Top Ten Books I'd Want On A Deserted Island

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the bloggers of The Broke and the Bookish. This week's prompt was to select my top ten books to take on a deserted island. 

First some literature: 

The Collected Works of Shakespeare — There are volumes that contain all of his works! Though I could make do with simply his plays and not include his poems. Shakespeare had such an influence on modern English and I have only read a small portion of the entirety of his corpus, so I'd love the opportunity to read and re-read his works.

The Collected Works of Jane Austen — Once again, Austen's works have been packaged into one volume, so I wouldn't consider this cheating. I love her Regency-era Britain romances and the strong heroines and signature wit that pepper Austen's stories.

The Lord of the Rings (full trilogy) by J.R.R. Tolkien — Tolkien considered this to be one book rather than a trilogy, so I'd be adhering to his wishes. As much as I love the movies, I've only read through the whole series once. Tolkien's world-building is so rich I'm sure I could read this many times and continue to discover new things.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo — I adore the Broadway musical based on this book. But I've seen the book (actually I own a copy) and I know it'll require quite the strength of will to get through this. If I was on a deserted island without much to do, perhaps I could actually find the time to read this.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte — It's difficult for me to choose between Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. I adore both for many different reasons. But between the two of them, I was able to read and love Wuthering Heights by myself, while I didn't form a true appreciation of Jane Eyre until class. I'd love to revisit Cathy and Heathcliff's dysfunctional relationship time and time again.

Then some comfort reads:

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine — This is my favorite fairy-tale retelling of all time. Ella's story still makes me swoon and smile and laugh. Having a comfort book with me would be the next-best thing to having real company.

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner — This would be more of a comfort read, of a sort. Really, I'd just want the chance to read about Eugendes, Attolia, the Magnus, and Eddis over and over again. And watch the romance form. And go from hating Attolia to coming to love and respect her character. And to watch Eugenides become a hero.

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith — Another comfort read. I love reading about Mel's struggles first in battle and then with politics. She epitomizes the naive heroine at first, but she really does grow tremendously throughout the series. 

And now for some practical considerations:

Basic survival guide — I have a practical side here as well. I was a girl scout for a short amount of time and didn't learn any essential survival skills, so I'd need a guide to teach me to how hunt for food, set up camp, start a fire, and do all of those basic but necessary tasks.

Informational guidebook about the area — I'd like to be able to know the flora and the fauna of the area so I'd know what to eat and what to avoid. Knowing weather patterns and geographical information would also be super helpful.

Trying to find a balance in the type of books I'd bring...sounds about right. What are the books that you'd take with you on a deserted island?