House on fire, can only save book, what would it be?

[Happily Candied]

I feel like my answer is the same for every question here sometimes. Haha.

I'd have to go with my signed first edition, first printing of The Stolen Child. It's tough choosing between it and my proof copy of the same book, but I absolutely worship the feel and overall inner and outer beauty of the first printing. It's one of those books I love to just have sit near me for comfort reasons; I don't even have to be reading it to enjoy it.

[khadoja_ayad]

The Jungle Book, it is the main reason I'm such a book-aholic!

[moderntimes]

Which book would I save? No contest. I'd save my 1st edition, yes first edition of James Joyce's "Ulysses", Shakespeare & Co., Paris.

Who's got better? Books that were enjoyed, sure, you can get new copies. But a rare book like "Ulysses"? No contest.

After that? My signed first edition of Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian".

[saviolo]

Chaps, why risk your life to save a book you can just replace at Smiths? I'd have to grab my fathers copy of "A Princess of Mars". Utter pulp nonsense and a very cheap 60's edition, but my father read it to me when I was very young. It opened up the world of imaginative fiction for me,

[dina77]

My great great grandmothers copy of Swiss Family Robinson - the binding is falling apart and its well loved with a lot of dog eared pages but irreplaceable

[loribpalmer83]

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. LOVE that book

[PashaRu]

If the house was on fire, I wouldn't run to the bookcase first. But if I had the chance and for some strange reason could only save one book, it would either be...

The Monster of Grammont by George Goodchild (not terribly valuable, but was given to me by my father, and is apparently the only book my grandfather ever read), or...

The Parade's Gone By by Kevin Brownlow (one of the best books about the Silent Film Era. It's still in print, but mine is hardcover cloth-bound, printed in 1968. I found it while browsing a huge street sale in NYC nearly 20 years ago. I've not seen this particular edition since.)

[moderntimes]

Interesting how you found a beloved book at a street sale, Pasha.

Some years ago I was kind of dragged to an estate sale on an otherwise terrific Saturday by an artistic girlfriend (ah, the things we do for love!) and she wanted to look at the art pieces. Bored, I wandered around and saw a big bookcase filled with old books. Loving such, I browsed and then I saw "Ulysses" on the binding back, thought, "Maybe a nice old American Random House edition" and opened the flyleaf to find "Shakespeare & Co., Paris" and "1924". It was a rare first edition (although not the $80,000 valuable first printing).

Nevertheless my heart fluttered and I asked the guy at the counter "How much for this?" -- he took a quick glance, said "It's a clean binding, almost no wear. I gotta charge you twenty bucks."

You've never seen a 20 dollar bill zoom from wallet to hand so fast!

[CatGitane]

The one I'm writing. It's the most important thing I have, now that my cat has passed away. As a book from someone else, it would be Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, my favourite book. Otherwise, I would run away with mine because it means so much to me.

[autumnmarie]

This is a tough one. I probably would grab my copy of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland...Mostly because I reread it so many times and made a bunch of notes and underlines. Just sentimental I suppose. Anywho, really tough question. I'd grab a garbage bag and just pile them on

[jhollan2]

Is it cheating to say that would save whatever book I was reading at the time? Though I love all of my books and would be heartbroken to lose them all, I would want to be able to finish whatever book I was in the middle of or it would drive me mad. Is that in keeping with the spirit of the question?

[sammi8764]

The Night Circus. Definitely. My love for that book is much too grand.

[RachelMarie80]

My bible for sure!

[Wolfsbane Creations]

My signed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone first edition

[CrescentMoon]

I would save East of Eden. This book is one of my favorites and I find the story so inspirational and emotional. I would really hate to lose this book. This is the one I would definitely pick to save.