Tuesday in Texas - And, A Few of My Favorite Books

from Kris B. 

"A philosopher never gets quite used to the world. to him or her, the world continues to seem a bit unreasonable - bewildering, even enigmatic. Philosophers and small children thus have an important faculty in common. You might say that throughout his life a philosopher remains as thin-skinned as a child." ~ Sophie's World p. 20

Tracey and I share a love of books so writing about a couple of our favorite books seemed like a good idea at the time.  As I sat down to write, the task seemed a little more difficult.  When I take a mental stroll through all of the books that I have read and that have impacted my thinking in some way or another, how can I narrow down the choices?   I started with the “long list.”  Once compiled, my first thought that the list with eclectic and weird.  Like the variety of music in my iTunes library, my list of favorite books makes me look a little like I have multiple personalities, a few of which are kind of strange!

Let me first start with what I don’t read.  With the exception of Walter Miller Jr.’s A Canticle for Leibowitz, which is a surprising favorite of mine, I do not enjoy much science fiction or fantasy.  I may be the only living person who has not read a single Harry Potter book.   I know; this makes me certifiably culturally illiterate.  I’ll have to live with that label.  I also don’t read vampire books or horror stories.  I guess that in addition to being culturally illiterate, I am also kind of a wimp!

All that said, I do enjoy a good piece of fiction, but I have to make a conscious effort to read it because my natural tendency is to gravitate toward non-fiction and poetry.  For this post however, I decided not to include anything from either of those genres.  Perhaps we can dedicate a future post to each of them.

I am a big fan of children’s literature.  Many of the books that are written for children speak volumes to us as adults.  One of my all-time favorites is the 1997 Newberry Award winner A View from Saturday, by E. L. Konigsburg.  It is the story of a middle school quiz bowl team the defies the odds to win their state championship.  Throughout the story, the characters encounter all kinds of differences in people - ethnicity, family structure, disabilities, age - and they realize that sharing such differences enriches their lives.  They also learn about the importance of community.  I’m not sure how many times I have read this book, but each time I do, it speaks to me in a fresh and meaningful way.

My absolute favorite piece of fiction is Sophie's World, by Norwegian author Jostein Gaardner.  Through the fictional life of Sophie Amumdsen and Alberto Knox, a philosopher,  Sophie's World chronicles the history of western philosophy.  At age fourteen, Sophie begins to receive a letter every day that poses some philosophical question.  Later in the day a package appears containing pages that offer insight into the day's questions.  Sophie's education in philosophy begins with ancient myths, and continues from Democritus through to Berkeley, at which point there is a plot and perspective shift.  It is hard to say too much about the story without giving away the plot.  Sophie's World is a book that, in my mind, is one that is to be experienced, not just read.  At the outset of the story, Alberto, the philosopher in the story, tells Sophie that philosophy is extremely relevant to life and that if we do not question and ponder our very existence we are not really living.  I can not help ponder my very existence as I read and thus become part of Sophie's world.

Sophie's World is a definitely a "heady" read; this is why I love it so much; I like books that make me think...a lot.  This affinity may be why I have a minor in philosophy.  LOL. That said, my head cannot always handle this kind of "headiness."  When I am looking for an easy read but also an engaging story, I am never disappointed by anything written by Jodi Piccoult.  She is a masterful storyteller who creates meaningful subtexts in her novels.

I am fortunate that I have a daughter who is a librarian and whose passion within that capacity is reader advisory.  She knows me very well as a person and as a reader; she also stays current with all that is going on in the literary world, something which I do not.  Therefore, she keeps a discerning eye out for books that I will enjoy and appreciate.  It is like having a personal shopper, but for books.  Her choices have always been perfect for me.  I do feel a bit spoiled, but since I don’t have as much time as I would like for reading, I am grateful for someone to do the vetting for me so that I am not investing precious time on something that I may not like or enjoy reading.

Monday in Michigan - These Are a Few of My Favorite....Books

by Tracey G.

I can't remember how long I've loved books - likely from the time I learned how to read. My mother ALWAYS had a book to read with her or by her side. She was always reading, I can't remember her without a book in hand when I was growing up, which made her losing 90% of her sight to macular degeneration that much sadder in her later years. But she did instill in me, through example, a love of books and reading. Her and I would go to our teeny little library at least once a week - if not more. We were on a first name basis with our Librarian, and I still remember her name!

 Books are so many things to me - entertainment, therapy, even avoidance therapy of a sort as I can lose myself in a book and have a respite from whatever troubles are plaguing me at the time if the book is good enough, if not, I'll sit and stare at the page, not seeing it or maybe reading the same sentence over and over again because it doesn't stick the first time because I can't concentrate. But, if the book is magical enough, I can totally get lost in it. 

So, that brings me to this week's topic, books and a handful of the ones we love - and for me, just a sampling of the ones I can get lost in. When talking with Kris I knew I had to have a limit of sorts because otherwise I could probably list books for days if given enough time, lol. I have favorites from childhood and adulthood. I could write about my childhood favorites alone, as I went on a quest well before Harry was born in collecting a favorite series of mine - and most of them had to come from used book stores online and so forth - but it was great fun and I still enjoy reading them just as much as I did when I was kid.

The first book that jumped out at me for this post, was F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby". This is one I came to just recently - and can't believe I went so long without it, lol. And truth be told, I saw the movie first - and was amazed that I hadn't watched it sooner! Granted, the big draw was the beauty and spectacle of it - and Leonardo DiCaprio, lol. He, in my opinion is the perfect Jay Gatsby, I almost forgot it was him, almost. As soon as I was done watching it, I was given the book as a gift (one of the best gifts ever I must say), and I was once again amazed that a screen version had been so faithful to the book it was based on. I had no idea what a wonderfully romantic tragedy it was - and so engaging. It sucked me right into that world, that setting, that situation that Nick, Daisy, Jay and Tom found themselves in. Then there was the fact that the book was written in 1925 and is still relevant today, and it just romanticizes it even more for me. I fell in love with the character Jay Gatsby, his refusal to give up on the woman he fell in love with - and everything he does, from the time he meets her until he sees her again has been just to get to her and for her, in my opinion (there are many out there on his motives). It amazes me. His eternal hope - right to the end, is inspiring to me. He never lets go, never loses his faith.

 "We walked slowly down the steps. “I suppose Daisy’ll call too.” He looked at me anxiously, as if he hoped I’d corroborate this." - Nick Carraway in conversation with Gatsby.

Another book that will forever have a place in my heart and leave me with the ability to read it over and over and over again, is Stephen King's "The Stand". Now, this one I read years ago - but I was, even then, very late to the party, lol. It was one I'd put off reading because I didn't think it would interest me. Geesh, was I wrong!! I guess that should be the measure of a book for me - if I've put it off for one reason or another, especially because I didn't think it would interest me, that means I'll end up loving it, lol. It was so much more than just about a "super flu" - the whole dynamic of the situation and the logistics of navigating this "new" world, getting it back up and running etc, was fascinating to me. Things I didn't think of, like when they are in Boulder and trying to get the power up and running - and making sure things are turned off in the homes that are there and so forth. Then there's the whole ultimate battle of good and evil, lol. It's just one of those books that had so many angles for me, even romance. And what I liked about that romance was it wasn't knock-you-over-the-head-romance that ends up hijacking the plot, it was just enough to add another layer to it for me. This for me, was one of those books that when I stopped for the night I felt the urge to say goodnight to the characters, lol. 

I think one of the most surprising books I've read, and once again it was one I put off reading, is by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel". This book was written in such a unique way to me, the story is told and unfolds in a series of written letters. It's set in 1946, and the main character, Juliet starts up a correspondence with an inhabitant on the island of Guernsey, and it just blossoms from there. It deals with the people of the island, the German occupation of the island, the way they deal with that and so much more. This was a book that once I started reading it, I couldn't stop and I didn't want it to end - it was a great read. And I think it was the format of the letters that drew me in, in a way I didn't expect. I found myself wanting to know how the other person was going to respond, as if they were letters to me that I was waiting to get in the mail. I have since purchased this book for a couple friends because it's just something I think everyone should read, lol. But out of all those times - I never bought the book for myself! LOL That's on my to-do list one of these days, as it's one in the genre of historical fiction I most certainly need for my library!! 

Again, I could go on and on listing various books, but I felt I'd keep it reasonable with just a smattering of my favorites - decided upon in a way like a "word association" - the first ones that popped into my head :-)