5 Books I Can’t Live Without: Amanda Teague of Library of my Own

Happy Thursday, folks.  Please welcome my friend Amanda from Library of my Own to share the five books she can’t live without!

Residing in sunny Las Vegas, Amanda is an aspiring librarian, new mom, wife, and dog owner.  Her passions include reading, photography, coffee, and traveling.

I grew up loving books.  My mom is an early childhood education major and instilled very early in me a love of books.  When Brooke asked me if I wanted to do a post on the five books I can’t live without, I jumped at the chance.  I mean, I’ve carted around books from Alaska, Colorado, New York, to Nevada.  So here’s my countdown of five must-have books:

1.  CATCHER IN THE RYE.  My dad passed away from cancer when I was in high school and I remember having to read Catcher in the Rye for school.  I loved it.  For some reason it was the perfect book for a disgruntled teenager like myself.  I remember writing a paper comparing Holden Caulfield’s to myself and my teacher thinking it was pretty good.  Man, I wish I could find that paper.  So when she told me I could keep the school’s battered red  covered copy for myself, I was thankful.  Re-reading the book just isn’t the same experience but I keep that old copy because it holds so many memories.

2.  THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO.  This was another high school mandatory read and I just fell in love with the story of revenge – insanely meticulous well thought out revenge and how in the end, was it worth it?  I still have that copy I bought in high school but over the years collecting different versions of the book has been a little obsession of mine.  I’ve re-read the book numerous times and still love the story.

3.  THE WHEEL OF TIME SERIES.  My dad was in the middle of reading book seven (the different covered paperback version for you in the know) when he passed away.  He loved science fiction so I decided to check it out.  I fell in love with the series, perhaps because of my dad, and eventually got my sister and brother hooked as well.  I still have a handful of old science fiction paperbacks from my dad that I don’t think I will ever be able to give away.

4.  VAN GOGH BOOKS – At some point in high school, I fell in love with van Gogh’s artwork and his life.  I’ve got quite the collection of art books, letters to Theo, and of course Irving Stone’s Lust for Life.  When Sheramy Bundrick came out with her novel Sunflowers, I fell in love with her story.  I’ve got a few other books and novels that I need to read but I can’t imagine I’ll ever be without some kind of book on van Gogh.  By the way, if anyone is feeling generous, I wouldn’t mind owning the six volume edition of van Gogh’s letters.  Just putting that out there

5.  THE BIBLE. This list would not be complete without the Bible.  I am a Christian and it’s my goal to read the entire Bible cover to cover.  Even if you are not a believer, I can’t think of any other collection of work that I could read a billion times and always get something new out of it.  If I was stranded on a desert island it would be my must-have read because it would never get old and would hold so much hope and peace.