The Getaway Car

Ann Patchett, "This is the Story of a Happy Marriage".

The big library close to our house has four racks of books near the entrance, to tempt you, or encourage you to explore. I give them a glance to see what I'm missing. What's this? Shouldn't I know Ann Patchett? Ombre - and look at the back cover! Who poses for a cover photo swamped by a thousand books?! I think I've found my new favorite person!

The second short story in the book, "The Getaway Car, A Practical Memoir about Writing and Life" is the best thing I've read this year. I had to hurry up and finish so I could push it onto three* people I know who have to read it too (three is a lot - I really don't know that many people). She tells you how she accomplished success as a writer (spoiler: hard work). She talks about the doubt involved in taking an idea out of her head and turning it into words. She explains why she doesn't believe in writers' block. Plus, she clears this up for me: why books from our teen years stay with us, and now, books that are equally impressive, are forgotten a month later. "I think that what influences us in literature comes less from what we love and more from what we happen to pick up in moments when we are especially open." 

Read this if you want to write, if you want to create, or nourish any hobby outside of your day job.  Consider it an assignment, one I know you'll enjoy!


ps. Bel Canto next
pps. I can't find a decent link to the essay. It was published standalone in 2011, but is no longer available on Amazon, you might have to get the book. 
ppps. if you ever day dreamed about writing a novel, this essay is for YOU! YOU! YOU!

The Getaway Car Quotes: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/17455290-the-getaway-car

*make that four

I would love to tell you about what I am reading!

Are you kidding, this is my favorite question of all time/these days.

Yesterday, I started reading two books, James Baldwin's "Go tell it on the Mountain" and Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals".

I am working my way through Kurt Vonnegut's works. I wanted to read them all back-to-back-to-back, until I realized he published three billion books. I've read twelve:
Slaughterhouse-Five  
Cat's Cradle 
Breakfast of Champions 
The Sirens of Titan
Mother Night 
Galápagos
Welcome to the Monkey House 
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Slapstick or Lonesome No More! 
Timequake
Hocus Pocus
Deadeye Dick

I rated "Slaughthouse Five" (one of my favorite novels of all time), "Welcome to the Monkey House" and "Mother Night" five out of five stars (on Goodreads). The only book I didn't get into was "God Bless You, Mr Rosewater" (It was ok). I appreciate Vonnegut's wit. He sees through society's bull crap. Watch him express his opinions on Youtube - you will be hooked! BUT, I needed to step away for a while when his stories started to tangle together (overlapping characters and themes), and I developed my very own old-man-chip-on-my-shoulder. He is part of the reason I dropped the Internet. (Kids these days, jeesh!)  So, I read Douglas Adam's "Watership Down" to cleanse my palate - who doesn't love little bunny stories (five stars, fantastic book!).

After her Celine Ad came out, I read a few Joan Didion books. I started with "Blue Nights" (not for me), then "A Year of Magical Thinking" (Who is this b*tch?). Then I wanted to see for myself how she earned legend status and checked "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" out of the library. Ah, ok, I gave it four stars. I fell in love with her essay, "Goodbye to all that", and I am not surprised to hear they are making it into a movie. I read the "White Album" too, and then had my fill. 

Instead of reading Didion, I switched to her list of recommended books. I gave Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" a second reading (loved it again), and two days ago finished Orwell's "Down and Out in London and Paris". The James Baldwin I am currently reading is on that list.

Otherwise, you will find me reading about food, catching up on Time's List of Top 150 English Language novels of the Twentieth Century (I've read 76/150), reading books I should have read by now (Sherlock Holmes, for example), and reading what friends have recommended: "Paradise Elsewhere" by Kathy Page was haunting, and I put "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty on hold at the library, I bought a used copy of "Rebecca's Tale" I am excited to read.

You can find me on Goodreads. I don't write up reviews of the books I've read, I only rate them.

Thanks for asking "Betty" (is that you, mom?!)

Trinity College Book Sale

Oops! A duplicate copy.

New books from the Trinity College book sale: novels, writing guides and a duplicate copy of "Open Secrets" (inevitable, I should keep better track).

ps. "Master of Middle Earth". I read and reread (times four) the Lord of the Rings in my teens and early twenties. This isn't a bio on Tolkien, it "examines the sources that Tolkien drew upon in fashioning Middle-earth and its inhabitants—and provides valuable insights into the author's aims and methods."  Awesome, right?
pps. The writing guides: it's about time!

Books

I went to the Book Sale at St Regis College (UofToronto Campus) and indulged! I haven't been reading much. I've been logging hours at the computer staring at pinterest, etsy and ebay every night. Trying to make the right decorating decisions. I find that after staring at a screen, when it comes time to sleep, my brain has a difficult time shutting down. So, back to the books!

An Unwritten Novel

Virgina Woolf:

"Five faces opposite - five mature faces - and the knowledge in each face. Strange though, how people want to conceal it! Marks of reticence are on all those faces: lips shut, eyes shades, each one of the five doing something to hide or stultify his knowledge. One smokes; another reads; a third checks entries in a pocket book; a fourth stares at the map of the line framed opposite; and the fifth - the terrible thing about the fifth is that she does nothing at all. She looks at life. Ah, but my poor, unfortunate woman, do play the game - do, for all our sales, conceal it!'

Do you see yourself in this passage?? What if she put "a third checks texts on their iphone;" 

Source: Virginia Woolf Selected Short Stories, Penguin Classics, 1993

Books from Goodwill

50% off books at Goodwill on Tuesdays! 

I pick up books by authors I like, or quickly check goodreads for reviews.

I am really excited to read My Mother's Secret. I never heard of this book before, and I might not have found it by shopping retail or even at other used bookstores.

ps. This is my second copy of Wuthering Heights. The book is too pretty. It seems a little too tiny to be the entire story - perhaps abridged? 
pps.I haven't read any of these yet! I wish there was a way to read them all tonight, you know? I can't get enough!

102 books in 2013

My 2013 goal was to read 100 books. I read 102! Not that I earned bragging rights. Scan the list, you'll see several Asimov's, Dahl's, Hornby's and even two Kinsella's...the classics!

Favorites
Here's a list of the 16 books I gave a full five stars on Goodreads. My absolute favorites are Someone Somewhere, Beside the Sea, The Jungle, Rebecca and Friend of my Youth. I read Dune for the third or fourth time. Just seeing Dune on the list makes me want to read it again. The author Jean Rhys was the best discovery of the year. I will read more Barnes, du Maurier and Munro. I am also reading children's books to my son...many of them for the first time.

1. Beside the Sea - Olmi, Véronique  
2. Blindness - Saramago, José  
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl, Roald  
4. Dune - Herbert, Frank  
5. Friend of My Youth - Munro, Alice  
6. Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas - Fagan, Cary  
7. Rebecca - Maurier, Daphne du  
8. Seeing - Saramago, José  
9. Someone Somewhere - Mills, Dana 
10. Swimming Home - Levy, Deborah  
11. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Twain, Mark 
12. The Bell Jar - Plath, Sylvia  
13. The Jungle - Sinclair, Upton  
14. The Secret Garden - Burnett, Frances Hodgson  
15. The Sense of an Ending - Barnes, Julian  
16. Wide Sargasso Sea - Rhys, Jean 

What did I learn?
I picked up some knowledge here and there, although that's not really the point of reading fiction. I'm looking for insight and great sentences. When the author has a greater understanding of themselves or this world than I will ever. Take Barnes...when he talks about life in The Sense of an Ending:

"But time...how time first grounds us and then confounds us. We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe. We imagined we were being responsible but were only being cowardly. What we called realism turned out to be a way of avoiding things rather than facing them. Time...give us enough time and our best-supported decisions will seem wobbly, our certainties whimsical."

Then there is Rhys' Paris set of novels, we meet discarded women who cling to men for support and think of beauty (aging beauty at that) as their only means for survival. In Good Morning Midnight, she is walking about Paris, haunted by memories. The first person narration invites you deep into her melancholia, and it's wonderful:

“...I know all about myself now, I know. You've told me so often. You haven't left me one rag of illusion to clothe myself in.” 

Of course, I also read to be entertained by stepping into a story and taking part in another world. When I read Asimov, I enjoy the plot and strange reality. Other times I need a lighter story after reading something particularily dark, and this is when I turn to Hornby.

Finally, I select books that you are supposed to read. The ones that land on the 'Top' lists. I read them to understand why they are considered great. I want to have my say. If there was a checklist to complete in order to be given the title 'well-read,' I would steadily work through it. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. So many lists, so many different genres. Then, of course, biographies and other non fiction as well. So many books!   
 
Now what?
I'm glad I meet my goal, but I won't repeat it in 2014. I want to spend more time with each book to digest it. Read some Victorian novels (currently reading Bleak House, by Dickens, I doubt I will finish before year end). I'd like to be able to discuss literature intelligently, so I plan on reading critical essays or analysis after the book. Well, this is the plan, anyways. The goal in 2014 is to get more out of what I am reading.

The list:

	Title	Author	Rating
1	The Five People You Meet in Heaven	Albom, Mitch	3
2	Bastard Out of Carolina	Allison, Dorothy	4
3	Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson	Anderson, Sherwood	4
4	Foundation and Earth	Asimov, Isaac	1
5	Foundation's Edge	Asimov, Isaac	2
6	Second Foundation	Asimov, Isaac	3
7	Foundation and Empire	Asimov, Isaac	3
8	Foundation	Asimov, Isaac	3
9	Prelude to Foundation	Asimov, Isaac	3
10	The Currents of Space	Asimov, Isaac	3
11	Pebble in the Sky	Asimov, Isaac	3
12	The Stars, Like Dust	Asimov, Isaac	3
13	Forward the Foundation	Asimov, Isaac	4
14	Alias Grace	Atwood, Margaret	3
15	Arthur & George	Barnes, Julian	1
16	The Sense of an Ending	Barnes, Julian	5
17	Zuleika Dobson: or An Oxford Love Story	Beerbohm, Max	3
18	Jane Eyre	Brontë, Charlotte	3
19	The Secret Garden	Burnett, Frances Hodgson	5
20	Bliss	Carey, Peter	4
21	A Year in the Merde	Clarke, Stephen	2
22	Eleanor Rigby	Coupland, Douglas	3
23	The Red Badge of Courage	Crane, Stephen	3
24	The Witches	Dahl, Roald	4
25	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Dahl, Roald	4
26	James and the Giant Peach	Dahl, Roald	4
27	The Twits	Dahl, Roald	4
28	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Dahl, Roald	5
29	White Noise	DeLillo, Don	4
30	The Sisters Brothers	deWitt, Patrick	4
31	Heartburn	Ephron, Nora	2
32	I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections	Ephron, Nora	3
33	I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman	Ephron, Nora	4
34	Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas	Fagan, Cary	5
35	How to Read Novels Like a Professor	Foster, Thomas C.	3
36	The French Lieutenant's Woman	Fowles, John	3
37	Ellen Foster	Gibbons, Kaye	4
38	I, Claudius	Graves, Robert	3
39	The Dispossessed	Guin, Ursula K. Le	2
40	Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames	Hạnh, Thích Nhất	4
41	A Moveable Feast	Hemingway, Ernest	4
42	Dune	Herbert, Frank	5
43	In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed	Honoré, Carl	3
44	High Fidelity	Hornby, Nick	3
45	A Long Way Down	Hornby, Nick	3
46	About a Boy	Hornby, Nick	4
47	Their Eyes Were Watching God	Hurston, Zora Neale	4
48	The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry	Joyce, Rachel	4
49	The Bean Trees	Kingsolver, Barbara	4
50	Mini Shopaholic	Kinsella, Sophie	2
51	Shopaholic and Baby	Kinsella, Sophie	3
52	Travelling Light	Kittle, Katrina	3
53	Swimming Home	Levy, Deborah	5
54	The Call of the Wild	London, Jack	3
55	Love and the Mess We're In	Marche, Stephen	3
56	Rebecca	Maurier, Daphne du	5
57	The Paris Wife	McLain, Paula	2
58	Someone Somewhere	Mills, Dana	5
59	Black Swan Green	Mitchell, David	3
60	Friend of My Youth	Munro, Alice	5
61	Starter For Ten	Nicholls, David	3
62	Z for Zachariah	O'Brien, Robert C.	4
63	Appointment in Samarra	O'Hara, John	4
64	Beside the Sea	Olmi, Véronique	5
65	Lullabies for Little Criminals	O'Neill, Heather	4
66	The Hidden Persuaders	Packard, Vance	4
67	The Bell Jar	Plath, Sylvia	5
68	The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals	Pollan, Michael	4
69	Good Morning, Midnight	Rhys, Jean	3
70	Voyage in the Dark	Rhys, Jean	3
71	Quartet	Rhys, Jean	3
72	After Leaving Mr. MacKenzie	Rhys, Jean	4
73	Wide Sargasso Sea	Rhys, Jean	5
74	Jacob Two-Two-'s First Spy Case	Richler, Mordecai	3
75	Allegiant	Roth, Veronica	2
76	The Little Prince	Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de	4
77	Death with Interruptions	Saramago, José	3
78	Blindness	Saramago, José	5
79	Seeing	Saramago, José	5
80	The End of Your Life Book Club	Schwalbe, Will	3
81	Me Talk Pretty One Day	Sedaris, David	2
82	Funny Boy	Selvadurai, Shyam	4
83	The Jungle	Sinclair, Upton	5
84	Zen and the Art of Faking It	Sonnenblick, Jordan	3
85	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie	Spark, Muriel	4
86	East of Eden	Steinbeck, John	4
87	The Hollow Hills	Stewart, Mary	3
88	The Last Enchantment	Stewart, Mary	3
89	The Wicked Day	Stewart, Mary	3
90	The Crystal Cave	Stewart, Mary	4
91	The Joy Luck Club	Tan, Amy	4
92	The Flying Troutmans	Toews, Miriam	4
93	A Boy of Good Breeding	Toews, Miriam	4
94	The Adventures of Tom Sawyer	Twain, Mark	3
95	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Twain, Mark	5
96	The Glass Castle	Walls, Jeannette	3
97	Billy Liar	Waterhouse, Keith	4
98	Stuart Little	White, E.B.	1
99	Charlotte's Web	White, E.B.	4
100	The Dutch Republic and the Civilisation of the 17th Century	Wilson, Charles	3
101	Mrs. Dalloway	Woolf, Virginia	3
102	Chocky	Wyndham, John	2

ps. now you know what I have been up to! I am out of the habit of blogging. I am not sure how many posts I have left in me!

Library book

This book is a jem.

"Where's my TRUCK?" by Karen Beaumont
 
Two year old and 4 1/2 year old approved. In fact, they like it so much, we ordered our own copy from amazon!

this book, wow

Someone Somewhere by Dana Mills

I used to work with Dana, he was one of our editors. My last few days on the job, more pregnant than anyone has ever been before, were spent spent sitting side by side in a windowless office, staring at the computer screen, more specifically, at highlighted sections of text, making suggestions and revisions and getting sentences into shape for publishing. Of all the editors, I loved working with Dana because he always got it right!

Now, you know what I am going to say here: In his book of short stories, Dana gets it right!!

His characters are rough, with a sweetness...
There are sentences in the book that jump off the page and slap me across the face...
There are moments that tug on my heart...
Vulnerability...many of his scenes feel fleeting, fragile, vulnerable...

I am not an english major, I could never write up a review that did these stories justice. I like to read, and this is exactly what I want to be reading. I compare him to Miriam Toews (one of my favorite authors) and, don't scoff, but even Salinger (Salinger's nine stories is one of my favorite books of all time, I might read it again, next! I am currently reading Allegiant and it blows chunks).

Someone Somewhere is a wonderful collection of stories. I wish I could place a copy of this book into your hands. Of course, I also want to see Dana's career explode, Oprah book club styles! If you take a chance and buy a copy, on impulse, please let me know what you think! Send me an email, because I want to thank you and chat about it with you!!!

someone somewhere is being printed by a small publishing house in Canada, Gaspereau Press. It costs about $36, including shipping.

Update: Nov 7
HEY! IT'S ON AMAZON (US site)! Here is the link
Last time I checked it was $18 and change...it is now sold out...but maybe you will get lucky!

Used booksales

I bought seven used books at the thrifts this morning...I can't wait to read them! My stated goal is to read 80 books in 2013, but I secretly want to read 100. I am not sure I will be able to hit that target! So far, I've read 68.

PS...the schedule of the upcoming University of Toronto (used?) booksales, see you there!
September 19 - 23    Victoria College
October 18 - 22    University College
October 24 - 28    Trinity College
October 29 - November 2    St. Michael's College

Tuesday at Goodwill - 50% off books

For a couple months now, at least, goodwill has been having 50% off books on Tuesdays. No more Friday fever (when everything in the store is 50% off and the place is chaos), now, each day of the week has different items marked down.

This morning, I bought a tower of books and two pictures.

I bought the print of a bunny bottom for the frame, but, on the way home it got dinged (top right corner)...still worth my $5! It is a print by H. Cady. This could mean Harrison Cady, who illustrated books and a comic strip about Peter Rabbit...I'm sure we aren't looking at art that is too important here, but it's a cute bottom, and I love it next to my naked chickens (bunny bums and naked chickens!!)    

I also bought a $3 vintage frame with an old photo of the windmill. Pretty sure that this was taken in Amsterdam. I will have to get out my wikipedia to figure out what park, but I am pretty sure, if you don't want to take a train out to the countryside, you can go to see this one petit windmill in town**
 ...Anyways, I like the fact that I could have taken the exact same photo as this anonymous person (but didn't...or maybe we did? I will check)...Is it odd that you can feel sentimental towards someone else's photo? How many people through the decades have the exact same vacation experiences?*

*I assume the photo is old, the photo is faded, and the burgundy paper is faded, but there is nothing to date it

**Cancel all this...it is not one of the windmills near Amsterdam (according to Simply Amsterdam)...I remember seeing a small windmill on a hill near a river, but I guess I was wrong... so much for sweet memories!

Read more!

The stack of books I bought today for $1 a piece...

Is this my prime?

I think so!

Freedom to explore life, art and literary ideas! I tell you, the thoughts I am collecting now!

My prime!

I like that!




ps. a few days ago, I finished reading "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie". How, exactly, does she betray her girls? By living a lie? That must be it! Anyways, the story sticks to you...the novel seems a little light, but days later you dwell on Miss Brodie...her influence...her girls.  If you are trying to read more, this is a very quick read and considered a 20th century classic. Enjoy! 
pss. After reading this, I want a panama hat.  

Call me a bibliophile

 

Please! Call me that! and call me a bookworm too! I want so badly for it to be true...

My husband and I ran out to a Church Book Sale today and came home with several stacks of books for $37

I can't wait to load them into my shelves. I love being surrounded by books! I love books as things, and I love reading! You may be thinking:

Q. When do you get time to read?
A. Every night after the kids are in bed I read. When my eyes start to droop I force myself to read another chapter...I try to consume as many pages as possible in a day.

Q. Why do you read so much?
A. I want to be bookish. I want to hold my own in a conversation about whatever genre. I want to be remembered as an avid reader. I want to beat my previous annual book quota. I want to beat YOUR previous annual book quota (I am so competitive). I want to read through several long lists of fiction novels...then I want to read biographies, history, opinions, the ancient classics and so much more.  I want to have complex thoughts. I want to be entertained. I want to catch and understand book references. I want to be able to identify an author's influences. I want to be a better writer.

Q. What about using a library?
A. I get a little obsessed with collecting things. My pyrex & milk glass obsessions are waning (mostly due to space). I am on to books. I want to read everything I buy! I love having my next book and my next book lined up, so I can start a fresh story the same evening I cry my eyes out over an ending. I am also interested in finding a first edition whatever while second-hand shopping. I would love to buy a book for a dollar and find out it is worth hundreds (although I wouldn't sell it!)

Please tell me, what have you read lately?

Find me on Goodreads.

One of the best deals on used books in the city!

I recently heard about Book Ends, the used book store run by the Toronto Library.  They have two locations. I went to the one in the reference library (Yonge and Bloor) today.

I picked up 8 books for $11.50.

Deal!

I can not wait to get all the books up on the shelves...tomorrow, right?!

(In the meantime, I should put away all my paint supplies and the ladders!)

Buying Used Books Online

I bought a few used books from awesomebooks.com, a UK based online bookshop. Have you tried them out?

I placed two separate orders last week, one for $7.94, one for $8.18*, and here they are already! 

Time to get reading!!! 

ps. not a sponsored post. I feel as if I am opening my arms wide, as wide as possible, big stretches, and then wrapping myself around as many interesting used books as I can locate, and pulling them all into this house. The question of what to read next has never been so satisfying.   
pps. Currently reading the unlikely pilgrimage of harold fry and the red badge of courage
ppps. actually, it is time to get off the computer and prepare lunch, then run a handful or errands (that may, or may not include dropping into BMV, another used bookstore)

*there were no additional charges at the door

Cookbook Nook

We have small shelves carved out of the space behind the cupboards in the kitchen (next to the patio doors). Today I made them pretty.

I barely notice these shelves anymore...well, except when I grab a cookbook. I consult the two Bonnie Stern books most frequently. I would like to say I pull Martha off the shelf but that rarely happens. I've only made one recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (leek soup). The Essential New York Times Cookbook is still mint. Gywneth Paltrow introduced me to the best bolagnese ever. I want to try a few more of her recipes. My favorite oatmeal cookie recipe comes from the Robin Hood cookbook. Kylie Kwong's book is beautiful - we've tried several recipes but they never turn out as good as I hope. Hope is an essential ingredient in my kitchen.

I have no idea what to cook for dinner tonight. I was thinking lasagna, but I should be assembling it right now instead of tapping away on the keyboard. Maybe I will run out and pick up steaks....my husband mentioned steak over the weekend. Except, I'm not in the mood for meat, so maybe steak or hamburgers for the boys, and I can jump into a giant salad. The salad greens* have been sitting in the fridge since last weekend's trip to Metro (that's over a week)...so has the cucumber...and the mushrooms.  I really haven't been feeling salad. Oh! Mushrooms! I should pull out the fast fry porkchops! I think there is enough time to defrost them!

Good idea! Thanks guys!

*The Artisan lettuce packed in the field...it really does stay fresh longer! 

Book Giveaway Winner!

...and the winner is - Jody!!

Please send me an email (eightfootsix (at) hotmail (dot) com) with your contact information - I will mail them to you next week!!!

Thank you Marie, Lindsay, Allana, Kathryn, Shadi, Linda, Anna and Eliotgrace for leaving a comment!  You all sound like book nuts (that's a compliment) and I wish I could take a peek at your bookshelves!

Second-hand Books Giveaway

 

I dropped into Goodwill today and came home with 11 new books and a Madeline tray!

It's easy to spot books you already own from the jumbled chaos at Goodwill - they practically fly off the shelves and land in your basket! When I saw A Complicated Kindness and Suite Francaise (two books I already own and love), I thought, "Sure you can come home with me, we can do a GIVEAWAY!!!"  (Just like that, too...I shouted GIVEAWAY! in my mind!)

Please leave me a comment if you love books and you would like to win these two!!!

ps. Books are 50% off at Goodwill on Tuesdays now...they got rid of 'Friday Fever' (everything used to be 50% off Friday).

New Nordic

We visited the Louisiana Museum at the end of last summer during our trip to Copenhagen. For whatever reason, I didn't buy the New Nordic catalog with details of the exhibit that was on at the time.

You probably know how the rest of the story goes...girl gets home from vacation, girl wants book, girl contacts museum, girl reconsiders, girl forgets for a few months, girl remembers again, girl pictures book on her coffee table every time she enters living room, girl thinks it is going to haunt her for the rest of her life, girl contacts museum again, museum mails book*...

It's not in English, but the pictures are wonderful!

Who wants to join me for a cup of tea and a flip through? 

*that was grating!

PS. In unrelated news, posterjack.ca is having a 20% off sale until tomorrow! We put an order in for a fairly large peel n' stick! Yes!

"What's you favorite book and who is your favorite author?"

"Ummmmm....well, '1984' is a long time favorite -  also 'Chrysalids' and 'Fahrenheit 451' but I haven't read any of them in years! I adored 'The Colour Purple', I know you think 'OPRAH' when you hear that title, but it is a phenomenal book! Oh - also, when I read 'To Kill A Mockingbird' I couldn't figure out why I had waited so long to read it!!"

It is difficult to come up with just one book when I love so many!

Of course, off the top of my head, I can't recall the names of most of the books I read last year (or even the books I read a few weeks ago) so I guess none of them qualify as a favorite. Imagine that, reading 51 books in 2012 and not one stands out! Can a book even be considered a favorite if you only read it once?

I am reading Atwood right now - 'Alias Grace'.* I decided to read all of Atwood's work. Eventually that is, no deadlines. Is she my favorite author? On the spot, she was the first name that came to mind! Now I change my answer to Salinger! Is that too predictable? I wish I could say Dickens, but I've only read three of his books, and I procrastinate over picking up another. The length of his stories is intimidating. It shouldn't be, since I've read George RR Martin's Game of Thrones series at least twice (five books and counting). My previous favorite author was Guy Gavriel Kay. I've read all of his books, many more than once - but so much time has passed that I am starting to forget his stories.

As I pan my bookshelves, Miriam Toews jumps out as another author that I am dedicated to. Jane Austin and Tolkien two more.  

Do you have a favorite book, or a favorite author? What about a list of top picks? I'd love to hear!



ps. I set up a goodreads account, as Shannon8footsix, but I will continue to document the books that I read here, filed under the 'books' tab. 
pps. There are so many lists of books I want to read. The full Indigo Colour Your Library list.  All Giller Prize winners.  Man Booker prize winners.  I am still knocking off 20th Century must reads from this list. Of course all of Atwood and Woolf's works.  The rest of Jane Austin.  There are not enough hours!!! (oh, I want to read the The Hours) I might have to cut back on sleep! 
ppps. I want to enlarge and frame this photo I took (above)...it makes me happy!

*Handmaid's tale is one of my favorite books.