desserted island.  

-Jenn


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## Eric C (Aug 3, 2009)

One of the great things about having a Kindle is the ability to carry a lot more than ten books! What a bummer about that wire connection! Yet I will play the game (and a tough game it is):

1) The complete Shakespeare
2) The complete Sherlock Holmes short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
3) Selected tales by Edgar Allan Poe
4) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
5) From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life by Jacques Barzun
6) The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
7) Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
 Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
9) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
10) Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

Okay. I'll play.

The Strand by Stephen King (long and captivating)
The First Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders (long and captivating)
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice (long and captivating)
The Tomorrow File by Lawrence Sanders (incredible futuristic novel)
Chiefs by Stuart Woods (one of his first and quite amazing)
Under the Dome by Stephen King (because I haven’t read it and it’s long)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (because I haven’t read it and it’s long)
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (for a light change of pace)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (gotta get around to it sooner or later)
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (might be useful)

L.J.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

I would take a different approach. Instead of taking 10 books I've read already, I'd take 10 new books. I'd rather discover something new rather than re-read an old favorite.

Looking at my Kindle, I have 10 books waiting for me...

1. The Wages of Sin by Alex Beecroft
2. Good to Know by D.W. Marchwell
3. Man's Best Friend by P.A. Brown
4. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
5. Among the Living by Jordan Castillo Price
6. The Dark Farewell by Josh Lanyon
7. No Bull by B.A. Tortuga
8. The Prayer Waltz by K.Z. Snow
9. The High-Class Highwayman by Julia Talbot
10. Sweet Surrender by Ashleigh Walton


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## amiblackwelder (Mar 19, 2010)

I would take with me:

Pride and Prejudice
Twilight
Lord of the Rings
A Brief Moment in Time
The Theory for Everything
Practical Kabbalah
The Day the Flowers Died
The Hebrew Bible
Poetry of Robert Frost
Alice in Wonderland


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## svsilentsun (Nov 24, 2009)

I love that series come in one download for the Kindle, so like another poster, that's what I'd focus on. 

1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy 
2. Complete works of Mark Twain
3. The Stand - Stephen King
4. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
5. On Writing - Stephen King
6. Complete works of Jack London
7. Complete works of Jules Verne
8. The Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love - Jill Connor Browne
9. 'Salem's Lot - Stephen King
10. Complete Works of Jane Austen


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Hrrrm. Something tells me when I arrived at the island, I'd be ticked because I forgot a book or two, but let's see what comes to the top of my head.

1. Foundation, by Isaac Asimov
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
4. The Dark Elf Trilogy, by R. A. Salvatore
5. The Green Mile, by Stephen King
6. What's So Amazing About Grace, by Philip Yancey
7. Song of Ice and Fire, by George Martin
8. A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O'Connor
9. The Ragamuffin Gospel, by Brennan Manning
10. King James Bible

Props to those above me who picked On Writing and the Foundation series.

David Dalglish


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## SimonWood (Nov 13, 2009)

Thanks to everyone who has taken part so far.  It's interesting to see what stories people would cling to if the worst would happen.


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## StevenPajak (Apr 11, 2010)

After I grab a sack full of batteries, I'd make sure I have these on my Kindle:

1. Beardless Warrior by Richard Matheson
2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
3. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
4. The Stand by Stephen King
5. Watchers by Dean Koontz
6. Strangers by Dean Koontz
7. Alas Babylon by Pat Frank
8. It by Stephen King
9. I am Legend by Richard Matheson
10. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck


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