Monday, April 23, 2012

Books.

The list topic is books.  What about books?  I suppose that's up to me.  I am 100% incapable of reviewing a book (or a movie or TV show, in case you're curious).  The best I can tell you is that I liked something or didn't, but I can't tell you why.  If we're watching TV and you get up to use the bathroom, when you come back I can't tell you what happened.  It's only gotten worse as I've aged.

The other thing that's gotten worse since I aged?  My ability to read a book!  Before I had a child, I was always busy.  Now that I have a child, I'm tired and always busy.  In high school though I devoured books.

So, here's a list of books and some things about them.  I do not claim that this list will do anything for you in any way, shape or form.

1.  The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer - I was a huge Twin Peaks fan when it was on which was when I was in high school. I've rewatched the series several times since it's then.  There were quite a few books on the matter back in the day.  I loved this because it was depressing and Laura was a bad girl - so different from how I was.  In a sick way, I wanted to be her.  Except for the dead part.

2.  All of the Jim Morrison poetry books that came out in the early 90s.  - Also, from when I was in high school.  Drugs seemed cool.  I wanted to be cool.  Being the female Jim Morrison sounded cool.  Except for the dead part (noticing a pattern here?).

3.  Lord of the Flies - Probably the only book in high school that I truly loved.  In college, I reread it and then wrote a lengthy paper comparing it with the two movies that had been made of it.  I got an A.  Lucky day for me.

{I think I'm done fixating on high school books and I'll move on to college now.}

4.  Summer Sisters by Judy Blume - This book made me sob when I read it about 14 years ago.  I remember the big twist that happened somewhere near the end (I won't spoil it for you).  Other than that, I just remember really liking it and it reminding me of a friendship that I had with someone from my past.  But then I read some Amazon reviews that said it was bad, so who knows if it's any good or not. Maybe I'll read it again. In all my "spare" time.

5.  A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley - A wonderful book about the dynamics of a particular family.  Really well written.  I think it won an award.  I'm too lazy to look this up.  But you can, I'll wait.  I read this in college and felt all smart writing a paper on it.  There was a scene where someone uses a plant to try to kill someone.  I read it before the internet was a real thing, but if I had known about Google, I'd have looked up to see if it was true.

{Moving on to post-college}

6.  Bossypants by Tina Fey - OK, I just love Tina Fey.  I also love her character Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, which makes me love the actress even more.  I wish I had written that book because it was hilarious.  Then I read the bad reviews on Amazon and they offended me as though I HAD written it.

7.  Running with Scissors and Dry by Augusten Burroughs - I cannot tell you a blessed thing about either of these books other than that I loved them, have wanted to reread them since I finished them and they inspired me to want to write.

8.  Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl - I read this on a plane going somewhere for work.  Chicago maybe?  Perhaps Nashville.  It hardly matters.  I love a good book about people's addictions.  This one did not disappoint.  The movie wasn't nearly as good though.

9.  Daughter of the Drunk at the Bar by Michelle O'Neil - This book was particularly interesting because I too was a daughter of a drunk at a bar.  She tells a compelling story of growing up in a less than ideal situation.  I believe it was self-published, which adds an extra element of cool for an aspiring writer such as myself.  I read this recently (did you notice how much more detail I gave you here?), just as I was getting back into writing so it added even more of an inspirational element to it.

{You know how at a fireworks display they throw up everything they have left for the big finale?  Well, watch this!}

10.  Books by J.D. Salinger, Chuck Palahniuk, David Sedaris, Dean Koontz, Stephen King and others that I'm sure I'm forgetting.  In one way or another, they all inspired me to want to write, to tell a good story, to entertain, to be enigmatic and clever and funny.  They were the foundations of many conversations with good friends and my husband.  They were the subject of school papers, they were the reason I didn't get to bed on time on many nights.  They were my reason for getting up in the morning just to finish them.

Writing this list made me want to go read more.  And isn't that just a little bit of why we read - so we can want to read more?

I'm linking up again with Monday Listicles.  Click the badge and you can see other great lists!




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14 comments:

  1. How could anyone not have loved Tina Fey's book?! I have trouble reading books since I became a mom. It is not a coincidence I listed kid books, they are the ones I read every day.

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  2. I am really enjoying this Monday Listicles. It is proving to provide some great suggestions for my daughter and myself and your list is no exception. I didn't think of Jim Morrison poetry for my daughter. She's into music and poetry...should be perfect. I haven't read a book of fiction in I don't know how long. I'm beginning to think I miss it.

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    1. Aww, thanks! I can't remember a thing about them except that I loved them and they were perfect for my broody, angsty teen self. I don't read much fiction anymore either (or anything). I read about food and memoirs mostly.

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  3. I just read Bossypants and I thought it was spectacular. I am also a huge fan of Augusten Burroughs. Good list.

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  4. Oh Man. Laura Palmer was my secret high school girlfriend. So was Donna. And Shelly. And Aubrey. In fact, pretty much every female character on TP *except* Laura's mom and Log Lady were my secret high school girlfriends.

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    1. Holy crap you cracked me up!! When we would talk about who of us would play the TP girls, I got to be Donna. My husband had a thing for Sherilynn Fenn for a while and it made me way more jealous than a rational girl should be. (BTW, my husband and I were dating in high school, so he had the joys of my teenage insecurities!)

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    2. The Log Lady!! I can't even read that line without giggling.

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  5. I've heard from a lot of people that Bossypants was fun and a good read. Perhaps, I should finally add it to queue for the library?

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    1. I loved it, but I love Tina Fey. If you're not into her kind of humor you might not like it. But I hope you do read it and love it!!

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  6. I loved Bossypants, too. And Summer Sisters. I need to check out some of your other choices.

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    1. Pretty eclectic mix of authors, but all good at what they do in my opinion.

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  7. AWESOME list. A Thousand Acres, Lord of the Flies. And Especially number 10. Loved it.

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  8. What a list. Loved Lord of the Flies too. TP. the memories.

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