# All books are to be burned except for one you choose. Make your choice. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757 "2008-10-20T16:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/81 "2008-10-22T12:59:53Z")
I’ll own the world’s only copy of _Pride and Prejudice_! Go me!. P&P Is one of those books I can read over and over and still enjoy. Of course, if **Fabulous Creature** is a spaz and forgets to take our DVDs, I can just keep my play my copy with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. In which case I’ll have to pick a Vorkosigan novel. StG ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/82 "2008-10-22T13:18:29Z")
I’m a little disturbed that the advert I see below the OP of this thread is for careers at GCHQ… ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/83 "2008-10-22T15:20:04Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Personally I might pick The Neverending Story or The Man Who Folded Himself, but to benefit mankind I think I’ll keep Godel Escher Bach an Eternal Golden Braid, or, you know, the print version of wikipedia 🙂 You know, if FabC permits one part of the 'Net to remain functioning, it’ll be Wikipedia. [QUOTE=StGermain] I’ll own the world’s only copy of Pride and Prejudice! Go me!. P&P Is one of those books I can read over and over and still enjoy. Of course, if Fabulous Creature is a spaz and forgets to take our DVDs, I can just keep my play my copy with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. In which case I’ll have to pick a Vorkosigan novel. [/QUOTE] “If” he’s a spaz? IF? ---
**Author:** ![Autoning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Autoning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autoning)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/84 "2026-07-31T18:30:54Z")
I’d save Path of a warrior by Erin hunter three tiny books in one book mwahahahahaahhaaha ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/85 "2026-07-31T19:12:41Z")
Geez, ONE book? That’s way too hard, so tough that I decided to limit myself to books within sight of where I sit. Still difficult. There’s a Norton anthology of Sci Fi which might be the best choice for other people. There’s an English-Irish dictionary, which is where my heart yearns, even though there wouldn’t be any books to read with it. There’s Tevye and His Daughters, which is the collection of short stories from which “Fiddler On the Roof” was derived. “Wait 'til I winch in the Bear” is a collection of stories from West Virginia in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It’s deeply illustrative of the mindset and morals of early US settlers. (no, I’m not confused about time periods, they really still lived by those mores.) and provides great insight into how they survived. Might be useful at a time like what OP describes. I wish there were a single volume extant that would contain the Four Cycles (Irish history and myth) or even just the Ulster Cycle, but even that would be too big for one book. So I guess I’ll go with Ancient Irish Tales - Cross & Slover which collects most of the best stories. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757.md?page=4)