The 7-book challenge – what would you choose?

I got tagged on Facebook the other day, to do a reading challenge thingy – I suppose it was inevitable really. If you haven’t seen it or done it, it asks you to post 7 covers of books you love over 7 days.

Easy, huh? So why was I in such a quandary over what to choose?

I suppose one reason is that what we choose to read, and what we enjoy reading, are such personal things. I’ve never joined a book club, for example, because I hate the idea of being obliged to read a book. Never mind that I was obliged to read lots of books during my English degree, and found something to like in most of them. I think I’m just contrary.

And what would people think of my choices? Would there be people out there thinking ‘I can’t believe she chose THAT’, or ‘how come she didn’t pick THAT’?

I decided to get the ordeal of choosing over with in one go, so I wandered around the house looking at our bookshelves, and getting nowhere fast. If I chose that one, I couldn’t have that one. And what about this author? Or this one?

So in the end I went to the My Books section in Goodreads, scrolled backwards from today’s date, and picked 7 books which I’d either given 5 stars to or recommended to other people.

Here are the books I chose:

• The Bees – Laline Paull
• Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
• Un Lun Dun – China Mieville
• Apple Tree Yard – Louise Doughty
• Brat Farrar – Josephine Tey
• Tipping The Velvet – Sarah Waters
• Eligible – Curtis Sittenfeld

Which books would you have chosen? If you’ve done the challenge, what did you pick? And did you agonise over it like I did?!

Happy reading, everyone.

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The featured image is Books on a bookshelf by Emma London (public domain)