If you were on a desert island and you had only one bookshelf, what would be on it?

So begins a series here on books that I would make sure survived the shipwreck so I could read foundational writing while I wait for rescue.

To start off, I'm making sure I have a Bible with me, hopefully an Ignatius Bible 2nd edition (RSVCE).

The Bible is everything to me. Everything.

Of course as I write this series, I think of the G. K. Chesterton's thoughts on desert island reading. He feels "certain that everyone would take Thomas'Guide to Practical Shipbuilding so that they could get away from the island as quickly as possible." (from Chesterton as Seen by His Contemporaries)

But on the desert island that is this world, the Bible is that shipbuilding guide. And yes, it does tell you how to build an ark.