Monday, June 20, 2011

My Five Favorite Books

I love reading. Do you know a writer who doesn't love reading? It is one of the joys of life (other joys include; eating, dancing, napping, eating, children's hugs, and eating).


This challenge was offered by Terelyn at A Writer's Journey. She told us to pick our five favorite books and give a one-line pitch of the story and then a one-line reason why we like it.
So in no particular order:


1. To Kill A Mockingbird -Young Scout Finch struggles growing up in a small Southern town next door to a crazy recluse but when her father defends a young black man in court the Finch's become the subject of town ridicule. --I love this book because it is tale of moral courage that the author allowed the story and the characters to carry, while she slipped quietly behind the curtains.


2. East of Eden -A multi-generational tale of the good vs. evil, with a strong Adam and Eve/Cain and Abel parable. Though a bit risque in parts, this book deals with life--both the good and the bad--in a way that I can see pieces of myself in the characters. 


3. My Dream of Heaven - On death's bed in a foreign country, the author, has a long dream in which she goes to heaven, sees the mansions her family are building, and learns at the feet of her Savior. --Filled with beautiful images of the afterlife, this book helped me through some sad times, thinking about the joy that awaits those who leave this life.





5. Madeline's Rescue - After being rescued from a watery grave by a very brave dog, Madeline, the popular school girl from Paris, must then rescue the hound from the ruthless Lord Cucuface. --The clever verse makes this one of my favorite books to read aloud to my children.





5. People have been asking me where I get all my awesomeness. 
Practice, my friend, practice. 
Actually, I wrote this book. 
...No, no I didn't. 
But I could have written this book. 
...No, not really because I was little when 'Zach Morris hair' and 'Cosby sweaters' were cool.
But I am awesome. 
You know that's right!





Other Notable Mentions (but way popular)











Speaking of Madeline poems and blogfests
You should join my blogfest!
(You don't HAVE to write a poem- you can steal one from a poet)






21 comments:

  1. Awesome picks, but I've never read any of them. Although I did love the TV show Madeline when I was growing up. I'll have to check them (and your poetry blogfest!) out. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anyone Can Be Cool--sounds so COOL! I'm going to see if my library has this book. Did Mr T ghost write it?

    Seriously--great books those are some of my favorites too. You have good taste :) Never read East of Eden--maybe I'll give it a try.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am amazed that someone else has Intra Muros: My Dream of Heaven on their list. Yeah! You rock! I first read this back in 1970 at my grandparents house--they had an old copy. I looked for it for years and then finally found it available again on Amazon a few years ago. It's a wonderful book. Thanks for backing me up on my choice.


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  4. In no particular order:

    -A Christmas Carol--Dickens
    -Master & Commander--Patrick O'brian (best series of all time)
    -The Alliance by Gerald Lund (THE book that made me fall in love with reading as a pre-teen)
    -Lord of the Rings (of course)
    -Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

    It was harder to limit it to just 5 than I thought it would be.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great picks - I LOVE To Kill a Mockingbird. And East of Eden, of course (it's #1 on my list).
    I am putting "Anyone can be cool..." on my book wish list - I could stand to up my awesome quotient :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. SNAP. I chose To Kill a Mockingbird too. The other's I haven't read... yet.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Madeline- start with To Kill A Mockingbird. It's an easy read and so wonderful.

    Angie- East of Eden has been one of my favorite books since reading it in High School (before Oprah made it super popular.) It's literature for literature sake and really long but I love it. Or you can just watch the James Dean film with the same title. That is faster.

    Lee- Wonderful book. I'm actually pretty shocked that anyone else listed it as well. I don't even know if it is in print anymore.

    Dan- I love a good Dickens tale. He's a great storyteller. He's not so great at breavity.

    Kim- I think E of E might be my #1- It was for a number of years. I do just LOVE Austen and LOTR though.

    Kate- Read the Madeline book, it's a FAST read ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ever heard of goodreads.com? I just sent you an invite :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow. I wouldn't list a single classic book on my top fave five list! So I bow down to your classiness!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just discovered your blog through a friend's. Hello from one Shell(e)y to another! Always nice to meet someone with the same name. :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. Awesome takes practice? Well you have mastered it, my dear. And for this, I am awarding you with The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award. There are rules in accepting this, so be sure to check out my blog to view them. Have a great day, and keep on creating wonderful blogs with mentions of Zack Morris (dreamy!) and Cosby sweaters. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Courtney, I'm already following you on Goodreads ;)

    Ali-I read classics A LOT! It's where my heart is. Your heart is in contemporary. It takes both kinds of us...actually I think the market likes you better ;)

    Shelley- visited your blog and followed! Cute blog and great stuff!

    Kimberly- thanks for the award and the clear recognition of my awesomeness. Now to convince my kids of the same ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love the classics, too! In the middle of Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell right now. She is so funny!

    I'm also a lover of poetry and theater, and it has made my day to "meet" you! Wonderful blog!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I really enjoyed you list - interesting. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. North and South is on my 'to read' list. Gaskell has come highly recommended.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'll have to add some of these to my to-read list!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great picks - I've seen some of these on other participants lists. I sooo want to read My Dream of Heaven now! Thanks, I'm a new follower :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. It's interesting to see how many people picked 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. It's been popping up on my radar so often these past few weeks that I went out and bought a copy earlier today.

    Thanks for the suggestions. I'll need to find a way to retire soon if I'll ever want to get through my reading list. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Will have to check out some of these for sure. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I used to love reading Madeline as a little girl! It's great to see her on your list. :)

    John Steinbeck is excellent--I haven't read East of Eden but I remember loving The Grapes of Wrath!

    ~TRA

    http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Loving these blog fests but getting a bit behind in reading everyone so am swearing off them until I catch up. However you seem to have some good ones so will follow for them and to get to know more of your writing. Love your choices, though don't know the last 3 of the main five. Think I now need a 30 hour day to keep up with the blogs and read all the books!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are the sunshine butter on the toast of life.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...