It's Not Who You Are, It's What You Like.

5 Books I'd Take on a Deserted Island

You'll probably note the excessive (yet informative!) use of links in this entry which I'd prefer to gently explain. Every so often I order all different types of stuff off of The Mighty Ape, it's an online shop based on the North Shore in Auckland. Unlike most places in NZ, it offers very decently priced books and vinyl. I use them because they are cheap, fast, and friendly. Also, I won two free passes to see Terry Pratchett's talk off their twitter competition. They made me a WINNER! If Mighty Ape carries a mentioned item, I've put up the cheapest priced link where you can find it.

ONWARDS-!

1. 100 Food Experiences to Have Before You Die by Stephen Downes

This is my favourite book of all time, and I'm not ashamed to post it for all to see. His list ranges from tremendously complex dishes to a simple piece of fruit, each entry carefully constructed to give a full background and understanding of just WHY Properly Cooked Chips are worth the effort. He includes the full run down of the 100 Dishes, including his own history with said dish which leaves you heady from the descriptions of how each has the possibility of changing your existence. Case in point: I've been pescetarian for 11 years, but his writing on Coq Au Vin makes me seriously question my beliefs.

2. The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis

This book would serve as a vital reminder of what a pain in the ass it is to deal with fictionally awful and dramatic teens. If I'm on this island by myself then I'd like to think that people are over rated and this book would be a huge help. All that aside, it's a terrific book with extraordinarily fast paced, clever, and delicious plot. Teen drama done right by Uncle Bret. PS- Click link on his name to gander at his delightfully bitchy twitter account.

3. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (Their podcast on itunes is ranked #1)

Some people really hate this book or get bored with it. I've surmised that they must just be simply hateful towards books or boring people. Jokes! Jokes! Ho ho. Human behaviour in economics is a fancy pants and lucrative subject, what with Malcom Gladwell on the loose, et al. However, I am a total sucker for these hip academic types. This book's topics range from how to utilize your real estate agent to their full potential to how cheating works in Sumo wrestling (and public school systems). Reading about what makes people tick and what incentives work fascinates me; you're getting down to the brass tacks of basic principles. Namely, stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with logic and everything to do with re-adjusting how you think people will react. Their podcast is perfect for a workout or a long car trip, you should download a few (they're free) and give the two Ste(ph)vens a go.

4. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace

Wallace's greatest gift as a writer was his uncanny ability to make you snort through your nose with laughter at one line, then continue onwards with that hilarity, steadily building to a fever pitch for the next 20 odd pages. This book is a fine collection of his magazine articles and essays which (in my opinion) better demonstrated his super mutant writing and storytelling powers. The essays are wildly varied, which makes them even more tasty: his time as a tennis player in Illinois, the time he got sent on a cruise by a magazine, the afternoon he got to spend on the set of David Lynch's 'Lost Highway' and cursed out one of the picture's main actors in the footnotes, you get the point.

5. The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

I find it a little hard to articulate how I love this book, especially as it's part of a very staggering list of well written works that Auster has produced. However, I can say this, if you're familiar with his other, textured and curious works then this book stands out for it's softness and nearly wholesome demeanor. While it's been a long time since I've read The Brooklyn Follies, it still stands out in our large collection of his work. It's conversational and not doggedly political or analytic or mysterious or many of the other tropes that wind together Auster's various books. I find that I have to be in a certain mood to read Auster's other works, but I always feel very open to rereading this book again.