Saturday, July 21, 2012

30 Days of Books: Days 11-20

I posted Days 1-10 of this meme on July 13. I'm back now with a few more days' worth of books.

Day 11 - a book I hated. This goes way back to college when we had to read a book in French class, in French! I really struggled and couldn't seem to make any sense out of the book. I finally cheated and found an English translation, then realized why I couldn't make sense out of the book. It was awful and the most boring book I'd ever read! I don't remember the title now. But I will share another title that I disliked: Waiting for Godot, the play... both reading and seeing the play stink. Maybe that makes me unclassy, but so be it.

a Minnesota corn field, completely unrelated to any of the books I'm discussing

Day 12 - a book I used to love but don't anymore. What's the name of that book about a family of rabbits? I can't think of this title, either. I read it when I was in high school and loved it. Years later I tried to read it again and couldn't stand it. The male characters were such chauvinists! I had grown up and learned more about equality and relationships. If anyone knows the title that I'm trying to think of, can you help me out? [Edited.. thanks, A. You reminded me that it is Watership Down.]

Day 13 - my favorite writer. I'd have to say Barbara Kingsolver. She uses language so beautifully.

Day 14 - favorite book of my favorite writer. She wrote three or four books about the same character. I think the first one is called The Bean Trees. I loved these books. It is one of those times where you stop and go back and re-read parts, because it's so beautifully written, you just have to re-absorb the beauty.

Day 15 - favorite male character. Dan in Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn and The Wolf at Twilight also by Nerburn. He has soooo much to teach us.

Day 16 - favorite female character. There are so many! How can I pick? I think I will say that it's the narrator in Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. She's a recent favorite. Also have loved the narrator of The Latehomecomer, a Hmong Family Memoir by Kao Kalia Yang and Jane Addams in her biography, Jane Addams, World Neighbor and the narrator of Wild, From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed. These characters are all from true stories and/or memoirs.

Day 17 - favorite quote from my favorite book. Hard one... I tend not to remember quotes. I'll go with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." -- the first line in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Day 18 - a book that disappointed me. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I know, some of you will be appalled. Well, c'est la vie. I was expecting something much better.

Day 19 - favorite book turned into a movie. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The book and movie both came out when I was a child, and they make a huge impact on me. LOVED Gregory Peck in the movie. The photo below is my own copy of the book which I bought in the early 1960s for 60 cents.


Day 20 - favorite romance book. Hmmm.... I rarely read romances. Had to give this one some thought. A recent one I enjoyed was The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker.

And that's it for the second ten days! Soon I'll finish days 21-30.

2 comments:

Andra Gayle said...

Thanks so much for the posts about books. I am always looking for a good read!

AnnieO said...

Watership Down is the book about the rabbit family, I think. I read that one a lonnnnng time ago too. Last night I started reading Madame Bovary, just because it is a classic and I have never read it. Not sure what to think yet!