If you like your treats sweet and accompanied by a good book, you’ll love Out of The Bex’s beautiful Bookstagram account. A book blogger, tea addict and donut devotee from Washington DC, she blogs over at Out of The Bex and offers everything from book reviews, to blogger resources and reading round-ups, making it a great online destinations for anyone with a penchant for books. I loved finding out which books Bex would chose to take with her to a Desert Island and hope that you too will find some literary inspiration below…
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
If I’m to be stranded on a desert island, then I want my fictional family with me. Little Women is, and has been, such a comfort to me. I keep the audiobook on download for times when I’m anxious or stressed. Something about Marmee and her four little women make we want to do better. They act as a sort of guiding force for me in this boisterous life, offering simplicity and kindness in an otherwise complex world.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Ah, Alice. Yes, we are on a first name basis. It’s true this book isn’t for everyone, but to me its particular brand of irrational humor makes complete sense. It’s a book that speaks loudly to some, yet only whispers to others. In my case, it practically shouts. I can imagine reading this mad little tale when times on my desert island are at their worst and I need a complete distraction.
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I imagine that there would be some dreadfully dreary downtime on a desert island when the only thing to entertain you would be boiling water and hoping that you would be able to catch some food that day. What better to fill your downtime than a sweeping epic with a femme fatale at its reins? The biggest benefit about having an epic like this one on a desert island is sheer volume. It would take you longer than a few days to read it and you could happily take your time, making the most out of those long desert island days. Besides, there’s no one better than Scarlett O’Hara to inspire a bit of gumption in a desperate woman.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
What kind of book nerd would I be if I didn’t bring at least one Harry Potter book with me? The third is my favorite and would make the perfect fantasy escape when I needed it most.
Eyewitness to History by John Carey
It seem to me that it would be quite easy to fall into a deep well of self-pity when struggling to survive in complete and utter solitude on a desert island. For that reason, I would absolutely bring along this book for a healthy dose of perspective. This thick tome is a compilation of over three hundred eyewitness accounts that span twenty-four centuries. We’re talking about written accounts of real witnesses to some of history’s grandest suffering, visions, and visitations: human sacrifice among the Aztecs, the death of Socrates, factory conditions in 1815, the Great Fire of London in 1666. Morbid? Maybe. But nothing will get you out of a self-pity slump like realizing that if I’m reading about one man’s unfortunate and fatal encounter with Vlad the Impaler, then maybe my circumstances suddenly don’t seem so bad. P.S. This is a book I “borrowed” from my father. Please don’t tell on me.
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
I have one name for you and this one name should be all you need to understand why I would have this book with me at all times, no matter how dire the circumstances. That name is Samwise Gamgee. Case closed.
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
Earth Abides is one of the most incredible classics that no one’s heard of. I’d like to remedy that. But for the sake of this exercise, this book would absolutely and without a doubt be with me on a desert island. It’s a post-apocalyptic novel, but instead of focusing on the disaster, it instead focuses on a resurrection, the evolution of a modern world once ruined by cataclysm and the return to humanity’s most basic being by a new, but stunningly original, Prometheus. I’m sorry if I’ve gone on a bit of a tangent here, but Earth Abides is, in a few words, humanity at its most naturalistic core.
Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen
Look, I’m not crazy. This is a desert island after all and I’m going to need to figure out a way to survive long enough to read all these books!
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