1. I'd throw in an early book from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum numbered series because they are easy-breezy (aka put brain in park) reads and often hilarious. Something to lift you up when your last nerve is being worked by one of the other survivors. :)

2. I'd take along A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, Jr. because, though I read it many years ago, it continues to stay with me as one of the most profoundly touching books I've read. It reminds me to treat everyone with dignity and not to judge a book (or a person) by its cover.

3. If I could have an endless power supply to run my CD player or iPod, I'd take the audiobook version of The Help because I thought it was the best audiobook I'd ever heard. If not, I'd take the paper version. Awesome story and wonderful characters...some laughs, some drama, some serious issues. It would remind me that there are people who have lived and triumphed through much worse adversity than being stranded on a desert island.

4. I'd like to take one of my two favorite books from 2010 but I'm having a hard time deciding. They are both downer stories--sad and tragic--but both wonderful. I guess because it gave me those most dramatic reaction and kept my attention SO rapt, I would chose The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley. When you're stranded on a desert island, sometimes you might just need to get lost in an intense story to take your mind of your own situation. :)

5. I'd want to take at least one nonfiction book...though I've not (yet) read any of Maya Angelou's books, I think I would want to take her autobiography (I think there is one?) because I think she is amazing. Saw her profiled on Oprah Presents Master Class last week and she was spec-tac-u-lar!