21 December 2007

Book worm

Karen at Gem of the Ocean had this going and I thought I would do it too, even though I am pretty literary-challenged.

1. One book that changed your life.
I haven’t read a book that has profoundly impacted my life, but there are some that have stuck with me. Most anything by Charles Dickens, especially Tale of Two Cities and of course, The Christmas Carol. Also, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.

2. One book that you've read more than once.
Catcher in the Rye

3. One book that you'd want on a desert island.
A survival book
The Bible
A photo album

4. One book that made you laugh.
Anything and everything by P.J. O’Rourke

5. One book that made you cry.
I can’t say I’ve ever read a book that made me cry. When I was a child, I never read for pleasure, so didn’t encounter Diary of Anne Frank, Little House, Anne of the Green Gables, etc. As an adult, it wasn’t until recently that I ever read much that wasn’t a text book, since there were a LOT of text books I had to read. Reading was more of a chore than a pleasure. When I was pregnant with my son, I started to read some mysteries and more recently started reading some theological/religious books.

6. One book that you wish had been written.
Experiences of a Soul on his Journey through the After Life, (Ma Beck already mentioned Our Lady’s Diary, which would easily be the book I’d wish had been written, but since that’s been taken...the non-fiction version, not like Dante's Purgatory.)

7. One book that you wish had never been written.
Any romance novel. My mom used to read these mind-numbers, but I’ve never read one – ever. I would rather commit hari-kari than read one of these things.

8. One book that you're currently reading.
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Ph.D. A recommendation by Ma Beck. Very, very good. Maybe this book should be the freshman English selection at UST instead of Handmaid’s Tale.

9. One book you've been meaning to read.
T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton. I’ve read the rest of the series, A-S, and am dying to read the latest.

Tagging anyone who's read the Dick and Jane series.

4 comments:

gemoftheocean said...

Oh, COOL. You took up the challenge. I was hoping you would.

The Wharton book sounds interesting. She's someone I've always meant to take the time to read more about.

I LOVE PJO'Rourke. He DA MAN. I especially got a charge out of his description of working on the magazine HARRY -- I.E. he was enamoured of some hippy chick, and he and a bunch of buddies started a magazine...then the girlfriend went Maoists, and the Maoists tried to take over HARRY and then PJ "got religion" on "guns and ammo" as perhaps being a good check on Maoists. He is one writer who can make me literally howl out loud with laughter. BTW, it strikes me you might enjoy Jean Shepard (who wrote IN GOD WE TRUST ALL OTHERS PAY CASH and other items - there's also a website whereby you can listen to some of his radio recordings. -- he had a radio talk show for a number of years "back in the day."

What was it especially that appealed to you about Holden Caufield?

If you like British type mysteries, you can't really beat Dorothy Sayers for style. Try her NINE TAYLORS - that can stand on its own without a lot of background needed. Very English, and you get to learn about campanology. (bell ringing) Fun as Dame Agathe is, she can't hold a candle to Dorothy, IMO.

I'm with you on the Romance novel thing. Just stab my eyes out or kill me, the experience would be more enjoyable.

The Woods and the Grafton I hadn't heard of, I'll check into them.

Oh, and I was pleasantly pleased a few years back when the author of the Dick and Jane series DIED. That Dick and Jane **** alone probably ruined at least a couple of generations for reading for pleasure. All that "controlled reading vocabulary" stuff is for the BIRDS. If you, as an adult, are bored reading that junk, guess what -- a KID will be too. Too many people make the mistake of thinking that just because kids are young, that they are stupid!

Karen

swissmiss said...

E. Wharton's books are just kind of sad. I've read a most of Jane Austin's books and they are sort of similar, but Wharton's are darker and without the humor.

P.J. O'Rourke is THE funniest. Nothing I would recommend a kid to read, but I it's a generational thing I can relate to. The stuff about all the leaders in Korea being named Kim something was hilarious.

Nothing appealed to me about Catcher in the Rye. I actually read it in college...forced myself to, because I was so unread I thought I'd be learnin' myself somethin'. I then read it again later when I heard some critique of Holden C's character. I can't say I find the book very appealing...unlike Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory.

I've never read any Dorothy Sayers, but will have to keep that in mind. I've read many in Anne Perry's mystery series. Really like them. She set some of them at the front during WWI and they were VERY good if even just for the period setting. I like Sue Grafton, but her books are more read 'em on the beach kind. I read a lot of them late at night when I was pregnant. Really like her stories for an easy and enjoyable read.

I didn't have Dick and Jane. They got the kibosh right before I started school. We had Bill, Jill and Lad the dog. I can bet you mine were worse than yours! Just wish I had one to show on my blog. And I thought romance novels were mind-numbing!!!

Patriot said...

Merry Christmas from a reader!!

gemoftheocean said...

We had a Catholic version of Dick and Jane. VERY 1940s, because they hadn't bothered to update them for my early 60s generation. a few people "down on the farm" still hadn't had electricity put in ... and the "Fr. Activist" of the day organized the townvoken to help get these people into the 20th century. As primer books they weren't too bad, at least they had a Catholic angle to them! I had run across them the other day when I was rearranging things and had reached "way back there" into untouched shelving that had been double stacked.

Holden Caufield was more or less the prototypical disaffected yuth who was gonna smoke some Mary J. and DayNow....

BTW, the BBC put out a number of the Sayers mystries on film. Fairly well done, but you didn't have all the loving details, but the newer set done in the late 80s was quite good (the earlier ones from the 70s weren't bad either.)

Sayers main character is an English Lord with detective skills. Very fun period pieces. Highly literate and amusing and well crafted. Her own father was a vicar. 9 Taylors is set against the backdrop of the fen country (in the far south east of England where it's very flat and marshy) -- an old robbery, a few new deaths, mistaken identities, an English parson, the campanology...it's quite a read.

Karen

Karen