Friday, October 12, 2007

Book Meme and Post 1000!

Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting. ~Christopher Morley

I can't believe it -- this is my ONE THOUSANDTH POST! Wowza. I'm shocked. I don't feel like I've been blogging this long.

A book meme from Anno:

Total number of books

Not as many as I used to have -- marriage to a neat-freak absolute NON pack-rat will do that to you. Still, I have about 50 - 100 (?)...maybe more if you count my writing books. Don't make me go count. The best part? I'm getting a whole new area soon, complete with more bookcases I can fill up *G*.

Last book read

Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn. What a fantastic fantasy! I blame it for getting me on the kick of writing a fantasy for NaNoWriMo. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and am halfway through the second book of the series. I'm impressed with Ms. Shinn's writing ability, and will surely seek out books from her other series when I've exhausted this one.

Last book bought

In the same Amazon order:

Daily Life in the United States, 1920 - 1940; and

How To Do Everything With Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003

I'm a laugh a minute, aren't I?

Five meaningful books

Oh, good heavens, Five?? I don't typically do "meaningful". Let's see...

1. We Had Everything But Money - I discovered this book at my library while researching the depression era. I wrote a story set in 1946, and another (forthcoming) set in 1953 and I am planning two more -- one in 1933 and one in 1942. I love this time period... this book is on my wishlist, and I hope to get it for my bookshelf someday. It's a fabulous look at how the people then didn't see themselves as poor and how they opened their hearts and homes and lives to those in greater need. It's a shame we don't -- or aren't able to -- live the same way today.

2. "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. Judy introduced me to this one, and what a truly amazing book it is. Despite how it is advertised, I think it's more for adults than children, and guaranteed to make every mother cry. Wonderful. Wonderful.

3. Food Revolution -- a must read for anyone who wants to see what really happens in the industry of raising animals for meat. It's written by the heir to the Baskin-Robbins throne, who is now vegan and eschews dairy products. Amazon describes it thusly: What can we do to help stop global warming, feed the hungry, prevent cruelty to animals, avoid genetically modified foods, be healthier and live longer? Eat vegetarian, Robbins argues. Noting the massive changes in the environment, food-production methods, and technology over the last two decades, he lambastes contemporary factory-farming methods and demonstrates that individual dietary choices can be both empowering and have a broader impact. I recommend it.

I've hit the wall... can't think of anything more "meaningful". In fact, in desperation, I turned to this site: "The 100 Most Meaningful Books Of All Time". It's now official -- I am TRULY a shallow person. I always suspected this, but the list proves it. Why? Because I have read... are you ready?... FIVE BOOKS off the entire list, and one I read because I had to for my college philosophy class ("The Death of Ivan Ilyich" in case you wondered). I have NOT read: Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, Lolita or many other "classics". I know of them, and I recognized most of the titles and could probably tell you a smidge about their plots. But, I have NOT read them. And to be honest, I have no desire to do so.

So... there you have it. My deep, dark secret. Actually, I've never made any secret of my dislike of most classics. They're so tragic. Real life is too full of tragedy to waste my precious reading time on it. If you must give me a message in my books, do it in something happy. I think many children's books do that admirably: All the Narnia books, "A Wrinkle In Time", The Prydain Chronicles and more. They contain a message, but they also end well and make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I suppose those could count toward my quota, right?

So... want to play? Judy? Michele? Allie?

Anyone who reads this and wants to play, feel free. Just let me know, so I can peek!

============================

You Are Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"We saved the world. I say we have to party."


How cool is that?

10 comments:

anno said...

Love You Forever was one of my FAVORITE books to read to my daughter--and long after she stopped letting me read to her, I'd sneak peeks at it while she was at school.Thanks for reminding me of this wonderful book -- and thanks for playing!

Melissa McClone said...

I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer, too!

I read Love You Forever and cried. My mom and hubby laughed at me for crying over the book. They thought it was silly.

Anonymous said...

Your ONE THOUSANDTH POST! Wow that calls for either a Congratulations wish or a drink....or both.
If it's going to be a drink, then I'll join you..

Good work

Brandy said...

Don't feel bad about the meaningfil books list. I've only read 8 off of that list. Where are Louisa May Alcott's books on there?! I think it should be the 100 books you read to be pretentsious list. *g*

As for the quiz, another Buffy here. Um, no.

Have a wonderful day!

Anonymous said...

Hey, I could use that Daily Life in the United States myself!

And we've got our twin thing going today. I'm also Buffy. :)

Dru said...

Another Buffy here.

Jim Melvin said...

One thousand posts????? I wonder how many words that is? Probably a couple of hundred thousand, at least. Maybe half a million!

Heart of Rachel said...

I came from Judy's blog and just wanted to congratulate you on your 1000th post.

MJFredrick said...

YAY on your 1000th post!


I didn't think about I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER! There's another one, called LET ME HOLD YOU LONGER (different author) that had me SOBBING!

Jen said...

I still can read Love you Forever without crying and crying. That was a real trip for my DS when I used to read it to him with tears streaming down my face. And he'd look up at me and say, "Don't worry, Mommy, I'll love you forever, too." And, of course, that made me cry harder.