What's Your READ Book Choice?

The fabulous GreenBeanTeenQueen blogged the other day about celebrities promoting books and how many of us just want to know why they picked the book they are reading in those famous READ posters.  Has Catcher in the Rye really shaped that many people's lives, or was because it's required reading in school and is the only book they remember reading?

It's hard to tell.  Some probably have read the book and have a great reason for picking it, like Nathan Fillion:

Nathan is a co-founder of KNTR (Kids Need To Read), and he's reading a book by his friend and co-founder YA Sci Fi author PJ Haarsma.  The book is Softwire: Awakening on Orbis.  You can really tell this is something he has a passion for, and is not afraid to talk about it.

But some may argue, at least they are promoting reading and it shouldn't matter what book they pick.  Which is totally true- at least the celebrity is taking the time to promote a book.  But if you are taking the time to do a READ photoshoot, give us a little line about what you loved about the book, or why you chose it for the poster.

So this brings me to my question.  What would you choose as your READ book?

I've had to sit and think about this one for a while.  There are so many books that I love, that have shaped and influenced me, and I want to hold all of them!

I narrowed it down to four:
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (the Dragonriders of Pern series really launched my love of fantasy)
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman (I bawled like a baby at the end of the 3rd book, and I still ponder it sometimes)
Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn (I grew to love the characters throughout the series, and waited with baited breath for each subsequent book to come out- I again, bawled like a baby at the end because I was losing my friends)

But my choice would be Sabriel by Garth Nix. 




This is what the cover looked like back when I read it



 Sabriel struck a certain chord with me, that is still hard to explain to this day.  I still remember when I read it in Junior High and thought if I ever wrote a book, this is what I would want it to be like.  I never thought I would be a writer at the time, but this book pretty much is what permanently glued me to YA fantasy.  Garth Nix just has the natural ability to weave a fantasy adventure story with a little bit of romance, all the while doing it under 90,000 words.  Sabriel is what I would consider the perfect "formula" for a YA fantasy.

But if I could be holding Sabriel, and have the other three stacked next to me with the spines showing, that would be perfect.

So, what would be your pick for your own READ poster?