Ah, it's ice breaker time and the infamous question, "What is your favorite book/movie/song", is back. Since I'm the type of person who always likes to be prepared, I've spent a lot of time pondering this question. I thought I'd offer some pointers. Plus, it's like finding a piece of your identity - our favorites represent what we value and love about the world.
Books
Choice 1: A series
Book series make life easy because then you don't have to pick one. However, they often end up being things like Harry Potter and, for me, I find that while I love Harry Potter, I don't feel it is very representative of my favorite kind of literature - it's more a part of who I am since I did grow up with it. So on to Choice 2.
Choice 2: The book that was the most surprising
That book that had a shocking ending that you wanted to talk about forever or the one that you walked blindly into based of a recommendation. For me, this is the option I like because when I read The Picture of Dorian Gray (my favorite book), I knew nothing about it and was completely surprised and very emotionally invested.
Choice 3: The book that changed the way you view the world
I always consider this because the ideas in these books are very impactful, they become a part of our subconscious and part of how we react to what's happening around us. I chose The Lorax when I was little for this reason, I chose Harry Potter when I was in middle school for this reason, and I would consider The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up to be up there as well in my adult life.
Movies
Choice 1: The movie that made you say, "Oh - this is so beautiful"
Just let it come to you, you know which movie's you've seen that are particularly beautiful. For me these are La La Land, Hugo, and The Fall, they're movies that are breathtaking in some way.
Choice 2: The movie that made you feel the most
These are the films where you leave the theater feeling emotionally exhausted - often times people will choose this method to determine their favorites. For me this would include Whiplash, Children of Men, and Never Let Me Go.
Choice 3: The movie that makes you the happiest
This is my option of choice, I think what makes you happiest is the most telling because you'll come back to it again and again and you'll never stop talking or thinking about it. My favorite film is Stardust for this reason. I always feel silly saying it in a world of film majors but no movie is as much fun to me as that one is.
Songs
This is probably the hardest one to pin down. So much is dependent on mood and what songs you're used to hearing. Instead of giving choices, for this one I'll just ask the one question that helped me figure it out:
If you could only save one song in the world, what song would it be?
Stick to your gut - chances are you'll pick a song that means a lot to you. For me it's Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley.
My final piece of advice is once you choose a favorite, stick with it. You chose it for a reason, wait a little while before switching it up. I personally rarely change my favorites, and I do wait when considering a new song, book, or movie just because I do consider my favorites to be a part of who I am.
