Thursday, September 26, 2013

Booking Through Thursday: Best or Favorite?

I haven't played with BTT for a while, but this week's question caught my interest:
"Are 'best' and 'favorite' the same thing? If someone asked you 'What’s the best book you ever read?' would the answer be the same as for 'What’s your favorite?' "
And I guess I found it interesting mainly because I can't imagine being able to come up with a single "favorite" or a single "best" book.  If you asked me to name a favorite, we'd be here for hours.

Also, what's meant by best?  Best plot?  Best writing?  Most valuable lessons taught?  I can certainly recognize that many of my favorite books are not the most well-written books or the most morally uplifting -- in fact, many of them are really kinda trashy.  But I still love 'em.

While the "best book I ever read" would, I suppose, necessarily have to be a favorite, my favorite books are many and varied, and they do seem to change over time.  OK, that's clear as mud, right?  I guess my answer would be that to me, best and favorite are pretty much the same thing where books are concerned, but impossible to name. 

3 comments:

  1. This was a hard question to answer, but an interesting one to think about!
    I agree with you--favorites and bests are so fluid--and when you think about it, our opinions about what makes a book the best or our favorite SHOULD change over time--since we are changing over time, too!

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  2. Interesting answer! For me "best" sends the message that it's a well-written classic - which, while I can appreciate, might not necessarily become a favorite. Happy Thursday!

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  3. I know what you mean -- most times my "favorite" is the one I am reading at the time but that doesn't mean it is the "best". I would say "best" is pretty subjective but there are many ways to judge how good book is technically. However, if a book is technically perfect, that doesn't mean it will be your favorite.

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