About Catching Up With An Old Friend

"What's your favorite book?" That's a question that anyone who studies literature and writes about books is bound to hear repeatedly, and it's a question without an easy answer. Thinking about the impact a single book has had on my life got me thinking about other people's favorite books as well. Is your favorite a book that you've passed around to your friends and loved ones, eager to share the joys you've found inside it with others? Or is it a book that you keep to yourself, so that it's your favorite and no one else's? Has your favorite book changed over the years, or has it been your favorite for decades? What about the book makes it your favorite? What these questions all boil down to is: what does our favorite book say about us?

These are the questions I was thinking about when I decided to launch this series. I've asked writers, editors, book reviewers, book bloggers, and just plain lovers of literature to contribute to Catching Up With An Old Friend, and I'll be publishing their responses here weekly. If you'd like to participate, please e-mail your response to atticsaltblog@gmail.com.