What books define you?

I wanted to repost this because I always thought it was a clever thing. Originally posted to my blog in February of 2004, I think some of my choices might have changed.
Books 
For whatever reason (say an oppressive regime has taken over your country), you find that you have to cut and run, leaving most everything behind to live on the lam for a while. After packing all the essentials (You packed a flashlight, right? Double check), you find that you have room for 7 or 8 books. You have 5 minutes to select the books to take.

Project: spend 5 minutes and grab 7 or 8 books (big books take up more space) from your home (or work) library. These books must actually be in your collection at the time of the excercise. Stack them up, take a digital photo, post it on your website/blog, and trackback this entry or post a comment to this entry with a link to it.

1. "The Writers Block" - A great little book full of ideas for creative writing. So, if my mind is stagnant on the island...I have something to help me pass the time.

2. "The Blue Day Book" - This little book always brings a smile to my face on those 'down' days. On a deserted island, I am bound to need a pick-me-up now and again.

3. A copy of the Torah (Hebrew Bible)....I actually would try to bring my bigger more traditional one.

4. "Honky" - Just read it over the summer and found it to be entertaining and very interesting. The stories of this little white boy's life growing up in the tenements of New York gives a wonderful perspective on race and social status in America.

5. "Midsummer Night's Dream" - Ummmm....because it's sorta mandatory to have a Shakespeare? Maybe a small anthology woulda been better.

6. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" - A wonderful, thought provoking and complex yet easy to grasp African American story. The writer, Zora Neale Hurston, is phenomenal in story telling. The language is very southern which makes reading it a bit complex, but the story and issues addressed are relatable on many levels.

7. "My Name is Asher Lev" - A phenomenal book that made me cry and saddened me when it ended. You know a book is great when that happens. Chaim Potok uses imagery in this novel in ways which made me truly be able to "see" the paintings the little boy in the story develops. A must read for sure!! I could read this 5 times and still not get all its complexities.

8. "To Kill a Mockingbird" - My all time favorite book growing up. (couldn't find my copy-I better go get one just in case.)