I was tagged by Ally Stevick and Luke Daly to name 10 books that have stuck with me. Ive done this before, but its been a couple of years and I like thinking about the books I love. The idea is that you dont spend much time thinking about the list, and that they dont have to be GREAT books or the RIGHT books, just books that stayed with you. Im going to tag Christina Thrasher, Peggy Nagy, Amy Winning Flanigan, Mary Younkin, Meseidy Rivera, Kirsten Kubert, and Heather Schoenecke DiSarro... 1.) Anne of Green Gables (series) by L.M. Montgomery. I read those things until the covers fell off when I was a kid. 2) To Dance to Dream by Maxine Drury. This was another one I read to pieces. I loved reading the mini biographies of some of the most influential dancers in history. 3) The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (and remaining books in the series) by Douglas Adams. This was my first real belly laughing while reading a book experience. I still love these books. 4) The Lord of the Rings (series) by J.R.R. Tolkein. The first time I read these books I looked at the world in an entirely different way. Every time Ive read them Ive read something new in them. I expect I always will. 5) Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. I started and stopped this book about 5 times over the years until 10 years ago when I finally committed to reading it cover to cover and fell in LOVE with it. 6) Jeeves and Wooster stories by P.G. Wodehouse (all of em, short and novel length). Val introduced me to these and I re-read them every summer. Theyre like old friends at this point and they never fail to make me grin and laugh. Also, I think my fire cider is like Jeevess pick-me-up, so theres that. 7) The Lord Peter Mysteries by Dorothy Sayers (all of em.) Another series given to me by Val (not surprisingly) and another perennial favourite. I remember one passage that has always stayed with me. Its when Lord Peter is at a performance (I cant remember whether it was an opera or a ballet) with Harriet and she sees how deeply hes moved by the performance not because hes whooping and weeping and gushing about it, but because hes silent and rapt and clutching the arm of the theatre seat. It was a masterful description of restraint and emotion. I love those books. 8) Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling. This gets a nod not only because the books are AMAZING, but because I held off on reading them by virtue of the fact that I thought anything that popular had to be horrid. Lesson learned. Mostly. P.S. Im still waiting for my Hogwarts acceptance letter. 9) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Its one thing to know the plight of women in Islamic fundamentalist countries academically, its another thing entirely to read about it from the viewpoint of someone who grew up in one of those countries and is an unparalleled story teller. This one was powerful. 10) Jamberry by Bruce Degen. This makes the list because we have berry picked EVERY year since Liam was born and I read this book to the boys so many times that I can now (and do) recite the board book version of this in the berry patch as we pick. This is a sentimental pick for sure. The Bible gets its own category, as it should, because it stands alone. ...And while Im hitting post, Im thinking of the hundreds of other worthy books I love.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 14:05:11 +0000