Books, Books, Books

Number of books I own…anyone with “enough” books does not know how many there are… lots and lots, thank goodness. Fiction (like Shipping News and The Jane Austen Book Club), non-fiction ( To Know As We Are Known and A Mind At A Time), new and used, hardback, softcover…you get the idea.

Last book purchased: Ken Harufs’ Where You Once Belonged
(I’ll get to it this summer.)

Last book read: I’m in the middle of The Alchemist…still. It’s lovely, but the end of year busy-ness gets in the way of reading for pleasure. Ahhh, ten more days! Well, the last book completed with gusto: The Probable Future, by Alice Hoffman. I do like her stuff; kind of mystical.

5 Books of Importance To Me:

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh: Harriet’s voyeurism made me realize I was meant to create my own stories, and I was meant to put those stories down on paper. I remember how the character of Golly made me feel less lonely during a lonely time in my childhood.

Up The Down Staircase: rebellious, disrespectful, unconventional…. At 15, this novel started me thinking about teaching difficult kids. In its very unglamourous (for its time) depiction of an urban high school teacher’s life, I saw passion and “hip-ness”. That’s what I wanted to be… passionate and hip. Ha!!

Seventeen by Booth Tarkington: the first “period piece” I read as a young teenager. From this book, I developed a love for finding a good story within a wonderful setting/place/time. It was like an opening of the door into more grown-up fiction.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: I had never read Austen, or Bronte for that matter, until I was into my 30’s. When we planned a trip to England, I took on the 3 big Austen novels, and my trip was all the better for it!!

The book in my head: I’m having a hard time getting it all out, but this summer I plan to add another 100 pages to the 100 I already have. No excuses. I WILL meet that goal! I will get it done!!

So that's my response to the current meme making the rounds. Join in, anyone!!