Playing Favorites

Three days ago my wife informed me that her cousin's 30th birthday wish was that he be sent a copy of his loved ones' favorite book with an explanation of why it held such a position in the sender's heart. His plan is, of course, to read the beloved book so that he can be touched as we have been. At first I thought the task was to send a well thumbed copy of said favorite book. Immediately I felt a stone in my gut. There was no way I was going to part with my copy of one of my favorite books. Those are my friends, well loved and even if I haven't cracked some of them open in decades, it would be like sending one of my children away to another mother (if I had children, that is). I later learned that a new copy of the favorite book could be sent, which at least stopped my panicking. But then my problem became, which favorite book? Would it be my favorite book growing up, Little Women (sorry Anne of Green Gables, you take a close second place)? Or should it be a favorite romance, the genre I love the most and almost exclusively read? Perhaps Dreaming of You, my first favorite romance, or Marrying Winterbourne, my current favorite romance? Should it be The Windancer, the romance I think is a great indroduction to the genre? Or maybe one of my favorite romances with non-traditional storylines and characters, to delight a non-romance reader, such as The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie or The Portrait, or Waiting on the Moon? There are just so so many. I realized I don't like playing favorites, particularly among my romances, so after much thought I sent my cousin by marriage Little Women. It is a worthy addition to anyone's library and I hope that he loves it as much as I do.