What book would you die by?

One morning with nothing to do but wait for lunch, we sat in the long grass and discussed Aunt Bett's brother, Uncle Victor. For some reason he held a morbid  fascination for us, and it was usually Owen who started us off.

     Avery imitated the haughty angle of Owen's head.

     'They say he died when a book fell off his library shelf and knocked him senseless.'

     'What book was it?' I asked him.

     Owen sighed disdainfully.

     'Who cares,' he said. 'That's not the point, is it?'

     Owen, Avery explained, was disturbed that a man who had survived being a soldier in the Great War could die so unheroically.

     'It certainly is the point,' I argued. 'What book would you choose to die by?'

     There was a moment's silence while we all contemplated this question.

     'The Bible, I suppose,' said Tom.

     'Oh, don't be so melodramatic,' said Owen.

     'I'd choose Browning's Portuguese Sonnets,' said Nina.

     'Not thick enough,' I said.

     Then we heard my mother calling and as usual Owen, being the eldest by almost eight years, had the last word.

     'I'd choose Grey's Anatomy or a medical encyclopedia, just in case there was a slim chance of resuscitating me...'

(Anne Michaels, The Winter Vault)

So, what book would you choose to die by?