by Matt Bird

Created on: May 04, 2009

Having read hundreds of books over the course of my life, I find it difficult to narrow down a select list of them as my absolute favorites. It's even harder to stick those ones I've selected in any sort of order.

Therefore I think I'll just toss in ten books I REALLY REALLY like, and you can judge my literary tastes from there. Fair? Fair.

- It, by Stephen King. I'll forever love this book. It's an incredible fusion of the trials of child and adulthood with the horrors of facing a supernatural menace, and King pulls the whole thing off brilliantly. Even better, he manages to make incredible characters out of a closely-knit group of kids who would otherwise be considered losers. And who can't love Pennywise the Clown, a true nightmare come to life?

- The Green Mile, by Stephen King. Proof enough that King isn't all about scares, The Green Mile is a lovely if tragic story about a wrongly imprisoned inmate with a heart of gold and the power to heal. Fraught with human weakness and the willingness to overcome that weakness, The Green Mile is as redemptory a tale as every I've read.

- The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. I imagine most Tolkien fans would take Lord of the Rings over this introductory volume any day of the week, but not me. Bilbo's struggle against trials far bigger than himself is far more succinct and enjoyable than its bigger brothers, with a slew of characters you can't help but love. And who doesn't like the riddling contest with Gollum in the dark?

- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. I don't think I can plsit this collection up. They all flow too well into one another, and the complete set is just too funny. Filled with nonsensical hilarity punctuated by some truly touching moments, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is sure evidence that a story doesn't always need to make total sense to be enjoyable, so long as you SOUND like you know what you're talking about.

- A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. Generally speaking I'm not a huge fan of older work, so I was happily surprised when I cracked open A Tale of Two Cities. Spanning dozens of years with a sweeping cast of characters, this one drew me in primarily with its tragic hero, Sydney Carton, who makes the ultimate sacrifice with a level of nobility I can only hope to have when my time comes.

- Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. Funny, funny, funny. Catch-22 is similar to Hitchhiker in that it often doesn't make sense; however its internal logic is darkly funny, and definitely

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