:: blogging: mccord style ::

Not Your Mama's Book List

A massive list of books. A fun book meme if you're a bookworm like me. I've read 90 of the 402, not too bad, considering it's a fairly exclectic list. I'm expecting Dana to take the bait at least...

Here are the rules:
** bold those you’ve read
** italicise started-but-never-finished
** add three of your own at the end

(via Chris.)

...I have a lot of work to do, I better get crackin'...

Vacation Reading?

So, I'm starting to think about Italy, in a 'I'm really going to be in Italy in a week-and-a-half' way! And I've started getting together a list of books I want to get (I have money at Borders, yay me!). Dana inspired me to get The Time Traveler's Wife, and she also recommended A Year in Provence and A Circle of Quiet (which, incidentally, is written by Madeline L'Engle, who I used to LOVE reading when I was growing up - Swiftly Tilting Planet, etc). So I'm going to check those out. But, because I'm a really fasts reader, I'm going to need a LOT more than that. I can usually read at LEAST a book a day on vacation (and that's WITH kids). So if anyone has any books they LOVE and would recommend as good vacation reading (meaning: nothing highly philosophical, hard reads, etc.), please let me know - I crave good books!

Bad Blogger! Bad! Bad!

I know I've been absent here for a few days, and I'm sorry. Life has felt hectic and out-of-control, and I've been trying to ride it out, which means way less time on the computer. So sorry if you've emailed or commented in the past week,and I haven't written back, I've just been terribly busy, and I'm not ignoring you and I'll try to write soon!

In the meantime, here's a treat, for those who like poetry. Dylan Thomas reading Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. I love this poem, and it's so cool to hear him reading it!!

Rage, rage against the dying of the light...

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

For some reason, while driving Bella home from school today, I started thinking about this book I remembered loving when I was around 9 or 10. I couldn't remember what it was called, but I remembered it had lizards and a kid (don't know why this stuck with me) who loved Walter Cronkite. I did a quick google search, and quickly came up with the name: Lizard Music. I loved this book when I was young. Then I started thinking about other books I remembered loving. Follow My Leader was one of them. About a boy learning how to be blind, learning how to read braille, work with a seeing eye dog. It was such a great book. And of course, the original Boxcar Children (the only one until they turned it into a franchise(!)).

This then brought me to thinking I should start making lists of all the books I want the girls to read, that I loved, when I was young. (Okay - I'm NOT going to Amazon link to all of these, because I'm just going to list what comes into my head). These are the books that turned me into the voracious reader I am today. So I started a list...

ANYthing by Beverly Cleary (the Ramona books, Henry and Ribsy, Otis and Ellen et all) My mom read these books, loved them and passed them on to me.

ALL Judy Blumes (oh man, how I loved, read and re-read these books growing up) Blubber!, Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, (We must! We must! We must increase our bust!), Fudge, Freckle Juice, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, etc., etc.

Anything Shel Silverstein (although the girls already have most of these already)

The Betsy-Tacy-Tib great old-fashioned reading.

The Shoes Books (Dancing shoes, skating shoes, ballet shoes, theater shoes) I'd probably re-read these again.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Books

Bridge to Terebethia

The Best Loved Doll (read this one over and over)

Little Women

Madeleine L'Engle books (Wrinkle In Time, Wind In the Door, Swiftly Tilting Planet)

Anything Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox)

Little Princess and the Secret Garden

Any E.B. White (Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little)

Chronicles of Narnia

The Cat Ate My Gymsuit (This book had a huge impact on me when I was growing up)

Harriet the Spy

...what books am I missing??

Tolkien and C.S. Lewis

This link will take you to a great article in Salon that talks about the friendship between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. And how Lewis wrestled through his faith after an all-night conversation with Tolkien and a friend.

In 1937, on the eve of publication for "The Hobbit," the friends found themselves deploring the state of contemporary writing. "Tollers," Lewis said, "there is too little of that we really like in stories. I am afraid we shall have to try and write some ourselves."

Bookworm

...as my husband so affectionately (?) calls me. While reading one of Dana's latest posts, I came upon this! (For a bookworm like me, it's practically heaven - or a challenge.)

It's the librarian's 100 favorite books.
The top 10 are:
1. Pride and Prejudice, Austen
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee
3. Jane Eyre, Bronte
4. Gone with the Wind, Mitchell
5. Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
6. The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger
7. Little Women, Alcott
8. A Prayer of Owen Meany, Irving
9. The Stand, King
10. The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald

And I'm happy on two counts. 1 is that I've read them all (you're getting an idea where 'bookworm' came from). and 2. Gone with the Wind (MY favorite book) is above Lord of the Rings, which is Ross' favorite book. I also recall that he said if I read the entire trilogy of LOTR, he would read Gone with the Wind. And he hasn't made good on his promise. Hm.