Welcome to Katie's Casa de DIK (Island)!

*Have to keep with the tone of nekkid men... :D* The next three days it is all about me! It’s my turn on the fun and wacky DIK blog and for my first day, why not start with my list of ultimate book picks that I would need if I was stranded on a desert island. Since there would be no electricity, (GASP!! NO INTERNET OR TV??) I would have to keep myself busy some how. With the exception of the play dates I would have with my *coughhornycough* men who reside in my hut.

Without further ado, the KB's DIK books…

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. This is the one book that I compare every romance I have ever read to. There has been no other book since, where I read for eight hours straight, late into the night to the point I could hardly keep my eyes open. Want a book that will tear your heart to pieces? This is the one. I cried to the point, when I finished reading, I sat with this book in my lap and couldn’t stop shaking. Since then I have re-read, well, the majority of the sex scenes, which are plentiful and so very emotional, every few months. The setting is Russia during WWII and it all begins when a young teenage girl decides to buy an ice cream cone and the young man who falls in love with her from the moment he sees her eating that cone as if it is the most precious thing in the world. The Bronze Horseman is a true masterpiece of romance historical fiction that should not be missed. If I ever have a son, he will be named after the hero, Alexander.

The Stand by Stephen King. I bow down to Stephen King. He is my idol, the main reason I love reading. I will never forget the first time I picked up a Stephen King novel. I was seventeen years old and seriously had gone through the whole romance section of my local library. My mother recommended King and the first book I picked was the 1,200 page, unabridged version of The Stand. This is MY FAVORITE BOOK OF ALL TIME. Not only did King scare the bejesus out of me because I really believed a virus would be unleashed on the Earth and kill mankind, but he has a way of writing incredible characters. He doesn’t just write about a handful, but rather, about fifty or so characters I can think of in The Stand that he makes come alive. No other author I can think of has done this. The Stand is a work of art.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Catherine and Heathcliff are my all time favorite romantic couple. So what if Catherine is a spoiled, petty little bitch and Heathcliff is the crazed, obsessed anti-hero so far gone in love that he becomes evil because of it? I wanted these two together and not give a damn for anybody else other than each other.

My favorite monologue in all of fiction is the one where Catherine speaks of her feelings for Heathcliff:

"It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him: and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it...Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."

Once and Future King by T.H. White. I read this novel my junior year of high school and finished it in three days. This is all about Arthur and how he met Merlin, found the sword in the stone, became King, got screwed over by Guinevere and founded the Knights of the Round Table. Everyone talks about Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, well; Once and Future King is my Lord of the Rings.

Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas. This is one of my all time favorite historical romances. A woman, turning thirty wants to loose her virginity. Amanda is a bit eccentric, as she is a writer in 19^th century England and bit too wide in the hips for her tastes. She hires a male prostitute to give her one night of sex and is in for quite a surprise when she mistakes her future employer, Jack, as the prostitute. From that point on Amanda and Jack become friends, confidants and lovers. Their relationship is so dear and wonderful. Jack loves a women with curves! Plus, Lisa writes one of the most shocking and tantalizing love scenes I have ever read in all of romance.

Demon Angel by Meljean Brook. I grew up in a strict Catholic home, where I went to Catholic school from kindergarten to my senior year of high school. I am a deep believer of Heaven and Hell, God and the Devil, Angels and Demons. Other than the bible or Dante’s Inferno, there has been no other fiction written that even comes close to the Heaven and Hell myth I longed to read. Then one day I saw this book. I read the first chapter and there was no turning back. Meljean has me as a fan for life. Demon Angel may be a love story of two lovers who should not be together in any way possible, but the undercurrents of spiritualism and religion is deep within these pages. Thousands of years of unbridled lust between a guardian angel of heaven and a demon of hell makes for some great reading. Talk about star crossed lovers, Hugh and Lillith are the ultimate ones who make Romeo and Juliet look tame in comparison.

I leave you with Gerry till tomorrow when KB DIK Day 2 is all about my favorite heroes!

Katiebabs (KB)